I just wanted to say something before I go ahead and write a review lol. I honestly did not begin to watch this out of interest or anything like I just kind of watched it bc I was waiting for episodes of another drama to come out. However, after watching a few episodes of this drama, the other drama is on hold lol. This drama is that good!

Cast & Acting: The cast was great in my opinion. Everyone had chemistry whether that be love or friendship or hatred, there was a lot of chemistry. The ML was great and I honestly did believe that he was sick lol. The FL was great too and I really enjoyed her character development as well as her emotional scenes. The 2nd ML and 2nd FL was what I lived for. I enjoyed their scenes A LOT and I genuinely wanted them to have a happy ending, especially after watching AOL and ATWIL, the 2nd ML lead kept dying in those series so I was praying he wouldn’t have to die in this series. I really like the bromance that Chang Ge had with ZY and the romance he had with JE, very realistic and sad lol.

Characters: Now I shall be talking about the characters themselves (separate from the actors and actresses). I think that this drama had very likable characters, even the bad people. The bad people are bad but not the type of annoying bad you know like they add the right amount of angst and problems to th Elliot which was very neat. Now the ML character, I genuinely adore his character. I’ve never seen any other character like him where he’s just really in it for FL. I also really like how reactive he was to knowing how she wanted to kill him. Yes he is very petty but I think that that’s what makes me like him so much. If it was any other ML, they would’ve been like yes you can kil me but instead he got angry which was a twist I did not see coming. I also liked how I couldn’t understand his character like when he poisoned FL or faked it whatever, that was shocking to me. I also enjoyed how he was kind of vicious and literally gave no mercy, it was refreshing to see how determined he was with his plan. For the FL character, I love her lol. I love how she’s so determined to save her shifu and how she doesn’t really take anyone’s shit. Her character development was clearly shown in the series as she went from being isolated to trusting others and building friendship as well as confessing her love to ML, I really liked how both leads were strong in their own way and became stronger together. As for 2nd leads, the 2nd ML character was good. I think the only thing I didn’t like about him is how he lacks confident in chasing 2nd FL or maybe that’s just me. I feel like he should’ve explained everything to her instead of waiting ya feels and he shouldn’t have made an empty promise but eh. 2nd FL character was enjoyable. She’s strong and she’s cute, esp in the earlier eps when she was waiting for 2nd ML in the rain. Chang Ge character was good too, at first I thought he would be annoying but I actually liked his character and his romance with JE was cute. I like how honest he is and how he knows right from wrong and doesn’t accept his clans wrongdoings. ZY character was okay, I didnt really lik shim or dislike him. I did think his scenes where he was battling with himself was getting repetitive and annoying but he ugh in the end so it’s okay.

Plot: I admit, I did fast forward some scenes, especially in the beginning because when politic got involved, it was just kind of boring, the beginning was slow and I was confused on why FL looks like a guy. However, as I kept watching, around ep 4-5, it’s getting more interesting and I enjoyed it throughly. I have to say that I enjoyed watching them getting the medicine than them helping the king but nonetheless, the plot was fast paced and never boring. Like when you kind of get tired of seeing a certain arc, it jumps to another which is refreshing. I enjoyed the love between the leads but I still think that if FL had to choose at the end of the series to save ML or her shifu, she would still save her shifu and not him. I love their love story but there’s just something about it that I feel isn’t the most “genuine” I guess. But I also really like that aspect because they’re not blindly in love, they have different priorities and tasks so it really is the definition of two individuals falling in love. The second leads love story was also the definition of two individuals falling in love and being logical as well as mature. 2nd FL didn’t jump right back into his arms after knowing and he didn’t force her. They needed time mad they took the time they needed to become better and it was really nice to see. The proposal was also really cute lol. Chang ge and JE love story was the most innocent and most cute but ended up tragic and sad. Honestly, I expected it but I didn’t expect her to go there and did what she did so when she did what she did, I cried a river of tears. The love story tied greatly into the plot and the scheme that the ML had was great and honestly I did not see a plot hole. Although the plot was already really good. I do think that ML should’ve died instead of. A happy ending because it just isn’t logical and honestly would’ve made a better impact if he died right then and there like in Princess Weiyoung.

Cinematography: The one thing that’s annoying in this drama is the cinematography bc after seeing so many wuxia dramas that are filmed brightly, this one just hits different. A lot of the scenes are dark and there are a lot of close up scenes. But after a while, you get use to it and you almost kind of prefer it to the regular pastel bright wuxia dramas.

Overall, I did not have high expectations but I was blown away. The angst and sadness and logic was intense and well done. There has been so many cute light hearted drama that it’s honetsky driving me crazy. This drama was a breath of fresh air and had the right amount of sadness as well as sweetness. It’s kind of bittersweet and because of that I highly recommend it. The eng sub is really slow but I do know that they’re subbing it on YouTube. The raw is also on YouTube if you want to watch raw. Thx!!!!