As a two protagonists male leads drama, sadly to say this drama is below my expectation and such a disappointment for a long wait drama. Maybe because one of the main character is unlikeable : Zhang Ping. I can’t bring myself to root for him, he is describe as a genius, a man who use his logic to analize all the things that happen around him but how can sometimes he act so reckless, naive and impulsive ? It’s such a contradictive character. And to make it worst, the actor who portray this role Song Wei Long also has stiff facial expression, his acting skill was so bad that most of the time you will see him stare in a daze, his speech is sluggish and flat and has no emotional of ups and down. Sometimes there is no different between when he is happy, angry or sad. Instead of giving us a feeling of a handsome and frail scholar, what we see is a dumb and rough character from Jianghu.

This show really lack the sense of CP between the leads, maybe because they cut a lot of scenes when these two have interaction, that’s why we can’t feel their chemistry. The scene when both Zhang Ping and Gu Qing Zhang eating vinegar while Lan Jue didn’t realised the situation is quite fun to watch, Wang Duo really nail his character here. It remind me with his character in Ying Yang Master, it also has some similarity : a possessive and insane character

As for Jing Boran, I like the way he portray Lan Jue, kudos to his acting skill, we get to see a noble and elegant Vice Minister of Rites. Jing Boran appearance really pleasing to the eye, his charming sophisticated outlook as a graceful nobleman outside but hiding deep and calculating inside character is praiseworthy and I think he has more sense of CP with Wang Yang. I really love Wang Yang, the way he look at Lan Jue was full of affection and doting gaze and I can’t help myself to not shipping them LOL.

If you have watched “Detective Lee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame” movie, you will find this drama has some similarity with this movie.
1. Empress Dowager who rule the court instead of the emperor (in the movie it was empress Wu Zhetian)
2. To build a statue to proclaim her era
3. Using the statue as a way to execute the revenge plan

As a mystery drama, there are some plot holes that hard to ignores. The way they solve the problem with water illusion trick was kind of unlogic and shortcut solution. The funny thing in this drama is, we get to see Lan Jue ability to make three men fight for his affection : wang Yan a man full of devotion, Zhang Ping an upright scholar and his long lost confidant Shulin aka Gu Qing Zhang but at the end of the story, Lan Jue is a father of a boy name Lan Hui. WTH is going on here, I mean afterall what we’ve been through he is just a normal guy hahaha

The background and detail in this drama is good, the clothes were made according to their characters. Zhang Ping is a poor scholar so his clothes is simple cotton while Lan Jue as an officer has more expensive look with bright colour and shiny material with rich pattern that depict the elegance of the foregone era.

Music, is so so not so memorable or impressive enough to make you want to hear it again

Overall as a mystery drama is quite enjoyable but not a stand out one