I am particularly picky about my dramas so bear with me if my review sounds a little harsh. Anyways, let's begin......
I only decided to watch this drama after seeing clips of Kuan Hung cross-dressing on social media (XHS). Ironically, Kuan Hung's character turned out to be underdeveloped and inconsistent throughout the drama. But the other characters and plot kept me captivated. In the novel, Tang Fan is supposed to be intelligent and quick-thinking, but in the drama, Tang Fan kept on bouncing to and fro between intelligent and dumb (or naive). Sui Zhou and Wang Zhi, are from 锦衣卫 （Jin Yi Wei) and 西厂 （Xi Chang) respectively. If you are not very sure of what they are, they are basically spy organisations that report back directly to the empower during the Ming Dynasty ie. very powerful organisations. Sui Zhou's Taiwanese accent makes me confused from time to time but it's okay once I've gotten used to it. Sui Zhou's character is outright righteous and patriotic. Wang Zhi, on the other hand, is more complicated. He's manipulative, cold-blooded and ruthless to the bad officials, but he's extremely loyal to the Emporer and Royal Consort Wan. What makes him captivating is that he has a cute, fluffy and soft side.
The plot is pretty good. I like how each conspiracy leads to another conspiracy.
Overall, it's a good watch!