Tang Lian, the senior disciple at XueYue City was assigned the task to bring back a golden coffin to the city. He had no idea what or who was in the coffin. Along the way, he was waylaid by a number of different sects, demanding that he handed it over to them.

Around the same time, a naive but highly skilled Lei Wu Jie was on his way to XueYue City. He stopped by an inn for a meal when a gang came in to rob. Out of righteousness and eager to demonstrate his ability, he defended the inn against attack only to have the money-minded and shrewd owner Xiao Se demanded that he paid for the damages. Convinced by Xiao that his action was redundant and therefore at fault, he suggested Xiao followed him to XueYue City where he would get the money to compensate him. Having another agenda of his own, Xiao Se agreed. Xiao Se appeared to have no martial art skills but exhibited excellent agility.

It is widely known that the 6th prince was a righteous man, highly talented and well-skilled in martial arts, possessing great inner force. But he offended his father, the emperor by siding with his uncle, the Lord Langya and was stripped off his princely title. While on his way to exile, he was attacked and seriously wounded by a mysterious attacker.

The parties met and teamed up together. Later in the drama, the content of the coffin was revealed and so was the true identity of Xiao Se.

What I like about this drama:

1. Hygiene factors: like a lot of good Chinese dramas, it satisfied most of the hygiene factors: good looking cast, excellent acting, lovely costumes especially that worn by the main leads, Li Hong Yi (Xiao Se) and Liu Xue Yi (Wu Xin - yes, a monk), the lovely backdrop and cinematography.

2. Special effects: it is packed with special effects as every fight is a show of the inner forces of each opponent. If you love martial arts and special effects in dramas, this is it.

3. Humour: although by and large, this is a rather serious drama, there are lots of comic relief. Wu Xin (acted by Liu Xue Yi) was hilarious when he asked the Marquis why he was looking at him - was it because of his good looks. He was always demonstrating his narcissism in this drama, which was quite funny.

4. Hook: to keep the audience chasing a long running drama, there must be a hook. The main hook of this drama was whether
the 6th prince's was going to escape further harm, recover his inner skill, be eventually reunited with the emperor and find out who was behind the attack that disabled his fighting skills, with the help of his new friends. And this is a strong hook.

There are not much I do not like about this drama but I am going to nitpick at some:

1. The theme of rivalry for the throne is so cliche and overused. I am sure this happened at every generation of every dynasty. But watching repeatedly as a storyline is kind of monotonous, even if the story develops differently.

2. Music is alright but not outstanding.

3. The on-screen chemistry between the main male and female leads is quite cold. The woman is keen but the man is distant. There is not much romantic feelings in this drama although there are a lot of couples. The main story is centred around the fight for the throne and the scheming of the 7th prince and how the other princes handle it.

4. Like a lot of Chinese dramas, the capable and righteous walks away from the throne, which is another element I find very cliche. I dislike this sort of ending as it goes against my personal belief. I believe it is only when there are capable and righteous people at the top that a country can prosper. Have people in leadership who are capable but unscrupulous and corrupt, or with good intent but incapable are all scenarios for disaster. Look around you, you may probably agree with me.

Overall, I think this drama is worth watching.