as a person who literally only watches historical dramas at this point, this one wasn't very... good... imo.

story:
well i didn't really know what to expect cause im gonna be honest i watched this drama because of most of the cast members. i guess the storyline was decent, although it was a little slow. this was the first time i wished a historical drama could be shorter lmao. sometimes i even forgot about the main leads' romantic relationship, which honestly i don't have a problem with because the fighting and wars and stuff like that were supposed to be the "main focus" (?) but yeah the romance between the main leads was not it, just another basic "i'll sacrifice anything for you but i'll also not tell you bc i don't want you to be sad" bs. if i wanted to see that i would have watched love and redemption again lmao. ALTHOUGH i will say, the second couple was so cute. i've seen and heard a lot of other people's opinions about the second couple, saying that it's unnecessary, which i will kinda agree, it is unnecessary, but they were still so cute. i didn't really like the fact that zhao lu si was playing a weak little sister role honestly i wouldve watched a sequel with just zhao lu si and liu yu ning's relationship.

acting/cast:
don't come for me but i don't think di li re ba's acting is... good. well, it's average. a lot of people think that she has godly top tier acting skills, but uh i beg to differ. she has like five facial expressions and her crying scenes are not realistic (AGAIN don't come for me it's my opinion lol). also her hairstylist did her dirtyyy, the middle part is. interesting (shes hella pretty though don't get me wrong). on the other hand, wu lei, zhao lu si, and liu yu ning's acting were all pretty good. i was quite shocked by liu yu ning's acting ngl, i always knew him as a singer, an artist, but i didn't think he would actually be good at acting (cause a lot of idols/singers/dancers these days are... attempting acting... and they're not the best at it). although i despised zhao lu si's role, she played it well. as for wu lei, he portrayed what i had in mind when i first skimmed the summary of the drama.

music:
this is where all the points are coming from. i am weeeeak when it comes to historical drama osts. especially with the ost gods zhang bi chen and liu yu ning in this one. i listened to both osts before even watching the drama. not much else to say, just amazing songs.

rewatch value:
eh no thanks i won't be rewatching this one lol

overall:
i'd say a ... decent drama if you're really bored or if you really really really like the main cast. but if you have better dramas to watch, i'd say not to watch this one lol.