Face change? Shangguan Zhi should have a change of personality as well.

Yang CaiWei and Pan Yue were childhood sweethearts, and were bestowed an imperial decree for marriage. Unfortunately, CaiWei's father was demoted and posted to a remote area. Enroute to his new position, the family was massacred by bandits. CaiWei escaped death but was defigured and became the disciple of a low level coroner in order to survive, and was despised by the villagers for both her look and social status.

Pan Yue searched for his sweetheart for 10 years, eventually found her in Heyang and proposed marriage. Shuangguan Zhi who was obsessively infatuated with Pan Yue was devastated. Evil as she was, she arranged for a sorcerer to swapped her face with CaiWei and pushed her off a cliff. But on the wedding night, the faked CaiWei was murdered. Rumour circulated that Pan Yue who was later betrothed to Princess Liu Qing murdered CaiWei to free himself from the earlier imperial decree and engagement.

Returning with the face and identity of Shuangguan Zhi, CaiWei insisted on joining Pan Yue to investigate the death of 'CaiWei' when he returned as the new magistrate of Heyang. Did Pan Yue really murder his wife? What was the conspiracy behind the murder? How would Pan Yue deal with the faked Shuangguan Zhi whom he detested?

The plot was intriguing as the duo investigated into the death of 'CaiWei', both suspecting that the other was the murderer. When this was cleared up, the mystery shifted to who was the mastermind behind the series of murders in Heyang and the motivation. The viewers were held in suspense as they inched nearer to the mastermind and at every stage, they faced sabotage, fabricated incrimination, attempted assassinations and defamation.

You would go on an emotional roller-coaster alternating between light-hearted moments, and sadness at the death of the innocence who helped with the investigation especially of the second lead.

I had watched Liu Xue Yi appeared many times in dramas. He was excellent as the second lead in the Blood of Youth and outstanding as the demon king in the Story of White Snake. I am happy to see him finally landing a lead role in a drama of substance and hope to see more of him in such lead roles. Besides being very handsome, he acted well. It is quite regrettable that Chinese actors typically have to pass their 30s before landing lead roles in good dramas.

I was watching the Legend of ShenLi, with Zhao LiYing and Lin GengXin as leads. In mydramalist.com, the Legend of ShenLi was rated higher. But while waiting for more episodes to be released in the Legend of ShenLi, I was hijacked completely by this drama and 'chased' this drama to the end. I kind of suspected that the higher rating was due to the fan base of the leads rather than the story.

Some of the support roles who did very well are worth a mention - Li Ge Yang as the second male Zhuo Lan Jiang, Qi Pei Xin who was outstanding as the villain in the Untamed acted as the third male lead A Ze, Wu Jia Yi as the second female Bai Xiao Sheng, and Zheng He Hui Zi as the 'real' CaiWei, who did very well earning some viewers' comments that she should have been the main lead.

Ju Jing Yi did very well in this drama as the female lead. She was outstanding as the evil Shuangguan Zhi. As the fake Shungguan Zhi, there were lots of comic moments as misunderstandings arose often while she faked her identity.

However, the switching of the faces was laughable - the sorcerer who did this must be the best plastic surgeon in the whole of history - lol.

In summary, I highly recommended this drama.

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Interesting beginning, interesting ending, middle so so

HuZi a descendent of a tiger 'demon', Wang YuQian of noble birth and Zhao XinTong a sorcerer gathered in Fulong City to participate in the selection of the Royal Sorcerers, an anti-demon organisation. Together with them was Qi Xiao Xuan who was a commander of the Royal Sorcerers and was hiding a secret of the Qi family who were descendants of the hero who slayed the Demon Emperor.

Hu Zi, XinTong and Xiao Xuan met their nemesis determined to stop them from advancing their careers in the Royal Sorcery world. Chaos happened of unknown causes. The four went on to lead investigations, against the will of the Royal Sorcery Council comprised of useless elders whose interest was to save their face, promote Cheng JiNian the son of their Chairman, and do nothing to risk their positions.

The investigation of the four led them to Dianfeng Island, said to be the home of demons. There, they discovered the great secret of all, to their surprise. The twists towards the end were very interesting as a secret hidden over 500 years was uncovered. You would be surprised at the outcome.

The hygiene factors were all there: good looking cast, excellent performance, appropriate costumes, good CGI. Zhang LingHe as usual did well with his portrayal of different characters and emotions. I watched this drama because he was the male lead.

Amidst all these, the middle part of the drama was a little lacklustre. Things were happening much like just another day in the office. No drama, no new development - just the regular preparation in secret for the journey to the island. It might be easy to drop the drama here. You have to survive through this to get to the journey to the island before things starts to brighten up.

Overall, I would say it was entertaining but certainly boring in some parts. However, if you are a newcomer to the Chinese drama scene, I would say it is worth a go to watch as you have not been spoilt by other better Chinese dramas.

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Talk, sob, kneel

This drama was produced 13 years ago. I guess based on the standard of Chinese dramas at that time, this was outstanding and was a blockbuster then. However, with the advent of newer and better dramas releases, this drama had become somewhat jaded. In comparison to some of the outstanding production like Till the End of the Moon, Kunning Palace, The Untamed, Ten Mile of Peach Blossom, Scarlett Heart had dropped from the top league in today's drama scene.

Additionally, I watched the Korean version of Moon Lovers, Scarlett Heart Ryeo which was a remake of this drama but was based on the Goryeo dynasty, before watching this drama. The storyline was similar but I found the Moon Lovers a lot more action oriented with its fighting scenes, a lot more dramatic and faster paced. It was very clear why their 'Ruo Xi' shifted her affections from the 8th Prince to the 4th Prince. as the latter was hot in pursuit and was very proactive in winning her heart. In contrast, this Scarlett Heart drama featured a lot more talking, sobbing and kneeling. The 4th Prince was a lot more subdued in his approach and courting. Other than some gifts and a couple of scenes when he stood up for her and saved her, there was nothing very dramatic.

I was impressed with the cast of Princes - many of the sires subsequently became big names in the Chinese drama scenes - this drama had brought them to fame.

Overall, the acting was very good, story was interesting and Liu Shi Shi had excellent chemistry with her four suitors. It is worth the time to watch this especially for someone new to the Chinese drama scenes and had not been spoilt by the newer productions.

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Who would she end up with?

For a drama produced eight years ago, it was still very appealing. I had not watched the Scarlet Heart produced earlier in China, which was what this drama was modelled after. But I am now inspired to do that.

Heart broken by her boyfriend and best friend who betrayed her, Go Han Jin was crying by the sea. While trying to save a drowning boy, an eclipse happened and Han Jin found herself transported back to the Goryeo era and into the body of Hae Soo. Here she witnessed the fight over the throne by the Princes.

Han Jin unwittingly attracted the attention of several of the princes and they fell in love with her. Most prominent was the 8th prince and 4th prince. The 8th prince was quietly plotting for the throne. The 4th prince was seemingly the ostracised and the least favoured for the throne, but unknown to most people including himself, he was born under the star of the King, the same as for the Crown Prince Wu.

So, who would Hae Soo end up with? The gentle loving 8th prince, the forceful 4th prince, the playful 10th prince or the righteous 14th prince?

1. The story was interesting. It was difficult to predict what might happened next. We know quite early who the next king would be but would he become the cruel king who massacred his brothers? Would Hae Soo be able to change that?

2. Character development was very evident. How a gentle soul become cunning in the face of the desire for power. How someone with no interest in the throne was eventually lead to follow his fate. How a confident modern maiden bowed down to the cruelty of the time.

3. Having only 20 episodes, the pace of the story development was fast and there were no dilly-dallying.

4. The cast was outstanding. The leads did a fabulous job. Lee Joon Gi portrayed the forceful 4th prince who was very much ashamed of the scar of his face. Kang Ha Neul had such a gentle look on his face when he was in love with Hae Soo. Hong Jong Hyun was absolute evil looking and he looked really deranged later in the drama. Then there is Byun Baek Hyun with this innocent, playful and silly look.

5. However, the drama was not without some flaws. In some instance, it was clear that the drama was deliberately made very makjang. The rather intelligent Hae Soo became brainless, weak and hesitant. And she started blaming Wang So for beating to death someone who had betrayed her trust. Of course, this was to lead to the chosen ending of the drama.

However, overall I highly recommend this drama.

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Don't be cynical about love

Overall, I rate this drama very well. An interesting story, a good cast, excellent chemistry between leads, lovely backdrop , beautiful costumes and melodious music.

The story centred around Ren RuYi and Ning YuanZhou. The former was the leader of the female spy ring of the Kingdom of An, who was presumed dead. The latter was the newly reinstated head of the LiuDaoTang, the spy ring of the rival Kingdom of Wu. King of Wu lost the battle with An and was captured and imprisoned. The King of An demanded ten thousand ingots of gold for his release, to be delivered by a Wu prince.

RuYi was running away from being captured in the Wu kingdom and ended up hiding in YuanZhou's residence. Meantime, Yuan Zhou was appointed the leader of the delegation to deliver the the gold to An. The only prince capable of travelling to An was also the Regent ruling in the absence of the King of Wu and it was deemed too risky to lose him. Motivated by promise of rewards, Princess YangYing volunteered to be the 'Prince'. YuanZhou engaged the help of RuYi to coach YangYing on the ways of the An. So this delegation of people oddly thrown together had to make their way to An and rescue the King. How many would return safely?

What I like about this drama?

1. In a way, this story was along the similar theme as A Journey to You, a theme of a spy in the opposite camp who developed a Stockholm Syndrome. But the story development was a lot more interesting and the ending was a lot more appealing.

2. It was sad and cheerful at the same time - it spiced up your senses. Who could say that the world is perfect. Therefore we don't expect a perfect ending for everyone. Many did not make it back to the Wu Kingdom. But we rejoice that some found their own happiness eventually.

3. The story was interesting and original in its own ways. No plagiarism observed. and certainly different from 'A Journey to You'.

4. There were a lot of philosophical lessons in the drama. Many were very in tuned into human nature. I laughed at the lessons in relationship that ShiSan was teaching Chu Yue - somewhat crappy, somewhat wise. And in episodes 18 and 19, the lead characters were trying to sort out where they would eventually settle after their missions. This is so apt even in contemporary real life settings.

5. Chemistry between YuanZhou and RuYi was very well played out by Liu ShiShi and Liu YuNing. When RuYi insisted that YuanZhou was her choice of the father of her child and insisted on only a physical relation with him with no emotional attachment, it was hilarious.

6. The second male lead, Allen Fang, YiLun also brightened the drama a lot, acting as ShiSan. He was hilarious. It is the first time i saw him as a comic character, a departure from his usual stony face character. Hope to see him as first lead in a good drama.

6. All the hygiene factors were there: a good cast, excellent chemistry between leads, lovely backdrop , beautiful costumes and melodious music. And the opening and ending theme songs were beautiful.

What I do not like about this drama?

1. While there were some wise lessons to be taught in the drama, there were also some crap. RuYi was name calling her disciple as the illegitimate child when this was his Achilles' heels. Yet he accepted her ill-treatment and fell in love with her - I could not understand this. So one was masochistic and the other sadistic? And they complement each other? No compliments and encouragements - no wonder there are so much anger in some people. Imagine being criticised, beaten and name called all the time.

2. The final pretence was not convincing. How did someone surrounded and stabbed by the enemy soldiers survive?

For the last two points, I took half a point away from a perfect 10 but highly recommend this drama.

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Stockholm syndrome

Overall, worth watching: excellent and good looking cast, fantastic chemistry between the leads, lots of mysteries and twists in the story and great backdrop.

However, be ready that the ending is open-ended. Would be nice if there is a sequel to tie everything up - but don't bet on it. I have not seen any Chinese drama sequel successfully released so far, and most of those released did not measure up to its predecessors.

Yun WeiShan was sent to the Gong clan as a spy by the WuFeng gang, disguised as a candidate for a bride. WuFeng was a notorious group which had dominated the martial art world and forced many clans to submit to them. However, the Gong clan rejected their demands and was about the last not to submit. And as the drama progressed, you would find there were other spies beside WeiShan. WeiShan found that she not only had to hide her identity from the Gongs, she had to deal with other scheming spies ready to betray her if necessary to protect their own identities and their mission.

The young handsome Gong ZiYu was thrown into the position of the clan leader when his father and eldest brother was assassinated, presumably by WuFeng's spies. While selecting his bride, ZiYu fell in love with WeiShan. Relationship between the spy and the new leader became complicated and it looked like she was a liability which might bring down ZiYu from the leadership position.

Highlights about this drama:

1. The story was very interesting. There was always new discoveries; nothing and no one was what they seemed to be.

2. There were good humour as portrayed by the character Gong ZiShang. Although her behaviour was funny in many scenes and helped lightened up the dark and serious drama, some were quite snapstick.

3. Zhang Ling He was as usual outstanding in this drama. He was the second lead in the drama Love between Devil and Fairy and was perhaps overlooked or overshadowed. But his subsequent performance in this and the Story of Kunning Palace along with Bai Lu was nothing short of outstanding.

4. The other main leads were equally good. Ryan Cheng played the cold faced Gong ShangJue who actually had a soft side. Yu Shu Xin hailed from the drama Love between Devil and Fairy - I am not quite convinced about her acting - she played the cool and calm spy - a character which was mostly quite boring - saved mainly by her chemistry with Zhang Ling He. By comparison, the scheming Shangquan Qian (Lu Yu Xiao) was more interesting and earned our disgust.

5. Everything was good except the last episode. Everyone was unhappy - a sharp contrast to the Story of Kunning Palace. I wish they could do a better job with the ending. I suggest with such lousy endings, come up with your own ending.

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Not all lives are equal

As you can guess, the seven times were in seven lives, although there was a double counting. In one of the lives, they retained their memories and knew each other. Still, you watched seven stories, each different. And all the stories were interesting.

Xiang Yun was a cloud which became a fairy with the help of the Marriage Pavillion Master. She was tasked to find a marriage partner for the God of War Chu Kong, but instead she was chosen to become his partner for tribulation, against her will.

The God of War had his primordial spirit damaged as he fought the demonic Cang Hai 30,000 years ago. A heavenly prophesy said that Cang Hai was going to be resurrected soon. It was therefore dire that the God of War repaired his spirit asap to fight the powerful demon monarch. The only way for him to repair it was to reincarnate several times in tribulation. Each tribulation would be successful if the partner would sacrifice herself for him in the reincarnation.

What I like about this drama?

1. Each life was an interesting story. The first reincarnation was funny and three were tragedies. So you would experience a range of diverse emotions.

2. Overall, the drama scored well on the hygiene factors. The cast performed well. The costumes were lovely and the CGI was beautiful. The music was pretty good too.

3. Ding Yu Xi looked his best as the cat demon with his heavy fur coat. But period drama hairdos did not suit him and he did not look good in them. While as the cat demon, his hairdo suited him best.

What I do not like about this drama?

1. The theme of loving someone over a several lifetimes has become quite cliche beginning with Ten Mile of Peach Blossom (3 lifetimes), Love and Redemption (10 lifetimes), Love and Destiny (over 2 lifetimes) and more if I care to check out.

2. The chemistry between the male and female leads was a little lacklustre. So it did not quite bring out the romantic feeling.

3. While all the stories in this drama were interesting, the story when their fate began was a yawn as the drama dwelled on a lot of trivials. The director was trying to create these lovey-dovey moments when their romance began and their lives became intertwined into the future. But it ended up becoming quite boring. Somehow the two leads did not have the chemistry to pull this off .

Overall, this drama is entertaining and worth watching. However, I won't rate it among the highest league.

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Justice comes at a price

Overall, I rate this drama highly. This detective story was interesting - it was difficult in most part of the drama to pinpoint the real villains and there were some surprises.

Zhang Ping, an impoverished orphan who did not know who his parents were, went to the capital city for the imperial examination and ran into Lan Jue. Zhang Ping was an impetuous fanatic who wanted to become a detective with the Imperial Criminal Investigation Bureau. Lan Jue was a well-groomed mandarin who was secretly investigating the case of his father's treason. He believed that his father was righteous and wanted to prove his innocence.

Zhang Ping and Lan Jue started off at loggerheads over the case of a stolen bead on the belt of a foreign merchant. Zhang Ping was convinced that Lan Jue had something to hide and was the one behind this thief. As the drama progressed, they were drawn into the investigation of various murder cases. These eventually led to uncovering a massacre which dated back 20 years and the uncovering of two hidden identities.

What I like about this drama?

- The most important success factor in this drama was: the story was interesting and full of mysteries. Who was the mastermind behind the massacre 20 years ago? And who was the culprit behind the series of murders, and why was he doing these?

- The main leads especially Jing Bo Ran, Song Wei Long and Hong Yao performed their parts very well and so did the rest of the cast.

- The camaraderie and bromance among them were very well played out, with no suggestion of homosexuality - that's how I prefer it. I am not homophobic but do not appreciate display of same sex affection - it does not arouse any empathy with me.

- The story was very tightly woven, so you won't be left wondering how things fit in. And there were no questions unanswered.

- Most importantly, justice was served. I am happy that the mastermind behind the massacre was uncovered and punished. However, I did feel a little sorry for the murderer who was actually a victim of this hideous massacre - for him, the price of justice was high.

What I dislike about this drama?

- Some details were a little laughable. For example, when attacked by a poison mist, the advice was to cover their face with a wet cloth. Had anyone tried this? You don't get killed by the mist but you would get killed by suffocation.

- The English translation of the title is deplorable. A league is a group of people, countries or groups. So Nobleman is a grammatic mistake. The plural version Noblemen should be use. But Zhang Ping was not a nobleman, so this is wrong as well. Then, it could be A League of Noble Men, with the meaning of Noble being honourable. But Gu was not an honourable person. Perhaps a more literal translation, A League of Gentlemen is more appropriate, accepting that Gu was a gentleman despite being a little evil.

I give it a thumbs-up. If you like detective stories or mysteries in a period setting, you would likely enjoy this.

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If we have a chance to relive our lives, can we change our lives? Or is it all fated?

Wow... completely mesmerised.

Jiang Xue Ning was an unscrupulous woman who schemed and plotted her way to the position of empress. But her reign was short-lived as Xie Wei, someone she had once saved, rebelled and seized the capital together with Yan Lin, her childhood sweetheart. As Xie Wei stormed her palace, she pleaded with him to spare the life of Zhang Zhe, a righteous man who had loved, pitied and helped her, but was sentenced to death as a result. She regretted her evil ways and offered her life for his.

She fell to her death, but to her surprise , she woke up as her 18 year old self. Armed with the knowledge of the 'future', she set to right the wrongs she had done. But along the way, things started to happen again as what she had experienced in her 'previous' life. She wondered whether it was all fated. Were things going to turn out differently for her? Would all the tragedies happen all over again?

What I like about this drama?

1. The story was very interesting. Although there had been a lot of back to the past type of dramas and movies, what made this interesting was someone had the opportunity to redress her wrongs. So you would be wondering how things is going to turn out for her this time. The previous and the current lives were very well intertwined.

2. The chemistry between Bai Lu and Zhang Ling He, the two main leads, was amazing. More accurately, the chemistry between Bai Lu and all the three male leads were amazing. What made it more interesting was that it was difficult to tell in the earlier two thirds of the story who she would choose among her 3 suitors, or would she somehow end up with Prince Linzi again, this time against her will? Even though she said to Yan Lin she only treated him as a good friend, but would his sincerity changed that? Would the stern and scary Xie Wei win her heart? And when she and Prince Lanzi ran into each other again, would Prince Lanzi mistook her for his love and rekindled feelings for her? Would she and Zhang Zhe whom she felt so indebted be together in this life?

3. Zhang Ling He was an amazing actor. He portrayed such a diverse set of emotions so well - the evil traitor, the psychotic, the stern dignified teacher, the jealous lover and the emotional nephew when he saw his uncle. He is one of the few actors who looks handsome when stern. And of course Bai Lu was very good too: the nasty resentful teenage girl, an empress full of regrets and the determined girl fighting for the people she cared for.

4. The overall cast did very well with very little shortcomings among them.

5. The costumes were beautiful and the backdrop was good.

6. The drama started with the scriptwriter not wanting to end the story as a tragedy was interesting: a departure from a scriptwriter drawn into the story as one of the characters. Also, this hit a note with me as I dislike tragedies which left me unhappy.

7. Although an intense drama, there were light-hearted and seriously humorous moments, for example when the carriage driver flipped the carriage curtains only to revealed Xie Wei kissing XueNing, to her stunned father, in old conservative China. And the way the fake Dingfei made fun of his 'father' was rather amusing. When his annoyed 'father' told him he was a disgrace to the family, he gleefully offered to change his surname to Yan (the rival family), and I burst into laughter.

8. There were touching memorable moments, for example the series of events leading to Yan Lin going into exile - Xie Wei recited a poem at Yan Lin's coming-of-age ceremony - the poems were all hinting at what was to come - and his playing the qin at the city gate when he was exiled.

8. This was one of the few occasions when I actually liked the ending. There were the last moment twists.

What I dislike about this drama?

1. There were some comments on Mydramalist about flashing bright light in the background but I was so engrossed in the story that I did not notice.

2. Music was generally good and two of the theme songs were melodious, but not outstanding. I must say music standards seemed to have deteriorated in dramas released since the pandemic. I did not come across many outstanding pieces that left a lasting impression except for those in Till the End of the Moon.

3. A couple of scenes were rather contrived, for example the two scenes that Xie Wei ended up in bed with XueNing.

What I liked about this drama largely outweighed what I do not like. You can therefore understand why I gave this drama a rating of 10.

This time I made an effort to check on the director and screenwriter as well. The director is Chu Yui Bun whose accolades include Starry Love, The Blue Whisper, The Long Ballad, Skate into Love, Eternal Love of Dream, Ashes of Love. Success of a drama production depends a lot on the teamwork: excellent cast, director and script are the obvious, then there is the editing, makeup artist and more.

To add an advice: don't watch any trailer on how the drama would end. Let it hold you in suspense until the end. Then the twist and turns would be less predictable and more striking.

Finally, it would be great if there could be a prequel to this drama. I was wondering how XueNing became the empress given a domineering Dowager who had someone else in mind for the position, and a scheming rival who more than matched her wit. But the main cast for the prequel must match this drama. Of course, this would be a tall order as I had not seen many sequel successfully completed or had seen sequels which were disappointing flops.

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Twists and turns

This was an interesting story. The Crown Prince died under mysterious circumstance. The royal physicians attributed it to a blood disease. But the Queen believed that he had been murdered. Defiant against all forces trying to stop her, she was determined to investigate. His death sparked off a fight for the crown prince position now out for grabs. The Queen hoped that one of her four grand princes would succeed the Crown Prince. However, the Queen Dowager, Chief State Councilor and other royal consorts especially Consort Hwang, the birth mother of the King's eldest son, were not going to make it easy.

What I like about this drama?

1. The story had a lot of twists and turns, shrouded in mystery. The investigation led to the uncovering of a similar mysterious death of Crown Prince Taein, the brother of the current King. So what was the connection? The sons of the Queen, the grand princes were all underdogs - with skeletons in their closets, unambitious or disadvantaged. The power-hungry, scheming and wicked Queen Dowager was against her as well. It all seemed a losing game for the Queen.

2. Mix of humour. The drama was quite intense. However, there were moments of humorous relief.

3. The cast was good, not to leave out good looking as well. The leads were outstanding.

What I do not like about this drama?

1. It was based on yet another theme of fighting for the throne; a theme that was beaten to death.

2. Very intense and stressful to watch.

3. Not much chemistry between the male and female leads. They were not given much chance to demonstrate their chemistry either.

Overall, I rated this a 9.5 with not much else to nitpick on. Enjoy it...

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Nothing much to rave about but certainly an interesting wrap-up

This is a sequel to the Alchemy of Souls with an open-ended and frustrating ending. At the end of the first series, Jang Uk was killed but was resurrected by the Ice Stone. Three years later in this sequel, he becomes a soul shifter killer, hunting down the remains of those who had escaped in the first series. While hunting a soul shifter, he runs into a beautiful woman who is held captive by her mother and begs him to help her escaped.

This sequel pales in comparison to the first. There are not much to look forward to. The identities are all revealed even that of this new Jin Bu-yeon is revealed to the audience. I thought the writer should hold on a few more episodes before doing that. I guess it is all to quickly allay the frustrations of those who watched the first series watching MuDeok died.

It becomes a bit of a drag - the identity of the new Jin Bu-yeon is known to the audience but not the characters involved. Jang Uk is in the dark and so are a lot of people in the drama. So the story revolves around them finding out one by one, and also how the 'righteous' people turn to the dark side.

I watched it as I wanted to know how it would all ends. So if you have already watched the first series, you would want to watch this one too.

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Soul shifters and heart renders

The fictitious land of Daeho is dominated by two powerful groups of mages who are learned magicians: Cheonbugwan and Songrim. Cheonbugwan reports directly to the King. Songrim is a self-run organisation openly against the practice of sorcery, especially the soul shifters who are able to move from their bodies to dominate another. Soul shifting involves exchanging bodies, often with an unwilling younger person to prolong one's life and is an evil sorcery. Cheonbugwan claims a similar anti-sorcery stance but secretly rivals Songrim for power.

While running away from the pursuit of the Songrim mages, assassin Naksu finds herself soul shifted into the body of MuDeok and later becomes the maidservant of Jang Uk from a powerful elite family. Jang Uk knows that MuDeok is Naksu and uses this knowledge to blackmail her to help him lift a seal on his energy. The Jang Uk is the son of the Head of Cheonbugwan, who has been missing for 20 years but rumours goes that he is an illegitimate son from his mother's affairs.

King is plagued by the prophecy that a powerful King's Star mage would one day appears and is insecure about his position. There are dark powerful forces supporting the sorcerers and the people practicing it are in high places, who will make use of the King's and Crown Prince's insecurity. Even the Unanimous Assembly of mages is dominated by ambitious sect leaders who are secretly hoping to lay their hands on the Ice Stone which can make the soul shifting happens, while claiming to be righteous and anti-sorcery.

What I like about this drama:

a. This soul shifting story is original. There had been dramas based on soul of a person shifting to another - mostly as individuals unique cases. But this drama takes it to another dimension as a widely practised sorcery involving a cult of powerful men and women whose ambitions are to live forever and dominate the world.

b. The chemistry of the leading female character MuDeok (Jung So Min) with the first, second and third male leads is great.

c. The cast is outstanding and acted their parts well. To mention a few:
- Jung So Min - she was outstanding - whenever she was disgusted with Jang Uk, she would squint her eyes and glare at him which was often interesting to watch,
- Lee Jae Wook as the male lead - filled with a desire to break free from his bondage and to excel and at times temperamental and slackening,
- Hwang Min Hyun as the righteous mournful Seo Yul haunted by guilt,
- Shin Seung Ho as the disturbed Crown Prince knowing often that it is wrong but nevertheless unable to resist a selfish course of action.

d. Along the drama, there are a lot of secrets to be unveiled, identities to be confirmed, suspenseful moments and what would be Naksu's choices - make the story very interesting and attention gripping.

What I dislike about this drama:

a. The ending was open-ended. It takes another 10 episodes in a sequel to wrap this up. If I had watched this drama shortly after it was released, I would be cursing as the ending is so crap. But since the sequel is already released, I just hopped onto the sequel to figure out the ending.

Overall, I highly recommend this drama.

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My favourite Cheng Yi's drama yet

I was usually not a fan of Cheng Yi - insofar, the dramas I watched of his are mostly of him portraying depressive characters. This was the first time I see him in a character that was somewhat playful, wickedly humourous and cleverly cunning - a lot more interesting, and I think he did very well. Of course the second lead Joseph Zeng also did very well as his naive side kick.

Overall, I rated this drama very highly although I hated the ending. An excellent cast, good looking actors/resses, interesting story, realistic costume and backdrop, good cinematography - it scored well on all the important factors. But like a lot of Chinese drama, it had a bitter sweet ending.

Li Xiang Yi (Cheng Yi) was an outstanding swordsman with a very strong sense of justice and righteousness. Di Fei Sheng, head of the JinYuan sect challenged him to a fight for the top rank in the martial world. Secretly poisoned by Jiao Li Qiao, a psychopath, before the fight, he fell into the river after destroying the ship of the JinYuan sect and was missing.

Ten years later, Di Fei Sheng recovered from his injuries and emerged once again in the martial world. Around this time, someone who earned the title of a miracle doctor known as Li LianHua was travelling around the world in a tower horse carriage. He met Fang DuoBing, a young passionate swordsman who claimed to be the disciple of the missing Li XiangYi. Both had identities that they were either hiding or were ignorant of.

The story was interesting as DuoBing and an unwilling LianHua worked together to uncover a huge conspiracy involving a vanquished kingdom and the bloodline of the current Xi dynasty. It was one of the best detective dramas that I had watched.

Strongly recommend this drama but I must say, you better not be suffering from a depression as the ending was melancholic.

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An intriguing and complicated story of time travel

The characters crisscrossed time into the future and back to the past so many times that I lost track. However, it is an interesting drama. I followed it through continuously and completed watching it across three days while recovering from a flu.

Two lovers from different time periods were star crossed and their shared memories were eventually erased. The drama cleverly kept its audience guessing the identity of two individuals- the missing boyfriend and the real killer, and wondering whether the killer could be stopped on time to save the lead lady.

The main actress Ko Chia Yen was excellent. She acted two completely different characters very convincingly - a timid depressed young teenager with an inferior complex and a confident university student who grew up very assertive.

The actors and actresses were good looking. The main cast acted their parts well. Some of the insignificant minor characters were not so convincing; however their less than a minute duration parts did not impact the overall drama. The backdrops were appropriate for the scenes.

The pace of the story was quite slow, so you have got to be patient. I nearly wanted to skip to the last episode.

As for the music, it's just that one piece 'Last Dance' and that's about all.

The main negative is the ending did not flow well. Suddenly, the main couple was on a bike appearing from nowhere - how they met again was not explained - if it was from the time when the female lead was a child, it would be very tacky.

If I were the writer, I would let them meet in the future with a role reversal - with Li Zi Wei returning from Canada, walking into a cafe and ordering his coffee. The waitress whose back was toward him, answered in affirmative, prepared his coffee and turned to hand him his coffee. Their eyes met, they found each other very familar, stared and asked each other simultaneously 'Have we met before?'

Overall I would highly recommend this drama.

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Don't upset those in power

This drama centred around Yun Xiang, an orphan who survived the massacre of his village. He was brought up by the mysterious head of Yantai with a hidden identity. Yun Xiang was trained to became a master of pretence and strategies. Like most dramas of this genre, he insisted on investigating the mastermind behind the massacre, although against the command of his Shifu (teacher).

The drama was interesting as the people hiding their identity was not only the head of Yantai. The drama was a battle of wits and cunning between Yun Xiang and Nan Gong Fang who appeared to be from a rival sect. But it got boring after each identity was revealed.

I am not a supporter of child emperors and lineage, and a believer of: may the best person win. I think only when the upright and capable become the leader can then a country prosper. I did not favour either side of the power struggle, as it was between loyalists to lineage and a capable Prince who was not so upright and did not care that much for the people and would do whatever to achieve his end.

This drama scored well on an excellent cast who performed well, good looking actors/actresses, and appropriate backdrop. Costume was mediocre but fits the purpose. Not a drama of grandiose. Overall, still a good piece of entertainment.

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