Production quality rivals Yanxi Palace, story falls short

The makeup, costume and set design may even be better than Yanxi Palace. Hair pieces, furniture and clothing were gorgeous and intricate. They really paid attention to the little details. Cinematography was very good, you can tell right away when you watch the title opening. The wide angle shots with really slow push ins looked great.

Where it fell short was the story, which wasn't bad by any means but it felt like it had more potential. The dialogue was very well written. It started strong and was engaging right away, but once the characters became familiar, it rarely felt like the pay off was worth the story arc build ups.

Side characters had more interesting character development than the leads. After a while, the leads' chemistry grew saccharine from repetition. The female lead's characterization was a bit problematic for me. We want to root for the female lead, but she was too good, smart, and righteous so at times she felt unlikable. The writers had her uncharacteristically neglect some others around her for the sake of story so she came off hypocritical or cold, despite her warm smile. I really liked the male lead's background story, repressed nature and stoic demeanor.

The acting was very good overall. Concubine Qiao stood out. She was excellent. I really liked 2nd sister and Dong Qing a lot as well, they brought a levity that the show needed.

I was impressed by the male lead doing a lot of his own stunt work. You could tell he trained hard. His horse riding, archery and sword fighting looked excellent.

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