THE STORY
I adored the first half of the show so much that I let the last 1/3 go a little bit though I will admit I barely skipped ahead in the first 2/3 but the last 1/3 I skipped a lot of the scenes. I adored how there was a significant lack of huge tropes in the main leads' romance, with a lot of logical reasoning coming into their interactions.

For Eps 1-18: No talk of "it was love at first sight and fate" and the female lead had a reason to help the male lead- he threw a 'poisoned' needle at her for goodness sake and that part to be honest had me. Their story was lovely up until their arrival in the Eastern Capital and the pacing was amazing. The chemistry and the writing was very believable and it felt like natural people in this time naturally falling in love. The focus on their romance but also the plot was very well balanced here. I could sympathize with the leads and the way their dialogue was written was pretty smooth as well. The fights were fun to watch!

For Eps 19-27: There was a bit of a dip here. I'll be honest that I usually watch historicals for the fights, and I wanted to see more of Gu Qianfan fighting! His defense of Minister Xiao really upped the stakes and the build of the family drama was good, but the pacing started to come in bursts and I think the writers started having a bit of trouble marrying the first plot to the growing plot in the capital. Basically my interest waned after the Hat Demon case.

For Eps 28-35: I'll try to make this short but what?? For a big focus on the main relationship they decided to separate the leads and introduce angst, which isn't always bad but here it was excessive and for way too long. While I am all for strong independant women, the "girl power" plot was very spoonfed and lacked the subtlety of the other 'lessons' previously that it was a little jarring. Also, I could tell the writers didn't know what to do with Gu Qianfan anymore so they just put him in a coma?? I swear this man has been in a coma three times in the show and I feel like this time was completely just for plot convenience so they don't have to deal with him for a bit.

Eps 36-40: The leads' reunion really helped here and the plot picked up a bit more towards the end. I think the ending was a little rushed and a tad unbelievable and the pacing was a little odd, but overall most things were wrapped up welll so not too many complaints.

THE CAST
The main cast honestly in general were really good! I do not have any huge talks about any specific actors but the general main cast I thought brought their characters to life very well! Chen Xiao and Liu Yifei however, had remarkable chemistry. Their eyes at each other were captivating and their kisses were damn well-done! No awkwardness in intimacy and chemistry between them and I applaud that! Dai Xu was gold and I was in love with his portrayal of Chi Pan! He has honestly so much versatility and while this is my second show seeing him in, he has yet to let me down! Very strong character choices.

MUSIC
The music in general was good, and I think I enjoyed both the opening and ending OSTs a lot! The other music choices were good too in general.

REWATCH VALUE
I'd say an 8 for the first half of the show because I loved it so much!

CONCLUSION
I'm gonna note how I watched AvenueX's review of this show and I agree so much with so many of the points. Overall, the show had such a strong first half that had the audience swooning but a dip in the second half, especially Ep 28-35 that proved a bit disappointing. The acting was generally well-done across the board and I watch for the pure chemistry of the leads and the magic they bring to the show together! Overall a really satisfying show :)