As a long-time Yang Mi fan I was so disappointed, I feel like the best scenes we got from her was the archery and battle moments in the earlier half. The romance and longing plotline was basically all in her mind til halfway through, the performances were ok, not bad, but not their best at all. William Chan's flat hair was annoying at first but you get used to it and he goes back and forth between the bun hairdo and the longer one with the 2 side pieces. He's attractive, but it really diminished his beauty in some scenes. The music isn't the worst but after watching all the eps it barely registers in my brain and is not a stand out for sure. I feel like it's overrated because there's a lack of high budget costume dramas released this year, and after next year when a lot better ones air people will go back and be like yeah this is over rated, but I get how people are overly generous on this platform. I thought by far the 2nd couple's story was the most interesting, mainly just the Emperor's character. He's so interesting and intense, plus has the biggest character development

Not the worst drama but not the best. Am I harsh because I am a long time Cdrama viewer and now don't have the patience to sit through and enjoy dramas as I once did when I was newer and doe eyed? Sure, but even objectively this drama is a 7 at BEST. There's highs and lows, but in a couple of months I probably won't think twice about this drama, and any drama that I don't think about after it finishes is a BIG MEH to me. If you have nothing else to watch then by all means watch it, but don't go in with high expectations