I was excited to see the actors from Yanxi Palace starring in a new drama, unfortunately it quickly became disappointing...

I liked the premise. One ambitious woman (Li Hao Lan) and two men who love her - one older merchant (Lu Bu Wei) who has shifty morals and will sacrifice anything to win, and a prince (Ying Yi Ren) who tries his best to act with decency and honor. Which path will she choose?

By Episode 15, however, I had lost patience. Lu Bu Wei had attempted the same scheme numerous times, claimed that he was going to betray and ditch her multiple times, DID leave her behind, and then she still had to help rescue him and appears to be attracted to him.

Ying Yi Ren always protests about Lu Bu Wei 's morals, but always goes along for the good of his kingdom - and the pattern repeats.

As a result, I rapidly got fed up with all of them - and the tension no longer held my interest.

I have other criteria I score by:

Complex Themes - 8
(The themes are introduced regarding ambition, loyalty to romantic love vs. kingdom and family, revenge, betrayal etc. but it never moves forward)
Character Growth -3
(It felt like it was never going anywhere)
Nuanced Women -5
(There were plenty of women in significant roles, but they tended to be all typical dramatic stereotypes)
Cinematography/Production Values - 7
(A lot of money was spent, but it doesn't have the creative beauty of Yanxi Palace or the sweeping outdoor shots of Nirvana in Fire 2. The costumes are all a boring cream/white/gold up through Episode 15 )