battleaxe

this drama is a unicorn.
y'all know how hard it is for short republican dramas to be good, or even watchable. this one was both
the story isn't unique, but everything was so well done:
intelligent, strong and kind main leads - she was smarter while he was more hapless. he had schemes too but he was too much of a bleeding heart at certain points, and he couldn't control his pawns.
solid villain - strong and disgusting, just how i like em
fast paced story - secrets were getting spilled left and right from the very first ep, and yet the pace didn't lag for the most part
long and satisfying ending for everyone - the leads get a classic story book ending, the villain gets exactly what he deserves, no one sacrificed themselves for the republic
the supporting characters - the ml's two officers, the concubines, everyone served a purpose
and a romance that comes in at the last arc and nicely clinches everything together - yes they had chemistry 😊. also poor 2ml 🤣💀


i really liked that:
ml falls for her early, but he never lets that get in the way of his objectives
fl never even considers him at all,. she actually waits and makes sure he's a good person before deciding to address her feelings for him.
huang ri ying is clearly the stronger performer, but wang rui chang was in his element playing a morally ambiguous ml

there are some regular mini drama lapses in the story, but you will find those forgivable
i didn't really note any music, and i wouldn't necessarily rewatch but yes i'm giving this a hearty mini drama 7.5