My initial reaction at the start of the drama was not great - I thought it was going to be boring. But I hung on and the story got more and more intriguing as the plot thickened, and then the mysteries started to unravel bit by bit as they moved from kingdom to kingdom. Easily the top 5 Chinese dramas I had ever watched in recent years.

Acting was great and the character development especially of the hero, Wu Ji, was fantastic. There was an excellent mix of gut wrenching and comic moments. Yang Mi and Ethan Ruan had very good chemistry. The moments when Wu Ji teased and flirted with Fu Yao were hilarious. There were some draggy moments with the story around the general and his silly stalker but not much. It was a nice development too with Fu Yao moving on with her life as her early romantic relationship broke down - quite unlike a lot of Chinese dramas when the heros and heroines kept hanging on their love ones, which is unrealistic.