Despite the classic chinese drama style bad scene transitions, this drama roped me in firstly for its plot, and then for its cast. I have new favourites in, especially Bai Shu (yang bawan) & Sun Qian (chun yu) - their reactive acting was exceptional, and the rest of the cast were great too! In the beginning, I found Chun Yu's acting quite expressionless but, in time, that explains itself.

Few scenes (especially in the beginning) were not convincing enough, and repetitive dialogues made me roll my eyes, but again, the plot (what happens next) kept me going.
It's purely the cast and visual fx that pulled the 9 star rating. Even when I got bored in parts, I came back for them. I will definitely rewatch this drama for the cast. Their chemistry was spot on.

All in all, I highly recommend the drama.