• Contains spoilers, read at your own risk. You can skip to the bullet points if you want a more general review. •

The Sword and The Brocade was nothing like what I expected it to be. When I first heard about this drama, I was a bit skeptical and a bit excited because I wasn't sure how I felt about a concubine's daughter marrying into Marquis Yongping's manor (meaning she'd probably be manipulated and schemed against a lot which came true but less than I thought) but I was excited that it was a Ming Dynasty based drama as they are usually uncommon so it was nice to see something different for a change. Shi Yi Niang proved herself to be quite an independent as well as intelligent woman throughout the entire drama. She married into Marquis Yongping's manor with a motive of investigating her mother's death and ended up catching Xu Lingyi's (Marquis Yongping) attention in the process. She fought through his entire harem (3 concubines) and made them believe that they succeeded in scheming against her when in reality she was the real successful one. She went through constant disapproval of her concubine's daughter status from her mother-in-law as well as her sister-in-law without complaining once about how they were treating her and instead earned their respect from everything she did. She defied the ethics of being a married woman back then when she got involved with Xianling Pavilion with her husband's support rather than approval. I absolutely loved her character because it shows so much female empowerment. It proves that it's not only every successful man has a supportive woman behind him but it shows that it could be vice versa even in ancient times when things like what she was doing were seen as shameful. Most of the drama was focused on family importance, the development of our ML & FL's romance, our FL's intelligent and politics in regards to the sea ban. Some parts of politics were interesting when the scheming was happening but all in all, I try to avoid those as much as possible lol. I would recommend this drama to someone who usually enjoys a slight mix of politics and the scheming tricks of a harem (with an intelligent FL).

To sum it up in bullet points:
• Mix of politics and harem schemes.
• Ming dynasty based drama which is uncommon so it was exciting to see all the different costumes.
• FL is very intelligent and independent which she proves throughout the drama.
• Small but interesting harem schemes.
• Defied societal standards of women in ancient times with her involvement in Xianling Pavilion.
• Message of female empowerment.
• Gained respect from mother-in-law and sister-in-law despite her concubine's daughter status.
• Would recommend to someone who enjoys a bit of politics and harem/family schemes.

OST: Personally I didn't find anything catchy about the OSTs in the drama but I thought they were very suitable to the drama. I have yet to find a drama where the OST doesn't match the development of the drama. It gives calm but slight powerful tunes. I mainly remember the ending song because the beginning of it was the catchiest to me.

Acting: I had actually never watched Wallace Chung in a drama before this one and I can safely say, he was worth the watch lol. I personally think he was a bit too emotionless and could've fixed his facial expressions better when he was upset but overall he did pretty well in his role. I loved Seven Tan's acting in this. She played her young lady role amazingly and her body language/expressions were outstanding. The one thing I think that wasn't that believable was her at the end when she had become an more developed woman (after she had a kid). I think that is due to her sort of baby face though so that may be why.

Ending: It was a happy ending. It fulfilled what the drama wanted to fulfill throughout and it showed one big happy family together. I do wish that Shi Yi Niang had more children with Xu Lingyi because I believe they could've but for the purpose of protecting the eldest son's importance, I think the screenwriter/direction settled with just giving them one child. Overall it was cute though seeing how everyone was happy and the scheming was over.

Rewatch Value: I would definitely rewatch but I don't see it in the near future. I think I'll find myself coming back to this drama when I need a less intense drama to watch that still includes politics and scheming.