This drama has the most passionate kissing scenes in both count and intensity of all Chinese dramas I had watched – I meant really passionate kisses not those obviously fake moments. As with most romance stories, there were plenty of save the damsel in distress scenes accompanied by endearing gazes as the hero held the damsel in his arms.

It is a lovely romance story with emotional and hilarious moments. The hilarious moments really made me laugh out loud. Unlike Hollywood comedies which mainly play on words, some of these comedic moments were based on suggestive actions of the actors.

The drama is quite straightforward with some small, but not totally unexpected, twists in the story. It has the usual hygiene factors – handsome lead actor, pretty actresses, excellent acting, lovely costumes, lovely music, beautiful cinematography and endearing romantic moments.

What I appreciate most about this drama is the lesson on courtship and early marital life - instead of the usual unrealistic romance dramas. At moments when they were trying to figure out each other, the XiYue princess had her confidantes giving her some silly suggestions which she refuted with some sensible corrections. Similarly for the ninth prince, Song was always giving him some creepy suggestions while Zhen would refute with some sensible analysis. Zhen played the sensible relationship guru here.

The adjustments to life together were comical but not unlike real life when married couples live together for the first time and discover the bad habits of their spouses to their horror.

I noticed some flaws – for the production team to learn from if they should ever read this review. The piece of music chosen for the hilarious moments was too modern for this period drama and a misfit – sound like a piece adapted from some old Shanghai movies. There are some illogical moments, for example, the ninth prince was always turning up alone for dangerous investigations, and covering up for the rebel leader, which was essentially obstructing justice. And he was always lying to the emperor – although with good intent, it still made him a liar.

As I watched this drama right after ‘Goodbye my princess’, I could not help but draw a comparison, as both involved a marriage of prince and princess from different countries. The ninth prince in this drama was supportive of the princess and allowed her to make her choice, in sharp contrast to the fifth prince in ‘Goodbye..’, who forcibly kept the princess by his side regardless of whether she was willing. The two dramas were antithesis of each other, including how they ended. This drama leaves a warm cozy feeling which of course elevated my rating of it above ‘Goodbye my princess’ although the latter has a more interesting and convoluted story.

Finally, a title of ‘Love by Hypnosis’ may be more grammatically correct. Hypnotic is a drug to induce hypnosis or a person susceptible to hypnosis.

As a whole I enjoyed this drama a lot and would highly recommend it.