I'm usually more of a Xianxia fan and don't really like Wuxia. But this drama left me speechless.
I admit that I started watching because of the title and the hot opening scene. The two main actors blew me away immediately, even though I didn't know either of them. The story captivated me immediately and the costumes, the cuts, the music, everything captivated me so much that I immediately took out a subscription to Youku to devour this series. It's now also on Viki, but I don't want to wait. The development of the love between Mei Lin and Murong Jing He is told in a wonderfully coherent way. I think it's particularly nice that a camaraderie, respect and friendship develops before both realize that they love each other. The time when both disappear from the scene and hide in a mountain village - to recover and wait for political developments - is particularly important in order to understand the dynamics of the two and also to understand why both want to sacrifice themselves for each other. The adventures of the two are filmed brilliantly. The cameraman has a great sense of aesthetics and the landscape shots and locations are really well chosen. Baron Chen, as Murong Xuan Lie and Crown Prince, manages to stir up emotions very subtly. He is the considered villain who plans calmly and leaves nothing to chance. If he weren't caught up in his obsession with the beautiful General Luo Mei and thus rash and vulnerable - nothing would stop him. At the beginning I would never have thought that she would fall in love with him and stand by his side even when he dies. You almost don't begrudge this ice-cold murderer the opportunity to express a wish for the next life. You often forget that this person has the lives of tens of thousands of people on his conscience and that all just to defame his brother. This is even pointless, because he would have become the Crown Prince without any ifs and buts. The heir to the throne of Yue Qin, who loves Mei Lin, is a little pale but beautiful. This obsession is not entirely clear, as apart from gratitude for saving him, there is actually little interaction between the two and the love seems superficial. So I'll turn back to the bigger picture. I haven't mentioned the fight scenes yet, which are of course very good, very bloody, very brutal - so why does everyone somehow survive after such terrible injuries? Any university hospital of this decade would be overwhelmed. But a little imagination is needed. Contrary to my habit of fast-forwarding everything boring, I have made it to episode 24 without doing this. Chapeau. Record... Here we are now. The king is saved, the heir to the throne and the villain is dead. Murong Jin He has miraculously survived his enormous injuries and Mei Lin is on her way to marry the heir to the throne Yue Qin and on her way to another country... and now I am excited to see how my two beloved main protagonists will manage to turn things around and spend their holidays in the mountain village holding hands while the kids play... and woe betide them!!!!!