Just finished it today and although it feel slow some time in the second halft, the overall story and plot feel interesting enough with good acting of both the old actors and the young ones especially Liuhaoran.'s. There's a balance of palace drama, wonderful fighting scenes and some grand war act here and there. The old emperor and his brother relationship make up for a very strong first half while the young actors took of the second half pretty well.

Story:
Less intrict then the first one but well developed and not feel rushed anymore.

Acting:
There is Huangxiaoming being Huangxiaoming most of the time but thankfully other actors doing really good though some of the female cast pretty much being one dimensioned.
Also fighting scenes is really good.

Music:
Nothing memorable but it feel soothing and just aligned with scenes.

Costume and Setting:
One of the most important thing of chinese palace drama is of course the costume and setting and everything look perfect here. It definitely showing the budget you can't find in 99% of the palace drama out there.