Story: It wasn’t a strong script and the actors did do the best they could do with that they had. Because it was only 24 episodes and the episode were shorter then 30 mins it just didn’t seem like enough time to actually give us anything substantial. I font like the romance drama but the romance in this show didn’t seem…right. Like it seemed like they needed more. Why did the emperor love her so fast? Yea she’s pretty, but I’m sure there is more to loving someone than just looks. I was quite upset by how fast things was in the end. It was too fast, and not enough closure. Things were happening right after another, and there needed more time to space things through. I think ending the last episode like that was begging stupid, and it angered me. We finally got the boyish happiness back with Yuwen yong. He was smiling, his eyes were sparkling. He looks healthy and was glowing. He was SO EXCITED to think about forever. To think about his kids and his future with her. And she just dies. She doesn’t even give him time to talk about how much he loves her. She just dies IN HIS LAP. I can’t even imagine what he went though. And then to give us a STUPID musical montage about it. I wanted to see Yuwen yong just break. I needed that emotional ending. To go from she’s dying, musical montage, she’s dead, mystic montage, ending credits was a waste. It was a worst version of the ending of Legend of Yunxi (merxat do you see a trend?) . It was a romantic comedy for most of the show and it just went downhill. I also want to scream about the lace front on Merxat. I get he is a bit tanner then other people but could they have not gotten the wig to sit better? It put me off with the immersion that I could see the plaster and the lace on his face. I even saw his hair underneath the wig in the last episode. Which made me not pay attention to the fact she was DYING. Also his makeup was inconsistent in the same exact scenes. he normally has pretty pink lips so when they cover it with concealer to make him look sick, it was obvious. Then 5 seconds later his lips were pink again and his natural skin tone was there.
Acting/Cast : I think Gong Mi and Merxat held it down. But Gong Mi was so mature looking that the even possibility of her being with Zhao'er was weird. Especially since she was so immature and irrational, that it seemed more like a grown adult who acted like a teenager. Her temperament would have fit more with zhao'er then with yuwen yong. Otherwise she did what she needed to do. And she was able to showcase her emotions correctly without making it cringy. I am a huge merxat fan so i might be biased, but he did good. He is someone who will put his 110% into something no matter how big or small the part is. I only watched this show for him, so I am glad he was good in it. He was really able to showcase essentially the different sides of Yuwen Yong and make it feel natural. He is possessive, a walking red flag. But he also loves her genuinely and has a boy-ish part of him that's not seen often. You can see the internal strife in him most of the time, when something switches and he can go from calm to being dominant the next moment. It is not his best role but it is a very good job he did.
Music: Hmmmm nothing memorable. It was a romance ost where they were trying to make it too modern at times.
Rewatch Value: not a rewatchable show. when you end the show wth such a jarring ending it really makes things feel lackluster. I knew how it ended before i finished it and I was like "when she gonna die?". It doesn't hit the same.
Overall: can we get a show where merxat actually gets a girl in the end? it is getting old fast, and kind of rude. overall, the low budget of the drama was obvious throughout the show. it was upsetting since it was a good cast. it is not the worst show I've watched but its upsetting. it was a waste of merxat's talent because i know he can do so much with his skills. i will be fighting his manager over this. he was very handsome in this role, even though his makeup and wig were so bad. I will forever be crying over him in the armor though, my favorite outfit. otherwise, eh. watch it if you like cheesy romances with some death. its a quick watch.