Picture this: you've just selected the perfect perch to admire beautiful people and drink expensive wine. Little do you know, you've now infiltrated a carefully laid-out assassination plan, one which the lives of an entire city hinge on.

A simple case of wrong place, wrong time pushes our happy-go-lucky heroine into dangerous waters, caught up in a high-stakes political chess game. This drama is dark, and unafraid of going to extremes!

For a country bumpkin, Jiang Ci really surprised me: she is innocent, but she is not naive. It takes a certain kind of mettle to hold your own (life—ahem, thanks to a certain masked man) between two powerful schemers. On one hand, she is kept in the mansion of Marquis Pei Yan as bait to lure out the culprit, while on the other, she is hurt and poisoned within an inch of her life by the assailant himself. Jiang Ci has no power, no connections and no martial arts, nor does she have anyone to rely on. Yet, she possesses a formidable inner strength and bravery. She is aware of her restricted agency, yet she persists in finding a way to escape, making her own moves without regret.

As you root for her, you cannot imagine ever understanding, let alone forgiving, Wei Zhao's cruelty towards her. This is when a second perspective emerges, and we learn not everything is so black-and-white as a chessboard— the reality is chillingly bloodstained, involving decades-long genocide and enslavement. It is Wei Zhao alone who carries this burden, dedicating his entire life solely to freeing his people from subjugation,

For viewers, this is a turning point in the story that seems to be polarising: the drama, true to its name, explores the fluidity of empathy and human nature. In truth, Jiang Ci is just sticking to the principles that have guided her since the beginning of the story: her concern and compassion for the people. When she realises it is not just a matter of her own life, she promises to protect the secret of his mission. At this point, our leads shift from "enemies" to "acquaintances no longer in each other's way".

The romance is subtle and slow-burn, progressing from mutual respect and helping each other in Nanling, to admiring and falling in love with each other in Yueluo. Li Landi and Ren Jialun's chemistry is so heart-fluttering that I didn't even care about the lack of skinship. Where Jiang Ci was flirtatious and forward, Wei Zhao is shy—but he is equally deep in yearning. He expresses his feelings in his own hidden ways: the way his eyes track her, smiling when she is happy and noticing when she isn't; when he returns her promises about their future; when he takes care of her while she's sick; and when he gives her his only family keepsake, again symbolic of his own secret promise to her.

There are a few annoying characters in the story: Pei Yan, who for the majority of the drama, is obsessed with keeping Jiang Ci trapped with him. He does get redeemed in the end though. The other is Jiang Ci's master, who mainly served to create more conflict and angst, but this is luckily wrapped up quite quickly.

The final arc in Qingkang is fast-paced, angsty and politics-heavy.

OVERALL: The drama is one of a kind, and the romance was a beautiful and rare, authentic portrayal of enemies to lovers. Wei Zhao is a complex, cunning and selfless character who I fear I will often be comparing to future male leads. He's just THAT guy! The same goes for Jiang Ci: her being a physician and playing an active role in the battles makes SO much sense for her character, because she is not the type to sit still in the face of others' suffering. In that sense, she is as much a protector of the weak as Wei Zhao, which is what incites their mutual attraction.










ENDING SPOILER:
I felt the ending was so unnecessary, and seemed to be directly contradicting all the buildup, foreshadowing and symbolism of the earlier episodes. But, I love this drama too much to give it a lower rating. With that being said: for those considering watching, don't let the ending scare you out of missing on this beautiful story. I don't regret watching it at all!