Very lighthearted drama!

Before I get into the drama itself, I would like to talk about the actors. The female lead is Meng Ziyi and I have enjoyed her performance in numerous dramas and I really like the type of roles she picks which are usually intelligent female roles. The male lead is Jeremy Tsui and I have also watched quite a few of his dramas. I did not like Journey of Chongzi and decided to drop it but I did like The Autumn Ballad.

I think the plot is pretty simple and does not get into palace politics as much as other dramas. It had a great balance of comedy, palace struggles, and romance. Overall, the plot was refreshing because I wasn't so anxious all the time about what was going to happen and it's a very lighthearted drama. There were some plot twists but I wasn't totally shocked about it because they were foreshadowed way in the beginning of the drama. I think the relationship between the two leads had great chemistry and their moments were very cute. Something I did feel a little off about was that they seemed very close straight off the bat but that is also one of the reasons everyone felt like a family. The costumes and scenery were also beautiful and I was so glad to see all the women dressed so exquisitely. Something that was off again was that the maid was definitely not dressed up for her status. Her outfits would be the equivalent of a noble lady, but even so, my eye never left Meng Ziyi's outfits. The ending was also satisfying and there's nothing wrong with this drama. it does not have much action or scheming as other palace dramas. The plot was pretty simple and good for taking a breather from more plot-heavy dramas.

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GREAT STORYLINE AND ACTING

There's so many experienced actors/actresses in this drama! I really liked it, especially the start to end of how a big boss and political machine rises from a fish seller to the top. I liked how it conveys lots of emotions and despair of decisions that they may have been forced to make and ultimately making them unable to get out of the hole they made. I also enjoyed the realistic part how the ml police officer played by Zhang Yi misses the chance to be with the girl he loves and she moves on. Overall, the drama is really good on the police solving cases and knowing when to keep going and retreating to get the advantage. The family moments and friends to enemies but still friends and family were something that was super touching. I do feel bad for Li Xiang's death and how he got rolled up with it even when he didn't want to be involved. I liked how he was loyal and I was supportive of his wannabe spy mission on the corrupt officials. Something I did not like but felt was realistic was the way AX (Zhang Yi) continued to treat GQQ even after knowing he was the ultimate mastermind behind everything and how he fought with his colleagues over it too. I do enjoyed their bromance and how he felt a dilemma over doing his duty as a police officer and having his emotions to his friend. One thing was that this drama was kind of draggy towards the middle and it took a long time for the police to solve the crime.

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cutest drama ever!!

I love this drama so much! Even before finishing it, I knew this would be my new favorite drama even out of all the dramas from different genres I watch. It's a very lighthearted youth drama during high school and at the end also includes their life after graduating and entering adulthood. The friendship between the 5 is the healthiest friendship I've ever seen. Su Zaizai and Zhang Lurang are so adorable together and so is the second couple with Gu Ran and Jiang Jia. This is one of the first dramas where I thought the second couple is equally as good as the main couple (even though my favorite is still the main couple). The directing, music, actors, characters, storyline, plot, and pacing are so amazing! The production quality is good and the scenery and backgrounds are so aesthetic. Usually, I dislike when actresses try to act cute but fl here is so naturally adorable that it makes the drama even cuter. There are so many small details included that are relevant to the story and just make it so much better. This is a very refreshing drama and has become my comfort drama. I'm sad to have finished it but I will definitely rewatch it!

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handsome actors and beautiful cinematography!

The costumes and accessories look pretty good quality (idk if it matches the era) and the directing was amazing. I liked the color scheme which seemed to match the vibe of the drama. I love Jing Boran's character LJ. He's so good looking and his role is actually reasonable and smart. On the other hand, Song Weilong's character ZP who's supposed to be a smart detective is so naive who just wants to expose the truth with no fear of death and in historical times especially because he's a commoner, that attitude is dumb and will get him targeted and will get people around him killed. I just found Song Weilong's character and acting to not match the drama. I preferred the bromance between Lan Jue (Jing Boran) to be with Mowen and Zhang Ping (Song Weilong) to be with Chen Chou. Zhang Ping's status and aura just doesn't match with Lan Jue who has a dignified and elegant aura. I loved the colors and the deep meaning and symbolism everywhere. The music was also elegant and had a mysterious vibe which I thought was very fitting. Overall, I thought it was a good drama except for 2 main parts that I felt fustrated at because they were being hypocritical.

SPOILER ALERT!
1. The first situation was with Lady Yuzhen, where she was punished for taking revenge on someone who hired men to sexually harass her. The revenge didn't harm anyone except the initial person who sent the men. Zhang Ping went to her and victim blamed Yuzhen, showing absolute no sympathy.
2. The second is with the real prince. The prince was literally killed by his own mother, the Empress Dowager when he was a kid and got replaced. He grew up hateful which is definitely reasonable!! His rescuer's whole village was also massacred because they saved his life. Then he wants revenge for himself and his rescuers and claim his royal status back only for the 2 people he trusted to betray him also (ZP and LJ) for "the greater good" even though the Empress Dowager literally framed both their families and killed them. Like I thought y'all wanted the truth no matter what! Like I agree the real prince was causing chaos to the world but the world betrayed him first. I agree that the real prince shouldn't be the emperor but I didn't like how they invalidated his experiences

also I was so shocked at the end when Lan Jue said he had a kid!

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AMAZING ACTING

I love Zhang Ruoyun's acting!! Especially in this drama, his acting of a character who is a mathematical genius but doesn't have strong social awareness is so impressive. His performance is always so good! This was a short drama and even though it's a bit dry, I like how it's not dragging. It started with a problem that the ml needed to solve and it ended after the problem was solved. I really liked the cinematography and directing of this drama. The colors and the pan movements were really fitting. There is also a lot of politics that go really deep. I wouldn't say the plot itself is that interesting but if you like Zhang Ruoyun, this is a good filler drama! Also almost everyone is this drama are experienced actors and I'd say they played their roles of government officials so well!

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