One of the best I have watched in 2018. Ning Que (Arthur Chen) and Sang Sang (Song Yiren) both did an excellent job in bringing out the characters.

I did wish they had cast better quality supporting actors (not in terms of acting but in terms of spoken language). Leon Lai and Adam Cheng both spoke like they are speaking Cantonese.

Princess Li Yu is really quite stupid and totally naive which I wish the scriptwriters gave more common sense to the silly power crazy Princess. She's totally blind and over-protective of her brother who is a cruel and power crazy and dumb prince. Maybe it's because she is equally brainless. She looks down at Ning Que and after he enters the Fu Ji Academy, she tries all her ways to get him on her side. I wonder if she ever learned her lesson. Does she even know how useless and brainless her brother is? Sigh, totally cannot stand these two Princess and Prince pair.

Emperor dotes on his empress and gives in to her every whim. Empress knows her brother, the general is going to attack the Princess and she did nothing to stop him. She totally lied to the Emperor and said she knew nothing about it. At some point, I wish she would die with her brother as she does not deserve to be the Empress. Her brother massacred an entire village and she still protects him. She has no guilty conscience! Fair and just nation? Really? Probably why I enjoyed the twist in the story!

I do think episodes when Ning Que goes on the battle expedition with Mo Shan Shan could be shortened. It got a bit draggy.

What is really lacking is, since they are Fu Ji's disciples, he hardly teaches them. He just leaves the other 12 to teach Ning Que....?

Can't wait for season 2.....