Completed
LynnLy
1 people found this review helpful
Aug 15, 2022
53 of 53 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
This review may contain spoilers

a show where both leads are string and intelligent

I have read that this is the sister piece for Princess Weiyoung, so I was a little unsure. Personally I liked this show better, inlace of silly "harem" backstabbing, this was a semi-intelligent political backstabbing drama, Every once in a while the show lost its intelligence.... example the assassin leader that raised them and only wanted revenge changed his mind in like 5 minutes which was a let down. Mainly though the show had intelligent people and stayed clear from the normal overly simplified bad people.

Here's what I liked....
the acting was great especially ML and FL. I have never seen the ML in another show and was very impressed with his acting and portrayal. The FL has always been just OK when I see her, not annoying but not one of my favorite actresses. Her acting in this show convinced me she is good and just needs better roles. All of the acting was great, the Royal Mother was the only one that was over the top with her acting and the second ML was clearly out of his league. Watching him vs the ML it was glaring how much of a gap there was. Hopefully he gets better over time. I liked the relationship between the ML and FL leads. While they were not overly romantic, it was mutual trust and caring for each other. I look at that as more realistic and lasting love vs the physical love. SPOILER ....I also really liked that the 2 brothers didn't turn on each other and remained close despite some instances where there seemed to be a distance,
I love the family relationships with the FL and her family - both her real family and her adopted assassin brothers
The story was solid, maybe a little too long, but it kept me interested. Again I was happy to see the FL being friends with the Princess (other wife) and good friends with her sister-in-law. Of course the adopted sister was bad, but that was the only harem type action besides the royal mother. With that said it was more interesting than a Princess Weiyoung where the ML was stupid 90% of the show, and everyone was a cardboard villain or harem girl. However, it wasn't the most complex plot either. Do not confuse this with The Rise of the Phoenixes.

Here's what I didn't like....
The last villain, I get why he did it but it was like all of a sudden here's the "real" mastermind out of no where, but we will still solve that in like 2 episodes. It took over 30 to remove the first bad guy and he was being used by he mastermind. Crazy how easy it was to catch him.
The production value was OK, clearly not a giant budget and shows should stop showing people riding horses in closeup... it looked so bad I laughed out loud.
Music was OK, I cannot say I remembered any songs or melodies. One background music sounded like music from another show so it was distracting.
The ending was not as bad as Princess Agents, but I have no idea what it meant. SPOILER.....Some people say she wasn't;t dead and the 3 year time jump was there little cottage where he was protecting her from emperor's edict. That doesn't;t make sense because the Prince was happy and had an imperial order, so there was no reason to hide her other than to prevent gossip? of course why the FL would drink poison and give up so easy is a mystery, unless she really didn't want to cause any additional issues for him (I mean the bleeding knees from kneeling, etc.) but if that is the case where was her body. My take is that she killed herself with the poison in the garden and on the swing. He basically is in denial and couldn't;t see her as dead (so no body on scree) and 3 years later he goes to the cottage and cooks all of the food poorly like she did and basically still acts like she is alive. Probably not worth watching the last episode since there is no closure (other than the new laws are god and helping people and the ML and second ML have really ugly looking mustaches!)

Overall... I have this as an 8/10. I may change it after a bit, I tend to make my reviews even lower the longer I think about a show.


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Completed
SVITAMEN D-rama
1 people found this review helpful
Aug 12, 2021
53 of 53 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Cant express,,, What the f.....


The initial story is quite curious, and makes you wonder what the real reality is

even though I think the drama is quite good in the delivery of the story, and the details that are conveyed, the required scenes are quite complete, and although there are complementary scenes that are not shown, only a few can be tolerated, but at the end of the story, the irregularities of the story are getting clearer, everything things happen suddenly, flashback sequences that are not clear when, and unnecessary actions! ,, feel like stupid!

I can tolerance sad ending but ,,,,If the ending wasn't like this my rating might be 80 or 85, especially because the ost is pretty good





die die die die, character die die die die is the scriptwriter has a grudge against his character?,, even though it can have a CLEAR ending, BUT WHY IS THE ENDING LIKE THAT?! ,, SO FL LIVE OR NO?! ,


Why li qin serious costume drama always end like this? Omg OMGGGG




Contain spoiler

My question ?
1. From when sun work with mastermind? And is she know who is wan er?
2. ‎if not wan er ,who change the incense?
3. ‎why hongdan?? Why?no reason!
4. ‎how about his senior at last?
5. ‎so FL live or not? If not ? Can she drink and.... ,and bury herself?

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Completed
Michael_0718
1 people found this review helpful
May 14, 2023
53 of 53 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 10
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers

Brilliant but unnecessary ending + Needs better scene arrangement & sequencing.

Just to give a quick insight about this story, I wanna say that It was wonderful yet sorrowful. They did so well in making the plot well-balanced despite their straightforward takes of its unexpected turn of events... however, still managed to make the whole narative look manipulated and misarranged.

First of, I wanna commend this production for consistently staying away from clichė plot till the very end. That was very unexpected and satisfying! Just the thought of not having to bear through such ridiculous scenes already made this experience more delightful and light to me. Not to mention how we were given such spectacular and highly intelligent protagonists who were capable of taking absolute control of any situation they were thrown into and overcoming them with outstanding wits and teamwork. Made this drama even more amazing for me.

But!! we must bear in mind that no matter how good something is, It can never be imperfect. This story, in spite of executing most of the scenes in a viewer-friendly manner can never escape some questionable plot holes and glitches that can be found at the most crucial places. The way they dealt with the antagonists felt so wrong... Like you knew it was a bad decision but refused to judge it since you're not even half through the story yet. But as it progresses the more you find your opinions right and reasonable.

After finishing this show, my opinion still stands firm about how Lu Yuan deserves to be the final antagonist. I honestly think that everything went weak and bland right after they've dealt with him. Like he is the truest antagonist there is! so right after he passed away, the other major conflicts on the story has immediately become a child's play. Xie Hao is simply an overconfident official who thought highly of himself by pulling some grand scheme he can never control. While Wang Mian is an old man who's planned on his revenge for more than 2 decades only for it to be trampled right in front of his eyes. No matter how and where I look at it both of these guys just doesn't have it. They have aspiration, will and is bold enough, unfortunately, they're both incapable of pulling it off successfully. And, Oh, Please! Do not let me start with Grand Consort Sun and Shen Leqing! These two deserves to die even before Lu Yuan but they never did and I will never understand why no matter how much anyone try to explain it to me. Cause they may have been useful to create some discords and conflicts but they were never relevant enough to last that long! God, gracious! An utterly bad decision to keep them till the last 10 or so episode of the story.

Lastly, "It's all in the past" is my most hated phrase in this drama. The way they use it as a means to move on from the death of Shen Tingzhang and Shen Zhi gives me so much grief. I know it was wrong to keep yourself caged in the past but I also stand firm that we need to occasionally look back at those events to realize how some people deserves the worst from us.— Never forgive those who're unforgiveable.

P.S. Evil is hard to extinguish. Once an Evil, Always an Evil.

Story - 9.0, Would have given it a 0.5 rating higher only if they gave us a happier ending. I can never accept the fact that they went over tons of clichė plots all throughout the story yet still pull this kind of ending. I have long accepted that they misjudged their plot arrangements and all but I never predicted them to do it once again. Overall, the drama is good. They just tend to eliminate the wrong characters at the wrong time and keep some for longer time for nothing.

Acting/Cast - 9.5, Main CP is good. Although, it took me few episodes to fully absorb their chemistry but right after that it worked out magically. Lu Yuan and Xue Hao have been exemplery all throughout and I've got little to no complain about the side characters. The only thing that probably stood out to me the most is the inconsistency and awkward acting from Herman Li and Deng Ying at times. Specially during the first half of the drama. P.S. Ren Yun Jie is one of my fave character in this drama and hello, there Tian Xi Wei!

Music - 10, I love how it sounded natural and authentic which is very suitable to the time/era the drama's set. + Excellent and I'd say even perfect control and choice of music. I vibed so much on how laid back and comforting it sounded all at the appropriate and accurate moments.

Rewatch Value - 8.0, The overall story is good. Good pacing and character progression but watching it over again will be tough for me. Considering how displeased I am with its ending and the way they eliminate their characters in a wrong time really left a bitter taste in my mouth. I'll forever complain on how they misarranged those events and characters which impacted the story so much. This drama could've honestly been better with proper arrangement and sequencing.

Overall - 9.0, After intensive deliberation and consideration... and even after all my rants and complains. I feel like this drama and production still delivered a good story that can be enjoyed by different types of people. It just that I have my own conclusion and expectation for this story thus it made me feel so many things. All I can say is that bear my words in mind and watch this cautiously with expectation.

IF you find my review helpful please let me know.

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Ongoing 40/53
Terrica18
2 people found this review helpful
Aug 12, 2020
40 of 53 episodes seen
Ongoing 0
Overall 7.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 10
Rewatch Value 2.0
What can I say I am a sucker for historical series. This series actually started off at a really great pace. It was lively and had some good action going on. The beginning of the series was done in such a way that it will grab your attention because there’s some mystery and intrigue going on. I enjoyed the characters and their personalities. Fight scenes were pretty amazing and it didn’t hurt that our female lead had those skills. Series is a real eye grabber. The plot develops quickly but soothly. Overall, it’s entertaining.

Series revolves around a female who is fighting for good and a male lead who was misunderstood, though not too long.

What I like: it’s consistently eventful, the plot develops well, their is some great character development reveals, the relationship between the leads was nice and the fight scenes are great.

What I didn’t like: after a while it got tiring, the leads had a good relationship but lacked chemistry. Bad guys seems to have the upper hand most of the time. The relationship between the leads felt more like close friends than lovers or a married couple. In truth it just felt like it was missing sincerity. Although the acting was good, it just felt like a well rehearsed script verse the person embodying the script.

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Completed
Synapticsilly
1 people found this review helpful
Aug 18, 2020
53 of 53 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 9.5
This review may contain spoilers

I don’t know why a lot of people rate this 5.5 but this drama is good!

At first when I saw this drama, I saw a lot of bad reviews. Some people said this drama was boring and stupid. To see if it was actually that bad, I started watching this drama. It was not bad at all.

Shen Li Ge is an assassin and tries to kill Lu Yuan with her martial arts brothers and sisters. They were unsuccessful and were killed. Only three of them survived, including Shen Li Ge. They escaped and formed a medicine shop to hide their identities.

She went back to her orphanage and meets her mother.

When Shen Li Ge’s sister died, she gave Li Ge a bracelet. That bracelet was the evidence that, that person was her mother. Shen Li Ge pretended as her sister, and took the identity.

Shen Li Ge sought revenge and that is when she meets Liu Yi Kang.

They both are on the same boat investigating Lu Yuan.

Shen Li Ge tries to kill Lu Yuan, but fails again.

Shen Li Ge goes back home and that’s where more problems appeared.

Shen Le Qing gets jealous because her foster (Just call them foster for now) parents (Shen Li Ge’s parents) liked Shen Li Ge better and the guy she fancied like Shen Li Ge. She hates Shen Li Ge and starts to scheme.

Another problem is Lu Yuan. He caused Li Ge’s family and herself to go to prison a lot of times. A lot of people say girls like scheme a lot, but this guy schemes a lot too.

There’s more but I’m too lazy to write everything.

This story had a lot of twists and turns, but there were never any misunderstandings. Even if Li Ge tried to kill Liu Yi Kang, she regretted it and tried to save him, while Yi Kang forgive her. Shen Li Ge never gets jealous, which I love a lot in a person.

If you want to cry then you can watch this drama because a lot of sad things occur, like how her mother forgets that Shen Li Ge is her daughter.

I saw a lot of reviews that the ending was horrible. Well it wasn’t. I mean like at least there was a happy ending! I don’t want the story to have the goodbye my princess ending.

I usually don’t like dramas that occur in dark places, but this drama literally caused me to devote into it.

You might not understand some of the scenes, so you shouldn’t skip the scenes like what the other people did. They skipped so they didn’t like the drama. So don’t be like them!


Also the ones with bad reviews to this drama probably don’t understand Chinese, so they don’t get the story. They said that the scriptwriter was bad. It’s not like they can write any better.

Hope you like this review and the drama!




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Completed
EunAeYoon
1 people found this review helpful
Aug 22, 2022
53 of 53 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 4.5
This review may contain spoilers

Frustrating, but fun ride!

I don't really have that much to write after binge watching it over 3 days. I watched this for Li Qin as Lige and she delivered!

The villains were villainy. To the point of being ridicilous, but hey, that's what you can expect from most chinese dramas with lots chess back and forth. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy it, but I dislike it when villains get away from things, despite the amount of evidence. There were some inconsistencies here and there, but I've seen far worse so I let it slip.

The Shen family was great, the royal brothers were great too. In fact, most of the characters had a purpose and were acted well. The fighting scenes were usually fun, albeit a bit unbalanced here and there. The one thing which always dissapoints me in these dramas, is when they try to depict a large scale war. Yes, I understand that it is costly to produce something which shows a grand scale. But showing maybe 100 people marching, then saying that it is a detachment of 10.000 ... ? It breaks immersion and believability. This series is not the only sinner to do this, so I'll give it some slack.

Episode 1-25 - Great.
25-45 - Decent
46 - 52 - Poor. (I ended up fast forwarding here and there)
53 - Great. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised.

All in all: It had its fun moments, frustrating ones and the ridicilous ones. What you can expect and probably what you're also looking for.

Recommended.

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Completed
anasta2500
0 people found this review helpful
Feb 16, 2023
53 of 53 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 2.0

Not finishig storyline perfectly and don' t like too much flying scence

I don't know what happend to Lu Wan ( girl), do they execute her? I think she did not use poison. she was in the trap and also the sixthe prince did not help her. The Emperor got injured with the knife with lover and there is a forgivness for the poor girl does not have nobody help her. Sorry no justice and fair. I think Six brother is not true love, he is dumb, and I think the doctor ( the senior) is true love for her, he came and save her took her in trees. I wish they continued the story for her. The edning is always is puzzle, and I don't like. The Actors and Actresses played awesom job, but the director should bring Kevin Yan and Wallace Hue and there is another Wallace from Hong Knong these 3 Actors play awesom jobs as a role of Emperor. I think their face and their voice is good for historical, coustme and drama movie. I wished they brought Wallace Hue as a Emperor of Wei, we could have more drama part with that swordwoman. The Lu Wan's brother played awesom job in this film. Everybody played awesome job. Is there possiblity they make song of glory number 2? I don't know why at the end Fourth brother hand something on branches of tree. It means that she is alive or Fourth brother killed himself because he knows that sixth brother follow his rule and law. That is why I don' t like the end it likes puzzle.

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Completed
Dajini
0 people found this review helpful
Oct 24, 2020
53 of 53 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers

A Pretty Good Historical drama that doesn't really drag much... BUT....

I went into this drama researching a bit because its an average 50+ episode story. When there's that many episode, of course you would hesitate watching it if it doesn't turn out good, you wasting your time watching part of it and may drop it down the line. Let me tell you this, royal politics is not new and the repeated similar plot that has always been use to drag the story line out as much as the show intended to become. This show still holds its very much interest til the very end once the main OTP knows and devoted themselve to each other. One thing I never liked in a drama is the miss opportunity that the leads find out about and misunderstood each other, almost reveal their identity but got interrupted, or got somehow coincidently miss the right moment to see and know each other. This drama gave me the angst to all those moments and there were a LOT of those moments til they find out about each other. Although it took some episodes, it eventually reach there and after that, the show smoothly ride out til the end non stop. I for one watch it over 2 nights and completed on the 3rd morning due to work, otherwise I would probably finished it on the second day. Don't get me wrong, but I did skip some parts that doesn't show much progress with no lead in them but you can still comfortable watch it without skipping. Ending has been miss interpreted but non the less, I truly believe it's a happy ending. I recommend watching this for the character fun chemistry. It is rewatchable for me, I may probably rewatch it again down the line. Plot line has been used, don't expect much beside thinking who is the culprit to all of this. Every evildoers get what they deserved.

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Completed
Breizh_o_veva
0 people found this review helpful
Sep 13, 2024
53 of 53 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 4.0

Great historical, romantic, political series, with a lot of martial arts.

PLOT: The FL, expert in martial art, is part of an assassins group headed by a Master. His order is to kill the Prince Regent, the ML. During an assassination attempt, almost her entire group is killed, and she remains in the capital assuming the identity of her dead "sister", the lost daughter of a general. The FL and ML fight anonymously together against the Great Villain, General Lu. They get married. The Great Villains work in the shadows, helped by the jealous sister. Attempts to assassinate, seize power, overthrow the family, etc.

+++ 2 very great leads
+++ excellent support actors
+++ Well-written, intelligent story and effective production without downtime, with superb cinematography.
+++ Good OSTs

### Multiple levels of somewhat complex conspiracy.
### Long series
### Slightly enigmatic ending (realistic but not very satisfying)

=> Excellent romantic & historical series
*******************************************************
Gde fresque historique, romantique, politique, avec bcp d'arts martiaux.

PLOT: La FL, experte en art martial, fait partie d'un gpe chapeauté par un Maitre. Son ordre est de tuer le Prince Régent, le ML. Lors d'1 tentative d'assassinat, presque tout son gpe est tué, et elle reste dans la capitale en assumant l'identité de sa "sœur" DCD, fille perdue d'1 général. La FL et le ML combattent anonymement ensemble le Great Villain, le général Lu. Ils se marient. Les Great Villains travaillent dans l'ombre, aidés de la sœur jalouse. Tentatives d'assassinat, de prise du pouvoir, de renverser la famille, etc.

+++ 2 très great leads
+++ d'excellents acteurs support
+++ Story bien écrite, intelligente et réalis° efficace sans temps mort, avec une superbe cinématographie.
+++ Bons OST

### Multiples niveaux de conspiration un peu complexes.
### Série longue
### Fin un peu énigmatique (réaliste mais pas très satisfaisante)

=> Excellente série romantique & historique

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Completed
GiGi JaZee Jae
0 people found this review helpful
Aug 24, 2020
53 of 53 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers
I'm sorry, another Chinese Drama that beautifies a suicide. The first one was "Goodbye My Princess". This would've been a 10 for me if not for that. During COVID-19 a lot of people are dying from this virus some people are committing suicide across the world. Suicide should not be glorified in any way shape or form. I became very emotional with the ending of this drama.

All but that the storyline was intriguing. Li Qin who played Shen Li Ge was really good. Another actress who can play a strong woman. Qin Hao who played Liu Yi Kang / Prince Peng Cheng, my first time watching in a CDrama... will be watching another one of his. Jason Koo who played Liu Yi Xuan / Prince Jing Ling is not my first time seeing this actor but always seen him play mean/evil parts. Watching him play someone that is good was a treat for me. Lu Zhan Xiang who played Kong Cheng was my favorite in this storyline, he is young but his acting abilities are spot on. All the other actors did great also. I didn't expect the leader of all the trauma happening in this CDrama. The storyline kept me focused on the plot. The music score was smooth. The visuals were awesome. The martial arts were okay.


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Completed
FDiyF
0 people found this review helpful
May 21, 2024
53 of 53 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

Every villain got what they deserved.

The show started off real fast paced (but slow burn towards the middle) as FL was carrying out an assassination on ML, Peng Cheng Wang (Prince of Peng City), the regent of the historical Liu Song Dynasty. The assassination turned out a disaster (of course, duh). She hid in an orphanage and was later found by Madam Shen who recognized the jade bracelet she was wearing, immediately identifies her as the Shen’s long lost daughter abducted as an infant during a battle in the north. The bracelet was actually given by her best friend (another assassin of course) with a promise to help find her birth parents, before the bff died as a distraction so FL could flee the botched assassination venue. FL grabs this chance and takes refuge in the Shen Mansion, a family of top general of the empire, as she plans for her next move to finish her failed assasination on ML and Minister of War Lu Yuan. It seemed like the team of assassins were driven by the belief planted by their master that Lu Yuan was a corrupt official and Peng Cheng Wang was an incompetent ruler who covers up for the corrupt officials in his court. They both needed to be killed because of their crimes to Liu Song Empire and its people.

Ironically, as she keeps on failing to kill Lu Yuan, she met a merchant who was also investigating Lu Yuan and this dude manages to convince her that killing won’t stop Lu Yuan’s corruption as another would just fill up his spot. The merchant, whom FL calls as Old Man (she was 18 and the dude was supposed to be 30+), convinced her to team up with him and topple Lu Yuan using rule of law. Things happened and they later developed feelings for each other. Then the decree came that the daughter of Shen family is bethrothed to Peng Cheng Wang as reward for their contribution in winning the war in the North, and FL decided to take this chance to kill ML on their wedding night. Meanwhile, Lu Yuan’s smuggling of weapons for private army was foiled, but the Shens were implicated as Lu Yuan slips out of their grasp with a mere slap on the hand by ML. This only angered FL even more and her hatred for ML grows. She got her biggest shock on the wedding night, as she only saw the face of the Peng Cheng Wang she hated to the core as she stabs her poisoned dagger into his belly, and he turned out to be the Old Man she fell in love with. She tried to kill herself after stabbing ML as to not implicate the Shens for her assassination crime, and because she regretted her actions, but ML instructed his personal bodyguard to take her away so the imperial guards wont catch her. Later things happened, plot after plot, surprise after surprise, villains after villains, misunderstandings and slanders came one after another, and they stick together through thick and thin.

I love the FL character, she’s one badass assassin who doesnt let injustice to happen. She thrives in jianghu, and is smart and witty enough to stand up against the palace harem bullying (yeah come on how can anyone bully an assassin, right?). And having an elder sister (the first wife) as back up does wonders to her too. She doesnt really need any saving, she can take care of herself although of course ML will need to be the saviour every now and then, even though he’s inferior to her in terms of fighting skills and brawn, so he depended on his power as regent and his scheming and manipulating skills. She is also very intelligent and isnt one of those characters who love to panic and jump to conclusions with baseless suspicions . I guess she learnt a lesson after being fooled by her master into wrongfully thinking that ML is a bad person when he was not.

One of the most pitiful but righteous characters must have been Princess Consort Xie, ML’s first wife. He had to marry her in accordance to the emperor’s decree, but never loved her. Never consummated the marriage and Empress Dowager had to make it a rule for him to have dinner at specific dates at the Princess Consort’s place or he wouldnt have even visited her at all. For someone who loved her husband in totality, her heart was so pure that she never envied the love FL gets from their shared husband when she entered the household as concubine. Instead she saw FL as a companion, BFF, whom she was willing to protect and support. I almost thought the Empress Dowager would be able to corrupt her mind against FL due to envy (like the plot of most drama), but it never happened. She stayed true to her character to the end.

Although I like this show, i find that the repetetive plot of getting poisoned, memory loss, faintings, fake deaths to be pretty annoying. I love the part where they dismantle the villains plans, but the journey to get there is quite annoying with things that I mention above. I find the scenes after ML got stabbed by FL was pretty dramatic and admirable, him braving his way through the pain for several days before succumbing to his injury and went into coma, as to cover up for his newly wedded wife’s actions.

Also I cannot wrap it around my head how come these assassins dont know how their target looks like? That is so messed up. The production couldve made the merchant’s disguise better and not reveal his face throughout their time together, maybe FL recognizing ML as the merchant on their wedding night using the tokens they exchanged if anything at all, but they didnt. It was quite early through the show that FL saw through his fake moustache and took it off (revealing his true face), I really thought she would identify him as Peng Cheng Wang but she didnt! So the whole team of badass assassins didnt even know how their target looks like before killing them?! These righteous assassins killing corrupt officials to keep them from ruining the prosperity of the nation didnt think that knowing how their target look like so they dont kill the wrong person was important. Really? 😑🙄 So messed up.

There were so maaaaaaany fillers and side love stories which I fast forward most of them, but I just need to give a special mention of FL’s handmaid XiaoXin as super duper annoying with her loud and unruly character. Looks much too exaggerated. So they wanted to make her that fun character who brights up people around her, it just went overboard. Characters like this would never survive in the palace as palace maid, she’d be dead by day 2! I was fascinated by ML’s personal bodyguard Xu Zhan too, he looked so feminine that when he wore full body armour and helmet during the North war, I didnt recognize him and thought he was a female character i hadnt noticed before! I also cannot wrap it around my head how they could let Zijin tag along to the north border for the war too. I could understand when FL wanted to go cuz she definitely has the qualities to fight a war, but Zijin? I almost thought she had hidden talent or skills to contribute, with those dramatic horse riding, serious look on her face and wearing full body armour including helmet, but when they were ambushed by the enemy, she became a burden to Shen Zhi (her love interest who is also FL’s eldest brother of the Shen family) as he needs to fight while holding her hand to protect her. What a disappointment. So they made her go to the north so ML, as regent and commander of the north army, could grant them a marriage 🙄 just for that. Bleerghh that is just too cheesy, man. Another annoying characters are Shen Leqing and Lu Wan. One a conniving scheming vengeful ungrateful person who didnt know when to stop, while another was super naiive and stupid who wasnt even sure of her bro’s crimes and yet think that he was wronged and decided to get revenge. Such easily-manipulated expendable pawns.

———-*SPOILER BELOW THIS LINE* ————

I *love* (-_-) how every good characters can get sliced and stabbed with swords, stuck with arrows and still can jump around the next day (or in an instant in FL’s case) as if nothing happened. With exception of Shen dad and elder brother, their deaths are pretty gruesome and tragic. But the rest of the characters are a-okay with all those injuries, so no worries!

The ending is one of those with question marks. At first I thought FL killed herself so Peng Cheng Wang would not be stuck between his love for her and the emperor’s decree of not sparing her as she was an assassin. It went pretty dramatic with ML’s joyfully running to meet with her only to see the place empty, dropping the decree he was holding. Then there were flashbacks of the FL drinking (poisoned?) wine and later looked dead, but the next thing they show was events three years later with ML doing great in court, and later went to the secret place FL brought him once upon a time, and there he dined with the joyous FL. So another fake death? Sheesh.

I thought they’d have kids by then though. I was a little disappointed that there was no 3yo dining with them at the end. Though I can say it’s a happy ending. At least to me. But because I am one of those who hates sad and open endings, I’m taking off 1 star due to this horrible Ep53. Wished they had ended the show at Ep 52.

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Completed
Crazy about Asian dramas
0 people found this review helpful
Jun 1, 2024
53 of 53 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 5.5
Though it had a sad ending, the storyline was different. I've watched many historical dramas, both fictional and fact-based, but they all share the same theme: an emperor can't make decisions emotionally. Consequently, some characters sacrifice their love, some endure dismal love lives, and some love stories reach completion only after facing many hardships and conspiracies.

What stood out to me in this drama was, first, the crown prince and crown princess lived happily and spent ample time together. His first wife never interfered in his love life. Second, the crown prince's younger brother loved and respected him, standing by his side faithfully. He was a benevolent person. Third, the crown princess's family members lived harmoniously, with no jealousy, hatred, or competition. In fact, they respected each other deeply.

What I did not like was the ending. The drama had 53 episodes, so at times, I felt listless, but I watched it with patience. To fully appreciate the story, you would need to watch it yourself.

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