Wonderland of Love (2023)

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING

Story:
The story starts when the Emperor and nearly his entire family are murdered leaving only a few members of the royal family alive. The ML (Li Ni) is the grandson of the emperor from one of the younger sons. He was exiled to protect the border by his father and grandfather because of his supposed bad attitude (but later it's revealed that he was constantly bullied by his older half-brothers and didn't like the snake pit of the court). He is the commander of the West Pacify Army which is poor but each warrior is worth more than 10 average warriors. He is asked, once his family is murdered, to become emperor but refuses since his father, brothers, and the former crown prince's son are still alive. He advocates for the crown prince's son to be named emperor, but few believe him. While there is chaos because of the rebellion by General Sun, everyone is now vying for the throne. There is also General Cui and his son (daughter) who have fought back against Sun like Li Ni and also say they are doing it for the crown prince's son. However, no one really believes them either. A Ying is the commander of the army for General Cui. Their army is powerful and wealthy and would be a threat even in a stable realm, so everyone believes they would seize power for themselves. Basically a lot of confusion and rightful paranoia about who can be trusted and what people's motivations are.
The story is political-romance-action. It does a very good job of showing everyone's motivations for their actions. Li Ni and A Ying are both exceptionally well written characters, who's playful banter, intelligence and depth is fully explored.
The plot is fast paced. It doesn't stall and there is always a purpose to scenes, even if it's a filler scene. The side characters also have great plots and character development.
Acting:
Xu Kai and Jing Tian are exceptional. I started this show for Xu Kai because I've loved most of what I've seen him in (and if I didn't like a show with him in it, it was never because of him), and he didn't disappoint. From the first moment you can see his swagger and cheek that is so perfect for this role. He's a combination of playful and serious and Xu Kai does it perfectly, transforming from puppy to wolf in seconds (quoting Jing Tian when she's talking about Xu Kai in an interview). This is my first time watching Jing Tian and now I know I will keep up with her because she was amazing, and I can't believe it is just because of her chemistry with Xu Kai. She adds great depth to her character.
Romance:
The romance was incredible. They had beautiful intimacy. There are criticism that A Ying was too competitive, but that's what's attractive about her. She is ambitious and doesn't hide it. A quality that isn't seen often in shows. I love that the show goes out of it's way to demonstrate that women have similar appetite's as men, but because of their roles in society, very few can actually show it. Li Ni, who was raised primarily by women, and had very little fatherly influence in his life, knows to appreciate this quality in her, and is what attracts him to her. They are so well matched because they think the same. While Li Ni isn't competitive, because he has seen that court is dangerous and doesn't want it for himself, he is still cunning and he likes his partner to be able to keep up with him. Their courting is a series of bets, competitions, and banter. Their relationship is protecting each other and plotting together. While towards the middle, A Ying is forced to conform more to womanly life, she keeps her ambitions, and her intelligence doesn't leave. They aren't always rational either. Both make mistakes, and can be quick to judge each other for the other's actions if it negatively impacts them, but they are always impressed and even if subconsciously, they understand each other.
Side Characters:
Everyone made me feel something. Whether it was Li Ni's family making me feel absolute frustration for how stupid they are, or the villains for making me want to punch them in the face, or the bandits and the warriors of the West Pacify Army making me love them and die for them.
Rewatch value:
Absolutely! In fact, I'm going to go rewatch it right now.

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A masterpiece ruined by a bad script

I've been anticipating Wonderland of Love when I was just a newbie in c-drama. I even read the titbits of the novel posted on the discussion forum of MDL. However, things weren't as good as it seemed to be and you will know why as you scroll down my review.

This drama tells about 2 generals of the best armies (Zhenxi Army and Cui Army), Li Ni and Cui Lin. At first, they tried to be one step ahead of each other and resulted in both bickering nonstop. Li Ni was a prince trying to hide his identity from the others. Only the Zhenxi Army knew the real identity of his. Meanwhile, Cui Lin was a woman in disguise. She called herself Lieutenant He in the Cui Army and had an adoptive brother to take her identity. What I liked the most was the funny banter in the Zhenxi Army (including those gangs of bandits). The plot sounds perfect for me, but there will always be loopholes in it and brace yourself for the outweighed cons.

Halfway through the show, I started to fast forward 2x because the story was so, so INFURIATING and I wanna knock some sense into the characters. Li Ni's dad was perhaps the DUMBEST emperor I've ever seen. He couldn't even see that his two elder sons were plotting against him. Cui Lin's adoptive brother, Liu Chengfeng (or what other user called him as Lost Cause Fruit Loop) turned into a delusional and obsessive character as soon as he found out that Cui Lin had no feelings towards him. He always TRIED to get Li Ni killed by plotting everything from the beginning to the end (how I wished to strangle him to death). Prime Minister Gu's daughter, Gu Wanniang was an obsessive character as well. When Li Ni didn't reciprocate her feelings, she began to feel resentful towards Cui Lin and also want her killed. Prime Minister Gu's arc wasn't the best if you compare it to Sun Lang's arc. His character wasn't powerful enough and there wasn't any backstory for his plot with a certain tribe (sorry, I've forgotten the name, whatever it was called). This may be caused by lazy scriptwriting and the writer perhaps wants to add fillers so that the drama looks rather long. It could've been cut into a shorter one.

The chemistry between the leads (Xu Kai and Jing Tian) are super hot and you will love the flirting between these two. Also, honorable mention to the second couple, Tao Zi and Xie Chang'er - they're the best second couple and a green-flag one too. The Consort (forgotten her name as well) does well with Sun Lang too.

Opening OST is the best one and other OSTs aren't quite memorable.

No rewatch value for me. I can't stand this drama anymore. One time is enough, there's no need to watch for the second time except if you're in a drama slump. Overall, a decent show ruined by a bad script and filled with dozens of delulu characters.

P.S.
I apologize if my review is a bit offensive.

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Must watch!

Pleasantly surprised by this drama! This drama was not on my watchlist until i saw all the good reviews online. The buzz was well deserved!

The story itself was rich, complex and interesting. All the side characters had their own motivations for their actions that for the most part made sense. Xu Kai and Jing Tian have amazing amazing chemistry! I used to think Xu Kai only had chemistry with Bai Lu, but this drama proved me wrong. Xu kai is perfectly cast in his role. He has a mischevious flirty side reminiscent of his role in Arsenal Military Academy. Jing Tian perfectly plays the intelligent smart strong female general and is so beautiful! There is a good mix of sweetness/romance, angst, action and comedy. The pacing and editing is excellent. There are no boring parts to skip through. Overall a very enjoyable 40 episodes!

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A pot of good and not so good things

Pros:
- The chemistry between ML and FL was good and fast established. I can get into their love story from even the earlier episodes
- I especially love how childish the mighty Crown Prince behaves in front of his wife lol.
- The battle scenes when the two lords tried to kill Li Ni was done rather well i think. The death of Li Ni’s comrades while trying to protect him was heartbreaking, even more heartbreaking than the death of Cui Lin’s tbh. Haha


Cons:
- funny how cui lin/liu chengfeng’s actor decided to act out his character. It was especially bad when he tried to emulate a villain after his almost fatal injury, the acting was so bad i almost get a secondhand embarrassment. It was so cringy, like he was trying so hard to be bad, only to appear as constipated.
- And because of that, I feel like the 3rd half of the series is especially hard to go thru since that’s the arc where Liu Chengfeng appears the most, trying to be the villain. Unfortunately, the second prince somehow carries out the villain role better than Liu Chengfeng ironically. Lol
- as much as I quite like the FL, I was quite done with her when she throws a tantrum on Li Ni after Li Ni arrived late to only just save her, and not her so called ‘xiongzhang’. The hell! That xiongzhang of hers had just basically slaughtered half of Li Ni’s brothers/comrades helloooo dont you think it was too laughable to expect Li Ni to return salt with honey? Be realistic please! So you can watch your people slight Li Ni, but you cannot accept Li Ni to do basically (half) the same?
- Tbh, the plot was a lil on the weak side, especially when the story progressed into the palace storyline. By the end when it showed that the prime minister was the final bad guy, it was glaringly obvious i was mentally throwing my hands into the air. Like, how come the emperor is that stupid? With that stupidity, he wont even make it to the throne in the first place tbh. On one end, it was completely stupid not to establish power over your own soldiers/having no troops at all under your command, especially if you dont even trust your own son. Secondly, when you heard your son’s beloved wife passed away suddenly, the first thing you think is he came to usurp the throne? Like, the hell?!! (And where exactly is Cui Yi, doesnt such big news such as taizifei’s death spread? Not to mention, when the imperial physician diagnosed the taizifei’s death in the first place, they should have reported it to the emperor first, and yet, no one told him until Gu Wanniang made a sob story a day after. Lolllll) Plus, the last battle scene was so pathetic, Li Ni only stormed the palace with about a dozen soldiers to settle the problem. Lol. Such an anti-climax! The battle during Li Ni’s two brothers’ mutiny was even better climax
- The emperor’s sudden change of heart towards Li Ni was sooo sudden, it was laughingly unbelievable. Like, can you even make an effort dear writers?
- I dont even know how Li Ni still has the idea of making Xuanzhe the next emperor and for him to retire back to Laolan’s Pass (like seriously, after being an emperor? Do you think thats even doable? Even if he abdicated, wont Xuanzhe worry he will take back the throne someday? Or Li Ni’s sons?) Ahh i guess, i took it too seriously lol. Maybe in an ideal world, theres no more drama as long as Xuanzhe took the throne. Hihi

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A cut up

I'm not sure why but it took me FOREVER to finish this show.

Overall it's really good for a costume drama… My biggest problems were the costumes. Some of the fabrics look like they were printed polyester and that always took me out. The secondary villain is also a huge problem for me. Every action he took just made me wanna bang my head against my tv because I could never understand his line of logic… Why even try to understand crazy people I guess?

The drama is just really engaging and consistent. I found myself always caring about what was going on. When the leads experienced loss then I did as well. I cried while watching this show, it made me feel true anguish at times and lighthearted at others.

Its also the first Xu Kai led drama that I have liked since 2019's The Legends which isn't as tightly put together as this is.

Give it a chance.

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Typical story but for the sake of the execution - worth a watch

Typical historical drama story not much creativity there but the chemistry and acting of the leads is, I would say excellent. The title seemed misleading to me considering it is focused on wars not love. I like how the story is about something bigger than the lead couple's love.

The ending seemed a little rushed, sometimes the intervals in the wars (I mean the time line) felt a little inconsistent and a bit stretched. Sometimes, there were instances when it felt like the writer wanted something to desperately happen so he wrote that while it was according the plot quite unlikely. I am disappointed by the lack of suspense, it was kind of predicatable, so not that fun that it could have been.

Reading further, shall definitely spoil the drama for you. So, hold your horses if you are yet to watch. It's like I am summarising it.

Half of drama is suppressing the rebellion- A young lad from Laolan Pass marches with his army to suppress the rebellion, kill all rebels and recover his family's empire. Along the way to capital he faces a lot of things - love, betrayals and bereavement. Together with his army his love - who is a tough general's daughter - clever, wise and resourceful he wins cities, re-established his empire but still life was hard. But then be it.

Even after doing this much, our man only wanted to settle things in capital and go back to borders to live his simple life away from the palace.

But the responsibility of being born in a royal family is indeed a great responsibility. Our carefree lad becomes the lord of the land ruling along side his brave Empress.

But he, at last comes back to Laolan Guan with his loved one to have his happily ever after.

Our main lead is a gentleman in million, genius of a generation - strategic and wise. Cares for the people. A good crown prince, a good emperor above all - a good husband. Our female lead even though something fusses about things, is a match worthy of our man.

What can I say about the troops of west-pacifying army - with unwavering loyalty, they were brave souls who sacrificed their lives for the bond of friendship.

Now about some characters who might not be talked about -

The previous crown prince consort is a sensible woman, knows her duty. Sacrificed so much and risked her life to fulfill her duty to her empire. No matter how I praise her, it will be less. And it pains me to think that their definitely must have been such women in history whose stories never made to books of history and they were renounced for what their deeds seemed on surface.

Sun Jing even though is villain is a man commendable - a good general, didn't desert his army when he could. Man of high spirits. A pity a pity that his rebellion failed. Indeed, only a failed rebellion is a rebellion.

And at last, that Gu Wan'niang, every time I saw her, she got on my nerves. Indeed she was smart but she was a shell - acted virtuous but at last her baseless expectations from life drove her crazy (literally)

What more do i say?
I just completed the drama and my thoughts are raw and messes up. If you read it, thank you for bearing with me.
I shall add more it I remember though

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Rock-solid, binge-worthy romance

Wonderland of Love is yet another exceptional C-drama to put on my list of top 10 power couples. Xu Kai and Jing Tian play main leads Li Ni and Cui Lin who fall in love after a friendly rivalry gives way to a more serious relationship.

The first few episodes were a bit weak and, due to that, I dropped the series for a few months. I finally went back to it after completing Best Choice Ever with Xu Kai, since I found myself very impressed with his low-key, earnest performance. I had a renewed interest in finishing WOL because of his work in that.

This drama has it all: palace intrigue, epic battles and martial arts, beautiful scenery, gorgeous costumes and set design, and an exceptional soundtrack--which at the moment is only available on YouTube. (This is bad because that means I can't add it to my C-drama playlist on Spotify. Not cool).

What locked me in place was the excellent chemistry and stellar acting between the main leads. They both drew me in and made me thoroughly enjoy their playful banter which slowly becomes attraction and then intense love. Once again, I was bowled over by Xu Kai's performance. He was passionate, tempestuous, forthright, and courageous. He was everything one wants in a romantic hero. At the same time he is not without flaws. He jumps to conclusions and can be unfairly cruel to his leading lady. Just watching them fight would sometimes make my heart ache, but then the make ups were epic.

Throughout all the intense flirting, there is more intrigue to keep the plot moving. Bad guys abound in the this drama and seems our main leads jump from one dangerous situation to the next. You get some great action scenes, but keeping track of all the villains gets exhausting and repetitive. I could have done without the last episode. It was too neatly wrapped up and didn't feel true to the supporting cast and the stories that had originally been intended for them.

I also appreciated the guest performances by Zen Li and Liu Yu Ning. I have watched them both in other great C-dramas and it is a treat to have them appear in this series. I recommend this drama to those who love romances, palace intrigue, and period dramas.

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I liked last 5 episodes after he married to her.

Starting was good . Then middle part of drama was boring . All the time chasing ,chasing and chasing . Then was trying to disband the Cui's army and the reason was not satisfactory . Why the king wanted this ? The Cui's army was always work for the welfare of people and never been hindrance in the work of king . The prince and the daughter of Cui family were having same target and when everything was happening good then suddenly prince father kept the condition to marry with her . She was not agreed at first only because of her father she accepted the proposal.
I liked the episodes after their marriage scenes .

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Heartfelt historical romance with a bickering couple and a storyline full of righteousness and valor

I hope everyone can find their Wonderland of Love <3

I saw this recommended on a TikTok with "strong FLs in C-dramas" and it definitely did not disappoint! This was also my first drama with the ever-popular Xu Kai and I think they really highlighted his acting skills (especially the grief/crying scenes). If you like very romantic historical dramas, you're in for a treat. There's a lot of scenes between the main leads (LOTS of kissing too hehe) while they deal with an unstable court regime, a missing crown grandson, and invaders along the border. I thought that the opening music matched the couple's energy: heroic and righteous from beginning to end.

The storyline starts with both leads having a playful back-and-forth with their armies on the line during a time of rebellion and turmoil, as the emperor's family is almost all annihilated and a general took control. Midway through, the environment shifts from the battlefield and war to court intrigue and tricky politics. I do think the war strategies were at the forefront of the conflict in the show compared to any palace drama, which was refreshing and fun.

PROS:
❀ Main couple with stellar chemistry and dialogue
I loved the scenes between A'Ying and Li Ni, from the very beginning where they were after the same thing (provisions for their respective armies) to the end where they worked together as a couple to squash rebels. Their chemistry was fire from the very beginning and the flirting never stopped from there, lol. The couple dynamics were giving stubborn general's daughter x playful nobleman. Neither of them were invested in the fight for court power but were thrown into the game due to the incompotent people around them, such as Li Ni's cowardly father and brothers. I love how they were on the same frequency for most of the drama, knowing what the other thought and going along with their plans. They both respected each other's wit and characters immensely, and the dialogue always emphasized that. In terms of an equal relationship, this one takes the cake. ALSO, I'm very happy with their ending as a couple and how the show took time to reach that conclusion.
As individuals, I thought their characterizations stayed true throughout the story. Even though Li Ni didn't want to crown prince role and favored a simple lifestyle on the border, he recognized what he needed to do after the huge betrayal scene. Even still, he remained stalwart and upstanding even in the midst of scheming ministers. A'Ying is like the rest of her family - tsundere at heart. She may seem quite cold at times, but she actually has a soft heart. Together, they get along best when they fight/bicker (lol). Shout out to the choreography of them fighting/battling together, because that was always a feast for the eyes.

❀ Interesting side characters that added a lot of depth
From the torn Crown Princess (what a heartbreaking character!) to the brother-in-arms from Loulan Pass (my favorite comic relief), I really appreciated the extra characters. The only ones I didn't like were the second leads, lol. More on that in the con section. Oh also, Taozi and Erduo were the cutest :)

❀ Giving Art of War energy
I enjoyed the heavy emphasis on military strategy over any palace intrigue. A lot of the plans talked about knowing when to attack and when to retreat, which people to use as your allies, when to ambush the enemy, etc. I thought it kept the storyline exciting and the action non-stop.

❀ Them costumes though...
Flashy and gorgeous. Especially Li Ni's outfits... that man looks fine in everything. Also loved his hairdo as well lol. They did an amazing job with making A'Ying look heroic in her military gear too! It created a great juxtaposition when she dressed up as a noble lady.

CONS:
✕ Second leads were kinda weird
I forgot their names so I'm just going to label them as 2ML and 2FL. Both had odd characterizations that were reductive and trite. Also both of them started out decent but ended up getting super obsessed over our main leads which made for lazy writing. Both stand no chance in the romance game.
The 2ML was A'Ying's adoptive brother who wanted to get together with him, but she only saw as an older brother. I thought their separation would allow him to come back even more heroic and helpful in the Cui Army cause, but he just fell into the dark side.
The 2FL was a court lady that Li Ni randomly saved and she got obsessed with him ever since, going back to her father to scheme him into marrying her. At first I was like, "ooh she's kind of smart despite being a court lady that was kicked out of her home," but instead of leveraging that plotline to create character depth, her development stunted at falling in love with Li Ni who never ever gave her hints.
This wouldn't even be a con if it weren't for their obsessive scheming getting into the way of the leads. Like let them be!!

✕ A'Ying could get pretty stubborn at times
This is part of her character, but she could give a good sulk like no other. Thankfully, Li Ni is 10/10 at apologizing and I love a good grovel when I see one (even if it's sometimes not needed LOL). This didn't hinder my enjoyment but sometimes I was like, girl can you just let it go :,)) Thankfully their make-up scenes were 20/10!!

✕ Misunderstandings: 3/10
Nothing major that I can think of. It was more like minor understandings in the beginning when they were both figuring out each other's identities and character. Any break-ups and arguments were short-lived between them and they made up pretty often. I loveeeed their romantic dates in the midst of the war and fights breaking out lol.

OVERALL
If you're looking for a valiant couple who work together for the sake of bringing peace to the people, this show is for you. There's plenty of action, and even more romance, to enjoy. The male lead is protective and sweet, the female lead is headstrong and gallant. Both of them stand brave in the midst of chaotic times and strive to protect the ones they love. While the show was 40 episodes, I never felt bored and the satisfying ending made my heart all warm. The symbolism of Le You Yuan (Wonderland) will leave viewers hopeful about their own wonderland of love.

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Drama with clever FL and ML characters.

What I like the most is the character of the two main characters and also their costumes. HAHAHA.

so first of all, I initially had no intention of watching this drama until it was quite popular in cdrama. The reason for not wanting to watch? I dont know. I just didn't intend to because I didn't have attention to watch Xukai dramas and I didn't really know the actress (until I finally realize that her acting and visuals at the age of 35 were really good).

So, this is a 40-episode historical drama. The setting is an empire being rebelled by a general named Sujing. There are two teams that want to protect empire, the Lini form western border team (which turns out to be one of those who has an imperial lineage that has been massacred) and Cui Li (Who has a daughter Cui Lin but keeps it a secret, so her daughter is disguised as an adjutant).

Cui Lin and Li Ni both want to save the empire, but neither of them trusts each other. So, they have their own way of saving until they have to work together to overcome various dramas and obstacles.

What I like is that Cui and Li are very smart in scouting and war, Where's Miss Cui's fashion, she's really pretty when she's about to attract, oh my God >_<

In short, Lini managed to save his father from Sujing's captivity, kill Sujing, and appoint his father as temporary emperor assisted by Prime Minister Gu and his daughter. But unfortunately, Lini is the kind of child that the emperor doesn't like so the emperor listens to her 2 stupid older brothers.

There are differences of opinion between Li Ni and Cui. Li Ni wants to return peacefully to the border after searching and finding the real crown prince and asking the emperor to abdicate, while Cui feels that Li Ni has the potential to become a wise emperor. Yeah, their romance is full of intrigue there until finally Lini has to become crown prince and marry the person she loves (Cui). But the Cui family has to disband 100,000 of their military troops which also causes her father to go crazy. (Imagine, in order to save yourself, you have to let go of all the troops that have been built from your acestors and his father is crazy, so on the first night, Cui and Li end up fighting, it's funny even though it's tragic).

And let's discuss what I don't like.

1. 39/40 episodes the emperor is stupid. Li Ni's father wasn't stupid in the final episode but only when he handed over the throne.
2. Lini's two older brothers were so stupid that they were taken advantage of by enemies who started a civil war.
3. Cui's former adoptive brother, a boy who was originally called General Cui's son, didn't thank him enough and was a stupid love with Cui, until he worked together with Sujing to attack the empire and killed many people.
4. Mr. Gu's 4th daughter, who was so stupid that she decided to become a concubine and had a lot of drama.

Please, if the protagonist is as smart as Sujing with Mr. Gu, I'm fine with that. This protagonist is so stupid: (makes your blood run high. What makes you stick around watching? Of course, our two main players. Who else? The characters are really fresh. The girls and boys are equally intelligent. The way they learn from those who are good at warfare and then learn to enter politics is told in a subtle way. They are not made to be so smart that they don't make mistakes, but they are made to learn that their intelligence also has limits to power.

My favorite character apart from them? The former crown princess of the dead emperor and the mother of the missing crown prince (searched for by Lini). Mirssss, you are willing to ruin your crown princess title and change into Sujing's empress during the rebellion so you can be an eye, poisoning Sujing with lipstick so that you get poisoned, so you don't arouse suspicion, that's amazing, and so calm, my god, that's crazy!This drama is quite good as a historical drama!!!

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Did we even watch the same thing?

I am utterly flabbergasted at the high rating for this show. I went into this thinking it would be a light-hearted and fun love story with a side of palace politics and power struggles. What I ended up watching was a show with ridiculous characters and nonsensical plot that circled around the frustrating love story of the two main characters. I am under the impression that Xu Kai fans are what has inflated the rating for this show because the drama itself is not worth watching.

To address Xu Kai; I actually liked him in this drama and thought his acting was done much better than I have seen in many of his other works. He had great chemistry with Jing Tian and the other male cast members in his army. His stage presence is great and he pulls off the carefree soldier that is being forced into his role of royalty. Jing Tian also acted her role well according to how she is written. I did not like the character very much but she was acted well and the chemistry between the two helped tremendously. The character herself was just frustrating and I often times wanted Li NI to just give up because she was not worth it.

But having two great main actors will not make a show great if it is written and directed poorly. And that is exactly what this is. It is so poorly written that it is laughable. Almost all of the characters are cartoonish in their representations of their roles. The main lead's father that becomes the emperor is spineless and ridiculous. He acts and reacts in ways that are childish. His two older brothers are witless and ambitious but just plain dumb. The writer of this show obviously does not have a firm understanding of politics because the way this drama moves in circles with with nonsensical reasoning for their moves and countermoves. Every villain that is introduced, and there are quite a few, are one dimensional characters making decisions based on one specific desire and the people around them just follow along as if that person is not dumb. And these actors were even directed to make the most ridiculous facial expressions that make them cartoony to portray evilness.

I was already struggling to get through this after the main leads father, whom you can not convince me is a person that could have ever held power, became emperor. Even if he was a puppet king he was so ridiculous that I could no longer watch scenes with him in it. Then came the tedious and LONG storyline where the female lead is angry that the Li Ni did not save her useless Young Master. I could have gotten past it and said it was her grief reacting but it went on for soooo long. When they finally find that cute and watchable area where the two are clearly in love you have the intrusion of the love scorned Young Master returning as a villain but in a way that made absolutely no sense. Did no one ask where he had been for months? No one questioned anything and just let him back to lead the army with authority higher than Ying even though she was very close to the general. The forced wedding episode was unbearable to watch for its nonsense. Move on and you have the female lead then forcing the unwilling male lead to become crown prince in order to marry her. It is one ridiculous plot point to another with no connecting strings or firm reasoning for their actions.

The only reason I am giving this a 5 is because the costumes are pretty, the main actors do well, and the OST is nice. But the CGI is horrible, the rest of the acting is bad and the story line is ridiculous.

I really just can't tell you enough to please skip this drama.

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