This was an interesting story. The Crown Prince died under mysterious circumstance. The royal physicians attributed it to a blood disease. But the Queen believed that he had been murdered. Defiant against all forces trying to stop her, she was determined to investigate. His death sparked off a fight for the crown prince position now out for grabs. The Queen hoped that one of her four grand princes would succeed the Crown Prince. However, the Queen Dowager, Chief State Councilor and other royal consorts especially Consort Hwang, the birth mother of the King's eldest son, were not going to make it easy.

What I like about this drama?

1. The story had a lot of twists and turns, shrouded in mystery. The investigation led to the uncovering of a similar mysterious death of Crown Prince Taein, the brother of the current King. So what was the connection? The sons of the Queen, the grand princes were all underdogs - with skeletons in their closets, unambitious or disadvantaged. The power-hungry, scheming and wicked Queen Dowager was against her as well. It all seemed a losing game for the Queen.

2. Mix of humour. The drama was quite intense. However, there were moments of humorous relief.

3. The cast was good, not to leave out good looking as well. The leads were outstanding.

What I do not like about this drama?

1. It was based on yet another theme of fighting for the throne; a theme that was beaten to death.

2. Very intense and stressful to watch.

3. Not much chemistry between the male and female leads. They were not given much chance to demonstrate their chemistry either.

Overall, I rated this a 9.5 with not much else to nitpick on. Enjoy it...