(Edited rating and review) I wanted to watch this because of LXY and this versatility. Neither him, the FL, nor any of the cast disappointed. The writing was sloppy and filled with unnecessary deaths and plot holes. It literally felt like two completely different dramas in one with superb acting. But after thinking carefully, I had to amend my rating.

Pros: Every single actor nailed their role to a T. If it wasn't for them, this drama could have ended just fine at episode 24. LXY was absolutely amazing here though; each tear of his broke your heart and he cried a lot. The kissing scenes were well done by two adults. The first portion had everything; the frame job by the CP, the crippled and masochistic ML trying to clear his name and that of his army. Than the FL who lost her parents in the fire but was brought into what I called assassins creed to get revenge though the mastermind behind that was none other than the ML himself. The ML and FL worked very well together and the characters near them were fantastic especially YQ. As the main villain, the CP was narcissistic, cunning, and vicious. QY was necessary but not as a third wheel that hindered more than helped. The palace intrigue and winning against the CP and clearing his name was paramount. Falling in love with the FL was cool and their time in the village was awesome too but he shouldn't have done the nobility arc thing but kept her hidden and waited until the flower to detoxify her bloomed. Then he could have saved her and they would have married and the undying flower thing still held water. Though the second portion or what I consider a different drama altogether was messy, the ending though tragic was beautifully written and acted out by all. Costumes, sets, OSTs, fight sequences, etc were on point.

Cons: What was the point of 25 through most of 31? 32 was the poetic tragedy so I consider it a pro. Messy plot full of holes that was unnecessary, wasted people and characters and still FL wasn't cured because the flower was stolen. Why kill QY? Zilch sense. The reinforcements arrived just to scare off the enemy? Make it make sense. Regular civilians had to fight regimented soldiers was nonsense because the emperor for some reason didn't know his country and that city was under attack from the get go? How is that possible? And his relationship with Zigu was cringe at best; he was old enough to be her grandfather and they conceived a child but she died in childbirth because of her previous injury which was to her arms? How does one affect the other? Again plot hole.

The actress who played Luo Mei had way too much Botox because her face never moved on or off screen. None of her emotions were believable at all; she was totally stone faced. And how did she go from seeing ML as her unrequited love to whiplashing and loving that monster CP? It was so quick, you'd blink and you'd miss it. Another one was of FL knowing she only had an X amount of time to live but didn't reconcile with the ML until he dove into the river after her. She wasted so much precious time. For what exactly? ML only lived 13 years longer than she did and you'd think when you know you've got an expiration date, you'd want to spend every second with the one you loved. But he didn't even know she wasn't cured; that was a dumb plot move. He had the most masochistic role in the entire series. The entire second portion was totally unnecessary. Finish it at 25 episodes and it would have been an HE and matched with the book. Bringing all that nonsense in made me skip two episodes towards the end.

Would I recommend it? I actually would but for excellent acting and that first portion of the show. The rest you can just casually watch.