Perfection! To sum up this series. The caveat: within the Chinese style. Too many unnecessary scenes with secondary characters, some of whom were presented in the first part of the series and after 30 eps we not even remember who they were. The good is that secondary actors are amazing in what they do and, in this series, very pretty as well. The only that they got the balance right – and even felt short- was with Sui Yuan Qing, the younger villain, amazingly played by 20 years old Lin Mu Ran.
The main leads: I follow the career of ZL and TXW so I think I can compare and speak:
ZL the best role of his career. He was soft and warm in the first episodes; such a touching performance and a sound display in acting skills toward the last 1/3 of the series particularly interacting with power house actors like Yan Yi Kuan (his uncle). He is committed in the romantic scenes – keeping his reputation as heartthrob that earned since Maiden Holmes. His beauty is a double spade sword and his reputation outside the screen as the iced cultural insensitive king could play a bit in our subconscious (e.g. watch live show The Truth), but he is convincing all the same.
TXW – is the Queen of comedy, great character female actor, one of the best in China. She delivers every time, such hardworking actor. Again, not the best in creating romantic chemistry, but ZL and TXW did enough for their characters and their relationship. I remember that in the chemistry department she was great with Bai Jing Ting, but BJT can create fire from ice cubes, similar skills is granted to actors like Bai Lu and Li Qin among others. Not everybody is that lucky.
The big surprise-gift-bombshell of this series was Deng Kai as Qi Ming, a solid secondary pro actor for years is finally given the golden opportunity of his career to shine as he deserves: he is a great actor. He posses everything: acting skills, looks, sensuality, vulnerability. He is a powerhouse indeed. His character is now iconic and is gracing covers of magazines. Luckily, he had a great acting “life partner”; an actress that brought the right energy and commitment: Snow Kong. She is probably still in the idol level of acting, but it was perfect next to him. Their sex scenes will linger in my mind for years to come. There is an in screen and outside screen warm relationship that have contributed to enhance their CP reputation; a flirty shyness between them, that kind of “I like you very much” energy that is perfect for fan service. They hardly can keep their hands to themselves in interviews and presentations. I hope they manage to keep friends at least.
Sum up: Highly recommended, 10/10 despite of the slight shortcomings, something to enjoy for everybody.

The off-screen dynamic between Deng Kai and Snow Kong definitely added to the magic. You can feel when actors enjoy working together, and it translates. Whether it’s real or fan service doesn’t even matter—it elevated their whole storyline.

I agree that ZL and TXW did enough to make the relationship believable, but it never quite reached that “fireworks” level. It felt warm and steady rather than intense. Even off-screen, you could kind of sense that it wasn’t the most naturally sparking pairing. I n live shows ZL comes across as quite cold and aloof  and sometimes not the most politically correct in how he expresses himself 😅

That said, it didn’t hurt the drama too much—they still carried their roles well, just without that extra spark some pairings manage to create.

Wow, Deng Kai in his character of Qi Min made it to the Madame Figaro Magazine.  His characterisation has indeed became iconic. 

https://x.com/govinni13/status/2037497980966588921?s=20

These photos....

https://x.com/DengKai28_zip/status/2038237718896157132?s=20 

The novel special chapter on QiMin really provides an interesting insight into his character.  I would recommend to read that part, if not the whole novel. 

https://weibo.com/2874676653/5282245071604704

For all those interested in following Deng Kai career, this drama has just been announced. What a combo of actors in this CP with the super beautiful and talented Wan Peng
https://x.com/wan_penger/status/2039227424593084904?s=20