In my opinion the first few episodes were decent. But as the show progressed the story started getting messier. What I disliked the most is the background stories of each characters. The antagonists were made out to be worse than they actually were. On the other hand, the protagonists' characters and their background stories were glorified. Hence I couldn't empathize with the main leads' thoughts and emotions.

The second thing that bothered me was the story felt kind of unfinished with too many plot holes. Like how did everyone know that Shang Yizi is in fact Qi Huan, the son of prevous crown prince and when did everyone find out that Han Maisui is a woman? Why did Chang Yuqing suddenly fall in love with the fl? And most importantly why did the emperor who had tried several times to kill the ml, suddenly decides to abdicate the throne in favour of him instead of his own son? There are several other plot holes but I don't wish to go on.

The acting was good especially the fl. The fighting scenes and brotherhood of the soldiers were the things I loved. The ml's character wasn't memorable. Instead Tang Shaoyi's character was much more well written and better. I wish they gave him more screentime.