If you like Luo Zheng, worth a watch. If you don't know or care about Luo Zheng, not worth it.

It might have been worth a one-time through for a causal watcher, were it not for the fact that it's a season 1 to a season 2 that never happened. It's a half of a drama, basically. If you're not somehow into this ML, then this drama is a total skip. It'd be for if you literally have nothing better to watch. It's at least good for a few laughs, and FL's unique performance. But that's it.

If you like Luo Zheng, this is yet another chance to see him in historical costume with long hair, and he does not disappoint (although his historical drama 'Cry Me a River of Stars' is way better). The FL he plays opposite is a cute and interesting actress. Not the best at conveying kilig or passion, but passable. But she is kind of quirky-funny, and I found her entertaining if nothing else. She's not great in her kiss scenes, but she's by no means bad. The side characters were either giving likeable or passable performances.The plot was easy to follow, and progressed well until about the 2/3 mark and then the pacing started to get all messed up.

It's kind of hard to rate half a drama, but even if we DID get the second half, I'd never give it above a 7.5 because it just doesnt quite have the depth or passion/chemistry that I think makes a show re-watchable. I gave it a 6 because it IS a half a drama, and it can't escape that cheesy, rushed, cliched feel of most short-length c-dramas. It just isn't hi-quality entertainment. It's okay for what it is.... *IF* you're in it for Luo Zheng. The first half has some pretty funny moments , but then those kind of fall by the wayside as the plot-to-nowhere progresses.

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Excellent drama to pass the time as you wait for something better to watch.

I cant rate this any higher than a 7.5 because imo it lacked any profound depth, and lacked romantic chemistry. I find it dissappointing - yet somewhat understandable - that a show where the main AND secondary couples are toeing a line of incestuous taboo, is so very very devoid of spicy magnetism between leads!

I can't rate it lower than a 7.5 because I DID have fun watching it, despite its flaws. The story flow was excellent. The acting performances, while not stellar, were very passable.

I would recc this to someone who is profoundly bored and waiting for something truly GOOD to come out. It passes the time nicely.

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I love Richard Li, and I almost never drop a drama halfway, but the story is just too heavy.

Started this drama for the ML, and because I have nothing left to watch rn.

I liked the ML and FLs performances. The story pacing was brisk and smooth, it had a nice spicy kick, and I thought I was going to love it....

....but then theres some r*pe scenes, and thats not something I enjoy in my entertainment. Im not talking about some red flag ML feistiness, I mean 2FL actually gets tragically r*ped. She also has a beloved whos off in the army, so it impacts them both that this happens to her. And I'm like okay.... Ill just try to overlook that....

....until 2FL gets pregnant with a r*pe baby. Her beloved is totally distraught. She is trapped in a forced marriage with her r*pist, and the r*pist forces 2FL's beloved to live as her servant to shove his face in it. And I'm like, well maybe it gets better. So I continue....

But then the FL has to cut 2FL's baby out of her belly because of a dangerous labor. And then the 2FL dies in her arms, leaving her beloved a haunted, tortured, ruined soul.

So yeah.... I'm done here. This is just way way too heavy for a romance. Dropped at ep 18.

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Slow start, picks up in the middle, then drags toward a shit ending.

I feel like I went through all that for nothing.

I just want to make it clear from the outset that I am exclusively a romance watcher, the actual ROMANCE aspect of a story is what i'm interested in and focused on. I rate things based on the quality of the romance part of the story, and how it fits into the plot.

Viewed strictly as a romance, imo this was awful. The romance was a side-dish to the main story, which was basically palace intrigue and political power struggles. There is a love triangle and the dynamics of it are weird and uncomfortable. The ML/FL chemistry was quashed over and over again, leading up to a SINGLE kiss scene you wait 38 episodes for that is maybe the most sanitized kiss scene Ive ever seen, it was basically only visually alluded to.

If you watch for spicy chemistry and romance, then you just get strung along and strung along all the way to the end, for nothing. ML dies.

Production value, acting, ost were all mediocre, except the FL who did a really good job.

First quarter of drama is hard to get into, and you wonder where its going with this large and cumbersome story. Middle 50% was a solid watch. Last 25% just totally dragged and turned into a cringefest of sappy filler monologues and over the top moments.

It was just a cop out of a romance story, and I really find it a shame I wasted so much time on it.

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A short-length masterpiece.

This was, quite simply, fine cinema.

Art is poetic, in that it makes you think and feel far beyond the actual piece of art itself. The format of short-length drama, in this instance, is like a series of poems the director is giving us. Each one is beautiful, deliberate, painstakingly created.

This drama, at its core, is about love as it relates to sin, atonement, and forgiveness... ML has comitted a grave sin against the FL he loves dearly. And the FL who loves him dearly also, is faced with a choice of whether to forgive him or not.

The questions this drama asks are not for the feint of heart. Because when this show is through with you, youre gonna feel kinda like you just stepped out of the spin cycle on a heavy duty washing machine.

❤OST and BGM are so so well done, styling costumes and settings are more than just achingly gorgeous--->they hold deliberate meaning. Cinematography is shot with a careful eye for beauty in details. Lighting was always on point. And quite frankly Im floored to see such high quality in such a short length drama.

❤Acting was EXCELLENT. From everyone. All the actors and actresses gave 100% to their roles, and it really shows.

❤THE DIALOGUE was so so SO good, it is really whats at the heart of this drama, is an excellent script. Every now and then a chinese drama will come out that shows such an astonishingly masterful grasp of human nature and human psychology that it blows everybody else outta the water. This is one of those dramas. It tells its story with elegance and rawness and incredible depth.

I have to establish all that, because of what I'm about to tell you now: IT WAS FEKKIN HORRIBLE. Not the storytelling. Just the story.

Theres LOTS of works of art where the story is basically horrible. Voltaire's 'Candide'. Sophie's Choice. Schindler's List. There Will Be Blood. Romeo and Juliet. A Million Stars Falling From the Sky. And.... yeah this is one of those. Its fekkin messed up, offensive, and tragic. Its like having your feelings tenderized with a meat mallet, deep fried til burnt and then autopsied with a plastic spork.

If you have triggers, this will trigger them. Even eating disorder triggers. All the triggers are here. If you are sensitive... or previously traumatized.... if you are just looking for something fun or easy..... if you expect a drama to do all your moralizing and thinking for you.... you gonna have a BAD time. A REAL bad time.

Because not only is it horrible, it is unrelentingly horrible. Theres no comic relief ANYWHERE. Theres no cheesy acting, or bad makeup. Theres no goofy side characters. Theres no 2ML 2FL side story. No CGI to cringe at. No cute cats or adorable children. No dumb tropey stuff. Everything is beautiful, emotional, poigniant, aching, sentimental, cruel, torrid.

You better have a fluffy drama and a pint of ice cream lined up for when you finish this, cuz u gonna need it.

I basically hate tragedies, but this one was stellar. Grips your attention and doesnt let go till you are bleeding from your eyes and begging for mercy.

9.5/10... Absolutely incredible.

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