Review for part 2 [My final rating is a 9.8]:
One thing that I forgot to mention about this drama in my review for my part 1, was the fact that I love the introduction video to this drama. The reason why is because unlike most Chinese-dramas it doesn't spoil the whole drama for me, by showing spoilers of what will happen. I like to be surprised when watching dramas, instead of seeing what will happen in the introduction (e.g. like knowing that the two leads will end up getting married because of seeing their wedding in the introduction video). Thus far, I like season 2 better because the male lead character storyline is finally starting to make sense. Also, I like that the female and male lead didn't fall in love at first sight but grew to love one another. This drama kind of reminds me of The Story of Minglan. Not having the characters fall in love at first sight, also, makes the drama and characters more realistic!

Omg, episode 5 is the first time that I like the male lead character, while being annoyed with the female lead character lol. She is being selfish, and immature. After watching episode 6, I raised my rating from 8.5 to 9.5! Around episode 8, I feel like the drama is dragging quite a bit. Also, I keep thinking about the female lead ex-teacher (the one who is against marriage) and his storyline. Why do they keep showing glimpses of him, without including him in the overall picture? I like the fact that the female lead character didn't want to completely loose herself (good qualities) for the sake of her fiancé.

The ending (episodes 52-56) was bitter sweet. I love the fact that during the 5 years later, they showed clips of how everyones life changed. I usually don't like when movies or shows just write [X amount of time later], without showing us how the characters changed and grown. I wish they wouldn't have included an additional conflict in episodes 52-53 and 55, it dragged out the conclusion.

Overall part 2 is much better!
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Review for part 1 [My final rating was a 8.5]:
Although, I genuinely like the male lead actor, I was disappointed to see him play the male lead character. To be honest, as of episode 3 I don't think he is doing as good of a job as he did in his prior historical dramas. Not bad, but not great either. I believe this drama would have been better if they casted an actor between the ages of 30-45 (this doesn't mean the character has to be the same age), with phenomenal acting experience in political based historical dramas.

While the storyline is good, the script and production is lacking. What I mean is, in episode 1 the male lead and the army won a war and the first thing he does after returning home (well, waiting outside of the gate) was to leave and investigate a case. The political plot in the first 10 episodes, felt rushed, and unrealistic; it was as if they were looking for a way to find a quick way for the female and male lead to link up with one another. Also, there was no significant moment shown to us to explain why the male lead character liked the female lead character.

Next, the female lead characters mom, hadn't seen her daughter since she was a baby, and instead of embracing her with love, she embraced her with rules that could have waited until she started spending good quality time with her daughter. For goodness sake, she heard that her daughter often was starved by her grandmother and aunt. Additionally, at one point, she was left to die outside of their town. The mother's behavior is not endearing but it seems very cold, and harsh. Her character is enough to make me want to drop this drama. I'm hoping that the writer allow her character to develop.

If the script, acting, and mothers' character doesn't improve by episode 6, I'm going to drop this drama! Note: The mom's character doesn't become tolerable until episode 20.

Update:
You will start to like this drama by episode 6. Things definitely make a turn for the better. However, I still don't like the male lead character storyline. It seems unrealistic. Additionally, the actor is overacting.

My favorite episode was episode 15. I hate the political plot because it's not logical nor is it well written. However, the female lead character storyline is pretty good. Additionally, the female lead actress did a phenomenal job acting, as well as the actor who plays Yao. Kudos!

I'm currently watching episode 21, and when I see the male lead character, I sigh due to disappointment. UGHHHHH WHYYYYY I don't know if it is because of his character, or the actor, or both! Btw, who else is sobbing after watching episode 21? Where's my tissue? Also, episode 24 (towards the end) is the only time that I liked the male lead actor and character in this drama. Unfortunately, the mom in this drama reminds me of the relationship that I had with my mom. My mom has narcissistic personality disorder, and used to belittle me in front of others. So the end of episode 24, definitely was a trigger.

After watching episode 25, I realized that part 1 was focused on the female leads family and part 2 will be focused on the male leads family, and their marriage. I LOVE how the male lead rides (supports) the female lead at Yao's wedding (the end of episode 25). By episode 26, I finally start liking the male lead character (although, I think the actor could have done a better job acting).

The flashbacks at the end of episode 27 was much needed (I forgot how much the leads interacted with one another), and was a perfect way to end season 1.