After reading some comments and reviews which were not as positive, I decided to give this a go anyway. Partly because of the cast and partly because the plot sounded interesting.

There were obviously things about this drama that I liked and things that I didn't.

Let's start off with the positive and begin with the things I liked:

- I actually liked the female lead in this one. I'm not sure whether it's Zhao Lusi who seems to be able to bring life to any character or the character itself. I did appreciate that she wasn't a boring and weak damsel in distress type. Sang Qi was very independent and yes that sometimes led to her being reckless and impulsive, but it wasn't over the top.

- I liked the male lead. Yan Yun Zhi was very confident and straightforward and knew what he wanted, but at the same time he always seemed to respect Sang Qi as an equal and respected her decisions.

- I loved Yan Yan. I think a lot of people who watched this drama will agree. Yan Yan was a character that lit up the screen and stole the scene. Silly and adorable, kindhearted and loyal. He was the perfect best friend.

- Another character I absolutely loved was Sang Wei. He was such a loving father. And his interactions with his daughter were absolutely endearing to watch.

- I really liked the relationship between the main couple. I was a bit on the fence in the beginning, because he was basically her teacher, but right from the start the focus was never on their teacher/student relationship as both never treated each other as such. There didn't really seem to be an imbalance of power. I also liked how quickly he turned into the Xiao Bai that her brother described right after the got together. It was cute to see. Another thing I appreciated about their relationship was that they trusted each other unconditionally, so there were no infuriating misunderstandings.

- The majority of this drama is fluffy and cute and I really liked that they tackled getting females the right to study at the Imperial College.

- I liked the acting in this. It was convincing. Every actor did their part justice.

Now let's move on to things I didn't like:

- To be honest, I would have preferred if the drama was just about Sang Qi's journey of being the first female student and making all those changes, without the background death and mayhem. The investigation into the smuggling and poisoning was what made the drama a bit chaotic in the last 7 or so episodes.

- I really hated Zhuo Wen Yuan. I didn't really care that he was doing some shady business. I also didn't really mind that he got a lot of power very quickly. What I hated was his personality and the way he treated Sang Qi, his so called childhood friend and the girl he has been in love with forever. Obviously the feelings he had for her were never love to begin with. I understand that he was traumatised, because of what happened to his father and he wanted to rise to power to show everyone who looked down on him that he was a capable person, but the more episodes I watched, the more it became clear that he's clearly a sociopath. He only ever cared about himself, his feelings and his pain. He never cared about what Sang Qi was feeling and thinking. He didn't hesitate to hurt her. Never asked for her opinion. Went from "I'm going to have you whether you want it or not" to "if I can't have you, no one can". That's clearly insane. He actually poisoned the woman he "loved" and burned her corpse. I'm not really sure what the writers were thinking. If they hoped that the viewers would relate to him or feel sorry for him, it didn't work. He's despicable and creepy. The funny thing is, I would have liked his character if he had stayed the way he was before they revealed his connection to the Xizhao. He seemed laidback and fun to be around. Someone who wouldn't push his feelings onto Sang Qi if they were not reciprocated. Instead he turned into a disgusting characters that I wanted to stab every time he appeared on screen and I wanted to slap him whenever he called her "A Qi" shamelessly even after poisoning her. Such a creep.

- I didn't like Su Jie Yu either. Yes, she wasn't as bad as Wen Yuan in terms of despicable things, but in the guise of elegance, grace, intelligence, kindness and honesty, she was a backstabbing and selfish person. Just because she had met and fell in love with Yun Zhi first she seemed to think that she was the only one who had the right to his love. Even though she was rejected firmly so many times, she still went behind Yun Zhi's back to make his parents force him to marry her and eventually even got the Emperor to bestow a marriage. She even lied to Sang Qi that Yun Zhi only cared for her as a little sister and she shouldn't confess. I never understood characters like Jie Yu and Wen Yuan. What's the point of making a person who clearly has no feelings for you, marry you. Do they really think that after all the despicable things they did, that person will magically fall in love with them after marriage?

- Song Jia Yin was annoying, arrogant and spoiled, but she didn't deserve the ending she got. Wen Yuan didn't deserve her love.


All in all, I think this drama would have benefited from a more focused plot instead of adding too many unnecessary storylines and characters. I still did enjoy this. It was entertaining and funny. The best way to enjoy this drama is to not expect it to be something it's not. It's not a drama with a complicated plot, a lot of intrigue and drama. It's just a fun, light and entertaining drama with (for the most part) lovely characters.