This drama told the story of a young girl forced to marry into the family of a marquis and an outstanding general. Her eldest sister who was married to this marquis, died of mysterious circumstance leaving behind a son who was to be the heir to the marquis title. Her attempt to run away from the marriage failed and she was coerced to take the position as the legitimate wife in order to safeguard her nephew and his heritage. She had to handle the favouritism of her mother-in-law, backstabbing from a concubine vying for the position of the legitimate wife, betrayals and the traps lay by her husband's political opponents.

The drama was interesting and would certainly keep you glued to the TV set, wondering what was going to happen next and the 'truth' behind the different mysteries uncovered.

The themes were quite typical of Chinese dramas: rivalry of concubines and wife, political struggles that harmed the family, forced arranged marriage, obsessive lover of unreciprocated love, love triangles and the like. Likely this was the cultural settings of the Chinese society during that era and the status of women at that time, who had no career except to become the first wife of a prominent husband.

At various points, the story was quite unrealistic and did not gell - quite typical of long dramas. The wife refused to have intimate relation with the husband and he still thought that they were mutually in love - how did this happen? Things just conveniently happened - the evil guy/gal were always at the right place to overhear the important information, witness a critical situation, and smoothly carry out their evil deeds, and the good guys were always at the receiving end.

Still, it makes good entertainment. It is very much in the same genre as the Legend of Ming Lan - if you like this drama, you would likely like this one. Although I won't rate it as a top league drama, it is still a very good production and acting is great.