NewbieCdramalover

Started out strong then got flat quick

Ok so 100% honest, overall it was good but not the great epic love story and political drama I was expecting to see. The best part was Li’s emotional journey dealing with the tragic loss of her family and how she moves through that at heals from it. They did a good job building a solid loving relationship between them. They go from strangers to a wonderful healthy supporting couple. But if you’re waiting for an epic, romantic love to develop, this ain’t it. There were absolutely no romance scenes between them other than maybe one or two very low key kisses. I’d call their relationship more platonic than a newly wed 100% in love couple discovering their relationship.
On to the action. Meh. Very few battle scenes. I was disappointed here too. I am a big fan of Cheng Lei and his ability to do some epic general butt kicking. But this show literally skipped all chances to show off those skills. They send his character off to fight the rebellion and we don’t get a single scene of him beating the crap out of the rebellious prince Li?? The whole show was literally leading to that situation and they just skipped over it. We get reports that he’s kicking ass but no action? It’s just done. Like what? Then they get to the point where he’s basically defeated yet they don’t actually capture him. They just celebrate and walk away. He easily storms the capital while Prince Ding is like oh they’re throwing me a party. Cool. Like what?

Secondary characters also could have been way better developed. They had such potential but felt like they were just thrown in because they felt like they had to have them. Like Han Ming Xi. I really don’t know what the point of his character was. He didn’t really do anything but be there once in a while. His brother and him weren’t really influential in Prince Li’s rebellion or in stopping it. They could have done so much more with his character. Then there was Prince Li, who instead of the villain they portrayed him as, actually had a valid reason to rebel. The Empress Dowager killed his family and stole the throne from him. In other dramas that person is the hero. So I actually felt bad for him the whole show. He was just fighting for just revenge. And in the end the empress even admits she was wrong for it all.

So overall, it was worth watching,started out with a strong idea and intention, then fell really flat for me. Bai Lu was great in her acting skills and really brought the emotion to the character. I don’t think they gave a chance for Cheng Lei to shine in this one. The last 5-6 episodes he is barely in and more like a side character. In the beginning I felt like I was waiting for his time to shine and it never happened.
So take this for what it’s worth but I felt like it had a lot of potential and then fell really flat.

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Superb love story

Absolutely loved this drama from beginning to end. Never a dull moment and loved every character. Chen Lei is phenomenal and brings it in every way. He is soft and sweet and yet still brings the amazing hard core side as well. He has an amazing range. The FL I didn’t start off loving but she grew on me as it went on. By the end I totally loved her. The whole story came along nicely and had some great plot moments that had me gasping and screaming at the screen. Gotta love that! It hit all the great emotions. It didn’t have any ridiculous plot holes or frustrations that make you overly mad. This was definitely a great watch.

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