Pros:

The chemistry between the leads is amazing, especially in the episodes where they are separated and then reunited. You can feel how much their characters care for each other.

The cinematography is beautiful and the way they did the character's costumes and makeup was very good.

The ending wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and for cdramaland it can be considered somewhat ... okay. It's not necessarily the worst ending ever. It's what you would expect given Mei Lin is an assassin.

Cons:

The plot. This show started on a high and then got boring because they introduced everything too fast at the beginning. On top of that, they killed off their main bad guy and gave him a lackluster death way too early. Additionally, some of the character's personalities changed drastically out of nowhere, particularly the general. Another issue was the romance line between the emperor and zigu as well as the emperor just letting the crown prince do whatever he wanted.

There was so much potential and it ultimately ended up poorly due to scriptwriting. It sad because this was one of my most anticipated dramas.

Conclusion:

Do I recommend watching this? Honestly yes. I'm not kidding, the chemistry between the leads is some of the best I've ever seen, and the moments when the script writing in the show is good, it's really good. But when it's bad, it's really bad. So maybe watch this when you are looking for something to pass the time or while doing chores.