I've never read the book or watched the anime (but I've heard a LOT about them). The MCs are hilarious and amazing (though YiBo's acting is questionable at first) and they are incredibly engaging characters. A lot of TV shows and dramas have such boring and flat characters that have no real dimension to them, yet all the characters in this show have an amazing level of roundness.
The plot is amazing- there are so many twists and turns. The character designs make you expect certain things of certain characters but they pull a full 180 on you- which makes the show even more engaging because of these twists. Most TV show plot twists aren't the most realistic and don't fit the original character design, but with this show, they make so much sense and they're foreshadowed so far ahead! Bravo to the OG writer of the book and the scriptwriters for this show!
The acting was questionable with some characters, but Sean Xiao (Wei Wu Xian), the actor for Wen Ning, the actor for Ze Wu Jun- were amazing! So many others but I can't list them all (and I don't remember actor names, so I'm so sorry about that). However, a few were questionable (Wang YiBo at first and Jiang Cheng's actor), but overall, it was full of great acting and engaging storytelling.
Speaking of storytelling, the director(s) was/were amazing. I'm not a cinematography student or anything, but the shots in this TV show were phenomenal. They gave us the warm, the cold, the happy and the sad, all delivered in an unhurried and engaging manner. I watched this entire show because of one shot (episode 25, arrows ;) ) but I fell in love with the way the story was told.
The OST and original music was amazing as well. The OST was sung by Sean Xiao and Wang YiBo and it's AMAZING in my opinion. For any Chinese speaker, the poetry is amazing. I think its incredibly beautiful and meaningful.
Overall, definitely recommend watching and definitely will rewatch.