I was very curious about this drama, I wanted to see the real life story about one of the most famous women in Chinese history, about a woman who while she lived was called smart and virtuous, kind and modest, about a woman who was helpful in maintaining the piece in whole palace and harem, I also liked the trailer-it looked awesome plus I am a sucker for any Chinese historical drama 100%, especially when it's about one of the most interesting period in history, personally one of my favourite periods is Han Dynasty. ;) But in the end I was expecting more, not from the angle of acting, that was really great, but from the angle of characters development and palace intrigues. This drama has the weakest Emperor ever, he made me cringe so many times, I really didn't like him at all. even when he was smart, he was stupid. Cause he believed everyone and every time he questioned the trust in people whom he should trust, every time it was with some evidences, with so many talks, I was so tired from all that. Although I'm not that much knowledgeable about Emperor Wu of Han, I know that he was one of the most important and greatest rulers and in this drama his portrayal was too weak and it seemed like he achieved everything most of the times with the help of Empress, Wei Qing or Duan Hong, either the truth or not, I didn't like him in this drama. On the other hand his sister the Princess was the best and she is for sure the best side character ever, so brave, intelligent, always speaks her mind, good, loyal and at the same scary and kind, a true woman who would survive anything and she did suffer and experienced many sad things but still she was standing so proudly and confident until the end. I have only full admiration for woman like that. Empress was at times too unrealistic, I mean I know that she was modest and always wanting to keep piece in her clan but it's really impossible for someone to be that kind and good, putting others in front of her and always willing to sacrifice herself, too much in the palace where everyone just waiting to stab you in the back, especially all those concubines. But she was in one thing worthy of full respect, how she protected her brother and childhood friend, how she easily was willing to give up her own life to help them and protect them, she was too kind and naive sometimes but when they were in question, she was a lioness. The best characters in this drama beside the princess were Empress's brother who was the best general I've seen, the guy was so smart, courageous, brave, skilled in fights, the best warrior and a real soldier but his love for the Empress was something the most powerful, I always fall for siblings and bond between them and this one has to be one of the strongest and most wonderful ones, they made me smile and sad so many times.; and their childhood friend Duan Hong- if you ask me, I would kick that Emperor and run away with Duan, he was such a perfect guy for her and although too much in love, he never insisted or revealed his feeling, he was loyal to the Emperor like his most trustworthy man. What has really bothered me were the very first episodes, they rushed so much, how they even could fall in love with each other only after one look and I'm sorry for the spoiler but not one single kiss in historical drama with romance in the middle all of it?! Just too illogical and stupid, so I simply couldn't feel the main couple at all. All in all, this drama would be great if only they didn't rush with so many things and if Empress was little more realistic and more like a woman with real feelings. As for the costumes- stunning, one of the best costumes dramas, the production was very good, it looks like an expensive drama with high budget and sceneries were astonishing. I've enjoyed in music, many beautiful sounds through the whole drama and those melodies fitted just fine. There are a lot worse dramas than this one and lot better ones but as from my point of view I did like it cause there were some characters who really have won me over and made me fall for them plus I would like to see more high budget dramas like this one, everything looked so real. If you love Chinese history, great costumes, good acting than I think this drama is for you.