Favorite cdrama in years

I've been watching chinese dramas for YEARS (probably over a decade), and this is the only cdrama I've watched on repeat ever. The characters are well written, the romance is believable, and there's also an endgame/political setup that is emotional and worth cheering for. The female lead's setup is already intriguing, since it involves a female lead that has to (re)navigate her life decisions in a a thought-provoking way, and generally a male lead that is supportive of her throughout this navigating of the court intrigue/personal relationships. For me, the elements that make a truly wonderful and rewatchable drama are as follows:

1) Strong female lead - the female lead has to be written in a way that I want to cheer for her. There are a lot of characters out there, but the female lead has a strong drive/ambition and has a reason for wanting to accomplish her mission that to me reads as noble and worthwhile, while also being spunky and fun (and I absolutely love Bai Lu's acting, she is perfectly cast for this role). It's just super fun to watch a female character acting in her own agency and trying to navigate life

2) Excellent chemistry between both (all?) leads - really good believable chemistry always gets me. enough said here, their scenes speak for themselves :) this also links to that I want both leads to be believable in their chemistry. Good acting to me is where I forget they're an actor, but truly believe they are the character they're portraying, which is definitely done by both here!

3) Good pacing & political intrigue - love me some plotting for the dramatic tension in the storyline, and I think dramas really shine when both leads have a brain and work together, and get to know each other over a shared interest/smarts rather than just a love at first sight. the dramatic tension of first life vs. fixing things in second life also drives the plot and kept me on the hook; when I watch a drama, having it be interesting and an easy watch is v important

4) good quality costuming & scenery - I hate when other historical dramas look cheap or over the top, but I've aesthetically loved the costuming here :) one of the things I appreciate is seeing Chinese-style costuming and scenery, love that aspect of cultural exchange.

The whole support cast is excellent too, hope all the cast members get lots of awards for this show!!

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Cute and fluffy!

This was a cute and fluffy watch! It had some of my fav elements, like a nice slow burn, a couple that actually gets to know each other before dating and has something in common or shared passion / common goal that they can work towards together, which I think just adds so much to the chemistry and believability of the pairing. Zhang Miao Yi was really good, I haven't watched either lead in anything before but she was fun to watch, chemistry queen in this drama, and I thought she was great at portraying the happy/light moments too! Xie Bin Bin and her had good chemistry which is what I look for in a romance drama. The pacing and plot in terms of the romance I really loved, people shouldn't go into it thinking it's a high budget drama but I think it's quite sweet and genuine

I could tell from the get-go that I didn't take the alliance stuff too seriously, the concept and plot are more a frame to carry the romance and personal relationships around it, also I thought the corporation plotting bits that arose later on in the drama were actually fun. It's a tv show - I look for something that will entertain me and also remind me of all the cute bits of romance, which it definitely did! And props to the actors for acting each character on point, very believable and I'm happy I watched it! :)

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