Oftentimes I have read authors' interviews in which they stated that sometimes they have a different story in mind but once they start writing, some characters refuse to behave in the way the author intended and take on a life of their own.

In this series, the Female lead(Ireine Song) who is an author of the novel 'The Tale of Yun and Xi' is transmigrated inside her novel because the ending she wrote of the male protagonist(Ji Yun, the crown prince) and female protagonist(Lin Xi Yao) dying at the hands of the villain(Prince Lv-Ji Chu) was unacceptable. According to her story, Ji Chu the third prince of Liang was kept at the Southern border as a hostage since young. He was abandoned by the imperial family of Liang causing him to suffer. Thus he vowed to get revenge. He overthrew the Southern border at the age of 20, returning to the kingdom with a vengeance. Since then Liang wad plunged into a bloody storm. He advanced step by step, subverted the courtiers one by one, drove a wedge between the imperial family, initiated a revolt when his brother ascended the throne. He ignored the life of his beloved and slaughtered the imperial Court. Ji Chu got his revenge and usurped the throne. Changed the era's name to Xiande.

As soon as she enters her own novel as a minor character(Hua Qingge, niece of the current empress) who was married to the villain, Ji Chu and was going to be killed by him. The plot changes due to her action of running away preventing that character's immediate death. As per the phenomenon of 'Butterfly effect' (The 'butterfly effect' rests on the notion that the world is deeply interconnected, such that one small occurrence can influence a much larger complex system. The effect is named after an allegory for chaos theory. ) the story takes on unexpected turnings and twists leaving the author as well as the viewers guessing.

In order to change the outcome, Qing( Ireine Song) has to change Ji Chu(Ding Zeren) from a devil to a human. She tries to change his nature by being kind towards him, making him breakfast, grinding ink and rushing in his bedroom to tell him bedtime stories. Displaying care and concern to mitigate his revengeful thoughts. He is also changing, Qing's clumsy attempts to change his disposition are working.

Ji Chu is trying to find clues to his mother's death. His mother was killed as she displayed demon like symptoms. He is successful in reopening investigation of his mother's death after the brilliant physician and co-conspirator of Ji Chu, Gong Ye Qi(Chen Ze) simulates similar symptoms on other person. With the help of the crown prince, Ji Yun(Sun Zu Jun) and the female coroner Lin Xi Yao(Zhu Rong Jun), Ji Chu and Qing are successful in finding the real culprits but due to the identity of the perpetrators they are not able to get immediate justice because politics and popular support complicate things. Also thrown in this mix is the princess, Wan'er(Zhang Yue Nan). Wan'er is a kind person who has retained her goodness and is like a ray of sunshine even in the midst of schemes and plots.

Qing has to successfully complete her task of changing the story ending. Her presence brings out the best in Ji Chu also enabling her to experience true love. Ending of the story is mostly predictable, nonetheless the relationship development of all characters makes it an engaging watch.

This series is also meant to two fold satire, firstly it satirizes the current trend where the audience is more vocal about their preferences and expect the writers, actors and other public figures to be 'perfect versions of their vision', behave and present their work as per the majority voice, frowning on each imperfection of these people. Tolerance and acceptance for different thoughts and tastes is getting lesser day by day. Secondly, it satirizes the authors who write the characters superficially without giving much thought to their actions and motivation. Sometimes the audience rightly feels that they are cheated of a good story merely because the writer is sloppy, writing the story devoid of logic, giving one dimensional trait to the characters.

Fun fact: the author( Qingge) is as clueless as the viewers so we are together in this race till the end, uncovering hidden motives and discovering the truth.

Overall: This series is quite uncomplicated yet interesting to watch. This felt like a breath of fresh air to watch during short breaks from work.You don't need to continuously analyse the plot, sit back and enjoy the mystery unfolding.