I feel like a lot happened, but also not that much. It also feels like the story is still trying to find its footing, it's not completely grounded yet.

Otherwise, even though I love political intrigues set in ancient times, I sometimes have a hard time with all the people and their names. It was a little easier here than in other danmei series of the same style I've read before, but still hard enough for me to be confused at times, confusion that never really gets resolved but I still can follow the overall story fine.

I also have a harder time to grasp what kind of character Shen Zechuan is, compared to Xiao Chiye. He's more transparent to the reader, to be fair, even though he cultivates a false image in the story. Maybe the mysterious aspect of the story, behind the motivation of Shen Zechuan actions, is a bit too mysterious in the first volume for me to understand the basic of his intent. Other than maybe revenge for people who were harmful to him after the whole sinkhole thing, but you get hints here and there there's something more behind it.

I'm motivated to continue reading, but I'll try to keep it at 2 volumes and drop it if it doesn't improve, because no way I'm reading ~7 books of a so-so series.