Realistic, Suspenseful, Misleading, Always too late.

After waiting for the show since March and completing it, a review was inevitable. As a resident historical Chinese drama enjoyer, you have to watch the show since it is genuinely enjoyable despite its shortcomings. Could have been a 10/10 if not for some plot points.
Let me talk about the strongest features of the show first. There are no major spoilers in this review but still read at your own discretion.


The Characters:

The dichotomy of Murong Jinghe: We are introduced to our main character, The third prince Murong Jinghe, as an irredeemable villain both to the characters and the viewer. Not even a few episodes later, his demeanor completely changes, especially in front of the Emperor, his father. To which I presumed might have been a ruse, but he does not let my thoughts linger as his nature is shown. Not only is he not the mass murderer, but also he is not the red flag, bad boy, or a war criminal, as everyone might have thought. He is only a mischievous prince, someone who got through the rough end of life and ended up as a battered and broken version of himself.

Then again he is a Prince, someone in immense power, so in his head ends justify the means, to clear his name, to avenge the people, he can offer a few sacrifices without repercussions. So in that instance, he is not wholly free of blame, and he did not expect the consequences of his actions, since he is but a human.

Another prevalent theme is his mental condition and his response to difficult situations. We do not see him losing his cool very often in the beginning but when he does, its almost ugly, his humanity clashes with all he has been through, time and time again and although the show does not give much explanation on this, leaving everything on the watcher, his character holds so much more than he lets on.


Mei Lin and her ordinary aspirations and how that plays in her personality: Originating from a small town, Qingzhou, she is just a common girl wanting to live a normal life. But this all changes due to the Qingzhou fire, ultimately making her a strong assassin. We see her wanting nothing more but to kill Murong Jinghe, even training so hard, facing every tribulation just to take revenge on behalf of Qingzhou's fallen souls. But this all changes when she knows the truth, and it is her intelligence that allows her to quickly adjust and spare Murong Jinghe and even place her trust in him despite wanting to end him for ten years.

Now she is chucked into a power struggle, working with the seeming culprit despite everything, her fearlessness and grit surprising others. It is her strength that lets her blend seamlessly within the palace, even though she found support from a concubine and even a prince from another kingdom. That does not deter her, even the tremendous scale of the operation and the consequences of the revenge, compared to her, a common assassin.

But despite all this, her dreams are to live a calm life, from wanting to live with her parents for life to open a cake shop after her revenge is done is all that she wishes to do. This is exactly why her goals feel lacking as compared to others, her compassion and empathy despite her being an assassin is what distinguishes her from many others, especially in the cutthroat palace environment.
She might seem like a powerful, undefeatable, even an omnipotent person, but in the events of the story, she was just a pawn who was burning with the fire of revenge. It is only when we and the characters get to know her is when we know her personality and how she inevitably influences the people and the events around her, despite her lack of status.

Mei Lin and Murong Jinghe, and the doomed nature of their relationship:
Two people who were never supposed to meet got thrown into the eternal fire of revenge, their broken and bloody puzzle pieces fitting with each other in an unsightly manner. The assassin and her target, the wronged prince, and his pawn to conduct his revenge, but it all changes as they finally work with each other and let the other person mend them.

It is when they finally fall in love and expose their true nature to each other as nothing else but two young people who want a fair chance at life. Who also dare to be happy and innocent, despite the incessant torture in their lives. Despite them finally finding each other, the reality does not change, they have to pay the price for their revenge, pay the price for their actions, and continue their responsibilities. This is where we see that no matter what they do, it's always too late, they cannot save what is already broken, and love isn't a cure-all, despite what we have been told.


Murong Xuanlie, The Crown Prince: I was not going to mention other characters in my review, but his character stood out to me quite a lot. Amassing great respect and the status of crown prince throughout the ten years despite outwardly striving for a tranquil life since childhood is what makes him the perfect candidate in front of the officials and the public. He is the mirror image of Murong Jinghe in more ways than one, and instead of standing on his own, he always chases what Jinghe has, from the dagger to the throne of the crown prince, even going as far as to commit heinous crimes.

It is not just a power struggle for him, it is the culmination of all his insecurities, his jealousy, and even his apparent righteousness. The same show of righteousness is what distinguishes him from other antagonists, since he chants scriptures, feels for his partners and their sacrifices, and even dares to love but even the person he selflessly falls for should not belong to him, without any pushing and molding the reality. Despite being the favored child, all he wants to be is Murong Jinghe, and the ways through which he makes sure that he achieves his goals, unlike the third prince, is what makes him irredeemable.

The storytelling, the shortcomings and what could it have been:

In my head, I have divided the story into three parts, the strategizing, the revenge, and the aftermath, and despite its limitations, the aftermath was my favorite arc. In most historical shows, we only rarely see after the big events, of how the characters cope and how the world heals around them. Not delving into the plot a lot, one of my favorite scenes was the conversation between the emperor and the third prince after everything, it was not only between a father and son but also a judge and the accused. Moreover, the events following that, the rebuilding, the healing, and everything that was not mentioned by my fellow watchers became one of my favorite scenes throughout the show.

But here is where some things became a little uncomfortable, some loose ends remained untied, and somewhere along the way it gave too much importance to the second male lead, the writers trying their best to equate him to the male lead (nothing against the character or the actor).

Even though the end was anticipated by me at the beginning, some of the events near the end were just put there for the sake of it, which brings me to my biggest criticism, "The Pacing". The pacing at the beginning was faster than expected, which on its own, is not a bad thing, but it could have been better. More time should have been given to building up the main characters and their animosity which might have filled the gap at the end. The end did not seem to drag or mindless to me but nonetheless, it is a valid criticism and much of it could have been avoided.

Another thing that could have been better is to reduce the focus on other love lines, although one of the character pairings was historically accurate, and it was realistic, it became a big deterrent for future viewers. My advice to that is to ignore that whole thing overall as I did and did not feel too much for that.
As for the second main pairing, it was never romantic but only mainly manipulative and I have seen reviews being angry at the second female lead for falling for that person, which to me never felt like falling. It was manipulative and toxic, even when things showed their truth, she was far too gone in the big scheme of things that despite choosing the right path, she could not change her heart. Yes, it would have been better to not show that but then again I understood where they came from, but even then romanticizing it was not the best choice. I have a bone to pick with the makers about that, but if you only look at her as a victim of physical and mental manipulation, you might be able to understand where I am coming from.

Lastly, as I have not read the novel I do not have a frame of reference, so I cannot compare nor do I want to. This show is a separate adaptation and needs to be treated as such. This drama should not have been treated as a big hit, but as a substantial drama, something that only gets better as time passes, and that is only how it can be watched freely. Comparing it to other shows would not give justice to this show, as in my honest opinion, it is quite an intricate show that might not be for everyone despite its virality. The plot for most parts is solid, the acting is great, and even the music score complements the show greatly. Both Wu Jinyan and Liu Xueyi after getting hits in the first and second quarter of the year, have once again done their best to provide justice to their characters and bring them to life.

My final verdict is that this show is worth your time and brain space, but you do not have to be kind to it or find excuses to watch for a certain actor, or not watch it because of the events and other things, but to watch it as it is given to you, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Thank you for reading!

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