In part 1, Zhao Lusi was in her element being cheeky, mischievous and lovable. For part 2, we see more serious emotions and she pulls this off very well too making me cry along with her and making my heart ache when she suffers setbacks.

With the story involving more of the royal family this time, it was refreshing to see the Consort and the Empress getting along with each other and not get jealous of each other unlike other palace dramas. Consort Yue was my favourite with her sharp tongue and no nonsense attitude.

Skipping forward 5 years was nicely done here with little snippet scenes - something I haven’t seen in a drama before. Watch out for a little humour with “chicken wings” and “rabbit” as a break from all the seriousness.

(Repeat from Part 1 as it still holds true for Part 2)
The cinematography is superb and had those panning scenes which I enjoyed in A Dream of Splendor. Scenery was gorgeous and sets were very realistic. Casting for the extras was very well done and it was so good to see the black guards looking especially tough and rugged unlike some dramas where the guards looked like school boys.

Unfortunately, while I loved the FL, I would have preferred a different ML. Just personal preference on what I would consider handsome. His posture didn’t sit well with me either but other than that he was a good actor who rode the horse very well and had great fighting scenes.