Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of costume dramas, whether historical/period, xianxia, even republic dramas I find difficult. I could probably count on one hand the number of costume dramas I’ve actually finished. For a time, I really wanted to like them because they were so aesthetically pleasing, but after dropping bunches of dramas because of silly FLs or concubine drama or impossible MLS or boring stories, I gave up and focused more on modern dramas to save myself time.
When I saw different posts on tumblr singing the praises of this one, I was hesitant, but interested. And since I’d never finished a drama with Wang He Di, I thought I’d give it a go.

There’s likely nothing I could write that hasn’t been written already, but this truly is a rare gem in costume dramas. The story moves quickly and the characters are dynamite. You get a bunch of tropes done in a way that’s familiar and refreshing all at once and some scenes just sort of steal you away to Shui Yun Tian or Si Ming Hall or Cang Yan Hai.

Honestly there’s a lot of joy and a lot of pain with only the tiniest bit of frustration towards the end because it seems the universe is conspiring against them, but even among the frustration the story is absolutely breathtaking and the themes are absolutely worth it. Love is sacrifice, love heals, love is strong. This story isn’t anything super new, per se, but it takes what it’s given and executes it perfectly. Highly recommend.