The best part about this drama are the leads, their witty & intelligent banter made me like them. In the beginning, I liked the ML more than the FL, because he was actually pretty kind and decent person. In comparison, the Fl was kind of foxy with her schemes. I also liked how ML was open in showing his affection and was very much in love with her. So, I was rooting for them & hoping that we would find out more about the FL as the show progresses so that I can like her. And she grew on me, at the same time I continued to like ML for who he was.

That changed midway, I started liking FL more because she was very consistent with her feelings and made better decisions than ML most of the time, not always, but majority of it. The ML wasn't bad either but his thinking was hampered by his need to choose a life away from the scheming. Their intelligence and strategies weren't to be questioned, but I questioned ML's feelings for her in the latter episodes. The ML feelings constantly wavered, in the beginning, he was quick to blame her and even nicked her neck drawing blood in a fight, this was when he claimed to love her. To be honest, he was the one who used her more to achieve his goals, and she didn't complain. Once his goals were achieved, he just refused to listen to her even knowing that what she said was valid. Even when he had concerns he refused to talk it out with her. The second disappointment was when she was sick and he found out too late. Even then, he didn't make much efforts for her. He always needed to be prodded by his soldiers to make a move on her & even then sometimes didn't. I don't much like MLs like that. The change in his character was so obvious. What was sad about their breakup in episode 29 was that even with how silent it was, it was violent, he treated her as if she had something to gain from asking him to be the crown prince, other than maybe a chance for him to survive longer. She is a warrior who was never really interested in the court & cared more about her soldiers. If it wasn't for him, her father and she would have probably come up with some other strategy to save their army from the likes of that cowardly & honestly silly emperor. Even with all the claims of loving her, his actions fell short.

Thank god for the final 10 episodes, ML was back to his earlier self where he seemed to care a lot about the FL. And I'm glad that it was that version of him that ended up with her. One thing you got to give the guy credit for, even though they fought a lot of time, he never once considered loving anyone else. Even when the emperor gave him a concubine, he was upfront and told her that he would never love her but all he could give her was the title of lady of excellency, Apart from that she couldn't have anything from him.

In contrast to the ups and downs between the leads, the relationship between the Tao Zi & Chang Er was very adorable and they were very consistent about each other throughout the drama. Chang Er was a warrior in his own right and still made sure to treat Tao Zi well. They understood each other.