I watched this when it first aired and have rewatched it so many times to count. It’s always that one drama that’s just stuck on my mind. So I’ve decided to write the review and recommend others to watch too. You will not regret it!

In this drama we have a good number of big name actors FL(Liu Shi Shi), 2 MLs(Eddie Peng and Hu Ge), this should have been high budget drama, but don’t know why it was filmed with the quality that made it seem like it aired in the early 2000s.

The premise of the story is that we start off with love triangle between the FL and 2 ML where FL (Xin Yue) likes ML (Mo Xun) and didn’t like the other ML (Wei WuJi). Now why I don’t refer to them as ML and 2ML is because they are both equally tied in screen time and as ML quality like neither of them are trash which makes us wonder who FL will choose in the end. The drama showcase both their personalities and qualities as a man that FL would choose from and as a viewer it was interesting to see what qualities of these MLs that drew FL in. I will try not to spoil too much.

FL (Xin Yue) acted by Liu Shi Shi:
She was raised by wolves and so she developed a more eccentric personality is not prone to following etiquette set by society. She is carefree, smart, and bold which made her stand out from other FL. She is daring and makes risky decisions which allowed her to become a successful boss in the capital. She has a past which she has let go and moved on to the 2 ML. When she is in love she chases wholeheartedly and she falls deeply. Some may find her annoying when choosing between the 2ML, but that’s also cause we don’t really see the inner dialogue as compared to the novel, so it really relies on the actress to portray certain emotions and Liu Shi Shi definitely did not fail in that aspect. There are some struggles between her decisions, but she is a person who knows what she wants in life, the things really conflicting her are external factors. Once she moves on, she moves on, the only reason why the love triangle thing came into conflict is for political reasons and her own gratitude and sympathy. Even when she was having internal conflict it wasn’t for long, and the drama didn’t drag it.


Mo Xun acted by Hu Ge:
He is of royalty descent and has hold immense power over merchants. While he was born sickly, he is smart, kind, empathetic, and more soft compared to Wei WuJi. FL falls for him first, as he was the first she met when she came to Capital and he also helped her a lot during her business ventures. He also came to love FL, as her eccentric and carefree attitude brought life into him. He was born sickly and so he instinctively pushes people away from him as he does not want to have too much impact on their life when he might die any day. People it’s Hu Ge, you cannot expect a bad acting out of this guy. If yall don’t know who he is, I suggested watching Chinese paladin remember to carry a box of tissue with you.

Wei WuJi acted by Eddie Peng:
My favorite character to date and the most realistic General out of all actors that acted as generals in drama. Born in a family of generals and illegitimate son to his father, he started out as a stable boy and slowly climbed his way up to the position of general. His uncle is Hero General, aunt is elder Princess, aunt is Empress and the emperor is his uncle. With this kind of connection, he is always embroiled in political matters, because he is part of Wan Family which is the Empress Natal family. We are first introduced to him, when he becomes recognized by his general uncle and emperor and given an opportunity to go on the battle field. He is a person who knows what he wants and willing to make efforts to get what he wants. He is childish, strong, shameless, and *patient*. FL liked Mo Xun first and he knew it, but he likes FL a lot and until they were together he was never gonna give up. He used military tactics to chase a wife and understood, while he is using military tactics, this was the woman to become his wife and he was never gonna do anything that she didn’t like. He understood FL and knows she’s the type to love wholeheartedly, so he established his presence to FL and slowly wiggled his way into her heart. All the other actors should take note, this is how a general should be like, tanned and brusely, refined because he’s a noble but has an air of murderous intent around him that scares people away accumulated from the time he was on the battlefield. Eddie Peng Brought a general character to life!!! After so many years, I don’t think I’ve seen a proper general character besides his. His one glare/look can kill someone.

In the beginning of the drama, you may lean towards Mo Xun, after all who wouldn’t. He’s nice to FL and refined/noble, and a caring person overall. He was an ideal that some girls want from men. While Wei Wuji is what we call a bad boy, seemly bad boy, but actually very caring someone that loves with his whole being. He could be your friend, someone you confide in and someone you could call home. So it becomes a very difficult decision XD! Ngl, if I was in FL spot I have a difficult decision too. They are both strong contenders and neither over shadows another, they each have their pros/cons. So it really came down to chances, the MLs efforts and what FL really needed from her significant others.

What I also really liked from this drama is how well established the other characters are. We have the Wan Family, emperor and Qin Xiang. The drama established their story backgrounds and how their personalities came to be. What influences their decisions and the political turmoils that embroils between them. Some don’t really like political dramas and also me, but this is definitely a well explained political battle going on. This doesn’t even touch surface of some political dramas, but it is well set up stage and not confusing compared to others. This drama also really establishes some interesting points about what being a general means, a subordinate and how does an emperor keep balance between officials and generals. I will never forget a quote from this drama something along the lines of “Military books teaches generals how to win wars, but it doesn’t teach a general how to survive the emperors suspicion from the immense political power they have gained after winning a battle”.

This drama would have been a 10/10 for me if not for the ending, the ending is fine, but what led up to the ending definitely felt a bit rushed. I wish it was longer and well written out like the rest of the drama, but there was probably some issue that went on that led to that decision. I remember how I was waiting for this drama to release for so long, so it might have been censorship that came into play. I was actually surprised this drama didn’t gain the popularity I expected, this drama is really a lot better than a lot of dramas I watch. It doesn’t have the usual damsel in distress saving stuff or extra women coming out of nowhere to want to fight for the guy, those extra acted drama stuff that would have drew peoples attention. But something about this drama just keeps drawing me back to it. It is definitely unique story out of all the dramas and I highly Recommend.