My favorite C-drama blogger dropped this drama because she couldn’t keep track of what was going on with the cases, but I didn’t experience that problem. It lagged a little prior to episode 20 due to the writer focusing on establishing the romance/relationship between ML/FL, but once attention was turned back to solving the mystery of Master Shi Bo Yin, it progressed nicely and in a logical fashion. Most loose ends were tied up by the final episode. There weren’t any unexpected twists like in a K-drama, but at least, things made sense. We also got all three Long brothers married off as well as cleaning house at court by at least two corrupt families being wiped out. There’s concubines, but they’re all limited to the emperor. Fortunately, the parents of the brothers are dead so they’re not being pressured into a political marriage. Only older brother’s love interest, Shu Ruo Chen, is being forced to become a concubine to the emperor…but of course, she gets out of it.

I suspect the drama is called ‘Marry Me’ because ML/FL get married to each other a total of THREE times…although it takes a few episodes before they get around to the first marriage. A large part of the first half involves ML refusing to admit he’s in love with FL although it’s obvious to everyone else (except himself & FL) that their ‘fake’ marriage is actually a real marriage in terms of how they feel about each other. I think ML knows that he's in love; he's just too pompous to admit it.

As far as the other brothers/couples: I liked older brother because he was what you’d expect from an older sibling – steady, mature and cautious. He doesn’t say a lot and he doesn’t rush into things. I didn’t care for the girl he was paired with. Although she displayed spunk at times, and she was likeable enough, she seemed too young and childish for him. I think the third brother’s girl, Feng Wu, would have been better for Long Teng. It was sweet, however, when near the end, LT gave RC a puppy to replace the one her dad killed. Awwwww! I liked the third couple although nothing really memorable sticks out in my mind concerning them. I will say, however, that they interested me more than the third couples in a lot of modern C-dramas.

To be honest, my favorite character was the villainous mastermind, Lord Yun. I just couldn’t hate him. His one-sided love for FL made him sympathetic - at least to me. I had no trouble hating Shu Bo (older brother’s girl’s dad), but I just couldn’t hate Yun, even though he was the mastermind behind most of the intrigue. He single-handedly wiped out the entire Ding family except for the youngest sister. Bravo! Dad Ding was corrupt, and I disliked Yun’s wife, Xiang Ding. Yeah, she was supposed to be this kind, sweet girl, but to me, she came across as too sweet. I was always waiting for her to drop the mask and become a harpy like her sister. What kind of woman goes and proposes marriage for her husband? Yeah, I’m going to go out and get my husband the woman he’s obsessed with, and yeah, FL is going to agree to that. Her love for her husband was pathetic, especially when he was hung up on someone else. I was glad when she finally kicked the bucket. I guess I liked Yun because he played the role normally reserved for female love rivals – he was obsessed with FL & schemed to get her. So refreshing to see a psycho dude instead of a psycho chick.

My second favorite character was FL’s dad. He was good-natured and funny (especially at the end when ML is attempting to marry FL for the third time). Loved how the dowager empress declared that Long Yue was footing the bill for the weddings. HAHA. I wonder if the guests were thinking to themselves - What? We have to attend ANOTHER Long wedding?

About mid-way, the drama turned more serious as the writer began focusing more on unraveling the mystery. We see a lot of power struggles among families – first Family Ding is on top and then Family Shu. Family Long gets involved because of FL trying to clear her master’s name and Yun’s schemes. And ultimately, all this intrigue is centered upon the emperor securing an heir to the throne. I was really quite amazed that the plot held together so well, and most lose ends were tied up at the end.

By the time I reached mid-point, the drama became amusing just because of how ridiculous some things were. Here’s a few examples: what’s with the white ribbons of cloth that Lin Yue Yao unfurled from her wrists? All I could think of was Spiderman! And then that flying blade that Feng Wu used that could take out a whole pack of assassins like a deadly boomerang. I especially liked how Lin Yue Yao and Hua Yi Bai died together – she throws herself in front of him and they both get speared by the sword. How romantic! I mean, if you’ve got to go, why not go with your lover, right? Hua, however, never got to be her lover while alive. Poor guy. Also, how did Big Ears (Shi Bo Yin) manage to secure the obsessive devotion of three women? Really, I got a little sick and tired of hearing FL wailing about her precious master. I did enjoy the Fuxi Score being played on the qin – it sounded really cool!

Overall, I liked this drama and found it entertaining. It was worth the 33-35 hours of time spent watching it. Maybe the chemistry between the leads could be better, but at least, the plot managed to stick together with a logical progression although it did seem to get bogged down a bit as the writer focused on developing the relationships/romances, and everyone managed to find a love interest, even ML’s servant and the younger Ding sister. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you invest the time like I did watching it.