What's done is done, but I believe this drama was miscast. Change the leading man to the smoking hot Monk guy (Zhou Lu La) and we at least would believe the guy was indeed a general because he had the right form plus an expressive face that conveyed more emotions than Ren Jia Lun has done in all his dramas combined.
Moreover, and I can't emphasize enough, this drama suffered from the screenwriter's depiction of the protagonists and antagonists who were done a disservice by being characterized with such clearly delineated qualities. There were no gray areas, everyone was either white or black. Our ML was entirely too selfless while our heroine had less gravitas than cooked noodles. The combination of the two of them kept me entertained because god knows nothing good would ever come out of their combined idiocy. Perhaps I'm being too critical but having just come from watching the masterclass acting and screenplay that is "Royal Nirvana", I'll give myself a pass for being dissatisfied with a drama that needed a couple more re-writes.

While it's normal to romanticize star-crossed lovers, I still need them to not offer themselves up as sacrificial lambs. Zhou Sheng Chen as a character didn't quite ring true for me and for a drama that's this character-driven, I needed to believe he was being tormented by the vow he'd prematurely taken. How could he have been allowed to have his cake and eat it too? Yes, I know he died and all but he never actually suffered unrequited love since whatshername was basically handed to him on a golden platter. What a joke.

In all, the clusterfuck that was the premise could have only worked if they all died, which they did. So, all's well.