Guess most of you probably already know even before starting to watch the drama, this is going to be somewhat tragic. To some extent, it's not a sad ending but the journey towards it is definitely a very difficult one.

This drama touches on a lot of things - friendship, love, sacrifice, love for the country and comradeship.

Parts I really love about the drama:
1) The friendship between the emperor and Fang Jian Ming. They both grew up together and were technically stuck together because of the Baixi. The depth of trust between the two are even stronger than blood siblings. It's always nice to see a good bond between friends who understand and trust each other.

2) The emperor character. You can either hate the emperor or love the emperor. In this case, I love the character. He is not the most perfect person but he is very real. He has every reason to be unhappy with his life - lost the love of his life, stripped off his freedom, stuck in a role he did not sign up for and can't even feel basic physical pain. Regardless, he stayed alive simply because he was put to the task and felt the responsibility to run the country well. Putting yourself into his shoes, you would kind of understand why he acted the way he did.

3) The fight scenes. The production and execution of the whole drama in general is quite top-notch. However, the fight scenes are really the ones that impressed me. Hai Shi, Jian Ming and even the emperor have really distinct styles in their martial arts. That part was portrayed very well in the drama.

Parts I dislike about the drama:
1) Hai Shi and Jian Ming's relationship. I know, I know. Why watch the drama if I don't even like their relationship in the first place? For one, their age don't add up. Forgive me, but it's kind of difficult to digest the fact that the age gap between the both of them is acceptable seeing how Jian Ming practically raised Hai Shi (like a father / sifu).

2) The progression of the relationship between Hai Shi and Jian Ming. There are so many things that are unnecessary. Jian Ming hiding almost EVERY SINGLE THING from Hai Shi cause he's "worried" about her safety; how he pushed her away almost all the way to the end of the drama. It seems like they keep going back to square one and it's quite tiring to watch.

-- MAJOR SPOILER --

3) The evil mastermind behind the whole coup towards the end of the drama is actually quite "meh". To be honest, they have been building up the tension about the evil mastermind for so long, I kind of expect the character to be more "evil" or at least have deeper attachment throughout the drama.

In general, I am quite impressed with the plot. This is not your usual romance drama which is very refreshing to watch. Will I watch again? No, cause it's simply a bit too intense for round 2. Will I recommend the drama? For sure.