Arthur Chen potentials for acting and he played the character Ning Que well. Song YiRen played the young Sang Sang well too. The story was interesting and exciting. There was not much romance but it worked with the story. The 60 episodes was worth watching but the story is only half way there. The ending is not a cliffhanger so it is worth watching knowing that there is another part to the story. Although, the second season is disappointing and is just as well if you stop at the first season. Seems there may be a third season which if the quality continues to be similar to the second season, I would not watch it since the second season didn't end with a cliffhanger.

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Writer with dementia or indecisiveness?

Have to be last resort to finish this drama. Storyline has 2 arcs with no continuity. Song arc had an interesting beginning but finished with a vague ending. The FL has twin characters as a cold princess dies replaced by assassin twin who is not as cold blooded but actually has compassion. In the Wei arc, FL becomes a weak childlike princess. The ML is a superb martial artist with high intelligence who was robbed of his memories that ended the Song arc. In the Wei arc, he plays a scumbag who seduced two women for their worth to his ambition. At the beginning he promises to marry one by proclaiming to her father that he would rather live an ordinary life with her than lose her to political power; but later in the story out of nowhere, the two suddenly had a mutual agreement that the marriage was contractual and she broke it by falling in love with him (probably to make the ML less of a scumbag.) If that is so, scumbag consummated the contractual marriage by getting her pregnant. With other character discrepancies, it was difficult to convince myself to finish the story pretending it's two different dramas rather than one bad drama with 2 arcs and making excuses for some of the blind spots. The cast consists of many actors who now famous celebrities. This is what kept me going to episode 34. Most reviews are spot on so I am a bit wary about the ending and wonder if I want to go through the rest of the 20 or so episodes for another vague ending. Most likely not, so I marked it as dropped.

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The drama started out interesting then a mid point it starts to feel like a teen drama. The dialog and story line starts losing common sense and logic. The acting is passing for a drama that feels more like a canned soap opera. He Mei, the female lead antagonist is a below average actress and definitely not one to keep the viewers' interest. I have already begin the fast forwarding mode just to get to the end of this drama; it would be a waste of my time to drop at episode 29 and a waste of my time to keep watching since I've lost interest. I've seen the lead actress in other drama and she is pretty much the same. The two lead male actors are good and I may want to see more of their future performance.

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The plot was interesting enough to want to watch the drama but once into the end of the first episode, the acting was enough to make you want to stop watching. The actors seem to be in their own frame of script and not emotionally on the same level. I felt as if they were too much into their own role and not working together. Then the main male character who is supposed to be a tyrant with a soft heart but his acting is so choppy; overacting as an overbearing man that does not suit his style and change mood too suddenly that does not make sense. The female lead is in her own emotional bubble that does not coordinate with the other actors. The violent behavior that seems normal and acceptable in this drama is not realistic. It's like watching a stage play that is formatted to motion picture. I am forcing myself to continue with the drama by overlooking the flaws mentioned, hoping it will get better.

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Truly want to complete watching the drama just for Peter Sheng.

The story is interesting. I am a fan of the male lead Peter Sheng and was all set to enjoy a piece of great work. Sadly, the actors were all disjointed as if they did not review their script nor did they understand their character parts. They seem to be in their own micro world and not acting with each other. The directing did not help either. The actors also seem to have mental changes with each screen change. For example, the crown prince at first screen had some noble air in the palace but turned into a jiang-hu thug during the academy screens. In one scene as he runs for his life, he bends over his knees in total exhaustion; as he straightened his back, he stands upright as if exhaustion did not exist a second before. The male lead's personality fluctuated through different scenes such that I can not pin his true character; is he cold elegance or young boyish or shy gentle? Two side characters joined the school the same time the main characters did under the approval of the elder as having a "good heart and character" turns out to be school bullies leading a group of followers in the next scene. [My confused self: wait a minute, aren't they new students? How did they become seniors with minions and power? What happened to the two sweet innocent like boys at the entry exam?] As a Peter Sheng fan, I believe his acting could only be as stable as he could musters under the destructive guidance of the director. There are also some flaws with film editing. I can only imagine a "could be" hit drama if only it was under better directing and editing.

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