6
3
This review may contain spoilers
The plot zigs when I expect it to zag
I enjoyed this drama in parts and I watched it to the end. I also feel confused and dissatisfied. These are not minor issues. Some aspects really impacted on my engagement with this show.
This is odd as I started off quite impressed. It has a fast paced, no nonsense start. Bold images and bold plots. Our leads are well matched and have good chemistry. Yes, it is tropey, but watchable.
There is no doubt Bai Lu is the star. She is beautiful, smart, strong and . . beautiful. She is well supported by Cheng Lei as the handsome yet vulnerable ML. The production value is high. Maybe not quite S tier. One of the more notable costume dramas of 2026.
However, there seems to be a recurring problem with the script. Just when you think the plot is developing logically, it goes off kilter. It is functional, but you feel an imbalance in the Force. That's why I said it zigs instead of zags. It is hard to describe so I'll give you an example.
Princess Ling Yun of the rival Cang Bei kingdom is introduced early on disguised as a wandering male merchant. She met the ML's BFF and they developed feelings. The show builds a sweet little romance between them and then did the unthinkable.
It is a key turning point in the story, I get that, but it also feels pointless. It is a cheap trick to shock and awe us. She was portrayed as a good and resourceful person, she has a bright future ahead and they kill her off so ignominiously. They could have sub in a random barbarian prince. Job done, war starts. No emotional collateral damage.
On the flip side, I kept expecting her to show up and surprise the 2ML. She is smart enough to fake her own death. Why not? A double twist! Nope. She's dead, Jim. It won't take much to throw us a bone, dear writer. You are off my Xmas card list.
Unrelated, the FL suffers from PTSD. She has very vivid hallucinations after the events surrounding the Li Mountain Academy. I get that, but the show is inconsistent. It can go from mild to extreme. This creates uncertainty as we can never be sure if someone she sees is real or a fragment of her imagination.
Speaking of the Academy, that is a very sad and impactful twist. However, once the dust settled, it opens up a Pandora's box. By the show's own reckoning, the FL was only 14/15 when everyone in the Academy died at the same time. She buried 47(!) people with her own hands and then lived alone for 6 years! I assume she was hallucinating like crazy.
The salient point is when we see her at the start of this drama, she is ~21 years old, well-mannered and educated. Perfectly normal and well adjusted. It makes sense if she just left a loving community of scholars. Once we found out the truth, it felt askew and unsettling. Makes me question a lot of what went before.
Like all things, the end cometh. It was a bit draggy and they cheap out on the epic final battle. We got the breathless messenger rushing fore to declare the ML has won the battle. Huzzah! Thanks for taking a couple of eps to hype it up. The fight scene in the palace courtyard did partially compensate for it.
If I'm honest, the last ep is a letdown. I don't know how they did it, but they managed make an happy ending feel depressing. It is uncanny. They even give us a lecture on good governance in the dying minutes. How romantic? Nothing surprised me anymore.
Ok, before I conclude this, let's talk about the elephant in the room. While the romance between our leads is swoon-y and the foundation of this show, there are scant skinship. We see the odd hugs, lots of loving gazes and whispers of sweet nothing. Yet, not one kiss in 40 eps! Is there a no-kiss clause in their contract?
It got to the point when even the writer is making fun of their situation. She put together one whole EP where the sole aim is to get the FL pregnant. I kid you not. The ML's sister got so desperate she fed him aphrodisiac!
We then watch our OTP walking hand-in-hand into the night while the FL said (and I paraphrase), "let's do it." Did she just confirmed that they have yet to consummated their marriage?! I'm not totally surprised. Their relationship is oddly platonic. Why? I have no clue. It is not as if they hated each other. One more mystery to add to my collection.
In the end, I have very mixed feelings about this series. I'm still not sure how a drama of this calibre ends up in this half baked twilight zone. I am perplexed. Peace.
This is odd as I started off quite impressed. It has a fast paced, no nonsense start. Bold images and bold plots. Our leads are well matched and have good chemistry. Yes, it is tropey, but watchable.
There is no doubt Bai Lu is the star. She is beautiful, smart, strong and . . beautiful. She is well supported by Cheng Lei as the handsome yet vulnerable ML. The production value is high. Maybe not quite S tier. One of the more notable costume dramas of 2026.
However, there seems to be a recurring problem with the script. Just when you think the plot is developing logically, it goes off kilter. It is functional, but you feel an imbalance in the Force. That's why I said it zigs instead of zags. It is hard to describe so I'll give you an example.
Princess Ling Yun of the rival Cang Bei kingdom is introduced early on disguised as a wandering male merchant. She met the ML's BFF and they developed feelings. The show builds a sweet little romance between them and then did the unthinkable.
It is a key turning point in the story, I get that, but it also feels pointless. It is a cheap trick to shock and awe us. She was portrayed as a good and resourceful person, she has a bright future ahead and they kill her off so ignominiously. They could have sub in a random barbarian prince. Job done, war starts. No emotional collateral damage.
On the flip side, I kept expecting her to show up and surprise the 2ML. She is smart enough to fake her own death. Why not? A double twist! Nope. She's dead, Jim. It won't take much to throw us a bone, dear writer. You are off my Xmas card list.
Unrelated, the FL suffers from PTSD. She has very vivid hallucinations after the events surrounding the Li Mountain Academy. I get that, but the show is inconsistent. It can go from mild to extreme. This creates uncertainty as we can never be sure if someone she sees is real or a fragment of her imagination.
Speaking of the Academy, that is a very sad and impactful twist. However, once the dust settled, it opens up a Pandora's box. By the show's own reckoning, the FL was only 14/15 when everyone in the Academy died at the same time. She buried 47(!) people with her own hands and then lived alone for 6 years! I assume she was hallucinating like crazy.
The salient point is when we see her at the start of this drama, she is ~21 years old, well-mannered and educated. Perfectly normal and well adjusted. It makes sense if she just left a loving community of scholars. Once we found out the truth, it felt askew and unsettling. Makes me question a lot of what went before.
Like all things, the end cometh. It was a bit draggy and they cheap out on the epic final battle. We got the breathless messenger rushing fore to declare the ML has won the battle. Huzzah! Thanks for taking a couple of eps to hype it up. The fight scene in the palace courtyard did partially compensate for it.
If I'm honest, the last ep is a letdown. I don't know how they did it, but they managed make an happy ending feel depressing. It is uncanny. They even give us a lecture on good governance in the dying minutes. How romantic? Nothing surprised me anymore.
Ok, before I conclude this, let's talk about the elephant in the room. While the romance between our leads is swoon-y and the foundation of this show, there are scant skinship. We see the odd hugs, lots of loving gazes and whispers of sweet nothing. Yet, not one kiss in 40 eps! Is there a no-kiss clause in their contract?
It got to the point when even the writer is making fun of their situation. She put together one whole EP where the sole aim is to get the FL pregnant. I kid you not. The ML's sister got so desperate she fed him aphrodisiac!
We then watch our OTP walking hand-in-hand into the night while the FL said (and I paraphrase), "let's do it." Did she just confirmed that they have yet to consummated their marriage?! I'm not totally surprised. Their relationship is oddly platonic. Why? I have no clue. It is not as if they hated each other. One more mystery to add to my collection.
In the end, I have very mixed feelings about this series. I'm still not sure how a drama of this calibre ends up in this half baked twilight zone. I am perplexed. Peace.
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