I loved the writing style and all the beautiful descriptions and the world building. There’s detailed imagery of the food, clothing, and palaces. 

I wasn’t a fan of the love triangle, and the relationship development for both love interests was weak. There aren’t really any moments that depict the growth and closeness. It’s mainly told rather than actually shown with the two. They meet and suddenly the narrative jumps to romantic interests and highlights palace gossip around them. The romance subplot came off as tiring and I wasn’t that invested in it.

Same with the development with the friends. Shuxiao and Minyi are supposed to be her close friends yet they never interact except for plot convenience. Both are flat and cookie-cutter and don’t really have distinctive personalities apart from being loyal to Xingyin.