A well executed revenge plot drama some politics, lots of cute and funny moments, a harem of nice mls, a really amazing fl- overall a perfect mix of romance, politics and revenge. Though must say that although it is primarily revenge plot, it is not suffocatingly angsty . It focuses on family and romance a lot.

It is honestly not at all as awful as some reviews and comments say. I really liked it very much. Some people don't like the show for the ml because he played villains in some other popular shows, but it's my first time watching him and he is fine to me.

Let me start by saying that the only thing that sticks out like a sore thumb here is the production. Though it's not disastrous, it's watchable, but just doesn't match the level of the acting and story, which are its best ingredients to hold someone's attention.

Now onto what I love the most- it's the FL's character.. I've been watching cdramas for almost 2 yrs now, and I've been used to the typical airhead FLs that always cause trouble and need saving. But here the FL is incredibly intelligent, mature and calculating, which is very rare for cdramas to have. She is far from a reckless, impulsive, dumb and stupid girl, she is cautious, always analysing everything around and carefully planning her next actions, which is very appealing to me.
Next, it is her harem- 4 very different men are interested in her romantically. Her primary love interest general Zhu Zan, a duke's son and her childhood sweetheart, is investigating his lover's death, unbeknownst to him that Dr Jun is indeed her. However, he stays around her because she intrigues him with some of her actions that are similar to his lost lover, and gradually starts liking her. They have a nice chemistry and their scenes are sometimes very funny with his hilarious actions. Needless to say they are very free around each other. Next is Ning Yun Zhao, a noble scholar, as smart and able as the fl, was engaged to Jun Zhenzhen before birth. He falls in love with Jiuling as Zhenzhen primarily due to her wits and such qualities. They are too formal and courteous to each other, and treat each other with respect, because firstly she has long been in love with Zhu Zan, and secondly, she can't steal Zhenzhen's fiance. Their scenes are somewhat painful to watch because his heart breaks repeatedly. Next up is Lu Yun Qi, a creepy palace guard head obsessed with princess Jiuling who had saved him once in childhood, and her ex husband and currently married to her sister. His scenes really gave me the creeps with his disgusting actions. I don't like him at all. Now onto the sweetest kid, Fang Cheng Yu, Zhenzhen's cousin, who Jiuling marries to cure his illness and also to root out the evils in the Fang family and then divorces. Jiuling clearly saw him as her brother, but it was his first time liking someone and it was sweet watching a sick young man irritated by everything, gradually warming up and falling in love as he regained his health.

Story: The story is very interesting though the plot isn't exactly very uncommon- the fl wants to avenge her father's death and I've watched quite a few similar dramas, but this has to be the one of the best. Chu Jiuling's father was killed by her uncle and she failed in her revenge for the first time and averted death at the cost of her co-disciple Zhenzhen and teacher's life. She came back with her face to survive and pave her path towards the murderer, the greedy and evil emperor, for revenge. From eliminating the evils in Zhenzhen's maternal family to uncovering the old conspiracies involved in her father's death to facing the enemies on the battlefield and saving people as a talented doctor, and in the process reuniting with her loved one, the main plot has several subplots that drive the story without once being draggy and hold the viewer's attention.
Also it has a nice satisfying happy ending, so that just makes it all the more fun.

Characters and acting: I've already described the main characters above, so now I'll say about some side characters. That damn maid didn't know her place, kept making trouble for the fl, and was terrible at her job, she got on my nerves every freaking time. She was the definition of useless. Why the hell didn't Jiuling get rid of her? I loved Zhenzhen's family, they were so good. ZZ's parents made a very nice family, just opposite to the mother and sister of NYZ, who were just as irritating as other small time villains. Chu Rang, the emperor and his prime minister were very evil. Even being the emperor couldn't satiate his greed.
PXR's acting was on point, she did amazing with the various sides of her character, JH did really very well too in his character, his emotions were very well portrayed. WYS gave off tranquil vibes for his noble character, he was just as good as a gentle and heartbroken lover. DYF really made my skin crawl with his crazy behavior sometimes, so his acting fit his character well. Both Ning and Yunqi were pitiful characters when it came to love. ZZ also played the "arrogant teen in love for first time so now im all sweet and caring" part well. Others did a good job too.

Production: The makeup and costumes were just not good enough for the backgrounds of the characters. The makeup team did a really bad job. Almost all of them were rich and nobility, but the costumes felt kind of cheap and not good. Especially PXR's makeup.. they could've done it a lot better. No offense, but her makeup made her look much older and her hairstlye made her forehead look bigger. She is very beautiful, but they found a way to pull her beauty down.

Overall, I've loved it watching once, I'd definitely come back to rewatch it once i get time. I admit it isn't totally perfect, has some flaws and plot holes, some things weren't quite explained, but what even is perfect? Also i obviously recommend watching it. (I actually made my friend start cdrama with this and he actually really liked it so I'm extra glad).