I absolutely loved this drama contrary to many others who seem to have been quite disappointed.
Sure if you expect a steaming hot romance show, as the trailer and the first episode indicate, you won‘t be satisfied. But after all it is a C-Drama… if you expect to watch something similar to the Borgias, you for sure will be disappointed.
The second reason why many did not like the show was that the ending was changed compared to the original novel. Since I am a sucker for sad endings, I truthfully enjoyed every heartwrenching minute of it! But yeah if you are hoping for a happy end you will get disappointed again.
I loved the chemistry not just between the leads but also between the other actors. Liu Xueyi is for me on an other level of acting and so is Wu Jinyan! I loved Liu Xueyi already in Blood of Youth and fell hard for his portrayal of Murong Jinghe. The scene of them lying on the bed both crying will hunt me to my death it was so beautiful, sad and full of feelings!

To sum up my rant: I love it! I loved the pacing, I was okay with Murong Jinghe‘s 180 degree character change (because it made sense) and I also found it understandable why the General fell for the Crown Prince (and don‘t get me started on the execution scene… beautiful!). It is a beautiful drama for people who love a good tragic story, who want to cry and feel as if their heart has been crushed and put together again.