the sets, costumes, and production design in this are amazing! a refreshing storyline and a good mystery as well. love how it explores the painting with such historical accuracy. very different from other cdramas.
you can tell they really poured their heart into making this, it’s a true rare gem amongst the slop of historical romance cdramas we get nowadays.
despite the seemingly cliche plot, the execution of the story makes it stand out - in terms of acting, cinematography, directing, writing, and don’t even get me started on all the little details and symbolism here.
yes it is a slow burn but to me, this is not a romance story unlike other cdramas. this is a story about growth, resilience, supporting one another, friendship, and love. not every show has to be fast paced with twists and turns, this show is one that shines best when enjoyed slowly.
currently 1.5x speeding this as the pace is quite slow at the start, it feels like the stakes aren’t that high and the writing and directing is on the weaker side. i respect the dedication to the historical costumes and culture during Tang Dynasty though. will see how this one plays out
i just realised tencent put the actors for young version of Tang Hao and A Yin (Qin Jun Jie and Maggie Huang) together again here as a couple like they did in Heroes!! the chemistry they had there was great so it’s a surprise to see them here together too!
Celebrity 
1 
despite the seemingly cliche plot, the execution of the story makes it stand out - in terms of acting, cinematography, directing, writing, and don’t even get me started on all the little details and symbolism here.
yes it is a slow burn but to me, this is not a romance story unlike other cdramas. this is a story about growth, resilience, supporting one another, friendship, and love. not every show has to be fast paced with twists and turns, this show is one that shines best when enjoyed slowly.
there is hope for cdramaland once again!