I’ve not yet seen such a lifelike drama. What do I mean? Well, life’s never perfect, and so are the plot lines of this series. Actually, the story is quite catchy and the main couple is pleasant to watch. But something goes awry over and over again with the logic of storytelling and motivations of some characters. If you are OK with that, the whole story is waiting. If not, I highly recommend to perceive the first, like, twelve episodes as a story of its own (and maybe stop watching after this). Actually, many people have already said the same thing. In case it still helps you to decide, there's my kind of summary of the drama's structure.

I have the feeling that the drama consists of several smaller stories. The first one is intriguing, well-rounded and bright. The second one is about family matters and would have been alright if shortened or fast forwarded (I couldn’t stand a foolish girl pursuing the ML (Li Qian) as well as a scheming girl whose character is interesting but there’s too much of here in the storytelling). The third one is about rescuing Li Qian from the enemy’s city (which is thrilling but totally unrealistic) and the last long one is about political interactions (which has a good potential but is too long and doesn’t seem lively due to Bao Ning’s depressed state of mind).

That’s all you need to know. Why write the rest of this long review? Well, I just loved the drama no matter how many flaws it had. If you want to compare your estimations of the heroes, you can look through these descriptions.

***

I really appreciate smart and daring main characters. Here are two: a princess Jiang Bao Ning and a guard Li Qian. Both risky and a bit sly, they work together quite nicely and overcome their difficulties with the energy and passion of young and talented people. Li Qian’s troubles come when he approaches Bao Ning too close; she’s meant to unwillingly put his life in danger after they develop a feeling towards each other.

Bao Ning is manipulative but not mean; she also proves to be quite forgiving towards her enemies and desperate when saving her wounded husband. I like how balanced her strong mind and weak body are. To protect herself, she needs to think carefully both when it comes to scheming and inventions. Alas, though she is shown as an inventor, her best creation is not shown in the last ‘biggest’ battle; otherwise, it would have been a good symmetrical storytelling since the story began with a constructors’ competition and ended when the secret weapon was finally made.

Li Qian’s my favourite character here. He’s the best warrior (though oh my, it’s really fun to see him running over the air when fighting or pursuing somebody), he’s quite independent to make his own judgment and he’s the one who… must have nine lives like a cat. Honestly, that’s where the story is unrealistic at all, because Li Qian’s being injured over and over again but somehow is capable of recovering very fast. Although it’s done to make the audience sympathize with him, I laughed nervously when Li Qian got several shots almost at the heart in just like two or three episodes in a row.

Their wedding – that’s what was really unexpected! Not in the last episode, but after the first ‘castle’ part of the story! This gave us the opportunity to see the family life of the main couple (and it covered the half of the story…) That’s what so lifelike about it. The princess has become the part of the common family and has to adjust to a new social role. What a waste it could have been for the country! She, who has manipulated herself out of the wedding with the emperor himself, must protect her dower from being stolen by the family members, vie with all kinds of sneaky or dumb girls for her husband, solve family matters and in the end find that her family’s still easily suspected being guilty of the 20-year-old crime. No wonder she was so offended, for a princess deserved a better treatment! I still think she overreacts in the last ten episodes, maybe she’s just stressed-out and thus unreasonable. But life never lets a person remain a carefree young girl and Bao Ning inevitably becomes more serious and tried.

Not only Bao Ning changes in the progress of the story, Li Qian does as well. To be honest, his boyish version of himself also suited him more but the adult and high-powered Li Qian is a decent image, too. I really enjoyed his affection to Bao Ning (risking his life is one thing but being on her side in everyday matters and being willing to refrain from intimacy due to her poor health is the other). I feel quite sorry for him because he suffers a lot due to his love to Bao Ning; firstly, when he saves a princess and must be executed for this, secondly, when Bao Ning’s marring him is seen like a mismarriage to her, after that – when his career development seems the princess’ meddling rather than his competent effort, then – when Bao Ning’s ex-fiancé constantly hurts him, and finally Bao Ning turns against Li Qian and almost divorces him in a painful manner. Although he matures and changes within this story, I can’t see much of a character development there. Rather, he is shown as a persistent variable, the one who will nobly do his duty. He’s skilled, brave and kind-hearted and mostly shows his devotion to Bao Ning, his family and country.

***

Long story short, watch the beginning and you’ll be hooked by the plot and the characters. Later you can create your own storylines ‘cause there’re many missed opportunities to the plot (though there are several cliches unused in the moments when you highly anticipate them).

My predictions did not come to fruition multiple times. I really believed Li Qian would be thought dead after disappearing on the battlefield (in the second arc of the story). That would have given either the emperor or Zhao Xiao a chance to marry Bao Ning. This would engage her into political schemes a bit earlier and would threaten her health since those two men wouldn’t be as patient with the wife as Li Qian was.

I also believed that the empress would be more important for the plot, as well as some second leads (such as Bao Ning’s friend’s family). As for Li Qian’s sister, she was enough present in the story but sometimes the logic was weird. Brother is captive? Never mind, the girl is in love and doesn’t care. She doesn’t seem too caring or intelligent since she behaves in a childish manner; nevertheless, I liked the part when Dongdong helped her lover who suffered a serious brain injury. I only wish they have developed that story a little bit to make it deeper.

The mother-riddle has solved out not in the way I’ve expected, too. Although it left the sad emotions, this part was alright. They would make a great small family of clever people, though: Bao Ning, Li Qian and his mother. But those who hope for Li Qian to find his mother won’t be satisfied.

Miao Rong was a character who was to be interesting to watch but somehow, she arose too many negative emotions in me. This is rather unusual because don’t get so emotionally invested to hate fictional enemies. She really did have some character development but I’d rather she didn’t. It would be more menacing if she remained that delusional girl thinking that Li Qian must be only hers. But she could gain more powers from the castle and therefore make her revenge brighter. She’s such a liar that it would be only logical to see how she manipulates the guy who loves her and deceives the new empress. Anyway, it was she who was manipulated and deceived in the broad daylight. Did becoming a positive character make her stupid?

Whom I really liked, though, were a new emperor and Bao Ning’s grandmother. These characters were really believable and sure to stick to their logic. The emperor is just a child who is full of moral virtues and dearly loves Bao Ning and her grandmother. He’s even nice to his step-mother’s son. Sometimes he lacks experience and can be manipulated but that’s what you should expect from such a young ruler. But he is fast to react and fix his mistakes, as well as to show his true emotions which makes his image both likeable and fragile.

Bao Ning’s grandmother is a quaint character. She combines the image of a prototypic caring grandmother and an intelligent ruler. She has enough power to change some castle outcomes. Sometimes she is merciless, so she isn’t perfect. But at least we believe such a person could have survived in the castle till the old age. Her love to Bao Ning, her clever pieces of advice, her sense of humour and the sympathy she arises with her image make her really one of the best characters.

***

The story has left a strange impression due to a very simple ending battle. I was sure everybody would be fighting fiercely before Bao Ning’s triumphal appearance with a super weapon. But everybody came running and watched from the distance how wounded Li Qian tried to fight all alone. At least Qing An should have had a spectacular fight with his step-brother for his country and throne, too! They should have added some background movement to show how many people were actually involved. (Did they run out of money while filming?) And it wasn’t a ‘good’ super weapon that destroyed the enemy. So… the ending episode was unbelievable and clumsy. Maybe that’s why although I liked to see the main characters and their friends all alive and living happily ever after the ending wasn’t that satisfying.

After watching all episodes, I feel that this story could have been more balanced in terms of editing, script and effects. But I really loved the characters and if I had some time, I would write some fanfiction to fill in the gaps of this story. All in all, the drama is the one I will remember due to some bright characters, the storylines (which were good or not quite) and some esthetical images of people, clothes, architecture and nature.