TLDR: Of the 40 or so dramas I've seen thus far this is the only one that I pulled an all nighter to keep watching and I normally don't like historical dramas.

Disclaimer: I rate a 5 as average so everything above that is pretty good to excellent while everything below that is pretty bad to horrendous. I am not a film making expert so I have no knowledge on the techniques that go into making a "good" show so I can only give my opinions based on how much I liked a given show relative to previous ones I've seen.

Overall: I'm not a good enough writer to express how much fun I had while watching this show. If literally anything about cdramas interests you you will have no regrets adding this show to your watch list.

Story: The story is great. It has multiple facets that are all balanced beautifully. The romance, politics, mystery, and war elements are all given ample time to develop with nothing feeling left out. Starting off with the romance. The chemistry between the two leads is amazing and is backed by an interesting premise with strong plot points that the characters have to navigate. I loved the dual identities of the leads which added a fun element that allowed viewers to be in on a secret while characters gradually discovered things on their own. It also served to add depth to both the characters and the world they were living in which is not something that I can often follow in a historical cdrama. The backstory of the leads also made it really fun to just watch them exist together no matter the situation. I would say the only thing I was kind of disappointed in was the FL reveal. I selfishly wanted it to be a bigger deal, and it did feel like it was building up to it, but how it actually played out made sense in the context of the story so I can't knock it too much.

The politics were good. I've never personally been invested in this aspect of dramas but the court and politics in this show are solid enough with believable motives and actions which kept me invested. It was refreshing to see every character having a base IQ of at least 100 with their own goals and plans to achieve those goals. It never felt like a plan failed because the character was dumb, it always felt like they failed because they happened to go up against someone smarter than them which is not something that can be said for most dramas so mad props to the show for that. There is a fair share of over the top stuff but nothing too outrageous and easily overlooked given how good everything else about the story is. The war elements were ok. There was some CGI use in the later stages with some numbers that didn't quite add up but nothing super bad.

Spoiler: The only egregiously weird moment to me was when the daughter stabbed the FL. I sort of had question marks in my head as to what that was since the FL was pretty much her older sister/mother up until that point but that is the only moment I was really taken out of the story.

Overall the story was pretty good without trying to be overly complex. With the strong chemistry between the leads and the incredible characters the story's only job was to not be horrible and it accomplished this and more. It was pretty much the perfect vehicle to let the characters shine through and carry the show.

Characters/acting: This is a strong contender for some of my favorite leads and side characters of any show I've watched. Overall I loved the fact that every character is competent and found themselves in a given position for a reason. No rulers without a brain to be seen (the single exception being the lord that is introduced later).

Starting with the leads. The ML is perfectly cast in the role. I've seen 4 or 5 of his shows and I think this performance slightly edges out You are my glory for number 1 on my list. He does his best when playing the down to earth "straight man" while having a more comedic spontaneous partner to bounce off of and boy does he have that here. He played both sides of the character incredibly well and the aura he gives of just being the smartest person in the room fit both roles. I could write more about him but it would just be me gushing over how great he was in his own individual scenes and the chemistry he had with every other character in the show so I'll leave it there.

The FL is also perfectly cast. Similar to the ML, I've seen several of her other dramas and I've always preferred her more lighthearted roles of which this is by far her best imo. The character is the perfect balance of care free while also knowing when its time to lock in and be a responsible adult. We don't get to see as much of her imperial side but what we do see works well. However the standout is definitely her martial side which thankfully takes up the majority of her screen time. I liked her chemistry with everyone and both the leads bounce off each other perfectly giving the sense that they really are best friends that happen to be romantically interested in each other. Similar to the ML I could say much more but it would all be praise on how great she was in this role.

Its actually crazy to me how perfect the leads were in this show. They are both simultaneously good actors/actresses and play their parts well while also having the perfect partner in each other. I could literally watch them do anything together and they would find a way to make it entertaining. They were a huge reason as to why the story didn't really need to be this super innovative complex masterpiece because watching them go shopping was just as fun as watching them solve court mysteries.

The side characters were incredible as well. Starting with the rest of the 4 gentry I really liked Yu Wu Yuan as the scheming villain. I didn't think he'd be the villain until the show made it obvious which is a credit to the performance. He managed to give off the calm killer vibe where it doesn't feel like they're a bad person, their goal just happens to be something that most people would label bad. This and the fact that I got the sense that he would follow his goal through to the end made him simultaneously fun and scary to watch. It was also great that they made him an actual threat in the show so everytime he cooks up a scheme there is a reason to be scared. Huang Chao was a great 4th edition to the cast. The standard noble ambitious warrior archetype with his own flair. He was imposing and charismatic in the perfect way bouncing between the two depending on what the situation called for.

Another standout was Minister Feng. She was great in the role and I liked that she was both persistent but mature. She was a great addition to the main cast and had great chemistry with both leads. I particularly liked her friendship with the FL.

The brothers were great. Sad that the first brother kind of got shafted by the script but someone had to. He could not stop taking Ls :(. Credit to the story and actor for making this one of the few believable characters haunted by a past trauma. He was affected in a totally realistic way and did bad things because of it but nothing that didn't fit with the context we were given. I liked the third brother a lot. In any other drama he is written as a buffoon with 0 brain cells who can barely think for himself so it was incredibly refreshing to see that the story gave him some agency. He was arrogant and smart in ways that made sense it just so happened that he was out of his depth from the beginning given his opposition in the ML. It was really fun to watch the unspoken battle between the 2nd and 3rd brother where one was playing chess and one was playing checkers but at least they were both playing. Other shows would really benefit from taking notes on this. Watching a character overcome a monkey is much less satisfying than watching them overcome a competent human.

I really loved the King's performance as someone who knows what he wants and understands that not everyone is going to see it that way. I'm a sucker for a character that has goals that I don't agree with but the story/performance make me sympathize anyway. He stuck to his beliefs and did his best to keep everything together while others were trying to rock the boat. Credit to the actor for giving the character the gravitas he needed to be seen as superior to everyone else.

Other side characters were great as well but are too numerous to really go in depth but suffice it to say I loved pretty much all of them.

Music: Not a huge music person and I watch dramas in 1.5x most of the time so can't really comment.

Rewatch: If I had to rewatch a show this would be close to the top of the list. Almost everything about this show was perfect and I wouldn't mind experiencing the story of Bai/Hei Feng Xi again. - she paid me a fiver ;)