The story was great, with a good balance of court politics, action, and romance (though the latter is underdeveloped; the emphasis is on the protagonists' deep connection, with no physical intimacy whatsoever). I may get flak for this, but I found Ren's performance to be wooden and emotionless. He is not a versatile actor; he practically had the same expression on his face in every single episode, even in the harrowing scenes, where the script was clearly conveying that the character was supposed to be disconsolate and heartbroken (In some instances, you could even tell his tears were fake and applied artificially with an eyedropper).