Fair warning if you are here for just a wuxia drama, then you may not like it but if you are here for BL, this is the one.

I watched this around the time it officially released but wanted to write a review after watching other Chinese bl drama adaptations. This won't be a professional review because a lot of people have already done that.

Most people might have seen others gushing about this drama and honestly if I am allowed to, I will definitely rant for hours about this as well. It is not without reason. It has been two years and of all the bl adapted dramas there is, CQL is still the best yet. I lost count on how many times I've re-watched it.

The best thing about this is that the plot and romance go hand in hand. Even if not seen on the BL point of view the plot is still good. If you are new to this the first few episodes will probably confuse you very much, it was for me so I dropped it ( a decision I still regret) and picked it up again.
One of those better budgeted productions, so looks decent. It's not technically amazing or anything but it doesn't matter because you wouldn't be looking at anything else other than the main CP. They are my favorite couple and the ML is one of my most favourite characters. They are just perfect, casting wise and acting wise. They make everything worth it and more.
There is no other annoying, unwanted hetero romantic subplots for the sake of censorship (I am eternally grateful to the makers for that). You can feel exactly what the two leads relationship actually is even if a lot toned down. The other characters are also done well.
The story is almost (95%) similar to the og novel and did complete justice to it. The ending is open and ambiguous, again for censorship sake but not very disappointing.
This was a game changer because it successfully adapted a danmei without loosing its core elements even through censorship.