I'm not very good with words but here I am. ?

Hooked from start to finish, this drama has been worth the wait. Despite the limited budget, this drama delivered a high quality production. The script is quotable, there's so many lines that are memorable. It would've been better if iqiyi made more effort in translating them. The acting is top tier. It made me starstruck and engrossed. It felt like i'm there with them, I kept holding my breath not to miss anything. The costumes are also good. I like xie wei's hairstyle with his hair down and the ribbon on his back. He also looked great in his court official attire, that's my most fave look of him. The women's dresses are also so fine. I love the pastel colors. The gold on the royalties are also so fitting. I like a drama that invest in costumes because it adds to my watching experience.

I'm not sure how the drama plot stayed true to the novel but the drama plot was well done. I liked the pacing. There's something significant happening in every episode. There's no unnecessary fillers. Nothing was dragged or rushed. I think my main problem was the romance of xie wei and ning'er. While they have a lot of interactions in the first 30 eps, the love line hasn't really started there though from xie wei's perspective it's been going on from the earliest eps. Ning'er still hasn't have that kind of feelings for him yet. This is the slowest burn i have ever experienced in my cdrama life. But those moments of xie wei and ning'er from the first 30 eps are still serving chemistry. They're not doing romantic but they're burning of chemistry. bailu and zhang linghe did so well in that department. Came ep 31 onwards, some may say love was forced to ning'er but no. From the start, she might have develop something but only at later eps did it awakened. And mostly, xie wei's love for her reached her and she took it. They have such a toxic development but they're both intense so I think it suited them both fine.

I am not into love triangle, what more reverse harem. I liked how every men and woman in jxn's life are important to her story. I was stressed and seething of jealousy (for xw) when seeing her with zhang zhe though. Such a sad love story. Their moments were sweet.

When it comes to palace dramas, the scheming will always be present. Mostly, I get stressed watching those but this one our mains are mainly involved in the scheming. As the saying goes, they may not always win but they will never lose. That's how powerful our main leads here that I never have to sweat about them losing anything. They will pass through challenges again and again.

I think this is the kind of drama that I would want to marathon and watch with friends. Never a dull moment. Watch it, highly recommend!