There is a running theme about putting on a show in this drama, and for much of the first half, it is certainly an entertaining one. Xue Fangfei is cruelly betrayed by her husband Shen Yurong, who buries her alive at the behest of psychotic Princess Wanning. From there, we follow Fangfei as she is rescued by the noble Jiang Li, who faces an unjust, untimely death and whose identity Fangfei assumes on her quest for revenge for the both of them. Along the way, she crosses paths with the powerful and intimidating Xiao Heng, who is on his own mission to clear the imperial court of corrupt officials and to seek justice for his father's wrongful death.

This drama has a lot of similar beats and characteristics as The Story of Kunning Palace, and had I watched this one first, I may have rated it higher. Unfortunately, it is too much of the same thing and nothing much profound is developed. Expect a lot of juicy plot and not much on the side of multi-dimensional characters or logical world building. The problem for me with these types of dramas is that without spending the time to build a story, themes and characters, the end product tends to fall flat at the climax because it is ultimately "just a show" without much substance. For example, the final conflict with Prince Cheng feels unearned. More build up with his character and his collusion with the other antagonists (Shen Yurong and Wanning had so much more potential for something truly interesting) may have helped to make that storyline work.

At the end of the day, it was still an entertaining watch, especially if you are in the need to see the good guys win and trounce all the evil guys and gals out there.