There was a promising start with the two sisters with very different but interesting personalities and abilities trying to survive in a world that was built to oppress them. Either in their home life with their family and filial piety or in their hearts about who they can and can not love. The Aunt of the Crown Prince and eventually King was a well-constructed villain and opposition to the main characters but not only did they kill her off-screen - they replaced her with her next-to-useless son that was a sad and sorry excuse for an antagonist in the story.

Also, I have never watched a Chinese historical drama that featured a Spanish guitar in the OST. (Plus, it only came on around the two guys and that confused me because is this what they call bromance because I felt something else and it was not platonic! Hilarious, but I loved those moments because why not?)

The ending was lackluster and disappointing and the little sister was a nuisance towards the end and quite the liability. Kudos to the actress for the older sister though! I was actually rooting for her and loved how sensible, calm, and collected she was! I can support her as an Empresss and it's too bad we couldn't even enjoy that since the plot needed her to be weak and a damsel in distress for the main couple to have some more, unnecessary heartbreak before the show was over.

Pretty drama but it suffers the same syndrome as most other Chinese romance, historical dramas that were too long for how little plot and development existed in the end.