outside of the gorgeous osts and cinematography, i can't stress enough how much joy it gives me seeing a series adapt a female lead who can stick to revenge to the end while also punishing those who did her wrong. all the villains had the most satisfying ends.

the stand out performances are definitely jiang li and wanning. the actress who played wanning is an incredible actress and to be able to evoke the audience to hate and sympathise with you is an affirmation of her acting prowess.

jiang li is a talent of her own, the amount of times i cried with her is uncountable. her determination and perseverance to end moved me and if there's one word i can describe her as is a chameleon. her ability to change and adapt her personality and mannerisms depending on who she was with blew me away. great actress

overall the drama is just *chefs kiss* the ending was downright tragic (yu zheng when i catch you) but i was able to placate myself with a bonus episode ?