This drama is a wuxia-style detective drama, based on tales from the Tang dynasty. The cases are loosely tied together by the group of 5 characters (six in later episodes), who will solve these cases, culminating in trying to stop an usurpation of the throne.


The story:
* I like the cases, which usually take several episodes to solve. They are engaging, and it's easy to follow Su Wu Ming's and Lu Ling Feng's train of deductions -- until it isn't because the audience doesn't get all of the information in time, for a more surprising twist. Which I can live with, it's not as if other detective series haven't done this too.
* The cases are not solved quickly, it's a series that has quite a few red herrings, and solving the case is often enough helped by finding out motivations of the suspects.
* Usually, there are one or a few aspects in the cases that can't be explained rationally by Su Wu Ming, and seem a bit supernatural. I like that it's open to the audience's interpretation if it's truly supernatural or if the people of this era just don't have the knowledge.
* When things get dangerous, and there's fighting, then the scenes don't tend to be very long. I not able to say say much about the choreography, but it seemed solid. It found it interesting that Lu Ling Feng usually gets help if he knows that there will be a fight, and does not try to be heroic and take fights on his own, if he can avoid it. The most dangerous of enemies are usually taken down only because there's a communal effort.
* I love the banter between Lu Ling Feng and Su Wu Ming -- and how their relationship evolves so that they know what the other thinks just by looking at each other.
* While I loved the portrayal of the crown prince and the Princess, who were very ruthless and loyal to family at the same time, the nationalism was obnoxious, as usual in Chinese dramas. Seems that Tang (China) just can't do anything wrong; it's always only singular black sheep who have been led astray, never the system.
* The plot point about Lu Ling Feng's background was a bit contrived. But since they did not milk it too much (and also served a point both for the plot and for Lu Ling Feng's characterization), it was all right.


The romance:
* Is almost non-existant, but not completely. There are two couples, Pei Xi Jun / Lu Ling Feng and Sun Xue Ning / Su Wu Ming.
* The first couple is all right. I don't like (het) romance very much, so I'm usually very critical. But here, it works, in my opinion. Pei Xi Jun, yes, is completely infatuated in the first episodes, and a bit annoying about it. But that is toned down later on, to the point that there are almost no romantic interactions between them for most of the series. We get small interactions between the two young people though, that show that the attraction is definitely not one-sided, but it's more that Lu Ling Feng thinks he has more than enough reasons not to pursue anything with her.
* The second couple though. Oh man. That was definitely NOT needed in any way. It doesn't fit with the character of Su Wu Ming as we knew him until that started, and overall, it feels more like a "no homo"-type of romance than actual interest. Su Wu Ming was *very* close to Lu Ling Feng, so authors might have felt they had to counter that. That romance arc really diminished my enjoyment of the last episodes. Again, a forced het romance where it shouldn't be.


The characters:
* Su Wu Ming, the brains in this series, has little to no character development. He is, basically, the same intelligent and shrewd detective over the course of the drama. He feels very one-dimensional, and probably is supposed to be the good hero, who can do nothing wrong -- but I feel that there could have been more behind the facade of the humble genius that just wasn't explored.

* Lu Ling Feng, on the other hand, evolves from an arrogant, "hit first, talk later" general to a thoughtful gentleman with great potential as an official of the state. He is much more fleshed out than any of the other characters. That his actor is good looking also does help, I admit it.

* Pei Xi Jun could have been an annoying one-train-of-thought kind of girl. She wasn't. After the first few episodes, she calmed down a lot. She still stayed headstrong during the whole drama, following her goal of marrying Lu Ling Feng -- but she also knew where to push and where to retreat for a bit. She has grown up very sheltered, as a girl of noble birth, but still faces danger with a strong heart. Also, with her special skill, she was a valuable member of the group, without whom cases could not have been solved, not just a follower-on.

* Sun Xue Ning is a superfluous character, and it hurts to say that about a female character, because I'll always want more women in my dramas. But she doesn't bring anything to the group (we already have a fighter with Lu Ling Feng, and knowledge of poisons is covered by Fei), apart from being the romantic interest of Su Wu Ming. Her character is also the one where the typical macho tendencies show most -- she is both the fearless warrior woman and still has to be protected and shielded by the stronger men who try to send her away from danger "for her own good". Whenever there's a fight and both her and Lu Ling Feng are there, she is relegated to the side and has to protect the weaker characters. Oh, and also, in one fight, her clothes were torn so one of her shoulders was bared -- that has never happened to Lu Ling Feng. Strange, huh? And in this case, I don't care about historical accuracy. Either write your strong female fighter so she is equal to the men or don't write these characters at all.

* Another intriguing character is Master Fei ("Chicken Fed"). He brings the knowledge of the healing arts (and with it, the knowledge about anything poisonous) with him, as well as the much needed comedic relief. It's unfortunate that, even though we get to see part of his back story, his interesting past is never fully explored. Maybe in the second season?
* Xue Han was cute. Not much more to say. He had his bit of development, but remained a supporting character.

Overall, if you're there for intriguing mysteries and plots, then this is definitely a drama for you. If you are there for the romance or for cool fighting scenes, then not so much.
I admit, because of the misogynistic treatment of Sun Xue Ning, I won't rewatch it and probably also won't watch the second season.