While NIF2 works as a superb standalone story, it is best appreciated if watched after NIF. Also be aware some of my comments may be spoilers for NIF so best not to read this if you haven't watched it.

NIF2 is the story of the changing fortunes of the Changlin family as together with the Liang empire, they navigate a changing of the guard. While the story skips a generation, the ghost of Lin Shu "haunts" the drama. After all, the powerful Changlin Army is the legacy Prince Jing created in Mei Changsu/Lin Shu's memory. Xiao Tingsheng, the now elderly Prince of Changlin instills in his family the same moral values, duty, honor and loyalty that were innate to Prince Jing and Lin Shu. His sons Xiao Pingzhang and Xiao Pingjing grow up with and share a deep bond beyond blood ties with their imperial peers, especially the Crown Prince and their cousin Xiao Yuanqi. Their proximity to the throne and unbalanced power in the court is feared and envied by many. This sets the stage for political plots and intrigue at the highest levels of the court that pose many challenges for the Changlin family. This brings the free spirited and fun loving Pingjing back from the famed Langya hall to aid his more responsible elder brother Pingzhang, the heir who already shares their father's duties.

In NIF, we can only imagine what young Lin Shu's life was like. NIF2 invites us to experience being in the bosom of a close and loving family at the epicenter of power in the empire. We laugh and we cry with them, their friends are our friends, their foes our enemies, their hopes our hopes and we feel the pain of their losses in an acute and very real way. The script-writing and plot in this drama is deep and masterful in a way that rivals that of NIF. While political plotting, revenge, justice, loyalty, morality, duty and envy are still strong themes, it dives more deeply into relationships between sovereign and subject, parent and child, husband and wife and siblings and cousins while exploring the fine line between good and evil and nature vs nurture. Unlike NIF, the story does not revolve around one core character but a number of key characters. Like NIF there are many grey characters and even the good characters are very realistically written with their own strengths and flaws. These lead characters evolve over time as the story-line spans a generation shift and explores how these characters deal with change. The second half of the drama focuses on the younger generation and this is where weakness in the acting emerged as these demanding transitions are played out by younger and less experienced actors. That said, overall the cast was very strong and well populated with many veteran actors.

Newcomer Liu Haoran's Xiao Pingjing was stellarly portrayed from start to finish. He managed to "grow up" from the immature, playful, outspoken, impetuous and slightly irresponsible younger son to be a skilled pugilist, brilliant general and military tactician, the rising star of the Changlin family. This actor immediately conveyed that Pingjing must be what a young Lin Shu (whom we never met in NIF) would have been like. He is the young actor to watch coming out of NIF2. Sadly his love interest Lin Xi was played by a limited and forgettable young actress. Lin Xi's father was killed before she was born so she is an aloof character, a talented and capable lady doctor. She had to make a terrible, controversial and life altering decision in this drama. This is an awesome part that a better actress could have killed. This one wore a perpetually tragic expression and when pressed to defend her decision she overacted, wailing in a completely out of character way. There was no chemistry between Pingjing and Lin Xi and as a couple, they were not convincing. Pingzhang and his wife Meng Qianxue on the other hand were touchingly in sync with each other. Fortunately this is not a love story although there is more romance than NIF. Both female leads were strong and well written characters but only Meng Qianxue's role was well acted.

In the second half of the drama, cousin Xiao Yuanqi also comes of age, clawing his way up despite the disgrace his father (the youngest son of Prince JIng) brought on to their branch of the family. Yuanqi is a chameleon and the most interesting, complex and empathetic character in the entire drama. To be fair it is a challenging role, one that actor Wu Haochen was not up to. While his performance was technically good, it was also pedestrian and boring. He simply lacks onscreen presence and charisma. I didn't want to watch him and would either tune out or tune into whoever he was sharing the screen with. This was too critical a role for them to have miscast so badly. The character itself was exceedingly well developed, it just didn't come to life in the right way. It is why for me this drama is not a perfect 10 even though the script, plot and story-line can hold its own against NIF.

NIF broke my heart because even though Lin Shu/Mei Changsu got his justice, it was his final act. What he lost could never be recovered. I was inconsolable for a long time. Watching NIF2 was cathartic because NIF2 shows us that his legacy and everything he stood for lives on in all the lives he touched. And despite its own tragic moments, in NIF2 we get to imagine that maybe Lin Shu came back to fulfill his final promise. That gave me the closure I badly needed.