Crossdressing dramas are always a fun opportunity for a lot of hilarious misunderstandings, jokes, and conflicts to the characters. This was well done between the ML and FL because I laughed so hard at how much the FL used her wits to keep her real gender from being revealed to the ML. She did some funny tricks that was actually pretty smart.

This aspect and duration of the drama was the best part. Although a lot of reviewers and commenters complained about how long it took for him to find out the truth, I actually liked it because it allowed them to develop their relationship and characters without it being "oh, he's just giving her special treatment because she's a woman." Nope, the ML was arrogant and cold and the FL endured a lot but then he came around because of her wits, usefulness, and overall comfort she brought to him. He considered her a friend despite their social status. He learns to appreciate her ("him") and so he does his best to help "him."

This plot move is the first that I've seen in the cross-dressing genre. Every other drama is always like "oh he knew from the beginning and he began to protect her silently; starts to get jealous around other men; gets into conflicts with family members/friends because of her" which can get so dragging and boring, so I'm glad they did it this way as it was a lot more interesting and fun.
Because the ML didn't know her real gender from the beginning, all his protection and motivations was, for me, pure when he was protecting her. For example, when the second ML--who already knew her real gender--questioned the ML if he knew anything "off" about "him," the ML sincerely didn't know anything. He just cared about "him." So then, there is no conflict between the ML and second ML about the FL because of their "romantic" feelings toward her. It was about them trying to protect her in their own way, which was much smarter writing. I appreciate that a lot.

The biggest disappointment actually started after he found out her real gender. The drama became so tiresome. The ML was so happy that she was a girl that he disregarded reputation and gossip. Yeah, he's the master of the mansion so "who dares say bad things about the master?" but what the hell???? You're a general??? Also, you're putting her at risk by being all cutesy romantic toward her?? And she was just so happy about getting together with him that she was careless?? Everything after he found out her real gender went downhill real quick. The main villain, the secondary "villain," everything was just so messily put together. I skimmed through the final 5 episodes.

Basically, it feels like the scriptwriter thought well of the romcom part, but the serious suspenseful plot just fell flat. The payoff wasn't worth watching 28 episodes, sadly. However, if you want to watch a funny crossdressing romcom historical with pretty good faces, watch this with relatively low expectations and just enjoy those parts. Once you get to the end, just shrug your way through because it wasn't worth a lot of my own energy investment.