This has to be one of the least mentioned series in comparison to the ones above, and that’s just a crying shame. Understated, elegantly written and superbly brought to life by a stellar cast, this is a magnificent show that brings to life the turbulent days during the declining years and fall of imperialism, and the rise of one of the first female Chinese entrepreneurs.

There are, as far as I can see halfway in, no fillers in this 74 episode drama. For reals. Everything that happens is part of an intricately plotted tale that moves like a chess game (or, I suppose, a weiqi game would be more apt). Just when you think you hit the point where a Chinese drama almost inevitably gets dull and repetitive, someone makes a move and everything just hits the fan. Just when you think it’s going dark and serious, something will happen to make you shout with laughter. It is a little melo sometimes, but with this many episodes it has to keep your attention. Some things you can see coming a mile away, but there were still things that startled me when they happened.

Sun Li, as the MFL, has a talent for getting rare jewels of complex characters and making them shine. She takes the dynamic character of Zhao Ying and evolves her like watching a diamond developing facets and shine. Zhao Ying is a catalyst for change in everyone she interacts with. She isn’t a particularly good person, but she is strong, and real.

This isn’t purely a romance, though it has plenty of romantic relationships in it. It isn’t purely slice-of-life, because there is lots of drama, and it will keep you on your toes for most of it. It isn’t perfect, but it’s engaging and it just seems to keep getting better and better. Most 70+ episode shows you need to have patience, and occasionally something else to do as it plays in the background. With this one, I have a hard time doing that. Every time I tried to multitask I found I missed something important. >.<

Honestly I absolutely love how she thumbs her nose at the misogynists in the show. There’s a neat yin-yang sort of balance between Zhao Ying and the Magistrate Zhao, who she keeps butting heads with.

Sets, costumes, and cinematography are all gorgeous. I wouldn’t change a thing. The soundtrack is reminiscent of Yanxi Palace and Ming Lan, lovely but nothing particularly catchy or distracting. In all, everything blends in a lovely way without one thing overpowering the rest. And for those who need the eye candy- well. There are certainly gorgeous men in this. :) XingYi is sooooo easy on the eyes, and a great actor as well. (Not even the weird hairstyles can make him unattractive. How crazy is that.)

I haven’t even finished it, but I kind of wanted to point others that like C-dramas in this direction asap. I’m totally binge watching it- like 7+ episodes a day, and if there are any updates I need to make I’ll do it when I’m finished. It's available on Amazon Prime right now. (June 2020) Only saying this because sometimes it's hard to find the shows you want to watch easily. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!