The first thing I will say is that this drama does not have pitiful female characters with uwu baby voices.

Our female lead starts off young, but she never has that childish voice. Her life is hard and she has stuff to do. Even the side female characters aren't terribly immature. It's so refreshing to watch a drama where the females aren't infantized.

Second, Bai Jing Ting as the male lead was perfect casting. His playful rich Young Master and serious court official facial expressions were perfect.

The plot/story in the first half had my heart pounding. You never knew who was going to be caught in the chaos. I really felt afraid for the characters.

The chemistry between the two leads was amazing. Even though they only share one one screen kiss, it was a beautiful scene. And you know what? I found myself not even missing kissing scenes. The way they looked at each other, hugged, touched, and spoke to one another was enough. It was such a treat to watch their marriage go from basically a business transmission to a legit marriage.

The side characters weren't too annoying. I was interested in all of their stories.

The plot in the second half turned it from a budding romance to a full fledge palace/fight for the throne drama. I think it was a smooth transmission, but I wish they focused more on the couple falling in love than who gets to sit on the throne.

The villain made sense to me at first, but the he went off the rails. I kinda felt bad for him and then again, dude... It's not and never will be that serious!

I'm giving it a solid 8. The ending was happy and didn't leave us guessing. Great drama!