One of the Best Historical Romance Drama that I Ever Watched
First of all, I can say that for now, this is the best historical romance drama that I have ever watched. I rarely find historical romance dramas interesting, but this drama is a jewel.
The casting, especially the main leads. The FL, aka Song Zuer, who plays Xiao Qiao. I watch the drama because of her. I never watched any of her dramas, but oh my god, watch me write this review mainly because of her. At first, I was shocked when I saw her in the first episode. Was she even human? That beauty was ethereal. And her acting. For a beautiful artist, it is a rare case if they have amazing acting skills too. Xiao Qiao is a noble and clever character, and her expression is always calm like water. It would be difficult to bring her character to life. But this girl with her micro expressions, it was amazing to watch and I'm gagged. She had a strong aura when she appeared on the scene. Where have you been all along, Song Zuer? I heard she was a veteran actress, but someone made a scandal to became her downfall, but thankfully she was able to make a comeback. I instantly became one of her fans because of this drama. I rewatch this drama to see her scenes because I'm like a mother who is proud of her daughter when I see her scenes again.
Liu Yuning as Wei Shao. He has such a ruler aura and good acting skills. If you compare him with SZE, of course, it less than her because she was a veteran actress. But still, he could deliver his character well. Wei Shao is a ruthless character. But when he opened the curtain to see Lady Qiao, his pupils immediately grew bigger. That was amazing to watch because you could see he had already fallen for her at first sight. And in the next episode, you can see that ruthless expression slowly became softer because of his wife, and it made me confused because where was that red flag man in the first episode? I think they made him too soft here.
The chemistry is perfect. For the side characters, they have their story too, not so focused on the leads, so it was interesting to watch. Still, I think if the drama could explore them a bit more, especially the antagonists, it would be entirely different and more engaging to watch. Maybe to fill the emptiness that I felt in the middle of the storytelling, because they too focused on the main lead's romance.
For the music, it fits the story well. The scoring was perfect for the scenes. The cinematography is so good to watch. But the CGI for the war, well, you can say it was so-so.
For the story, this is an enemies-to-lovers trope, and they are doing it well. Perfect? No, because it was a mainstream trope, and it would be very difficult to make a miracle here. But still, the story is easy to understand for the general public. At first, it was interesting to see the conflicts and watch how the two main leads develop their relationship. But in the middle of the storytelling, it became kinda boring for me because the story became focused on the romance of the main leads. There was no big conflict; you can guess the outcome easily, and that made me almost drop it. They're kinda dragging the story. But when the wars started again, I was grateful to continue watching.
The only downside to this drama is that the story isn't focused on the politics or big conflicts, because I can see the potential to explore that more, and the ending is too rushed. I know this is an idol drama, but still, it was such a letdown how the scriptwriters didn't give their best to maximize the conflicts, because if they did, it would have become more intriguing to watch and make this drama perfect. It looked like the budget couldn't do it perfectly, so it was okay. Thankfully, in the end, this drama became one of the most successful dramas for Tencent in 2025.
The casting, especially the main leads. The FL, aka Song Zuer, who plays Xiao Qiao. I watch the drama because of her. I never watched any of her dramas, but oh my god, watch me write this review mainly because of her. At first, I was shocked when I saw her in the first episode. Was she even human? That beauty was ethereal. And her acting. For a beautiful artist, it is a rare case if they have amazing acting skills too. Xiao Qiao is a noble and clever character, and her expression is always calm like water. It would be difficult to bring her character to life. But this girl with her micro expressions, it was amazing to watch and I'm gagged. She had a strong aura when she appeared on the scene. Where have you been all along, Song Zuer? I heard she was a veteran actress, but someone made a scandal to became her downfall, but thankfully she was able to make a comeback. I instantly became one of her fans because of this drama. I rewatch this drama to see her scenes because I'm like a mother who is proud of her daughter when I see her scenes again.
Liu Yuning as Wei Shao. He has such a ruler aura and good acting skills. If you compare him with SZE, of course, it less than her because she was a veteran actress. But still, he could deliver his character well. Wei Shao is a ruthless character. But when he opened the curtain to see Lady Qiao, his pupils immediately grew bigger. That was amazing to watch because you could see he had already fallen for her at first sight. And in the next episode, you can see that ruthless expression slowly became softer because of his wife, and it made me confused because where was that red flag man in the first episode? I think they made him too soft here.
The chemistry is perfect. For the side characters, they have their story too, not so focused on the leads, so it was interesting to watch. Still, I think if the drama could explore them a bit more, especially the antagonists, it would be entirely different and more engaging to watch. Maybe to fill the emptiness that I felt in the middle of the storytelling, because they too focused on the main lead's romance.
For the music, it fits the story well. The scoring was perfect for the scenes. The cinematography is so good to watch. But the CGI for the war, well, you can say it was so-so.
For the story, this is an enemies-to-lovers trope, and they are doing it well. Perfect? No, because it was a mainstream trope, and it would be very difficult to make a miracle here. But still, the story is easy to understand for the general public. At first, it was interesting to see the conflicts and watch how the two main leads develop their relationship. But in the middle of the storytelling, it became kinda boring for me because the story became focused on the romance of the main leads. There was no big conflict; you can guess the outcome easily, and that made me almost drop it. They're kinda dragging the story. But when the wars started again, I was grateful to continue watching.
The only downside to this drama is that the story isn't focused on the politics or big conflicts, because I can see the potential to explore that more, and the ending is too rushed. I know this is an idol drama, but still, it was such a letdown how the scriptwriters didn't give their best to maximize the conflicts, because if they did, it would have become more intriguing to watch and make this drama perfect. It looked like the budget couldn't do it perfectly, so it was okay. Thankfully, in the end, this drama became one of the most successful dramas for Tencent in 2025.
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