i was extremely excited for this drama because i'm a big fan of zhang linghe and was also very traumatized by esther yu's baby voice in LBFAD, so to learn that she is taking on a more mature role of an assassin, i was super excited to see how she was going to portray it since her acting isn't all that bad (if we mute the drama).

but...i couldn't even bring myself past the first few episodes for this drama...the storyline fell flat for me and gong ziyu is probably the weakest, most boring male lead i've ever watched. every move he makes is so blinded by love...and it's probably also bc i watched Story of Kunning first, where zhang linghe portrayed the complex and intelligent xie wei character quite well, so to see him so dumb and weak here...it's just exasperating...

some of the things that i rly can't stand in this drama:
(1) why are they all talking with that jyp's half air half sound technique, it's so exhausting to listen to them. it's like any one of them was going to run out of breath any time. it DOES add to the whole mysterious vibe of the drama, but it gets super tiring after a while.

(2) the two girls are meant to be top spies of wufeng...but then why are they discussing their plans with their windows WIDE OPEN and not being on a look out as they talk. not very smart..? but...

(3) THEY ARE LUCKY THAT ALL THE GONG MEN ARE STUPID LOL. bc the way that wufeng spies could infiltrate into the gong residence was just HILARIOUS. one could the wife of the swordwielder, the other one is the son...and out of like a dozen number of girls, the two men JUST HAD TO pick the 2 wufeng spies as wives - like what's the probability??!!? i rmb in the first ep, wufeng said that the spies they sent into gong never made it back - perhaps because they all married into the gong residence and none of them actually died ??? T__T all the wufeng spies around them, but ziyu/shangjue/yuanzhi suspected none of them, but one another LOL when they were the only three with real gong blood coursing through their veins.

(4) i understand that dramas (even the most solemn ones) need some comical relief, but every time gong zishang comes out, it's just TOO much. the juxtaposition is too jarring ('': no hate to the actress bc she's rly v funny in real life, it's probably the script writing and the directing that made this jarring effect painful

when i heard news that the drama ditched the first couple for promotions and asked the second couple to attend promotion activities instead, i felt that it was so rude for them to do that. but then after watching this drama...i realised WHY. zlh x esther's cp feels were definitely stronger in LBFAD even tho they didn't end up tgt, in this drama - they just fell flat..and probably because the second couple's story was much more well written and had more substance to it. also because they really have more chemistry, i scrolled through weibo and really, the two of them are so cute in real life ('':

the only saving grace for this drama is probably the cinematography, the second couple, the faces of all the actors/actresses here and the brotherhood between shangjue x yuanzhi.

apart from that...i dropped the drama and i'm sad because zhang ling he was so pretty in here... (':