wasn't intending to start on this at first, but the online responses for the first 8 eps was great and hence i decided to give it a try. i had watched some past works of jeremy (legend of dugu) & qiao xin (ode to joy 1-3). i rmb really liking jeremy's villian role in legend of dugu ?? anyway, long story short i would say overall it's kinda an underdog drama. The productions isn't very extensive for this production, and it's also evident from the props and overall script and writing. So being able to gain some attention for it (and milking the popularity after) says alot.

STORY
As in many cdramas historical works, it always portray a female lead that's smart, or at least more opinionated, and then being bounded by familial responsibilities /gender discrimination kinda set up. and of course most of the times, there's gonna be male lead falling for this "different" kind of lady they have ever met.

I would say the overall gist is similar but also different. Qiu Yan here, as a concubine's daughter (similar to Legend of Minglan) we are expecting much difficulties, being female + unfavoured (since not Di). Despite that, its a refreshing twist that Qiu Yan is favored by her non-biological mum (aka the Di Mother) but despised by her own biological mother.. i think it's the first time i seen this in a cdrama female centric plot drama. Really touched her mum provided her with what she needs and allowed her to be expressive of her ideas. Unlike other female concubine daughter characters, Qiu Yan is very vocal, opinionated and has a goal of her own - to explore the world. Of course a series of things happened, from jinxing her husband to be to death, passing of Di Mother, downfall of Qiu manor, becoming an escapee, becoming an artisan to Liang Yi's concubine everntually etc.

So in all this there's also our male lead, Liang Yi i would say quite a typical male lead set up, cold, ruthless, capable with also family revenge agenda on his back. He meets a woman like no other aka Qiu Yan, and it doesn't help they become loggerheads and his best friend is in love with her. For political purposes he also proposes to marry QY's sister, Qiu Min. but alot the way through the various cases they somehow get entangled in together, LY grows a liking to her. He also belatedly finds out that they had a connection when they were young,

Overall it's a refreshin plot, but honestly, i am disappointed in the development of the second half of the story, which is the problem for many cdramas, especiall those with more episodes...i will just list some points/ loopholes i feel iffy about:

Characters:
- QY character: don't get me wrong, i like her in general, but in some instances i really didnt like her. Like especially how she treats her sister, QM. I mean her intentions were valid, but i still feel it was harsh...
- LY character: i would say it's typical, was hoping more development or story for him.
-QX charactrer: i would say he is the most pitiful one...
-QM: feel bad for her, but sometimes she just needs to tough up bcs she's annoying for me..

Plot
- the whole su yi wan subplot. like right til the end there was no clear up or explanation for this fake identity?
- song jin's death: he honestly didnt have to die??
- qiu min& qin xuan: so after QM saves QY from an arrow, he starts to accept her? idk but am i missing out something?
- truth behind liang yi's dad death: seriously the ending was liek too rushed wtf? like qiu yan lying that she killed her mum what not. i honestly felt that was so inconsistent with qiu yan's character lol... what noble idiocy is this... thats very out of her character LOL

I liked the show probably up to the halfway mark? but the whole story just drags out with not much development / sweet scenes actually. but given it being an original production, i would say it's not bad.