One of the worst things in any drama is when the writers purposely use miscommunication as a plot device. As in, a particular character chooses to remain silent instead of clarifying a dire situation. It's frustrating and needlessly angsty. More than this, I absolutely hate when supposedly smart characters act in ways that are contrary to who they are. This drama is littered with plot holes and deus ex machina moments where either leads walk into traps with eyes wide open yet our ML never uses any intelligent counter measures rather he and the FL just keep ploughing forward with no forethought. Then we have this arrogant FL who thinks she's so smart even though we can see that all she does is blow smoke up her own ar@e. I screamed many times at my screen while raining multiple curses on the writers who chose to give us such situations and characters. Did they think we are all idiots? I would have been content had they given us just one smart character but no, from the Emperor to the ministers and even the main leads....all we got was nonsense.

Lastly, not even the “love story” could redeem this clusterfuck of a drama and I’m only watching this to the end mainly because of the hours invested. Save yourself and watch Yanxi Palace or Weiyoung.