I watched sungkyunkwan scandal about a year ago. I don't remember it perfectly but I obviously compared it to this show while watching it. For the first 25 / 30 episodes, I found it nice but nothing exceptional. I felt like I prefered the version I had seen before. But it turns out I really enjoyed the last 6 episodes! I loved the ending! I also enjoyed the character development the President of the Council went through -didn't happen in the Korean version from what I recall-.
I would have liked to see the reactions of the scholars upon finding out Wen Bin was a girl and I would have liked to know what happened to Han Sheng Zhi and Mu Xiao Man.

Fun to watch.