My original title for this drama was ‘Hand in Hand They Conquer’. By the time I completed, it’s become ‘Pretty Jewelry’. That's because the plot is rather shallow, everything seems just superficial and decorative. The drama starts off so well, with all the intriguing and interwoven characters. The female lead is beautiful and cute, and both the male leads are so handsome and cool. And yet, the logic is simplistic and often incoherent, and the editing is disjointed at times.

What I Like
I love the Fu Rong (Ju Jingyi) character. She is tomboyish (climbing walls and trees) and yet very feminine. She’s creative, intelligent, kind and has a way with people, and yet she’s also mischievous, stubborn and superstitious. With her curiosity and courage, she’s everywhere, investigating. How she bumps into her future husband, Xu Jin/Prince Su (Zhang Zhehan) is hilarious and lovable. She loves her family and her family loves her. I love how her big sister condones and helps her out whenever she gets into trouble. Her family’s dynamics are endearing.

There are multiple villains here, each working for his/her own agenda. At times they collaborate, but mostly, their schemes are uncoordinated, and our protagonists always come out on top winning because they are smarter than the antagonists (the antagonists are super dumb).

I love the epic military scenes – they are fearsome and grand, and look very authentic. I love how Xu Jin fights – lightning fast and deadly. And he’s infallible. Though gravely injured each time, he always miraculously heals the next day (unreal but it does take out the angsts).

I love it that whenever Fu Rong is in great danger, Xu Jin is always there to save her. Again, unreal but how they are being put together, meeting by chance over and over again is heart-warming and sweet.

I love the side couple, especially Wu Baiqi (Wang Youshuo). I love his humor, forthrightness and devotion. I also like Liu Yichang’s acting as a double character with a hidden identity as the antagonist. I feel both Wang Youshuo’s and Liu Yichang’s acting here a lot better than Zhang Zhehan’s.

What I Don’t Like
I love the Xu Jin character but not so much for Zhang Zhehan’s acting. He lacks the micro facial expressions. He maintains a frozen face, hardly a twitch of his facial muscle, not unlike a mannequin; a stern face doesn’t mean a frozen face. Having said that, at times, he can change completely with huge smiles and comedic facial expressions which are totally out of character.

I don’t like Ju Jingyi’s makeup here – it’s overly done especially with the eye section, making it uncomfortable to watch; her eye lashes are not unlike how little children drawing faces. With an overly white face, she can look horrendous closeup and unreal.

I cannot accept how no one recognizes that Xu Ping/ Prince of An (Liu Yichang) is also Ju Shui Nong Fu, not even the intelligent Xu Jin; by just wearing a half-mask doesn’t make a person unrecognizable.

I don’t like the grand scheme of things. The overall plot is basically fighting over the control of the production of jewelry for the palace consumption, a personal revenge for a misunderstanding, and a deranged obsessive one-sided love for a girl who takes him as a good friend. Though there are rampant government officials’ corruption and treasons, these are not the main features of the story. The fighting over the control of the spy agency can be a big thing but again, has not been the main plot here. Though unusual for palace politics, it does feel the bloody fighting is over nothing but just some trivial matters.

As always, people jump into conclusion too quickly without verifying matters properly and causing a lot of unnecessary misunderstandings. The supposedly intelligent Fu Rong falls under this and it really frustrates me watching how her logic plays out.

I also cannot accept that a person can think of one’s own safety when one’s ready to die – imagine wearing a Kevlar vest when the person also wants to be killed. I don’t appreciate the logic that Fu Rong wears her soft armor when she wants to die with Xu Jin, and how she revives later is even more head-scratching.

As the Emperor is quick to execute any persons, it is out of character that he pardons a hideous character here. When this hideous character is down, I breathe a sigh of relief but with him still surviving while others who are less evil perish, and with a dumb maid still trying to show her love for him, it’s just hard to stomach.

My Verdict
I have mixed feelings for this drama. On one hand, it’s rather enjoyable watching a young girl running around doing some mischiefs and falling in love with a super good looking and powerful prince. But on the other hand, there seems to be not much substance here; the plot is rather shallow. Nonetheless, it is still rather entertaining if you don’t mind the usual tropes (yes, falling off cliff, multiple times, is one) and don’t have anything else to watch. Just don’t expect too much.