I've never finished a China-production drama before, especially not one which runs to 70 episodes.
But this was my first time ever. It got me and my ENTIRE family fighting over the remote to catch up on the episodes we missed. We weren't even bored to rewatch any episodes with each other.
The storyline is gripping, many sad stories and past hidden behind the villains. Almost every single cast member had such a deep plot behind them, and such fluidity to the story, that I was most impressed by the script itself. You felt the pain of even the maids surrounding the main casts.
This does not fall into the cliches of period drama at all. The lead is way too witty (honestly ridiculous at some points), but her wittiness gives the show a really new atmosphere. Often times it really annoys me when i see the 'victim' script go by and the *lead is stuck in a predicament unable to explain her way out of it*, but not this one! Every single main cast and sub-storyline casts were all very well detailed and contrived. Villains boasted considerable intelligence and craftiness, and you often sat at the edge of your seat waiting to find out how the lead would get out of the mess this time round.
This is not one to be missed. The story really gets going a few episodes in, but you don't want to miss anything, because that's how detailed this story is.