This is probably the first time I had a little difficulty to keep up with a cdrama,though how bad the execution maybe.
Firstly,the total atmosphere and sets of the Gong house is very dark which was not very eye appealing and pleasing for me.Somehow I couldn't accustom myself to the House of the Gong's and especially the back hill.
I didn't get why in the first place the back hill existed and why do they need to live so discreetly.Its whole and sole purpose was only the 3 trials and not much more,which I felt was to drag on the story for a longer time.
The male lead,Gong Ziyi, and his aide Jin Fan were the only characters which were a bit pleasant.Others never made me interested in them.The romantic tracks between the 2 couples never attaracted me throughout the drama.They either lacked intensity or were always filled with suspicions.The track between Shangguan Qian and Gong Shangjue was very boring for me.The main lead couple were a bit better than the second couple.
From the beginning,each and every scene was only written to either arouse suspicions or just put us in suspense,but a solid plot was never presented.Every frame was only to keep on making us guessing but nothing else.
The constant fighting between brothers of Gong family,even though they face threat from Wufeng organisation,did not make any sense to me at all.
The last episodes has too many twists to be revealed and too many questions were answered but everything was a bit confusing.
Though the start of the drama seemed interesting,somehow I could not adapt to the drama,but the costumes were good.
Maybe it's not my cup of tea or maybe I didn't understand,but the plot failed in execution though it has an excellent story.