The First Jasmine

The Final Episodes Were Disappointing

The first half of the series was captivating — Ye Li came across as formidable, with sharp schemes and remarkable foresight. She was always a step ahead, and those glimpses of her fighting skills in her delusions gave me hope for more action against worthy opponents. I was heartbroken when Mo Xiu Yao divorced her, leading her to the forsaken Li Shan Academy in a disillusioned state of mind. Another painful blow came with Princess Ling Yun’s murder, leaving Feng Zhi Yao devastated.

As the story moved toward its conclusion, the pacing slowed. Ye Li’s drive for business expansion faded, and she shifted into more of a supporting role. The formidable combat skills I anticipated never materialized, nor were there signs of a larger family or future offspring. Her rhetorical exchanges with the dying Empress Dowager felt subdued compared to her earlier sharpness. Most disappointing of all, Ye Li never fulfilled her revenge arc of killing the four people she had sworn to destroy.

Sadly, the final episodes left me struggling — the brilliance and intensity of the beginning gave way to a muted close that didn’t deliver on the promise of Ye Li’s character.

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Started with so much potential... but slowly lost its spark.

When I started The First Jasmine, I was genuinely excited. I love Cheng Lei, and he usually has great script choices, so pairing him with Bai Lu made me think this drama was going to be something special cuz yk she's good actress.

The beginning was honestly really good. The female lead was smart, straightforward, and focused on getting her revenge instead of creating unnecessary drama. The male lead was cold and ruthless, which made their dynamic interesting. I also liked the backstory between the male lead and his brother because it added another layer to the story.

But somewhere around episode 20–25, the drama completely lost its momentum. The pacing became painfully slow. It felt like the story stopped moving, and even the characters seemed stuck in place. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen, but it never really did.

One character I absolutely loved was Ye Ying. I was really hoping her relationship with Mo Jinglin would develop more. She sacrificed so much for him and loved him no matter what, so I wanted to see him slowly realize her worth and genuinely fall in love with her. Instead, their scenes were cut short, which was disappointing. Even though he was one of the main villains. I love his acting. I found him far more interesting than some of the main plot. 😭❤️

The romance between the Cangbei princess and the male lead's friend, though... I honestly couldn't care less. It felt unnecessary and only slowed the story down even more.

I also expected the female lead's illness to lead to something much bigger, but it ended up feeling underwhelming. And don't even get me started on the male lead. The moment he learned the truth, his first reaction was divorce? Seriously? Then he rushed to Lishan Mountain after realizing she wasn't there, and somehow his hair turned grey in what felt like a few hours. That was just way too dramatic and made no sense to me.

One character I really enjoyed throughout the drama was the Emperor. The actor gave such a strong performance and made every scene interesting.

Overall, I don't think this drama is bad, but it definitely didn't live up to the expectations I had after such a strong start. It had good actors, interesting characters, and plenty of potential, but the slow pacing and some questionable writing choices made it hard for me to stay fully invested.

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mixed feelings ...

It didn't turn out to be as what I expected , I thought this was going to be this fast paced strong revenge drama , yet what they gave us was a rather slow paced drama which tried to tackle many ideas at once and somehow each one turned out to be a bit unsatisfying for me .
so first of all the acting was superb , but the plot didn't serve the drama that much , this drama focused on many plot lines at once which was annoying at sometimes given the fact that I was mainly interested in mo xiuyao and ye li story and with all those storylines it felt dragged for me , ye li knowing medicine , martial arts and basically everything to get the ML out of trouble was quite annoying it felt like a loophole to fix any obstacle they faced .
I hated the whole mo jingli arc like he was so annoying and he wanted it all he wanted the throne and ye li even after he betrayed lishan academy, ye li was married and he himself was married to her step sister , he just got on my nerves .

cangbei princess was killed and they forgot about her ?? like they gave no explanation to the other nation or anything and her maid what was she trying to seek revenge from mo xiuyao for ? how would he have saved her when he himself needed saving ?? why would she call him her enemy like he wasn't the one to cause her to became a slave.

empress dowager after all she had done she got the easiest way out .
that has been said this drama definitely had its moments , from mo xiuyao getting closure for his brother and killed army and the emotional moments we got to know what happened at lishan academy.

this wasn't perfect but it desrves to give it a go.

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The Great Idol Drama Detox

Post-2022 idol costume dramas have gradually convinced me that ancient China was inhabited almost exclusively by three types of people:

Perfect porcelain-faced aristocrats.
Individuals who fall deeply in love after approximately two meaningful glances and one accidental rescue.
Political masterminds whose greatest strategic weapon is refusing to explain anything until Episode 36.

The First Jasmine quietly declines all three invitations.

First of all...

The pores.

Ladies and gentlemen, the pores have returned.

I cannot believe one of my biggest compliments of 2026 is simply this:

The actors look like people.

Skin texture. Tiny imperfections. Faces that have apparently encountered weather instead of being digitally moisturized into another dimension. After years of idol dramas resembling luxury skincare campaigns with occasional palace conspiracies, this felt absurdly refreshing.

Even the muted colour grading deserves applause. The world finally feels lived in instead of permanently illuminated. Oddly enough, realism became the most luxurious production value of all.

The same philosophy extends to the writing.

Recent idol dramas sometimes confuse complicated plotting with complicated people. The First Jasmine remembers that the second one matters more. Characters make decisions shaped by trauma, loyalty, responsibility, and political reality rather than conveniently forgetting their intelligence whenever the plot needs another misunderstanding. Ye Li's psychological trauma and Mo Xiuyao's condition aren't decorative tragedies waiting to be healed by love. They fundamentally shape who these people are.

Which brings me to the most divisive part of the drama: The romance.

If you're expecting explosive chemistry, endless longing stares, enough slow motion to qualify as a weather event, and romantic tension capable of overheating your screen...

...this probably isn't your drama.

Because this isn't really about falling in love. It's about learning to trust. Those are not the same thing.

Their relationship grows through reliability, mutual respect, shared burdens, and slowly earned trust. Watching two emotionally exhausted people become each other's safest place may not produce fireworks every episode. It does produce something rarer. A marriage that actually feels earned.

Personally, I never found the chemistry lacking.

Its idea of intimacy feels quietly old-fashioned in the best possible way. Trust matters more than butterflies. Reliability matters more than grand declarations.

Rather than constantly explaining every emotion or spelling out every revelation the moment it happens, it trusts subtext, quiet observations, and conversations that often reveal more than they explicitly say. The writing quietly trusts the audience to connect the dots instead of drawing the entire picture for them.

This is one of the rare dramas where conversations build relationships more often than kisses do.

Ironically, the very restraint that makes those relationships so believable also becomes the drama's biggest weakness.

The First Jasmine consistently chooses psychological realism over immediate emotional gratification. Most of the time, I appreciated that decision. Occasionally, I wished it trusted emotion just a little more. Not because it takes its time, but because a few scenes remain longer than they need to after they've already said what they came to say.

More than once, I found myself admiring what a scene was trying to do rather than being swept away by it.

I understood exactly what a character was feeling. I just didn't always feel it alongside them.

That distinction ultimately keeps this from becoming truly exceptional.

The political storyline follows the same philosophy.
It rewards attention more than adrenaline.

Names matter.
Family histories matter.
Your attention span matters too.

I appreciated that.

Still, patience alone doesn't automatically create momentum. More than once I admired the architecture of the story while wishing the rooms felt a little more lived in.

Performance-wise Bai Lu won me over.

Her restraint will undoubtedly divide audiences, but I believed Ye Li precisely because she rarely announced her emotions. Trauma doesn't always arrive as dramatic speeches. More often, it settles into habits, silences, hesitation, and quiet calculation.

Bai Lu understood that.

So did Cheng Lei.

The First Jasmine won't work for everyone.

It whispers where many dramas shout. It values emotional accumulation over emotional spectacle. Some viewers will call that boring. Others will call it refreshing.

I somehow landed comfortably between those two camps.

I never completely fell in love with this drama.
But I found myself appreciating almost every creative decision it made. In an era increasingly convinced that louder automatically means better, The First Jasmine quietly argues the opposite.

Real faces.
Believable motivations.
A marriage built on trust instead of spectacle.

It doesn't always reach the emotional heights it aims for. But it reminded me that the most refreshing thing this drama brought back wasn't the pores. It was people who behaved like people.

Best suited for viewers who enjoy psychologically grounded characters, mature relationships, restrained cinematography, and dramas that reward patience more than adrenaline.
Less suited for viewers looking for fast pacing, explosive chemistry, constant twists, or highly melodramatic romance.

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A Story of Mental Survival

At first glance, Mo Li (First Jasmine) feels like a standard revenge drama, giving you that satisfying taste of payback right from the start. But as the story unfolds, it transforms into something deeper and more reflective. This shift in pacing might frustrate those waiting for bigger revenge moments, but it allows the story to deliver justice with more depth and realism.

Its most refreshing element is its exploration of mental illness, a theme more commonly associated with modern dramas than historical ones. Both leads suffer in different ways, physically and emotionally, and their relationship is built on mutual healing and understanding. The romance is mature. They heal each other, support each other, and stand by each other. It’s not the kind of romance that makes your heart race, but the kind that makes you feel safe.

On the downside, some of the heavy Tang dynasty-inspired style makeup on side characters felt excessive and distracting, especially compared to the leads. As for the acting, if I’m being honest, while I enjoyed the leads, it didn’t feel particularly remarkable, especially Bailu.

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Forgettable

No problem with the slow start and story build up so that wasn't an issue for me watching this drama.

Liked it very much in the beginning actually.
It somehow started to get dull especially around episode 36-40 though.

The story lose me when they can't communicate with each other and the only option is a break up or divorce. Yeah, it didn't last long, but why even put that in the script? When ml knows his wife did so much for him and was ill herself. He doesn't think twice before making that dumb decision. It was disappointing.

Cheng Lei big fan of his work, but his character in this drama was not my favorite. I don't know if it's because of the writing of his character or not.
Just wasn't excited to see him on screen when it showed him. He did have a few cool scenes I give him that. It just wasn't enough.

Bai Lu and Cheng Lei had cute scenes together at first. Later it felt like they were saying their lines. Don't know how else to explain it. Wasn't excited enough about their characters relationship anymore.

Glad everyone else enjoyed it! It just wasn't my favorite from the leads.

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Superwoman on Steroids

LI Ye, the FL in this series, is skilled at swordsmanship and martial arts, knowledgeable of court etiquette & manners, knows accounting and how to run a business. And did I mention she’s drop dead gorgeous? She knows all about herbs and Chinese medicine, and how to perform acupuncture. She can predict an eclipse, (because she knows astronomy). She paints as well as a Chinese master (dragon). She can create magical illusions, and knows how to design and build a wheelchair, (ep.32). She has excellent social skills, knows how to psychologically manipulate people, and she can whip up a meal of bamboo shoots and mushrooms in the middle of nowhere. Plus she’s acquired all these skills in spite of being completely isolated with no human companionship for 8 years. Also, she’s a little bit crazy.

All this makes her about as believable as Superwoman, although Superwoman had an excuse...

She was an extraterrestrial.

Several men are in love with Li Ye, including her underwhelming husband who (at the outset) has about as much verve and charm as a banana slug. But I have to admit that first impressions aren’t everything. This dude is kind, reliable, understanding, and an altogether stand up guy–although we don’t find this out for awhile. Turns out he’s not so bad in the martial--or marital--arts department either.

As others have mentioned, this series really sloooows down in the last 10 to 15 episodes., during which the ML has to play therapist to the FL. The music is OK, though unbelievably repetitious.

What’s absolutely stunning, though, are the costumes and jewelry, which give the viewers somewhere to focus if their eyes are glazing over with all the convoluted politics.

Villains seldom get any appreciation, but I really thought the actor who played Marquis Muyang--I believe it’s Calvin Yu-- did an outstanding job of making the character three dimensional (showing his love for his son, for example) and his body language in general was quite effective.

Well done, movie makers.

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A typical historical romance drama with a fresh twist

This would have been another one of those typical historical romance cdramas with wronged leads, lots of scheming for revenge, and court intrigue if it wasn't for one big twist - FL here suffers from severe psychological trauma and is an unreliable narrator. Add to that ML having a physical disability, and you get a dire mix of trauma dumping from the crippled leads in this drama, driving most of the plot. All in all, this drama is around 10% romance, 40% scheming, 50% trauma. So if you're looking mainly for romance here, you may be disappointed.

TL;DR:
POSITIVES:
- Very interesting FL character's concept
- Stellar Lishan mountain arc
- FL's cunning revenge schemes
- Different POVs and clever use of unreliable narration from FL's perspective
- Beautiful OST

NEGATIVES:
- Very lackluster, prudishly filmed romance
- Some big, forced angst for the sake of moving the plot
- Convoluted plot device
- Uncompelling, boring villains
- The plot is not easy to follow due to how it was filmed
- Lots of forgettable side characters

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FEMALE LEAD:
FL here is a genius level scholar, martial arts pro, experienced medical expert, skilled painter, savvy businesswoman, wise beyond her years and progressive, yet also kind, selfless and generally liked by all. She's also very cunning and plots elaborate schemes like a veteran strategist. She definitely falls into a typical Mary Sue category, but it's easy to close your eyes on all that because of her severe mental trauma.

5 years before the start of the plot, FL suffered a great tragedy at the scholar academy on mount Lishan, where she lived with her grandfather and other scholars. She survived, but it left a deep scar in her psyche, resulting in a severe case of PTSD, with symptoms such as hallucinating imaginary interlocutors, associating herself as another person, and completely erasing the tragedy from her mind. Her hallucinations come and go on a trigger when she's very stressed.
Because of this, it's very easy to sympathize with her - she's traumatized, her mind is fragile, she's lonely and yearns for family's warmth and somebody to lean onto. She's utterly devoted to ML after marrying him, and he becomes the anchor that keeps her rooted in reality.

She expertly hides her plans and intentions behind all sorts of masks to complete her goals - naive, overly cheerful, impassionate, pitiful...But behind it all she's still that lonely, scared girl, crying her heart out on a desolated mountain.

The plot is heavily centered around FL and, like always in Bai Lu's dramas, she carries the whole drama on her shoulders. Forget about ML, he's just a prop here. Her intriguing, unpredictable character is the main highlight of this drama.

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MALE LEAD:
ML here is rather boring, to be honest. It's obvious he's mainly here to love FL and heal her trauma; it's a female-centric drama after all.

He's a typical brave and loyal general prince who got his legs crippled in a war 8 years ago and whose family almost got wiped out on unjust charges of treason. He harbors a grudge towards the same villains as FL and wants to clear his family's name, but in 8 years he hasn't achieved much on that front. Only after FL arrives at his mansion, do things start moving with him. He gets promoted to a prefect position, which allows him to investigate the villains' dealings. But in the end, it's FL who manages to clear his family's name through her scheming.
His character can be described as reserved, brooding, mistrustful and intolerant to pity.

Though very suspicious and wary of people after suffering from his own tragedy, he rather quickly gets enamored with FL, which later gets even a bit obsessive. After she convinces him to heal his legs and he learns of her mental issues, he tries to help her overcome them in return. And in the end, after weathering all the misunderstandings and villains' schemes, he becomes her one constant in the world to lean onto.

However!
One of the major letdowns of this drama also involves ML. To move the plot back to the Lishan mountain, the writers couldn't come up with anything better but to force a blown out of proportion, angsty misunderstanding between the leads. This led to the signing of divorce papers and FL, with all her imaginary friends, leaving back to the mountain. All because ML got into his mind that FL only pitied him and never loved him. He couldn't conceive it could be both. And, bro, you didn't marry for love; she did a lot for you, like, A LOT. But nah, one big misunderstanding and it's "off to the mountain with you, imma divorcing you". If people acted this flippant in marriage all the time, no sane woman would want to get married. It's not a fkn car rent contract.
Thankfully, they didn't drag this for too long. ML hated FL for pitying him, but after learning what happened to her on the mountain, he himself became overwhelmed with pity and rushed after her. The ironic hypocrisy at its best.

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PLOT:
The drama starts when FL is ordered to come down from mount Lishan back to her father's scummy family to marry ML in an arranged marriage. She leaves with a mental checklist of things to do:
• to avenge her mother's death;
• to avenge the mountain's graduates, who got persecuted;
• to uncover the edict plot device lost by her mother, which led to ML's family's ruin, and heal ML's crippled legs;
After the marriage, she immediately starts working on these things.
This is the most fun part of the drama - watching this dissonance-inducing character struggle with her mental trauma, all the while enacting her elaborate, cold and calculating revenge plans with precision and guile.

Another, absolutely stellar part of the plot was the Lishan mountain arc - FL elevated this drama to another level with her performance there. Prepare to cry.

Besides the intriguing mystery of FL's past and her revenge schemes, this is a typical historical romance drama - expect to see court intrigue, incessant scheming and plotting, annoying love polygons, etc. If you've seen a dozen such dramas already, there's nothing new to find here, unfortunately.

What they've tried doing cleverly with the plot here is carefully dosing crucial information about the mystery of what happened on mount Lishan, inserting different POVs, and introducing unreliable narration from FL's perspective.

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PACING AND PLOT DEVICES:
Unfortunately, some scenes here were weirdly paced and edited, leading to uneven pacing overall. At times haphazard; at times abrupt; at times mulling over something too long; at times dropping names, but not showing who these people are until later; at times showing people, but you've got no clue who they are; lots of "blink and you miss it" plot points.
The drama also got quite draggy in the last couple of episodes, but at least nothing was rushed. Everyone had enough sceen time for their own epilogue and it was a happy ending for the leads.

There are also some very convoluted plot points here.
For example, the general-governor, whose murder was investigated for a long time, had such an egregiously written path to the capital, you can't help but get confused. He was kidnapped by one party, rescued by another, taken by a third, and murdered by a fourth.
And don't even get me started about the edict plot device. I even wrote a lengthy explanation with a timeline in discussions about it while trying to connect the missing dots.

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VILLAINS:
There are 3 main villains in this drama, and unfortunately, none of them are anything to write home about.

Marquis is a lapdog of the main villain - the empress dowager. Together, they staged a coup 8 years ago against the Crown Prince and erected the dowager's son as the new emperor. They then intimidated or killed all dissidents and kept on doing that for 8 years, until other factions started digging under them and eroding their bond with court intrigues.
The dowager's scenes mostly are as dull as watching paint dry, maybe because they tried showing her sickly and heavily burdened by regrets over the years.
And the marquis is so dumb and reckless and gets played so often throughout the drama, you'll quickly start questioning how these two even managed to grab and hold onto power.
All in all, these two are one of the major letdowns of this drama - very uncompelling and flat villains.

Then we also have the 3d villain - SML. The son of the killed Crown Prince and a contender to the throne, he's a typical Hamlet-esque character with some very annoying flaws, such as being obsessed with FL, being self-pitying, self-destructive, ruthless and conniving. He's a bit more interesting to watch, but in the later part of the drama he gets swept under the rug for many episodes, only to reappear in the end with predictable rebellion and pathetic death.

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SIDE CHARACTERS:
There are also lots of side characters plotting schemes against the villains, against each other, and against the main leads, but it's all been there, seen that. If you want to watch smart court intrigues, this drama definitely is not it, to a point it just starts to get cartoonish at times. They also kept adding a new set of side characters on the regular basis, making the cast very bloated in the end.
Some side characters, like the marquis's sons, were boring and a plain waste of screen time. Some side characters, like the stupid assassin boy and ML's merchant friend+rival kingdom's princess, had such big wasted opportunities in their sublots, it's frankly mind-boggling they weren't implemented.

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ROMANCE:
Unfortunately, it was so lackluster and prudishly filmed, it became another one of the major letdowns of the drama.
I've thought about what was so off about it for quite some time and here are my thoughts:

First, in terms of FL, for the bigger half of the drama she so often switched from acting overly cheerful, kind and friendly in one scene only to turn into a stone-faced, cold and calculating mastermind in the next, that for the longest time it made me question whether anything she was doing or saying was genuine. So, her budding romance with ML also looked fake and not genuine for a long time. Maybe the actress failed to properly convey her character's complex emotions, or it was for a purposeful sense of dissonance. Whatever the reason, it didn't do any favors to the romance subplot. Quite a bit later in the drama, they tried assuring the audience that she loved ML from the beginning by showing her having a teenage crush on him after he saved her one time years ago. But the first impression at that point had already taken deep root, and since it happened years ago, before her suffering mental trauma, it still wasn't convincing enough.

Second, while some viewers praised their good communication in the beginning, it mainly involved FL quickly resolving small misunderstandings with ML. But she never told him about or included him in her big revenge schemes. This led to a predictable, but very overblown conflict between the leads when ML learned she was lying to him. For the larger part of the drama they acted like a devoted married couple, but were working and plotting by themselves, never fully trusting each other, until it blew up in their faces.

Third, their relationship development skipped a few steps and never backtracked to pick them up.
Their romance here is a "slice of life", "skipping steps straight to the endgame", "old married couple" type. It lacked passion and sexual tension. ML was shown a few times to be nervous around FL, but she herself was looking like she's oblivious to any of this all the time.
Even when they finally consummated their marriage, it all looked so flat and unenthusiastic, it made me wonder whether anything actually happened there. There are literally two prudish kissing scenes in this drama, with none left for the ending, not to mention any mention about kids.
One could argue there was often something interfering with their romantic life - emotional unavailability from one side or the other, misunderstandings, them being busy with work or scheming. But there were also lots of quiet, peaceful moments that were wasted on day-to-day domestic banalities and hand holding. At one point I was starting to wonder whether ML simply couldn't get it up, lol.

All in all, ML here shows more passion in being jealous and angry at FL's shenanigans, and FL acts most natural when she's executing her schemes and suffering from her trauma. It's possible the actors were uncomfortable with each other and failed to convincingly convey romantic feelings. But I saw these actors in other dramas, and I think romance wise the script simply was a disservice to their acting abilities. Not including a kiss in the final episode of a romance drama is just a crime in itself.

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PRODUCTION AND MUSIC:
Compared to some of the recent cdramas, the sets and costumes here are on the cheaper side, but at least they're fresh and new. I'm very tired of seeing the same palace sets in every historical cdrama made in the last 4 years or so. They've also tried stylizing everything with a pretty color palette - you can see it in the filters, sets and all costumes, definitely eye-pleasing.
And the last major highlight of this drama is the music - the background instrumental music is superb, and Zhou Shen's intro delivered as always, and there were some other nice songs here.

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CONCLUSION:
This drama sure was a rollercoaster in terms of how to rate it. I went back and forth as the episodes aired. And in the end, I gotta say that overall it's quite good. Some parts of it were simply stellar; some, unfortunately, didn't deliver.
If you're a fan of Bail Lu's work, it definitely is a must watch - compared to her other dramas, it's one of the better ones. She's been on a roll this year with good dramas. Her performance in the Lishan mountain arc will probably net her all the yearly awards, it was so good.
There were some very annoying letdowns in this drama, though, described in detail above, so I had to lower the score a bit. Overall, it's an 8 from me.

P.S. If you want to watch a drama where Bai Lu unquestionably fits her role like a glove, with none of the draggy soap in the plot, go watch her previous drama - Unveil: Jadewind. And it's funny, but even that grim detective drama had more exciting romance than in The First Jasmine, even though it wasn't the main focus.
For an intelligent court intrigue and revenge drama with well-written complex villains, I'd recommend the recent Legend of Zang Hai.

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Loved it except one thing...

I’m a 30‑year‑old woman, and when I first saw the trailer for *The First Jasmin*, I immediately knew I wanted to watch it. It looked intriguing, mysterious, and right up my alley. I also hadn’t watched a full drama with Bai Lu before, even though I really enjoy her personality from the variety shows and interviews I’ve seen. I like Cheng Lei as well—I first saw him in *How Dare You*—so I went into this drama with a lot of excitement.
Overall, I had no issues with the acting, story, or music. The only thing that genuinely disappointed me was the lack of romantic scenes between the two main leads. It felt like there was little to none, which was frustrating. I’m not sure if the original novel is the same way or if the drama was intentionally kept very PG, but as someone in her 30s who doesn’t need heavy censorship, it really took away from the experience.
What made it even more annoying is that both actors have done dramas with skinship and kissing scenes before, so it’s not like they’re against it. I truly hope they work together again in the future—and that next time, we get a lot more romance between them.

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Such a bright smile, Ye li, in an empty room, Ye li

I truly feel such a pity to give only 6, for such a masterpiece of Ye li story, yet the pity, not to mention that Bai Lu is my fave actress, still i cannot bring myself to give any higher—The story starts strong yet fails midway, it feels like stoped in time for few episodes until it catches you on answers full of suspense! =>
But then…Onwards 35episode it again started feeling boring, and I just skipped everything. I think it was just too boring and slow for me :< I can say that I didn’t even watch it, just pure forwarding

“I felt that i dont like the slow story…It feels that something is missing. I was forwarding a-lot.” Yet still kept watching because of suspense and Bai Lu (Ye li)

The suspense is made well, the whole suspense is literally Ye li itself, more exactly her past. Without Ye li trauma, I think it would be casual romance, female driven revenge drama without anything pretty much.

——Characters—SPOILERS
Ye li and Ye Ying had my heart the whole time.
I truly felt attached to Ye li, because of her loneless. And i understand her, the hallucinations that she created out of loneless and lose…Out of harsh live in Lishan mountains yet she is cherful and full of joyment, and made-like genius character! She is one of my favourites female characters in C-drama land!

Ye li never understands that she is alone, the vivid images of people, the knowing that they just went to harvest…Her heart cannot bring herself to see the truth, and if she does she just simply forgets because its too overwhelming for her. She just shuts the brain, and lets the heart act, her delusion mind

on the other hand Ye Ying, it makes me pity her. She married a man that will never love her, no matter how much she will try. I think in the heart she also feels lonely and deceived, thats why at first she acted mean towards Ye li
Is one-sided love deemed worthless?”Ye ying
“Those with deep cravungs have shallow understanding” - Ye li

Li Fei bei and Princess Ling Yun, truly had heartwarming moments

It’s just that I don’t know what to say about Mo Xiu Yao, he also has past-story, but I didn’t felt anything for him, after all Ye li is the main point of the story.

So I want to say that, the story was just not for me, i understand people who give good ratings, I also think it deserves the rating. it’s just simply not for me, that’s why my rating is like this, I’m rating how much I enjoyed, not how good the drama is!

But I also think that the drama is a bit has too overused plot, if not the “trauma” of Ye Li, I wouldn’t like the drama not even a little bit. that’s the only special thing about this drama the mental illness, because it’s rare that mental illness is bringer into historical idol cdrama, the plot-twist was something new!

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king & queen of micro-expressions!!

things aren’t what they first seem here.
bai lu is crafting one of her most compelling and complex characters in Ye Li, and regardless of what lengths she goes to, our hearts understand and hurt for her. not any leading lady could pull off this role, it requires the skill to convey a lot with extreme subtlety. bai lu is more than up to the challenge.

i’d say this is also one of the fresher takes on a mastermind character, portrayed with an appropriate amount of tenderness and disorder.

so we get a revenge story, where the mystery extends, envelopes and includes our main protagonist.



the weakness of this:

i wanted cheng lei to be given more to work with because his part of this leaves me wanting more. i feel he was underutilized here.

the romance isnt going for “romance” as much as its going for “healing” and “connection”. i personally dont mind that this doesnt feel sweepingly romantic, but ive seen people mention it as a minus.

something i do struggle with is that some plotting aspects seemed disjointed. the core was really good so its hard to notice but the weave could’ve been tighter. many subplots felt like they were put on pause so the main thing could happen without in world good enough justification.

so its very good, worth the watch if you like historical dramas, but has its flaws.




✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

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