Sherlock in Imperial China with a bit of Asian drama romance /cuteness.

This is a Chinese drama I can recommend to my non Asian drama watching friends. Its has a clever and smooth flowing plot with minimal nonsense and time wasting. The murder mysteries and overarching political intrigue keeps you engaged the whole time, I didn't have to fast forward any scene in this drama. The romance is cute, sincere and genuine and not excessive.

Most of the things that annoy me about Chinese dramas do not exist in this show. There are no theatrical scenes, no preachy arrogant speeches, no bitchy and over jealous characters, no over explaining, no bad CGI, flashbacks are short and to the point. Most of the characters are of good intelligence level, they act rationally and sensibly as you expect from the character. Its a welcome change from the usual stupid, silly, fake cutesy, illogical, irrational and loud characters you get in most Chinese dramas.

The FL is a good at her job and has just the right level of naïveness you expect from someone like her. The ML is calm and genius at piecing things clues and not the usual arrogant and swashbuckling hero. The romance is slow but natural and believable. It feels a healthy relationship. The second ML is again right level of cheerful bringing a light atmosphere. to the drama Love the bromance between the two MLs, no forced interactions or scenes but very natural interactions that show how much they value their friendship. The second FL and main FL has a supportive and genuine relationship.

The scriptwriter, director and the whole production crew has done a tremendous job. The unknown actors manage to deliver a fresh performance. The drama achieved what it meant to achieve. A thrilling, crime and detective story that doesn't drag and feel boring. The costumes could be prettier, the scenery more panoramic, the music more memorable but honestly at the end of the day this drama might not be perfect but everything about this drama just feels right.