This was truly a very enjoyable drama from start to finish - I was pleasantly surprised by how it managed to captivate me. The underlying plot itself is not special - it is a revenge drama about a Liang princess whose family was executed after being framed for rebellion against the Wei kingdom by the Prime Minister's wife's powerful Chiyun family. She assumes another identity (Weiyoung) and infiltrates the Prime Minister's household as his second daughter of lower birth to a common mother. It has some clear parallels to Nirvana in Fire but the main protagonist is a clever young woman and her "revenge" is more reactive as opposed to proactive and calculated. Another difference is there is a big romantic element, it is more light hearted, fast moving and less complex. However, this is nowhere near on the same level and maybe it captivated me because my expectations were not high.

The casting in this show was superb - literally all of the characters good and evil did a remarkable job with their roles. The two main leads are a real life couple and the chemistry between them is undeniable and heart warming. The male lead plays a powerful young Wei prince who is so enamored with Weiyoung that he is willing to give up his kingdom and his life for her. I think of the two, Luo Jin (Taoba Jun) is the better, more charismatic and versatile actor. Tiffany Tang's Weiyoung was clever, resilient and completely adorable but her performance was undeniably aided by the overall strength of the supporting cast. There were quite a few villains in the show - ones that you will love to hate (Prime Minister's wife and her nephew); ones that were so ineptly evil you had to laugh at them (Prime Minister's eldest son and daughter); and the more complex, ultimately pitiful ones that had some good in them (the Nan-an Prince and his lover). The Prime Minister's wife has the most evil villain eyebrow movement I have ever seen outside of a cartoon. And you will learn how evil and hate can take the form of such a lovely and innocent face. I found myself moved to pity for some of the villains even thought they satisfyingly got their just deserts, which speaks to the layered complexity of the characters. There are two charming supporting couples whose story lines did not deviate much from the main plot and did not go on excessively. Finally the show kept to a bare minimum the childish, petulant and immature female role stereotype that ruins many otherwise good shows.

Without giving anything away, there were some good twists in the story that sees friends turn into foes. I did think that there was excessive plotting against Weiyoung and maybe one or two of those plots could have been eliminated. Nonetheless due to the strength of the cast, any repetitiveness it was barely noticeable because everyone was such a pleasure to watch. Objectively speaking the plot isn't that original but it has all the elements of a true crowd pleaser: it moves fast, it will make you laugh it will make you cry; it will make you love, it will make you hate and it will surprise you a few times.

[KIND OF SPOILER BUT NOT REALLY A SPOILER ALERT]


One of the best things about Chinese drama is that a happy ending is not a foregone conclusion. Hollywood still doesn't get it - when its a foregone conclusion that it ends happily ever after everything becomes predictable and forgettable. This one will keep you guessing and hoping to the bittersweet end and maybe that is one of the reasons why it lingers with you.