I’m struggling to rate this one because there are some very strong elements to this show, but there are things that drag the show down. The plot is strong and solid, the first half of the show is very good, and some of the big plot points (betrayal, murder, weddings) are all great. There is time in between some of these points and they’re often necessary to build up the characters, their relationship, and add to the anticipation of the events to come. However, some parts of the show do feel slow. It’s odd because the show doesn’t feel poorly paced but perhaps it gets muddled towards the end because it has so many subplots and characters and it has to divide its time between each of them, so it feels like not a lot of progress gets made over the course of an episode.

Chu Qiao is one of my favorite female protagonists I’ve seen in a cdrama. She’s smart, she’s loyal, she’s determined, and she’s a total badass. The growth she undergoes from being a slave just trying to stay alive to super skilled fighter able to take revenge on her enemies is great. She has her own goals and she will not be swayed from the path she has decided to take. I love that while the guys will sometimes come and rescue her from whatever predicament she’s in, she has pretty much handled it already (taken down 9 of 10 bad guys, cleverly talked her way out of a situation, etc) so they are just basically helping her wrap things up lol. Her character growth throughout the entire show is so interesting and fun to watch.

I seem to be in the minority in that I liked Yan Xun wayyyy more than Yuwen Yue. Yuwen Yue was fine, but kinda boring. I gave zero craps about his Heavenly Spies or wtf he was up to. He undergoes some character growth which is great but also... idk I just never really cared. Yan Xun on the other hand changes a lot and I found him and his story so compelling. I also found his and Chu Qiao’s relationship way more interesting. The things they experience together, how that brings them together, and how their relationship changes as they themselves change is great to watch.

I’m also possibly in the minority of liking the cliffhanger ending. I can see how it would be infuriating for someone who was watching the show while it was airing. But I will admit that the show suffers from some pacing issues and gets dragged down by subplots that don’t end up being important or even get resolved. That’s what frustrated me towards the end; not the actual ending, but how I felt like I was dragging myself through the last 10 episodes. I was truly invested in how it was going to end and what would happen to the characters. But because there are all these subplots and side characters, it was annoying to sit through the stuff I didn’t find interesting to get to the actual plot and conflicts that I cared about. They also low key seemed to forget about a few important plot points and just threw them in at the end.

The last episodes were also weird in that there was so much use of green screens. I generally try to not judge a show based on technical stuff but it was so distracting that it took away from the very serious and important stuff was occurring in those scenes. I’m sure there was some reason irl that they needed to reshoot those scenes or something.

Tl;dr this show has a very solid plot, an amazing female protagonist and other good characters, but does get bogged down towards the end.