The first few episodes were a bit of hit and miss for me as the sets did not look realistic enough and the acting was a bit stiff. Stick with it and you’ll soon be rewarded with nicer looking sets, mesmerising costumes and an engaging storyline as the romance starts building up.

It was interesting to see that most of the villains were not totally evil and had their own reasons for their actions and that they too had their own suffering. Because the drama is set over many decades, you could also see some characters going through many different changes, some for the better and some for the worst. While I hated Princess Ya, her heart-to-heart talk with Hao Lan and her love realisation in the end touched me.

I also enjoyed the many reveals throughout showed which gave an insight into how clever some of the characters were especially Lv Buwei, Hao Lan and Prince Yiren. They not only worked together towards a common goal but also did their fair share of baiting each other for different purposes (eg putting a hole in the Queen’s bedroom so she would have to stay at the King’s palace and she leaving the palace knowing he would come after her to bring her back). Even villains like the evil Zhao Queen was captivating as she understood so much more than the Zhao King and executed so many smart moves.

It’s a man’s world… such a sad underlying theme that many of female characters lamented. Although noble by birth or living as a princess, consort or queen, it was heart breaking to see how they were not happy primarily because of the many restrictions they faced and how their destiny was controlled by men in power.

The more I got pulled into this drama, the more emotional I got whenever I heard the opening theme song. Despite not understanding the lyrics, I teared up every time I heard the sad melody and haunting vocals.

One of the best writing in this drama was when Lv Buwei had his final conversation with the King of Qin. One of the most memorable (and frustrating) moment for me is how the King of Qin settled things on his own leading to Hao Lan misunderstanding him. I felt so sad for her as she was not able to get proper closure.

When the drama continued on with Hao Lan’s son ascending the throne, it became less engaging for me but still ok as I was curious to see how closely the story would follow the historical records.