Hang Yunxian is an aspiring female doctor in a time where women were under lock and key to keep their "virtue" intact. Her grandma secretly taught her medical skills and she learned by absorbing by those around her, regardless if they are well known doctors or poor witches. She combines all this knowledge and applies it to the rich, the poor and everyone in between to become one of the top doctors of her era.

This is a mix of political drama, history, inner palace intrigue, romance, and fantasy. The story, while not well written due to character inconsistencies and character depth and pacing issues, kept the story interesting enough to keep watching. Liu Shishi had a lot of chemistry with Wallace Huo, made obvious in the last episodes where his yearning just makes your heart tremble.

By the end, I truly hated Zhu Qiyu. He had no redeeming qualities after he forced himself on Hang Yunxian. The writers glossed over it and tried giving him a redemption arc that really fell flat to me. Zhu Qizheng was an interesting male lead but both him and Hang Yunxian were too hard-headed to be compatible as a couple. Yexian would have been an interesting option but he appeared too late in the game and Yunxian was clearly never interested.

I was actually quite happy with the ending. It felt realistic because Zhu Qizheng put the good of the people before his own desires and Yunxian put herself and medicine first before love. Only when the kingdom was stable and after his wife passed could Qizheng go and find the person he had yearned for those twenty years. I probably wouldn't rewatch, but if you are a fan of historical dramas or the actors Liu Shishi and Wallace Huo, this is certainly a worthwhile watch.