I very much enjoyed this drama, especially the character of Hua Qian and the actress portraying her, Zhou Ye. Who hasn’t had regrets or wished they could do something all over again or wanted to just escape reality for just a moment? I resonated with Hua Qian’s and the other characters’ plights. I can understand the motivations of all of the characters (not the just leads) and how any decision can be easily influenced by emotions or selfishness or family or duty. These struggles are real and it was portrayed realistically in the drama. I was so invested in the characters (some more than others) that I was hurt to hear Qian Zhi was beaten to death by soldiers… sob

Hua Qian/Zhou Ye: I like how she changed from someone whose actions were driven by her obsession of a man to someone whose actions are driven by doing the right thing which unwittingly gains her the admiration and respect of multiple men as a result. Her love for her family and in trying to keep them alive, initially makes her do the right things for “karma’s” sake, but it slowly evolves into her moral code. It becomes clear that her years in exile has transformed her into who she is now, a strong and independent woman who no longer needs anyone to take care of her and instead she takes care of others. Zhou Ye played this role beautifully. I keenly felt her trepidation, happiness, sadness, and pain.

Zhong Xi Wu/Wang Xing Yue: In the dream, Hua Qian sees him as choosing duty over her, i.e., he has her expose her father’s crime when Mu Yao/Ye Lan have gotten past it. Also, despite his high position, he could never protect her from the all the scheming, e.g., the mastermind of her brother’s death goes unpunished even when Xi Wu knows who it is. Wang Xing Yue does a wonderful job conveying his inner struggles…the joy he feels when he sees her and the pain he feels when she doesn’t reciprocate his affections. In reality, unbeknownst to Hua Qian, he’s so in love with her that he has sacrificed his duty, has gone against his mother, and has burned through precious resources to help revive her from her coma. He would do anything to keep her safe after having lost her once, to Ye Lan.

Hua Rong Zhou/Zhang Yi Jie: In Hua Qian’s mind there was no one who has ever stood by her, loved her with all of her imperfections and mistakes, and protected her. Rong Zhou was this person in her dream and it was his presence that kept her wanting to stay there, until she realized Xi Wu was that person for her in reality.

Despite what many reviewers have said, for me personally, this was very romantic. I think for me, it pulls at my heart strings more when love has to be suppressed for realistic reasons, e.g., the ML struggling between his love for the FL and his duty to the people, the FL struggling between her love for the ML and her desire to live a free, peaceful life knowing that loving the ML would bring danger to her and her family, the 2nd ML struggling between his childhood love with 2nd FL and his growing respect and admiration for FL, etc. I would have liked a kiss to be shared between the FL and ML, but I think given their circumstances, it made sense why they didn’t and I’m fine with that. I also liked the innocent romance between Qian Zhi and Nan Feng. Did I say it nearly killed me when Mu Yao revealed what happened to Qian Zhi in reality…sob…

I also liked the ending. It was abrupt for some reviewers, but for me it was the right ending. The story revolved around Hua Qian, so the dream was clear and detailed because it was a rehash of her past mixed in with what she would do differently as a reformed person. Her future in her dream is just to have someone by her side forever, so I think not showing her future reality is ok for me. It doesn’t matter because the one thing that is certain is that despite learning to be strong and independent, she doesn’t need to face reality and the future alone. She now has Rong Zhou, in the form of Xi Wu, who will forever be by her side.

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Update:

I re-watched this on HBO after seeing Wang Xing Yue in The Double. I really enjoyed re-watching this drama and hope Wang Xing Yue and Zhou Ye are cast together as leads in a future drama. They both did a wonderful job conveying the struggles their characters endured. Wang Xing Yue’s character here is so much more different than Duke Su in The Double. I’m glad I re-watched this to see the difference in his acting abilities.