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Unexpectedly delightful...

I wish I had the words to describe this drama. It was a hard start for me, if I'm being honest. I'm not usually one for cheesy and quirky, but I pushed through and I'm so glad I did.
I'll have to admit one of the reasons I had stuck with it was because of Ji Chu. I'm a sucker for a misunderstood, but cunning and dark character that actually is the male lead but sticks with his morally grey-ness and doesn't completely 180 and become the "good guy" (That man was fully willing to draw blood down to the end until he lost his love in his world).
Now I had to get to about episode 10-13 to really be into it, having a character from the current day in ancient times, usually they try to assimilate as best as possible in order to survive, right? Not Hua Chingge. She was NOT afraid to make remarks that made no sense in their time period, honestly I thought someone would think she was mentally ill or deranged and confine her at some point. But as the plot progressed, it really added to the story and the other characters development (For example, her "mindfulness club" for Prince Feng, Wan'er, Yao Yao, Prince Yun, Gongye Qi and Ji Chu). All of these characters are developed thoroughly, in my opinion.
What really captivated me, though, was watching Qing'er fawning over her characters after seeing her seemingly just wanting to get her book over with. She was tired and so ready to be done with her story, just wanting people to like it because it was "different". But as everything progressed she began to understand what she'd written, what she'd skimped on as a writer, and how her pushing through certain plot lines had their own cause and effect, for better or worse. She had no idea how writing Ji Chu, with little attention to how he became a "villain", and focusing just on him being a villain to the story, caused his life to become mostly one of suffering. It was like watching a mom dote on her children, especially with Prince Yun, whom she'd written to be upright, just, and kind. When she told him she was extremely disappointed in him, I felt that as a mother scolding her child.
At the end we see her getting a drama adaptation for her story, now rewritten with her guiding hand after living through it. I can only assume that because of that, the readers got the WHOLE backstory on every single character, saw that the righteous characters can have their flaws (Prince Yun's and unfortunately to her demise, Wan'er's, being their blood ties), and that the supposed "villain" can have their reasons and their own justice.

Now I didn't change my review based on this, but... My only gripe would have to be Wan'er, and Gongye Qi. Oh how they deserved better. I know, it's a story and it is what it is, but I truly wished that Wan'er would get to be free and have a happy family. I wanted Gongye Qi to bring his clan back up (not to become imperial physicians of course) with his love and finally get to rest. I'm honestly surprised they chose to let her perish, especially seeing that Prince Yun who allowed his mother to rampage and cause most of this got a fairly decent end. Even Ji Chu had to live out his lifetime to meet Hua Chingge again. Something always has to be bittersweet with a Chinese Drama!

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