1. I posted this as a comment but I decided to post this year just in case if anyone missed my comment...

SOOO.... Since there has been some confusion in the comments about the episode count, here is the official breakdown of what is happening with the broadcast layout:

1. The Episode Count Split The 47 episodes listed on MDL are the official, final total across both seasons. The show was originally a much larger project during filming but was significantly condensed in editing to tighten the story's pacing. It is split into two parts:

Part 1 (Against the Current / 兰香如故): 31 episodes

Part 2 (The Fragrance Endures / 香气长传): 16 episodes

2. Why is it split if the 40-episode rule changed? While it is true that broadcasting regulators recently relaxed the strict 40-episode cap on individual historical drama seasons, this series had already finalized its two-part editing and registration layout before that policy change took effect. Tencent and CCTV-8 are broadcasting the show using the split format as originally planned.

And also, this is definitely not the first drama that they have split because of it being too long...