This is one of those shows that would define Chinese entertainment industry for me! I don’t know why it took me so long to watch it, at first I never paid attention to shows that were made before 2019, but on recommendation of a friend who has very similar tastes to mine, I decided to watch it. If I had to list everything I liked about this show, I would probably go on for 10,000 words and more! To put it briefly, the amazing cast, the superb acting, the believable character, excellent cinematography, the costumes, the soundtrack…..there isn’t a single thing about the show that needs improvement. Be it the lengthy political discourses and scheming, or the near perfect war scenes, there was never a dull moment in the entirety of the 54-episodes! Each and every character was played to perfection, and one cannot help but want to see the happy times last longer between Lin Shu and Xiao Jingyan, between Lin Shu and his beloved Duchess Nihuang, but it was enough that we didn’t have to see the ML dying, and it was just implied towards the end. I am now looking forward to watching the season 2, though not having the same characters there would be disheartening, seeing that the second season was as popular if not more, I believe that the production team would have spared no effort in bringing to us a drama that deserves to be seen and appreciated. If I could give Nirvana in fire 30 stars, I would, but I can safely list it among the ‘must watch once’ list.