Yang Mi has proven once again that literally any costume drama she touches will be a hit. Since her last costume drama of FuYao, I was anticipating this drama for years especially since the delay with covid. I am satisfied.

My first reactions to this drama was a little skeptical as I wasn't completely on board with the student-teacher relationship and their potentially 10+ age gap. But I have to say it didn't really matter because the main romance really took a backseat compared to the side couples and political storyline. I thoroughly enjoyed the action and politics and how well they mixed it in with the three couples involved. Loved seeing people defying gravity, throwing swords, and the microfantasy elements of the mermaids and the baixi.

Romance-wise.... My favorite couple was the third couple and my only complaint is that they completely left the scene in the third half. I would've loved more episodes with them. Second couple was hard to watch in the beginning and toxicity was STRONG but they later on proved to be a wonderful and strong relationship full of trust and love. Big fan of KaiCheng now, he can really act! On to the main couple, I'll be honest I couldn't feel that much chemistry between them and that just might be because of the comparison to FuYao and TMOPB. However they were still enjoyable to watch and if it weren't for this I wouldn't have discovered William Chan's marvelous eyebrows.

Overall story, production, and romance were great! Not the best but definitely had a good balance and pacing and kept me waiting for the episodes constantly. Mu De Qing is the GOAT.