A second chance in life seems to be the recent popular theme in dramas, be it a rebirth, reincarnate or time reversal. This was the fourth drama I watched over the last 12 months that features a second chance in life. The others were Story of Kunning Palace, Reborn Rich (Korean), The Princess Royal, Marry my Husband - they were all very good.

This drama was very good and had all the hygiene factors: most importantly an interesting storyline with a mystery to uncover. This was supported by a good cast, excellent chemistry between the leads, fast-pace, lovely costumes and excellent backdrop.

Dou Zhao was married to Marquis Wei Ting Yu in an arrangement marriage. She discovered to her horror that he was having an affair with her sister, Dou Ming, and was hoping that she would die soon as she was in poor health. Leaving the Marquis residence in disgust, she ran into General Song Mo who was infamous for his cruelty and ruthlessness. Song Mo wanted to avenge the death of his uncle, General Jiang, a loyal capable close friend of the emperor, and to track down the person behind the conspiracy.

Setup by Prince Qing who succeeded in rising a rebellion and Marquis Wei, they were both accused of adultery and killed by the same single arrow. Prior to this, the monk Yuan Tong handled Dou Zhao a Book of Truth and told her that her fate was intertwined with Song Mo.

Both Dou Zhao and Song Mo woke up to their childhood years. Song Mo could only vaguely remember segments of his previous life and thought it was a dream. Dou Zhao on the other hand was fully aware that she had re-tracked to her past and had the chance to change her fate, and assumed the maturity of an adult.

In the new life, Dou Zhao witnessed the suicide of her mother and was concerned that she might be unable to change the future. Much worse, she was forced to honour her engagement to Marquis Wei again and failed to free herself from the arranged marriage. On the day of her marriage, something happened.

I was glad to see Meng Zi Yi in a lead role of a successful drama. Since her appearance in the outstanding drama, The Untamed, she seemed to have not landed any significant roles and had not benefited from the success of this drama like Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo had. She is one of the best looking female Chinese actresses, aside from her good performance.

However, the death of General Jiang was not so much of a mystery to us, the audience. We knew from the first episode that Prince Qing who had made use of Song Mo in rising the rebellion was very likely behind this. Song Mo had no memory of how his previous life ended and was therefore clueless. But as the audience, we could pretty much guessed. It was just a matter of finding out how it all happened.

It was very trying to watch this drama as the bad guys seemed always to be ahead of Song Mo and Dou Zhao with their sabotage. In this new life, the personality of some people and their lives turned out quite differently due to Dou Zhao's interference. It was also sad to see how the evil ones who now turned out good died due to the evil deeds of others. And the good ones turned bad. As always, people were not what they appeared to be.

For me who had watched a lot of Chinese dramas, the theme of a fight over the throne was a bit stale.

For 34 episodes, this drama was not as long as many Chinese dramas. There were obvious cuts as some scenes were quite abrupt and some parts were a little disconnected.

The English titles of Chinese dramas need a lot of working on. This drama's title could be more interesting and closer to the Chinese title like 'Purple Blossom', than a plain 'Blossom'.

These days were a major departure from a few years ago when every other Chinese dramas had a tragic ending. In recent Chinese dramas, it is the fashion to have loving couples giving birth to offsprings as a show of happy ending. Almost like an echo of the government who now wants the people to have more kids.

Overall, I highly recommend this drama. Its rating of 8.9 on mydramalist, which is a very high rating, is well deserved.