I quickly read the novel then decided to watch this drama. There were a lot of changes to the story, both good and bad. I felt that most of the changes were necessary for the story to progress as it did. For the most part, I think they did a good job of changing the original novel into a more exciting drama to watch. The novel didn't really have politics/court intrigue; it was mostly the love story between Jun Fu and Mu Yan with the addition of four other stories ( the drama didn't include one story, but I would've liked to see how they would've incorporated that one). Because of these changes, I wanted to see what would happen, how the plot would progress, and why the characters were the way they were, which by the end made sense.

I didn't like how Ye Zhen/Jun Fu and Su Yu/Mu Yan's story was changed, but it had to be done for the sake of the plot of the drama. Their relationship went through so many life and death situations. Honestly, I liked the character Jun Fu better than Ye Zhen. Ye Zhen was an annoying naive girl, while I felt like Jun Fu was a strong and cold woman because she had a mission with no recollection of her past. Once she began remembering, I saw her transform back into the personality of Ye Zhen, which again made her useless. But I guess that showed her acting skills. As for Su Yu/Mu Yan, everything he did was for his love of Ye Zhen/Jun Fu, which can be annoying, but in the end, this is what changed Jun Fu back to Ye Zhen. So I guess what he did was worth it. It was great seeing him interact with Jun Fu when he lost his memories because now the roles were reversed, but he still showed a softness to her in the end.

I liked the changes made to Song Ning and Shen An's story. It made it that more heartbreaking to watch, and their ending ended up pretty much the same as in the novel. Song Ning transformed from a strong independent woman to a woman who was just in love and wanted to do anything for it until she finally was hurt enough to just let go of it all because she had no more hope. In spite of all the bad things Liu Qi Qi does, Shen An still remains loyal to her to fulfill his promise to her until the day when he finally decides to let go of Liu Qi Qi. However, it was a little too late, which made it so heartbreaking to watch, especially when he learned the truth about his whole situation with Song Ning and Liu Qi Qi. He misunderstood Song Ning many times and never knew Liu Qi Qi's true nature. The only person who ever really understood Shen An was Song Ning.

Rong Yuan and Ying Ge's story was pretty much the same as in the novel, except Ying Ge's ending, which made me a little irritated because I liked her ending. It was a slight change, but I guess it wasn't too bad of a change. Ying Ge and Jin Que were really a good pair of sisters until Jin Que betrayed Ying Ge (in the novel, it wasn't like this, Jin Que was always loyal to Ying Ge). Rong Xun and Jin Que's betrayal was probably needed so that Ying Ge could give up her love and dedication to Rong Xun because she was nothing to him,but a tool. But when Rong Yuan came into the picture, he gave Ying Ge the love and happiness she thought she never would have, which was touching to watch because they truly loved each other regardless of their identities.

Murong An and Su Heng's story was almost the same as in the novel; their ending in the novel was more tragic. But Su Heng still found a way to redeem himself, so I guess that was okay. I felt that they spent way too much time in this story than necessary, and Jun Fu and Mu Yan forgot their original intention of why this story was important. In spite of that, their story was touching. Su Heng's tactics to keep Murong An were actually quite mean and evil. At first, I even wondered if he loved her. She was always hurt by him because she doesn't know much about politics and his world, but it was all because he wanted to protect her. I could understand why she was heartbroken and felt betrayed time and time again. But even when she understood him and his intentions, she still couldn't help but be hurt.

If I were to rewatch this drama, I would probably only rewatch certain stories/scenes, not the entire drama.