This is the first C-Drama I have really enjoyed every moment ; the good , the bad , the goofy, the sombre and sad moments alike...

Zhao Lusi is becoming my favorite so far ; this role is so unique after watching her carless & kind nature and the little sister vibes in in "The Long Ballad" and "Hidden Love". Her character is embodiment of headstrong, joyous , courage and boldness but gives us so many frustration especially the last 5 minutes [spoiler] I didn't understand the logic of her torturing herself and him because he choose to take revenge alone and protect her. It was also frustration to see her with A'yao who felt more like a servant than a lover [/spoiler].

Leo Wu as such an young age is excelling in his acting ; the cold demeanur , the filial son , the grief and goofiness of a boy in love.

The chemistry between Lusi and Wu is so so good that make this show even more pleasant to watch considered they had short cameos together in other shows like "The Long Ballad" . They both change together as couple to adapt and cover their faults in characters.

Every character in this show is so humane you would see their good , bad and worst ; not necessarily in the same order. A good character will get a bad ending and then becomes a villain u can see their transition over a period of 10-15 min since introduction. A bad character get a sad ending but you would see the remorse at the end. There are evil characters as well who deserve nothing but hell and they get it. The amount of characters in the show you would imagine the director underusing some of losing someones personality down the line but have to appreciate the efforts put in each role by many many minor casts to bring in consistency to the writing.

Special mention to the Emperor , the Empress and the Consort never have i seen a more harmonious couples [spoiler] although ultimately we lost the Empress due to negligence by emperor in showing love [/spoiler] . I loved the moments they cared for Naoi-Zinsheng letting them grow in their care in the palace . The Empress was benevolent ; the Consort was corruptible and the Emperor was Kind, Caring and Quirky .

This show is only possible because it is 56 episodes ; there a few moments at the end which were skipped and some unnecessary events but overall this show has consistent writing and execution by its main cast . Nevertheless the reason this is getting 1 point less is the last 6 episodes of redemption and self-destruction has destroyed some of the good memories laid out before in the main characters. Also Bloody Hell they teased the marriage till the end but didn't show us .. it could have been just 5more minutes to do it..