JoanneChun

What a pleasant surprise for 2024, a year when a lot of cdramas that came out were meh or otherwise failed to hold my attention. What I enjoyed the most was the main couple's healthy relationship (and we actually get to see them together for half the series, not just at the end). After that, the other thing I enjoyed was just how many characters lead you to believe they are one way but in fact are not what they appear. Even ones I was sure we knew their character and motivations, ended up surprising me. A lot of twists and turns. I imagine on the rewatch, I would pick up more clues hinting to it all along; plus, these reveals of true character or motivations do not feel like a betrayal of how they were previously written/like sloppy writing, but in fact do feel true to the essence of the characters.

The first arc is fast-paced, and while I didn't find any part of the drama boring or slow, others might have. I'll admit, it is reaaaaaaaaally tempting to give up part-way in with how frustrating some characters are like the evil stepmother. Don't give up! Like I remember someone right at a really frustrating part around ep 11 or 12 wanting to give up, but by ep 16 there is a major breakthrough with a character providing pivotal support to help turn things around.

Hooray for Li Yunrui and Meng Ziyi, who previously always only had support roles, finally getting a big break. I was not expecting Li Yunrui, who did so well as a weak scholar in Love Like the Galaxy, to pull off playing an intimidating general.