The biggest problem with this drama is genre confusion and a lack of a plot. The story started off with a very cruel practice of killing childless concubines and burying them with a deceased emperor. One of the concubines was rescued by a powerful eunuch leading to the two forming a unique relationship. The plot included serious elements of murder, abuse, political conspiracy, and forbidden love that had a potential to create an engaging story and complex characters. Unfortunately, the serious elements pretty much disappeared at the beginning of the drama turning it into another goofy rom com.

I like Dylan Wang and I think he does very well in other costume dramas like Love Between Fairy and Devil. But, here, he was miscast. Xiao Duo is a complex character wielding incredible power and influence second only to the emperor. Everyone fears him and his subordinates call him "godfather" (per Viki translation). He should have been portrayed by an older and more mature actor, especially because it would take years to achieve that kind of power. Instead, we had a 25 year old actor playing dress-up. Bu Yinlou's character was completely stripped down, and, a lonely and abused former concubine became just another infantile female stereotype. The whole experience felt like the writers were insulting my intelligence by introducing a serious plot with very tragic elements and turning it into a silly idol drama.

By episode 15, I was bored out of my mind because nothing of substance was really happening. There were no more hints of political conspiracy. Any kind of seriousness and danger were gone. A promising story with a dark plot turned into a slap-stick comedy. An incredibly dangerous and vicious Xiao Duo regressed to a love-sick puppy. Bu Yinlou acted like an infantile nincompoop with overly exaggerated facial expressions. At this point, 36 episodes were far too many to sit through when there was nothing to look forward to.