This is a really good show and it stays relatively good throughout its run too. It has an interesting premise that develops into exciting plots. The acting is great and the sets are beautiful. I really hope the show will go on to become a trendsetter in Cdrama land. The way it treats its female main characters, its romances, and how it developed logical growth arcs was very impressive but people do get a bit overexcited about how genre-defying it is...it still has plenty of your usual candy cliches.
I can’t stress enough how good the main female characters were though. (but just the main ones! The supporting ones were cr*p!) So, we are used to seeing strong and innocent women in historical dramas. But they usually end up three ways: Mary Sues, cute childish babies, or Femme Fatales. Here that was so beautifully avoided. In the two main female characters. Not anyone else. Just those two female leads.
When a character is feminine and demure, she isn’t a grown woman acting like a five-year-old and when the character is a smart and powerful strategist, she isn’t a perfect robot who makes no mistakes.
The characters were flawed and those flaws were a part of their journey. They had relatively realistic growth arcs and they changed in meaningful ways.
Also, Dilireba’s character Changge started the show by dressing up as a boy and I know people like to joke about how impossible it is for anyone to see someone who has Dilireba’s looks and not realize it’s a woman but I don’t really agree. I’m going to credit Dilireba Dilmurat for being more than a beautiful face and say that she successfully sold the idea of being a woman in a believable male disguise through the way she embodies herself as a boy, her expressions, and her physicality. The voice actress also helped (shout out!). What I have seen so far of cross-dressing characters has only ever really been exaggeratedly ridiculous or just plain improbable but the way Dilireba played her character as a man, was so committed to the illusion with no worries to appear cute or lovely, that it becomes believable. And the best thing? Well, let’s say people don’t end up getting fooled as easily as those in other shows either! Super well-done!

Now I think you should check this show out if you like:

1. Honest depictions of feminine power
2. Tang dynasty aesthetics
3. Female friendships
4. Only side plot romance. It's not really central to the story (for good reason)
5. Moderate amount of battles and fights
6. Enemies to allies to friends to lovers (it’s a mouthful but they did it)
7. Character arcs so fine you could bounce a coin off
8. Cross-dressing characters
9. Scheming and plotting and strategy bs
10. Hot evil dude being sexy while trying to murder the main character
11. Nuanced anti-hero/antagonist who honestly deserved more presence in the show (Not to be confused with: )
12. Also, a weak and bad villain who almost ruined the show (I’ll get to this… oh I will get to this)
13. “War is the folly man’s game” -quote by me
14. Weirdly, there are so many, like really too many, handsome men in this show. Just candy everywhere.
15. Shows that pass the Bechdel test.

Summary: Li Changge is the daughter of the crown prince who one day finds her favorite uncle has staged a coup, killed her parents, and taken the place of the crown prince. Stricken with grief and righteous anger, she sets out on a journey of survival and revenge. Only to realize that the fights over the crown are all bullsh*t because the whole point of government is to help people and taking revenge and vying for power is just about ego and greediness. So she decides to put that cr*p aside and instead help better the country. There's also this hunky hot guy who follows her around, being impressed by her amazingness and helping her.

Story: I love the premise. It’s such a mature way of looking at things. The show really doesn’t play around. From the beginning, it tries to deal with this situation in a serious and focused way. We get a gorgeous B-plot with the second female lead that correlates with the hero’s journey that Changge goes through and the characters mirror each other in such a delicious way that I haven’t seen in cdramas so far. Both of these arcs make sense for the characters we are introduced to. In addition, the love interests get their own character arcs that make sense for them. They are more subdued but it’s good because this is a mostly female-centric story. Then there’s Wei Shuyu who is the human equivalent of an adjustable wrench. A very handsome wrench!
The supporting cast are mostly pretty two-dimensional. I HATED some, I tolerated others but there was a handful I found really interesting. I especially loved the character of Li Shimin who was so deliciously grey and ambiguous. Other than him, most characters had narrative utility but he also has a pivotal role in Changge’s connection to her humanity and that makes him very precious for the story’s integrity.
Mention-worthy details:
1)The jump to comics for big action scenes: It was a choice. A very smart one. It was a bit frustrating but they certainly saved money. I didn't like the choice but I think it was such a cunning way to save money that I am a little charmed by it.

Acting: The acting is very good. I had seen Dilireba, Zhao Lusi, and Wu Lei in other projects and I was so surprised by how improved everyone was. I still can’t really see Wu Lei as a romantic heartthrob, to be honest, but I think everyone else was just fine thirsting after him! The supporting cast's acting is not steadily good. Some actors overact, some are just not good actors, maybe? Others were fine and some did great work.

Music and production: The music is good. I really liked the grassland-inspired themes. I wonder if I’m getting used to the music in cdramas. I used to dislike them all…oh well. The editing was exciting. There were some scenes that were almost worked too much. The shots changed too many times in the beginning but it got better later in the show. The costumes are very pretty and the sets are various and detailed.

The negative: The main issue I have with this show was that the main characters’ character arcs end before the show ends? Like 20 episodes earlier than the end of the show. Then the main character goes on to take actions that are totally in-character but don’t really add anything to her personal growth. She just does things that you would expect her to do in the situations she is put in but she's no longer an active participant. She just reacts.
So, it’s sort of like when you read a novel and then the novel ends and you go and read the extras which are not completely related to the main novel but still hold up. Except here, where the novel actually ended there were still a lot of plot holes and important conclusions were withheld. So, you have to read the extras in order to scavenge those important pieces of information and conclusions amongst more or less irrelevant plot points that mostly focus on side characters.
So yeah. I didn’t like that part. It felt like pandering for the most part. But because the production as a whole is pretty good and they have built up good rep so far in the show, it’s not a complete meltdown. The show kind of goes down with dignity. Everyone is still in-character, the acting is steadily good…for the most part, the sets are beautiful, the editing is melodramatic as always, the plot is exciting, and very-dramatic-moments keep the excitement steadily high so it’s no chore to get through. But I personally think it could be better. For me.
It was like when you see something is stuck between the teeth of the person talking to you and you don’t want to interrupt them or be rude so you don’t say anything but you can’t help noticing it the whole time. I noticed how irritating and pointless yet overused this one character was and it made me see the flaws in the plot and I just couldn’t stop thinking about it.
So it’s a good show but the logic is a house of cards; if you poke it, it’ll fall apart. Just don't poke it as I did!

rewatch value: Not a rewatchable show for me, personally. It didn't inspire such unforgettable emotions in me that I would need a repeat.

Overall: Now I still highly recommend this show. I think it’s a few heads above the idol romance drama. I hope its popularity will lead to a new trend among the average cdramas, with logical behavior, better written female characters, sensible and well-developed romance, more grounded acting, and almost no miscommunication.