Parade of stupidity and wasted potential

For a drama that is ranked so highly, I expected greatness. What I got was boredom and disappointment. Unfortunately, this is another sad victim of genre confusion where the writers couldn't figure out whether they were creating a drama or a comedy.

The story had a promising start. Jang Uk spent his entire life in mediocrity because of the circumstances surrounding his birth. He was forced to live quietly without an opportunity to practice magic. This could've been a coming of age fantasy drama with a side of romance telling a story of a man regaining power and finding his identity. What we got was cliche slap-stick comedy devoid of any dramatic themes that were promised at the beginning. Instead of working towards self-improvement, Jang Uk was a whiny, unmotivated, blabbering idiot who gave up every time he faced a challenge. Barely any screen time was given to his training so he could achieve the tremendous power he was destined to have. The writers just decided to give him a free level-up by placing him in situations where he didn't even do anything while Mu Deok stood around and clapped "You are so luuuucckkkyy!"

The romance was mostly boring because Jung So Min only had two facial expressions. When Mu Deok did not patronize the crown prince with exaggerated groveling, she had a resting b*tch face most of the time. Whenever they had romantic scenes, only Lee Jae Wook made any effort to show emotion while Mu Deok just looked bored. The characterization wasn't particularly convincing either. Jung So Min as Naksu/ Mu Deok looked more like a pouty teenager forced to do chores rather than a super-powered assassin. The original actress before the soul switch delivered a much better performance.

The overall pacing was very slow because the plot focused too much on side characters and pointless love rectangles. Everyone and their mother had to fall in love with Mu Deok. Instead of showing a blossoming romance between the main couple, the writers forced Mu Deok to spend more time than necessary with rejected lovers. I am not sure why they thought it was entertaining to watch long and incredibly boring scenes of Seo Yul staring longingly at My Deok.

A slew of filler arcs added nothing to the plot. I couldn't care less about side characters' romance, lost family members, and other pointless crap that didn't move the story forward but made each episode incredibly long. The drama would've been a lot more entertaining if it had less episodes and better editing. At the end, my watching experience was reduced to pressing on the fast-forward button to get to the end of this mess.

Overall, this drama was just a giant time sink with very little entertainment value. The plot was messy with too much filler and the characters were not interesting enough to emotionally invest in.

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The grass is always greener on the other side

The drama gives a realistic view on marriage and what happens when two people stop communicating and being considerate. Cha Joo Hyuk is selfish, self-centered, and completely unaware (or refuses to acknowledge) that his weaponized incompetence triggers his wife's temper. He dreams of a better life without her until he is given an opportunity to travel back in time to change his outcome.

The first 12 episodes have consistently good pacing and fluid storytelling. Cha Joo Hyuk wakes up married to his beautiful and rich first love until he meets Seo Woo Jin again. I enjoyed the use of flashbacks showing just enough of Joo Hyuk and Woo Jin's relationship and how in love they were before marriage, which plays a big part in his character development. The story switches between comedy and melodrama as the main couple gets to know each other again. The writers portray Joo Hyuk feelings of guilt and regret rather well as he realizes the gravity of his mistake and what he lost.

Woo Jin is clever, spunky, and has a hilarious sense of humor. I really love her characterization. Thankfully, the writers avoid the cliche portrayal of a messy and childish heroine, and create a well-rounded adult who can be serious and funny. Her and Joo Hyuk have very good chemistry and slowly begin to re-connect. Even secondary characters are fun. The drama gives them just enough focus not to overwhelm the viewer or take the attention away from the main couple.

The last 4 episodes undo everything I loved about the drama. After confessing his mistake to Woo Jin, Joo Hyuk is desperate, full of regret and longing. This is when the story should've started to wrap up. But, the writers force us to sit through 4 more episodes of Woo Jin relentlessly pursuing Joo Hyuk to reconcile. Joo Hyuk's behavior is completely contrary to what he wants as he goes out of his way to avoid her and regresses back to the self-centered jerk he was at the beginning. Instead of giving his redemption arc a logical conclusion, the writers turn him into a spineless coward refusing to make any effort to be a better man and husband. The main couple's explosive chemistry completely fizzles out with Joo Hyuk's vacant stares and Woo Jin's continuous begging. At that point, it is hard to root for them or even care if they stay together. Moreover, the drama gives too many filler scenes to the secondary characters. I say watch episodes 1-12 and skim through the last 4 just to get to the happy ending.

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No plot

The drama has a lot of great ideas but no coherent plot. At the beginning, there are enough engaging moments to keep me interested, but they quickly fizzle out into a boring and draggy marathon of underdeveloped plot lines.

Han Se Gye is dynamic and quirky to Seo Do Jae's low-key frozen face. But, Do Jae never grows on me. He is a carbon copy of Nam Se Hui from "Because This Is My First Life" with zero charm and personality. Their unique conditions could've played a big part in their character and relationship growth. Instead, Se Gye's face change devolves into a series of anticlimactic mini-arcs and the rest of their interactions is boring and pointless banter.

When it comes to the plot, it's a number of half-assed story lines with extremely easy resolutions. The face-swap is interesting for about five minute until it becomes a bunch of mini-arcs that have no impact on the story and character development. The so-called "villains" are passive-aggressive, semi-infantile jerks who are obnoxious for the sake of being obnoxious with no depth or purpose, and, they are dealt with fairly quickly without creating any actual tension. Se Gye's identity crisis becomes an afterthought, devoid of any substance, as the writers choose a safer route with light-hearted comedy and regularly used cliches. What's worse, the mystery behind her condition is never explained.

Secondary characters are shallow and forgettable. I ended up skipping most scenes with Sa-ra and Ryu Eun Ho. They weren't interesting enough to keep my attention as I already struggled with the drama's draggy plot.

Overall, the show is a lot of missed opportunities to create a compelling love story between two odd people with unique issues. The drama is riddled with repetitive moments, overuse of flashbacks, and cheesy dialogue. Serious elements, that made the drama interesting, are reduced to comedy or abandoned altogether. This was a one-time watch for me.

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Beautiful

Where do I even begin? This drama is gorgeous. It's so well written and paced. The plot jumps right into the perfect family life of Baek Hee Sung and Cha Ji Won. They are happy and in love until Heesung's past starts to catch up with him.

The plot is a rollercoaster with a good blend of a crime thriller and romance. Heesung and Ji Won have a beautiful life together, but he has a dark past she doesn't know about. When everything starts to unravel, the drama does a great job showing Ji Won's conflicting emotions. She is heartbroken and confused. But, her love for her husband and keen intellect eventually lead her to the truth. The first couple of episodes creates an air of mystery around the main character. Heesung's real motivations are unknown. He may be a villain because of his violent reunion with Kim Moo Jin. But, as the story progresses, we slowly find out that not everything is as it seems.

The pacing is surprisingly good from start to finish. The use of flashbacks is very well balanced and gives just enough background without deviating from the present storyline, and, giving a glimpse into Heesung's childhood, the person he is supposed to be, and the beginning of his and Ji Won's journey to love. There are no filler arcs. Every character is relevant and plays a part in the plot development. Every twist and turn is thrilling and adds to the complexity of the story. One issue is that the main villain is revealed very late in the show creating some issues with pacing and plot continuity. But, it doesn't hurt the storytelling too much and the drama is able to bounce back. Another issue is longwinded melodramatic scenes. The writers probably wanted us to delve deep into the characters' thoughts. But, the overly dramatic scenes often feel excessive with the actors overplaying the characters' emotions. And, the human trafficking arc is out of place and completely unnecessary, especially in relation to serial killers finding their victims.

The drama has one of the best love stories I've seen in k-drama. Lee Joon Gi and Moon Chae Won have unforgettable chemistry and do a wonderful job relaying the characters' emotions. Heesung and Ji Won are truly soulmates who cannot live without each other and go to great lengths to stay together.

The acting goes without saying. Lee Joon Gi perfectly relays Heesung's love for his wife, his struggle to understand himself, and trying to cope with the injustice done to him. Kim Ji Hoon is dynamic and absolutely believable as an insanely good looking psychopath. The OST is beautiful and fits well with the story. "Fee you" is one of my favorite songs now.

All I can say is that despite the drama's few shortcomings, this truly is something that took my breath away and made me miss it after it ended. Definitely recommend.

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Sometimes interesting, sometimes not

This was an entertaining show but not without some flaws. The biggest one was segmented plot with not fluid transition from one arc to another. The start was promising, a deity crashing into a mortal realm trying to escape from an unwanted marriage. There, she met a sickly mortal and fell in love with him. After she was forced to go back and the mortal died from old age, we found out that the mortal wasn't mortal at all but an ancient god. Their interactions were cute and the parting was rather emotional. After that, not much happened.

After Shenli finally met Xingzhi and found out who he was, the plot was reduced to just their interactions. This would've been ok if the acting adequately portrayed emotions. Whether Zhao Li Ying is Ming Lan, Chu Qiao, or Shenli, she is the same emotionless doll in every role. There is no variety in her acting, which significantly takes away from her chemistry with ML. Lin Geng Xin's acting was a little bit more nuanced. While portraying a stoic god, his emotions where still there in the micro-expressions, which I liked.

When the villain finally showed up, the plot picked up again. Unfortunately, with Xin Yun Lai's terrible acting, Mofang was non-threatening and completely uninteresting. Although, we were supposed to believe that he wasn't the true evil mastermind because he was in love with Shenli, the writers could've done something interesting with him instead of reducing him to a tragic lover.

The last two episodes were the most entertaining. Although, I couldn't care less about Ms. Jin's love story, in these episodes, Shenli and Xingzhi showed the most emotion which looked like the actors broke the roles and played other characters.

Overall, I wouldn't call this a masterpiece by any stretch. It's entertaining and worth watching. Will I rewatch it? Maybe.

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Not completely horrible but not great either

Even good actors and an interesting plot idea couldn't save the drama. It had all the right tools but no oomph.

Han Ri Ta and Do Ha were the most boring two characters. I get that Do Ha was supposed to be a sad person who just wanted to die, but in the very least the writers could've given him a personality and more facial expressions. Han Ri Ta wasn't any better. They were one depressed person falling in love with another depressed person resulting in slow and longwinded conversations about what sad lives they had, which got old very fast.

The most mindbogglingly stupid thing in the whole story was Han Ri Ta's reasons for killing Do Ha. She created a bad situation by killing his father forcing both of them to become fugitives. But, instead of having faith in him to deal with it and moving forward together, she just decided to kill him to end it all because she didn't want to deal with it anymore. Were we supposed to believe this was love? They were portrayed as star crossed lovers, but her motivations were shallow and self-serving .

The villain was one of the most terribly written villains I've seen in a long time. Firstly, the evil dad wanted to kill Do Ha for "disobeying" him, why? Because he brought a girl home and fell in love with her. That's it. Furthermore, the evil dad's ghost spend 1500 years chasing after Han Ri Ta's reincarnations just to kill them as revenge for killing him because he was a terrible father. This was basically a giant recurring temper tantrum, being evil for evil's sake, not for anything substantial or meaningful.

Some plotlines randomly disappeared. Firstly, making FL a firefighter and ML a celebrity was never going to work. There was no situation where they could consistently be together to move the story forward. As a result, nobody ever worked because they needed to spend time together for the story's sake. She was a firefighter for a total of two episodes and he quit being a celebrity altogether except occasional fangirls chasing him when it was convenient, although he was supposed to shoot a super special historical drama at the beginning of the show, which went nowhere.

The finale wasn't well thought out either. There was no point bringing Jun Oh back, unless he and Young Hwa were going to end up together. The giant plot hole why Jun Oh and Do Ha looked identical was never explained. The writers left it as pure coincidence, which was some very lazy writing, especially because Do Ha and Young Hwa future reincarnated selves looked the same. This was a waste of a great story idea, because Jun Oh looking like Do Ha could've been a plot device to give Young Hwa a happy-ish ending too. But Young Hwa did not get her happy ending, neither did Do Ha. Yes, their souls were reincarnated at the end, but they were reincarnated as different people who probably did not remember their past lives. Young Hwa was unique because she was the closest version of Han Ri Ta and because there was still Do Ha's unfinished business. After the curse was lifted, there was no more unfinished business. Do Ha's soul left and Young Hwa continued on with her life without her true love. I thought this ending was rather tragic.

Overall, the drama started out with an epic bang and fell completely flat with shallow characters and villains acting like cartoon bad guys. There were moments where it tugged at my heart strings, but the badly written plot and characters' stupid decisions made the drama a chore to watch. This was definitely not Kim Young Dae's best work.

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So good!

This is easily one of the best c-dramas of 2023. It does not use the same lame tropes so many other dramas fall victim to. There are no unnecessary plotlines or characters, no continuous cycle of misunderstanding and miscommunication. The drama has meaningful character development, romantic chemistry, and one of the most wholesome and healthy relationships I've ever seen.

There were, of course, some problems. Li Tongguang's (LT) was a terribly written character. His continuous obsession with Ruyi was extremely frustrating . The writers went out of their way to keep him incompetent until the very last episode. His immaturity caused a lot of people to die unnecessarily. After the emperor was killed, it was pretty unbelievable that the first thing he chose to do as the new regent was to poison Ruyi and force her to marry him, just for her to be rescued by Yuanzhou in the same episode, and for Yuanzhou to tell LT for the 100000000th time that he was a creep and a coward. This was especially frustrating because it happened after LT had really good scenes with Princess Yang Ying making it seem like he was getting over his infantile obsession with Ruyi. The show also fixated too much on the Ruyi and Yuanzhou's love story. Yes, we all loved them. They became a couple early and it was refreshing to see them having mutual understanding, respect and love, without falling back on jealousy and miscommunication. But, the writers should've given more screen time to other couples too. I really wanted to see more romantic chemistry between LT and Princess Yang Ying.

Princess Yang Ying was one of my favorite characters who went through the most intense character development. She started as a meek and weak girl just to grow into a strong person taking charge of her life. There was no character regression from better to worse. Everything that happened to her was on point and only contributed to her character growth.

The romance between Ruyi and Yuanzhou was unbelievably wholesome. Yuanzhou was written as every girl's dream man - tall and handsome, strong, kind and attentive, loving and understanding, not obsessive or overly-jealous, intelligent, a friend, a leader, a fighter and protector. The guy was perfect. He let Ruyi handle her business but also protected her when she needed protecting. And, Ruyi didn't magically turn into a damsel-in-destress as soon as a man entered her life.

The message of the show was incredibly meaningful - friendship, loyalty, country, love, and staying true to yourself. I was also impressed by how the characters went out of their way to stress the importance of having respect for women and often said things that we as audience were feeling when someone *ahem* Li Tongguang *ahem* acted like a mentally deranged creep.

I have to say something about the ending. A lot of people hated it, but I thought it was ok. I don't think the main couple died. Some people interpret the ending as symbolic or metaphorical or just Chu Yue's dream. I can't agree. We never saw anyone actually dying, but a lot of suggestive scenes that someone supposedly died. For characters who successfully faked their death throughout the show, they faked it again to be able to walk away and to start a family in seclusion, just like Yuanzhou wanted from the very beginning. And, Ruyi followed him because she couldn't imagine life without him. If it was Yang Ying in the last scene, the death scenario would've made more sense because she was very close with Ruyi and Yuanzhou. Chu Yue - not so much. When Chu Yue saw the boy, she immediately imagined Yu Shisan because that was her last memory of him. Instead, it was someone else who was named after Yu Shisan bearing Yuanzhou's last name. Yuanzhou named his son in honor of his best friend who died. The only red flag was the boy wearing white and riding a white horse, white traditionally being the color of mourning in China. But the idea that death came to reunite Chu Yue with her friends in the afterlife, most of whom she didn't even have a chance to develop a relationship with, looking like Ruyi's and Yuanzhou's son who was never even born, is some crazy mental gymnastics I am not willing to entertain.

The acting was good. I loved Alen Fang's portrayal of Yu Shisan, who was so goofy and adorable. This was such a pleasant surprise after my disappointment with his performance in the Long Ballad. And, of course, Liu Yuning will forever be my favorite.

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Disappointing

The story started out great until about episode 17. The humor gave me endless laughs, the adventures of the main characters were fun to watch, and ML and FL had a lot of chemistry. The villains were compelling and gave us plenty of reasons to hate them. Then, the story went off the rails and started introducing new plotlines and characters who didn't need to be there. I normally don't like love triangles because they usually follow the same tropes and deviate from the plot. This show was no exception. Bai Xiaosheng (BX) was a fun and neutral character who should've stayed neutral. Suddenly, we had to watch multiple episodes involving a love triangle between BX, Tianyao and Yanhui because Tianyao and Yanhui had some tension in their relationship. There were better ways to get it resolved and to get Tianyao gain back Yanhui's trust, instead of sticking BX between them for several episodes. In the second half and towards the end, BX mostly disappeared from the plot making the entire love triangle angst completely pointless.

Even the chemistry between Tianyao and Yanhui became stale in the second half. They had no physical or even romantic chemistry although they were married. They kind of regressed from being a dynamic due to an old boring couple. When Tianyao protected her from any threat, she looked at him in surprise like he wasn't supposed to do it. Ya'll are married. Why are you surprised? Thankfully, or not, they finally shared a very chaste kiss in episode 38 after being married for how long? Pretty damn long,

An endless slew of minor characters and their stories, too many flash-backs, and fillers made the story progression very slow. An entire episode was dedicated to some weird demon capturing Tianyao so she could marry him just to be defeated and never seen again. We did not need to watch short lived romances between minor characters, who all died an episode later, or flashbacks from Yanhui's childhood in the Taoist sect. It was all boring and irrelevant. We also did not need to see Suying's sad romance with the general. There was nothing redeeming about her. She was a reprehensible person, so there was no point trying to make her even a little bit sympathetic.

The end boss was incredibly boring. He was a cookier cutter villain without any motivation or personality. He did bad things because villains do bad things, not because he had a compelling reason to be bad. Taoists were much more interesting and complex.

There were problems with the acting too. Zhou Ye was really cute as Yanhui who was lively, dynamic, and funny. Neo Hou was the opposite. This is the first drama I watched with him and I was completely unimpressed with his acting. He spent a huge amount of the time standing around and staring - forlorn staring, sad staring, observant staring, romantic staring, staring, staring, and more staring. In many scenes involving multiple characters, he just stood around and stared like a place holder. It seemed like the actor either needed more lines or the dialogue needed to be sped up. After some time, the constant staring became very noticeable. Tianyao was the main character with the plot revolving around him, but he looked like Yanhui's side kick most of the time.

Overall, I enjoyed the first half of the show because it was funny and engaging. Unfortunately, the story that started out as an interesting tale of redemption, forgiveness, and new beginnings turned into a constipated mess of stale plotlines and a crusade against a cliche villain. I am actually very disappointed with the way it turned out because it had such a great start.

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Miserable and boring

Don't get fooled by this drama's promising start - overcoming past trauma, a touch of intrigue, a promise of a bright future. After just a few episodes, the show turns into a endless loop of misery with characters doing stupid things and refusing to be happy.

Instead of telling a heartwarming story about healing, personal growth, and finding happiness, the plot gets high-jacked by filler arcs, side characters, and the main couple's constant "woe on me" whining. The writers milk the past trauma trope until there is nothing more to milk and completely abuse the use of flashbacks. In the second half, the show turns into a cheesy melodrama full of overused cliches. He breaks up with her and runs away because he loves her. They spend time with rival love interests and avoid each other when they shouldn't. There is no hope and nothing to look forward to because everyone always falls back on being miserable no matter how much they accomplish. The atrocious storytelling culminates with Lee Kang Doo's liver failure due to nose bleeds and fainting all the while he sees ghosts and hears voices.

Moon Soo is unbelievably frustrating and unlikable. She is portrayed as a typical innocent female who is supposed to be extraordinary in her simplicity. In reality, she is selfish, clueless, and has the emotional maturity of a middle schooler. Although, she eventually starts acting her age and dressing like an adult, that doesn't help her character development. She continues living in her little bubble and playing a martyr when it suits her. When she wants Lee Kang Doo to give her attention, she relentlessly pursuits him. But as soon as she is uncomfortable, she gives up and disregards him when he needs her the most. Her ignoring him when he begged for her attention before fainting really highlighted the awfulness of her character.

Romantic chemistry between the main couple is very bland. They hold hands, hug, share a jacket, but as soon as he comes close to her, she recoils like he has the cooties. For a righteous nutjob who exudes unapologetic, raw masculinity, it was rather disappointing to watch Lee Kang Doo share such vanilla and chaste kisses with a woman he was so passionately in love with. Lee Jun Ho is so good he can have chemistry with a potato, but even his talent couldn't save the drama from Won Jin Ah's awful acting.

Overall, the fast-forward button saved me, otherwise, I would've dropped this disaster after episode 5. The pacing is slow and the plot is riddled with side arcs completely irrelevant to the main story. I was looking forward to this drama because of the high ratings, now I want all those hours of my life back.

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Laughably bad

I watched this drama exclusively for Moon Sang Min because I loved Under the Queen's Umbrella. This was just terrible.

None of the characters had any b*lls to speak up and tell the truth. Lee Do Han didn't have the courage to tell his brother that he was gay and that the marriage was a sham. Na Ah Jung didn't have the courage to tell her "fiance" that she liked his brother and to Ji Han that the marriage was fake. Lee Ji Han didn't have the courage to tell his brother that he liked his fiance. But, Ji Han still had the audacity to get on his moral high horse and get upset at Ah Jung and Do Han for supposedly keeping things from him after sneaking around with Ah Jung behind everyone's back.

Secondary characters were meaningless and boring. None of the older siblings got their comeuppance for continuously scheming against their younger brothers. Dead mom's husband didn't get punished for causing her death. Ji Han's "first love" was the most pointless and non-confrontational love rival ever. Nobody's actions had any consequences and nothing really mattered. The three main characters made some very strange moral choices and were never called out on anything. Zero thought was put into creating a meaningful story and character development.

The acting was mediocre. Moon Sang Min did a decent job. But, Jeon Jong Seo was terrible. She had one resting b*tch face in most scenes like the drama was a chore for her. Her and Moon Sang Min had no chemistry. Overall, the show was a complete waste of time with zero entertainment value.

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Great chemistry between ML and FL

I don't have a lot to say about this drama except that it should be watched just for ML and FL. They had amazing chemistry, romance, kissing, you name it. Everything else was forgettable.

I ended up skipping through the scenes with the parents, gangsters, high school kids. They were not interesting and felt more like fillers than part of the actual story. Even the villain was kind of disappointing because the writers did not really develop him. He had no backstory and his motivations were kind of just doing bad things for the sake of doing bad things, kidnapping just to see his victims suffer, and that's it. He was a one dimensional personality with no substance. However, the actor who played the kidnapper was very handsome and I wish he was cast more in main roles.

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So good

There aren't enough words to describe how I feel about this drama. It tells a story of a mother's love for her children while navigating through betrayal, a struggle for power between the family members, murder, and political intrigue. Not a single character was out of place. Not a single plotline was unnecessary. All the characters got their proper screen time and development. The villains were written for us to hate and the protagonists were written for us to love and root for. This is undeniably one of the best Asian dramas I have ever seen.

The show treats each relationship between the queen with her sons with tender love and care showing that each prince is unique and has a special relationship with his mother. The queen loves them in spite of all their shortcomings and unusual personality traits and makes them feel loved and accepted. I particularly appreciated this take because in Joseon certain lifestyles would have absolutely been condemned, regardless of how much a mother loved her children.

Even other princes, who were not the queen's children, got character development showing their own personal trauma and relationships with their own mothers. The queen was so loving and compassionate that she was able to connect with every single character, even the ones who at first were against her, through her love and compassion and good deeds. And, the acting was phenomenal.

Overall, the show has a very well written plot, amazing character development, and extremely likable characters we can actually relate to.

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Needed more plot

My main complaint with the show is that it reached its logical conclusion in episode 12. This is when ML and FL were already a couple and the mystery behind the kidnapping was resolved. The rest of the episodes were just filler without a plot. When there is no conflict and nothing to resolve, the story becomes stale. There wasn't even that much conflict with the older brother. He just kind of became irrelevant after the kidnapping mystery was resolved. The animosity between the brothers also looked forced because of the lack of plot development. When Young Joon told Mi So that his brother was a "bastard" and there were issues with their childhood friends, it implied that there might've been past bulling or some other conflict which had nothing to do with the kidnapping. But, it was just the kidnapping. To make matters worse, the issue between the brothers was forced on them by their parents who lied about the kidnapping for their own good, which was a pretty stupid plot device because it did not justify all the animosity. And, after it was resolved, everyone acted like nothing happened for the last 4 episodes, which was especially disappointing because the kidnapping and resulting trauma were an important plot point central to ML's and FL's character development and the writers made it completely superficial and unimportant at the end.

The resolution to the plotline of Mi So wanting to find herself felt like a cop out. At the beginning, she wanted to leave the company to find a husband. Then, that plotline was abandoned just to resurface at the end where Mi So realized she wanted to continue being Young Joon's secretary because she loved him. And, she remained his secretary after marrying him. This was rather a strange choice for a wife of a CEO to have the same position as his office employees, instead of holding a higher position for which she was actually qualified.

One of the things I liked was that FL had enough sense to pick up on the nuisances about ML's behavior to discern that there was a lot more to the kidnapping story than what she was told. I loved that she did not just blindly believe everything she was told and started having a crush on the older brother, which would've resulted in a very stupid love triangle. She suspected from the very beginning that Young Joon was the one who was kidnapped, which led her to the truth. In return, Young Joon transformed from a self-centered person to a thoughtful and caring boyfriend and employer. The main couple also had very nice chemistry and some very steamy scenes.

Other than that, there wasn't much else going on. The side characters were not interesting enough to carry the plot. I ended up skipping most of scenes in episodes 13-16 and just watched the ones with the main couple to get to the end faster.

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Good story with some pointless characters

A lot of people criticized this show for casting older 40+ y/o actors to play teenagers. This is the least of the show's problems. Although I like Zhang Ziyi, she is not an extraordinarily beautiful woman as Wang Xuan is supposed to be, and of whose unmatched beauty we were constantly reminded throughout the show. There are plenty of prettier and younger actresses who would've been more suited for the role. For this reason, I think Ziyi was miscast. Everyone else was on point. It was very refreshing to see a more mature actor playing the role of a battle-hardened, undefeated general, instead of a 20+ y/o idol with mediocre acting skills and baby fat still intact.

** SPOILERS **

The titular Wang Xuan/Awu "rebel princess" hit her peak character development half-way through the show. She matured from a care-free and spoiled princess to a level-headed young woman who learned the meaning of duty and country and was able to skillfully navigate through the court intrigue. Wang Xuan wielded the power of the Wang clan which shaped the course of the empire and produced future kings. Unfortunately, after Ma Zilong took the throne, her character was reduced to nothing more than a beautiful object of men's desires with an abnormally large number of braindead males chasing after her. Even the mighty Helan Zhen regressed from an arrogant warrior to a lovesick fool bringing her wedding dresses and begging her to love him. One of the most ridiculous twists was Song Huaien going through a 180, becoming a traitor, and wanting Awu to be his "empress". What a way to turn an interesting character into a cliche. The drama basically dumbed down from a political thriller-ish to an uninteresting soap opera regurgitating the same old tropes.

One of the dumbest things about the drama was a complete lack of insight from most characters. They either wanted Awu or to kill Xiao Qi. Wanting to kill Xiao Qi was an especially ridiculous plot idea because he was the only honorable and loyal subject who was the less likely to usurp the throne. Yet, all of the royal inbreds continuously plotted against him thinking he wanted power, which backfired in the most ridiculous way. Some of Wang Xuan's motivations were also very confusing. She tried to sit on two chairs at once - being Xiao Qi's wife and a member of the Wang family, which led to some questionable choices. One of those questionable choices was her fraternization with Helan Zhen, drinking and dancing with him, something that was completely inappropriate and put a wedge between her and Xiao Qi.

Zitan was one of the least interesting characters and the biggest waste of screen time. Tony Yang is an absolute eye candy, but his good looks weren't able to save the character from being unbearable. The writers could've done so much with him instead of reducing him to exist solely to pine after Awu. And even that was comical because he had one chance at the beginning of the show to be with her and he completely squandered it. Even Awu had to spell it out to him why he was unworthy because he had no spine and couldn't care less about anything other than his childhood crush. And, that hasn't changed throughout the show, which later led to a lot of people getting killed just so he could get into Awu's pants.

Contrary to the criticism, Wang Xuan and Xiao Qi's big production in the throne room to get Zitan to confess his crimes was actually quite clever. I did not particularly enjoy her spending so much time with Zitan afterwards trying to save him, but I attribute it to her still caring about him as her childhood friend. This was later confirmed in her conversation with her father when she told him that her love for Xiao Qi and Zitan was "different".

The most complex character was Wang Lin. Cynical, pragmatic, and unrelenting, he understood the complexities of ruling a country and the responsibility that came with it. Usurping the throne wasn't just his blind quest for power but to also remove an incompetent ruler and to bring stability to the empire. He was truly the only person who was fit to sit on the throne.

The drama did a good job at characterizing the relationship between Wang Xuan and Xiao Qi. This is probably due to the fact that the characters were played by mature actors and not idols. Their relationship had chemistry, meaningful interactions, mutual understanding, and respect. The drama did a good job at flushing out why Wang Xuan fell in love with Xiao Qi and let go of her childhood love for Zetan. Zetan represented her care-free childhood. Xiao Qi represented mature love where she learned duty, loyalty, and the hardships of life. She appreciated Xiao Qi for his bravery and heroism and looked down on Zetan's continued callousness and immaturity. I appreciate the fact that the drama did not go down the cliche route creating a love triangle between the three of them.

The ending was ok, although I wanted to see stricter justice served against the characters who committed crimes. Overall, the drama was very entertaining for the first half and for the last 10-15 episodes, but it could've gone without some storylines. And, I definitely wanted to see more of Xiao Qi, instead of the abominable Helan Zhen arc and Zitan's forlorn expressions.

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