Woww, I loved this show so much! It does a great job in not adhering to tiring tropes such as evil second female lead, super nice second male lead, love triangles/unnecessary entangelements, etc. Watching this show made me feel at ease with how wonderful the main and secondary couples were, how well they worked together, and how much they loved each other. It was balanced with an intricate mystery that the characters worked to solve as they grew together.

PROS
❀ It had a couple of well-done tropes | Including hidden identities and revenge for family. Each mystery the team solved became a step towards solving the main villain's plans, which made for a solid storyline that I didn't get tired of.
❀ A+ teamwork | I don't have enough words to express how much I love the main team that comes together. We have a detective (FL), general/prince (ML), martial artist (my fave himbo), poisoner (wish we got a character arc for her), and chef (so cute). Perfectly balanced with a fun/friendly dynamic. I absolutely loved their camaraderie and antics.
❀ A+++ romance | Phew... I ADORED the romances. It was so nice to see how gentle, kind, and loving the male lead Pei Yan Zhi was. He first encounters the female lead Su Ci while she's investigating and is impressed with her... after that, their fates become intertwined. Su Ci is a dedicated detective who is observant and sharp-witted. Her keen eyes are a great complement to PYZ's sensitive hearing. She's pretending to be a man to figure out the truth behind the death of her Bai Liang clan in the past, which has to do with a sinister plot going on.
❀ Don't change the woman, change the society | The script had inspiring female leads that you really want to root for. I loved how once PYZ realizes SC is a woman, instead of trying to mold/change her into someone who conforms to society, he makes plans to change society itself so she can fit in. Wow,,, the dedication.
❀ Mystery plots were pretty well-done | While the detective work was pretty superficial (conjectures based on observations and such), I like how they were all related to the bigger plan going on. The villain wasn't the most developed, but he made for a satisfactory antagonist to beat. There was also surprisingly good fighting choreo too!
❀ Aww @ the brother relationship | I liked how the kid emperor was good bros with PYZ rather than wary of him for wanting to take the throne. The whole time, PYZ is loyal to the emperor without need for any rewards and in general tries to stay away from court politics. We stan a humble and smart male lead.
❀ Another bullet point for the romance that made me gush | When the leads get together, I love how physically close they were and how well they worked together to solve crime. Also, A+++++ kiss scenes. There's not a lot, but a couple of them were quite swoonworthy.
❀ Happy ending that makes you want more | The ending is definitely satisfying but I would have loved some extra episodes of the characters doing more detective work. Their teamwork is just impeccable!!

CONS
✕ Misunderstanding level: 3/10 | There's a (kind of) necessary misunderstanding that lasts for literally an episode. It's a grave misunderstanding for sure that was caused by the FL's momentary emotional response, and it gets resolved super quickly. No misunderstandings just for the sake of screentime.

OVERALL
While this drama was more romance-centric than mystery-solving, I liked it exactly like that. The characters' antics always made me laugh and the female leads had a subtle, quiet strength that was really attractive. This is best for a light watch where you can gush at the characters and their romances with detective work in the background.

(Note: My rewatch value is set to 5.0 always as a default as I'm not the type to rewatch dramas EVER. Thus, I do not take it into account when calculating overall score.)