A engaging story that deserved more time
What makes this drama different is that both leads are driven by duty rather than romance. Their lives don't revolve around falling in love; they are people with ambitions, responsibilities and causes much larger than themselves. This makes their relationship feel purposeful rather than manufactured.
Wu Jinyan is perfectly cast as Meng Tinghui, a clever, calculating official who is unafraid to bend the rules in pursuit of her goals. It's a role that plays to her strengths and builds naturally on the intelligent, resilient characters she portrayed in *Kill Me Love Me* and *The Double*.
Chen Zheyuan is equally impressive as Ying Gua, a ruthless and cunning emperor who projects strength and authority while quietly carrying a genuine desire to improve the lives of his people. Having previously watched him in *Hidden Love*, the contrast between these two performances is remarkable. He is completely believable in both roles, which demonstrates his range as an actor.
One thing I particularly loved was the emphasis on both male and female friendships. Dramas often portray highly intelligent protagonists as almost standalone characters who outsmart everyone around them. Here, both Meng Tinghui and Ying Gua have their own herd—the people who anchor them, root for them, believe in them and are willing to put aside their own interests for them.
Yan Fuzhi and Shen Zhishu represent this particularly well. Despite being supporting characters, both have great screen presence and enough of their own story to make you care about them. I especially enjoyed Shen Zhishu's growth from a flamboyant playboy into a prominent and capable official. His development felt natural rather than forced.
Unfortunately, this is also where my biggest problem with the drama begins. -------It was in too much of a hurry to end.
The drama rushes towards its conclusion and leaves us to fill in far too many emotional blanks. Some choices don't even fit the relationships the drama itself spent so much time establishing.
Take Yan Fuzhi and Meng Tinghui.
How did Yan Fuzhi simply let Meng Tinghui go?
Meng Tinghui was her ultimate confidante—a friend closer than family. Even when Meng Tinghui was on the enemy side, Yan Fuzhi followed the soldiers trying to find a way to reach her, seemingly without even considering that her devotion to her friend could make her appear treasonous.
This woman would walk straight into danger for Meng Tinghui.
And then she just...lets her leave?
She doesn't follow her?
I had a problem with the reverse side of this friendship too. Yan Fuzhi places Meng Tinghui on a pedestal, yet I rarely felt that Meng Tinghui returned that love with the same intensity. We see it when Yan Fuzhi is on her deathbed, but I would have loved to see Meng Tinghui demonstrate that devotion more consistently. For a drama that did such a good job portraying female friendship, their relationship deserved more reciprocity.
Then there is Shen Zhili.
There was an entire character arc waiting to be explored here. I wanted to see her rise from the disaster of her relationship with her teacher and continue pursuing officialdom. Her relationship with Di Nian could have been part of that growth rather than a replacement for it. The series could have shown more of how he was her rock who held her together in a world were a scandal on a woman destroys questions her values and undermines her morals. Instead towards the end, the drama reduces her into something resembling a delicate dove.
That wasn't the Shen Zhili I wanted.
Yan Fuzhi suffered from a different problem. At times the drama turned her into an exaggerated, screaming woman, and I found it rather annoying. Don't get me wrong—I thoroughly enjoyed the romantic trope between her and Shen Zhishu. Their banter and relationship were among the most entertaining parts of the drama. But sometimes her reactions became so over-the-top that they felt performed rather than true to the character.
Perhaps their popularity with the audience contributed to the amount of attention they received, but other supporting characters desperately needed that screen time.
Huang Bo is a perfect example. His story, romance and ending are practically wrapped up in one episode. At that point it started feeling as though supporting romances were being inserted to give everyone their "moment" rather than because the story had actually earned them. It felt manufactured.
But the biggest wasted opportunity was - Yin Qing and the people of Zhongwan
Who exactly were these people? What happened all those years ago? Why were they killed? How did the survivors live all this time? What had they endured? What happened to them on the eve of the final battle?
We are given pieces, but never enough time to truly understand these people or become emotionally invested in their struggle.
Even the deaths of Yin Qing and Situ Xue didn't land the way they should have for me. These were events that should have been devastating, yet the story had rushed through so much of the groundwork that their endings didn't carry the emotional weight they deserved.
The drama didn't run out of story. It ran out of patience to tell it. And I genuinely don't understand why. C-dramas can run up to 40. This wasn't a series desperately stretching a thin story that needed to be shortened—it had legitimate content to justify those additional episodes.
Wu Jinyan is perfectly cast as Meng Tinghui, a clever, calculating official who is unafraid to bend the rules in pursuit of her goals. It's a role that plays to her strengths and builds naturally on the intelligent, resilient characters she portrayed in *Kill Me Love Me* and *The Double*.
Chen Zheyuan is equally impressive as Ying Gua, a ruthless and cunning emperor who projects strength and authority while quietly carrying a genuine desire to improve the lives of his people. Having previously watched him in *Hidden Love*, the contrast between these two performances is remarkable. He is completely believable in both roles, which demonstrates his range as an actor.
One thing I particularly loved was the emphasis on both male and female friendships. Dramas often portray highly intelligent protagonists as almost standalone characters who outsmart everyone around them. Here, both Meng Tinghui and Ying Gua have their own herd—the people who anchor them, root for them, believe in them and are willing to put aside their own interests for them.
Yan Fuzhi and Shen Zhishu represent this particularly well. Despite being supporting characters, both have great screen presence and enough of their own story to make you care about them. I especially enjoyed Shen Zhishu's growth from a flamboyant playboy into a prominent and capable official. His development felt natural rather than forced.
Unfortunately, this is also where my biggest problem with the drama begins. -------It was in too much of a hurry to end.
The drama rushes towards its conclusion and leaves us to fill in far too many emotional blanks. Some choices don't even fit the relationships the drama itself spent so much time establishing.
Take Yan Fuzhi and Meng Tinghui.
How did Yan Fuzhi simply let Meng Tinghui go?
Meng Tinghui was her ultimate confidante—a friend closer than family. Even when Meng Tinghui was on the enemy side, Yan Fuzhi followed the soldiers trying to find a way to reach her, seemingly without even considering that her devotion to her friend could make her appear treasonous.
This woman would walk straight into danger for Meng Tinghui.
And then she just...lets her leave?
She doesn't follow her?
I had a problem with the reverse side of this friendship too. Yan Fuzhi places Meng Tinghui on a pedestal, yet I rarely felt that Meng Tinghui returned that love with the same intensity. We see it when Yan Fuzhi is on her deathbed, but I would have loved to see Meng Tinghui demonstrate that devotion more consistently. For a drama that did such a good job portraying female friendship, their relationship deserved more reciprocity.
Then there is Shen Zhili.
There was an entire character arc waiting to be explored here. I wanted to see her rise from the disaster of her relationship with her teacher and continue pursuing officialdom. Her relationship with Di Nian could have been part of that growth rather than a replacement for it. The series could have shown more of how he was her rock who held her together in a world were a scandal on a woman destroys questions her values and undermines her morals. Instead towards the end, the drama reduces her into something resembling a delicate dove.
That wasn't the Shen Zhili I wanted.
Yan Fuzhi suffered from a different problem. At times the drama turned her into an exaggerated, screaming woman, and I found it rather annoying. Don't get me wrong—I thoroughly enjoyed the romantic trope between her and Shen Zhishu. Their banter and relationship were among the most entertaining parts of the drama. But sometimes her reactions became so over-the-top that they felt performed rather than true to the character.
Perhaps their popularity with the audience contributed to the amount of attention they received, but other supporting characters desperately needed that screen time.
Huang Bo is a perfect example. His story, romance and ending are practically wrapped up in one episode. At that point it started feeling as though supporting romances were being inserted to give everyone their "moment" rather than because the story had actually earned them. It felt manufactured.
But the biggest wasted opportunity was - Yin Qing and the people of Zhongwan
Who exactly were these people? What happened all those years ago? Why were they killed? How did the survivors live all this time? What had they endured? What happened to them on the eve of the final battle?
We are given pieces, but never enough time to truly understand these people or become emotionally invested in their struggle.
Even the deaths of Yin Qing and Situ Xue didn't land the way they should have for me. These were events that should have been devastating, yet the story had rushed through so much of the groundwork that their endings didn't carry the emotional weight they deserved.
The drama didn't run out of story. It ran out of patience to tell it. And I genuinely don't understand why. C-dramas can run up to 40. This wasn't a series desperately stretching a thin story that needed to be shortened—it had legitimate content to justify those additional episodes.
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