GENRES: Historical, Mystery, Romance
SUMMARY: He lives in the b&w, she lives in technicolor, but they are both ace sleuths that crush hard for each other.
THIS SHOW HAS EVERYTHING: Tofu, fireworks, lost children, orphanages, fish hairpins, divine doctors, men living in wells, fake shamans, ghost ships, cannonballs, pirates, venom testing, iron maidens, lost identities, bad embroidery, flippant emperors, white deer, embezzling, foot fetishes, and shitty cousins.
HOT TAKE: Even though this is the longest CDrama I've watched to-date (55 episodes), the plot kept me watching intently from beginning to end. Was it because of Tan Song Yun and how this is the second show I've watched with her as the ML? Was it because the costumes more than distracted me from the sub-par CG backgrounds? Maybe it was the refreshing dialogue between lovers? Or maybe it was just the ghost pirate ship?
TW: The main villain of the show has a VERY uncomfortable demeanor, not only because he is scheming, but because a good portion of his villainous nature has to do with objectifying, torturing, and disregarding the lives of the women he dominates into serving him.
The rest of the ensemble cast was so-so, I got a little bored by how often they had one of the ML's held up in bed with a tragic injury, and I really wanted to see more acting from Ren Jia Lun, and I wish we had a little LESS acting from Ethan Yao. I would still recommend this to anyone who is patient enough to sit through this many episodes and can handle the main antagonist's out of left field small foot fetish.