As a drama about a nontraditional heroine who still gets a traditional prince charming in the end, I wanted to like this. I really did. Her appearance were anything but what is expected of a heroine. She was at first considered unattractive by her husband, the emperor, but through the course of the drama, he learned to love her, become independent, be a better man, be a better king.

I was glad that the FL is chubby while the ML was dreamy. That he ignored the traditional beauty SFL but can't help falling for the FL's personality. The leads chemistry is subtle but it's there. I can't choose a more handsome ML than Li Hongyi. He portrayed a believable slow but reluctant attraction for the FL. You can feel his confusion about his feelings but you can see that he's slowly falling in love. When he's jealous, you can immediately feel it just by changes in his eyes. Jackie as the FL was also a good choice to be a strong female lead. That she loved the ML at first, lost her love for him, then loved him again because she now knew him felt organic.

The acting was not a problem. I blame the script for my disappointment. As a romcom, it was funny in some instances but mostly the jokes felt flat. Most of the time I felt like the FL and her father were pushing the court to accept her. In other dramas, the FL's antics would have surely landed her in jail, but she was always tolerated because her father essentially holds the power more than the emperor. She frequently used the palace's PA system to air her displeasure for the emperor or to show off her talents.

I admit that I quite enjoyed the first few episodes and I tried to gave it a chance but show keeps trying to make me accept character reactions that made no sense. The emperor had diarrhae because of her cooking but she got away scot free? I think it was when she taught a Bollywood like dance and people supposedly enjoyed it that I gave up on understanding this drama.

The SML also did not help. He was not swoon worthy enough to sway my heart. I found him whiny most of the time and he kept on preening like a peacock.

Aside from the leads, I liked the grand chancellor, his villain-not a villain stance gave this drama it's unpredictability.

All in all, this is a good enough drama, the kisses and longing looks were fluttery. Just be prepared to throw away your common sense and accept events as they are.