After scheming her way to becoming Empress, Jiang Xuening is forced to take her own life after a coup staged by the equally scheming Xie Wei and her former childhood friend Yan Lin upends the state of Qian. She awakens to find herself back in time before she entered the palace and is determined to change her fate and the fate of others around her. Little does she know that the seemingly treacherous Xie Wei has a painful past and is much more than he seems.

While the setup is nothing new, the drama manages what I feel is a rarity these days in Chinese drama land - sustaining my rapt attention for the full 38 episodes. The script wisely stays focused on the story and characters - balancing the political storylines with the slow burn romance that is allowed to develop organically, without anyone acting out of character just to create a sense of forced drama or romance. The supporting characters are given time to develop as well and actually add to the overall story. They support our male and female lead in their journey of finding their true selves and each other.

What prevents me from giving this a 10 is the often heavy-handedness of the direction - blinding lighting, distracting camerawork and odd framing of shots give an overall unpolished look. There is a tendency to make things a bit over the top, but these are small quibbles and a matter of taste ultimately. The cast overall do a solid job - I am most impressed with Wang Xing Yue. Despite his young age, he is able to hold his own in a very stoic role.

This is a great one to binge and re-watch. It's not meant to be an artsy, profound expose on life, death, fate vs self determination, etc. It's just great fun to watch.