The fact that I watched this in a day without fast forwarding,,, that's never happened to me, lol.
There were so many things going against this drama when I first stumbled upon it, and I've been avoiding it ever since. They include:
- Multiple seasons (I get so tired after 30 episode dramas, I don't even know how I could last 3 seasons)
- Time-travel/different lifetimes aren't my jam (I thought this show had reincarnations for some reason (it doesn't), but that also isn't my jam either. After struggling through Eternal Love (TMOPB), I tend to avoid romances in different lifetimes)
- Body-swapping between the FL (at first I was worried they would both fall in love with the ML... nah. That doesn't happen)
- Random YouTube clips of this drama that I stumbled upon were weird (they really didn't do the story justice lmao)
BUT one day I was like "why don't we give it a go?" just because I realized the FL was Liang Jie, who I really liked in The Day of Becoming You (another body-swap!). And y'all... once I started, I couldn't stop.

PROS
❀ Romance, romance, romance | I think I fell in love with this drama because it's wholeheartedly devoted to the main couple's romance. There's a bittersweet secondary romance that's between the other character in the FL's body that I thought would be annoying (not a fan of tragic second couples - cough @ Fake Princess), but I actually enjoyed their storyline and thought it added depth to the whole throne-seeking storyline.
The main couple had excellent chemistry and were so darn cute together. Think, modern-day spunky heroine trapped in ancient times x stoic, doubtful, and suspicious 8th prince who has his hands full with his new wife. Cue the antics!! There's the typical historical cdrama tropes like jealous childhood friend, jealous other prince, fight for the throne, awesome servants of the main leads, plotting/conspiracy, sus empress dowager, and all that jazz. Sometimes I get tired of this court intrigue but I like the way it was written in The Eternal Love! It reads kind of similar to Chinese webnovels, with satisfying face-slaps (they aren't afraid of getting people to die/escape death lmao), one-dimensional villains that our main characters outsmart, and the main leads working together to navigate the conspiracies. We stan a couple team in ancient China!!
❀ The way it mish-mashes different genres | Alright, so I came in knowing about the time-travel into another woman's body, which made it become a historical cdrama, but after ep 20 it turned into a xuanhuan?? It was honestly so shocking and the plot twists got me gasping in bed. I don't want to delve into it too much because I feel like it'll ruin future watchers' enjoyment, but I have to say, as a fantasy lover I REALLY liked where that storyline went. Granted, it made for some lackluster exposition near the end full of dialogue, but it also added so much depth to the story. Shook!!
❀ I kinda liked every character | Whether it was the competent emperor, scheming palace ladies, 14th prince (love him!), ML's bodyguard, FL's maid, and even the other personality sharing the body with the FL,,, I liked them all. At first I kept thinking the other personality was a heartbroken pig teammate (she's more calm and reserved than the FL so it's really easy to see when they switch), but she ends up being pretty understanding and helpful. It's rare in a cdrama where I like all the characters, and I think the way they divided the screentime was perfect and kept me engaged without skipping scenes. (Especially since I'm the type to skip over secondary plotlines just to see the main couple bahaha)
❀ Well-rounded acting from FL | Although Liang Jie's character comes off as more child-ish than what I'm used to (after watching The Day of Becoming You), I was still impressed by the way she handled two personalities. I can tell her acting got better since this drama too! The ML's character was pretty straight-faced the whole time so he didn't really make an impression on me, but boyyyy can he kiss. Ooh lala. I think romantic moments in this drama were leveled up with his directness (heehee).

CONS
✕ It's all fluff/fun, not much depth | If you're looking for complex palace intrigue and twisty schemes, look elsewhere. The politics are fairly simple and, like I mentioned, very reminiscent of webnovels. I haven't read the novel this show was based on, but from my experience historical webnovels and manhua are more about satisfying face-slaps and triumphant main characters than deep schemes. I guess I would define it as "light in historical, heavy in romance, medium in comedy."
✕ Misunderstanding level: 4/10 | ALSO high-key shook at how few misunderstandings happen in this drama. I guess because of the main couple's devoted love for each other, there leaves little room for misunderstandings. I feel like half of this rating comes from the inherent misunderstandings of the plot (eg., confusing Xiaotan with Tan'er), while the remaining half were misunderstandings from noble actions. The best part is that the show resolves them quickly ( a couple of episodes at most) and doesn't use those misunderstandings as major plot devices.

OVERALL
I'm so glad I came in with no (almost low) expectations!! I fell in love with the main couple and can't wait to see how they fare in season 2 (which apparently people like more than season 1, woohoo). I can definitely understand the hype with this drama and recommend it for romance-lovers in general. I love how the main couple stay true to each other from beginning to end, no matter what time, space, or dimension they're in, and despite the complex turns the story takes. Truly an eternal love!

(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.)