I'm seriously looking at all these high rated reviews and I feel like we've just been watching two completely different dramas. Maybe my expectations were too high, or I have different tastes, or the drama is just genuinely.... not good. If you're looking for a fast-paced, super romantic drama, look away because this is not for you.

And I gotta be honest, I feel next to nothing for most of these characters. Like, almost apathetic. The acting, the characters, the plot line - nothing was engaging and real enough for me to feel invested.

First of all - the Emperor. I'm sorry, but he is straight up trash. He sexually, emotionally, and physically abuses Tilan until she's so scared of him that she flinches away whenever he even approaches her, and the show tries to excuse all of this because of his past trauma. HELLO. EXCUSE ME. I don't care WHAT tragic past you have, because absolutely nobody deserves the shit that Tilan went through. I swear, she got strangled by him at least like... three times. Wtf. And then all of a sudden, everything is okay because the Emperor sees the light! He understands what he did was wrong, and Tilan is so understanding! And even comforts him! .... People. If someone treats you like this in real life, please leave them. You cannot be their savior, what they need is therapy.

Second of all - Jiangming, the ML. This emotionless rock. Even the rare times that he showed emotion, I just wasn't into it, and I'm not sure if it's just an issue of me just not jiving with the character at all or what. He keeps the FL in the dark about literally .... everything. Just ups and decides the rest of FL's life for her, under the guise of "protecting her" without ever asking her about what she wants - actually, FL told him multiple times what she wants, but no, he decides to ignore all of that because he loves her so he gets to decide how things go. Lmao. Okay.

Now - Haishi. Y'all. I feel like her life just revolves around the ML, I literally don't know how she would be able to live her life outside of him. I get having a love interest, but I also feel like she needs her own character, her own hobbies, you know? Right now, I'm just not getting that at all.

The acting - I wasn't impressed, to be honest. The acting for the Emperor was especially not doing it for me, kind of felt like the same 3 wide eyed, angry expression throughout the whole show.

The chemistry - not feeling it. I felt like if I could feel genuine chemistry between the two leads, I would be so much more invested in the show. I haven't watched any of William Chan's dramas but I've watched Yang Mi in Fuyao and Eternal Love and the chemistry between the leads in both of those shows were off the charts. This one? Definitely can't say the same, and I don't know if it's because of the ML's character in the show or ???? I also feel like it might be how they shot 90% of these romantic scenes where it's SUPER CORNY - they slow down and zoom in on everything and it just makes the whole scene feel unnatural.

Another (lol) complaint I had was also the terrible wigs for some of the guys, like the wig for Duo Luo made me not take him seriously at all because every time I looked at him in that curly wig, I couldn't help but laugh.

Anyway. Not to say there weren't good things - I liked the OST, I enjoyed the relationship between Haishi and Zhuoying, and Zhouying and Zheliu. I liked Tilan, I guess. I've spent a lot of time watching most of this drama already, so I'll finish it up at least, but I don't think my review on this show will change much.