Watching Decreed By Fate is both a delight and relieve. Yay. Here's to Chinese historical romcom that has good script writing! No loop holes, dragging or missing scenes, just 16 episodes Korean style including the cliff hanger that will guarantee an audience for the next season.
Story
This series has classic tropes like the straightforward, feisty heroine and two cool, tall, good-looking guys who fall in love with her at first sight. There are some unexpected turns as well. I like the idea of a heroine who sets up a divorce agency right after her forced marriage. It felt good to watch her respect and defend freedom rights, to admire the beauty of people, male or female. The love triangle is not the usual battle of love where someone comes out in smiles and the other has to lick his wounds in private. This trope is used to explore the many faces of love, and its origins. In that respect it makes perfectly sense why the ML ends up with the girl.
Acting/Cast
Chen Fang Tong is a good choice for the role of Rong Er. She combines huge Bamby eyes with a sturdy character, sharp wit. I like her chemistry with both ML's. Li Jiu Lin is born to play the classic ML. Really, this actor has the perfect visual and physique. He's believably able to carry the heroine, better than some actors who border anorexia to keep their assignments with fashion labels. Kudos also for Wu Cheng Xu, Cheng Yu Feng and Jia Yi, I hope to see more of them in future series.
Music
There's some nice music that fits the atmosphere in the series. I downloaded the beginning- and ending tunes for memory keep sake.
Rewatch Value
As soon as I finished this series I wanted to watch it again. The falling in love process is both hilarious and romantic, also there were some clues that I missed before. The script is that inventful.
Overall
Are there any faults in this production? Not really imo. Just one thing stood out for me like a sore thumb, the stringy bangs of the general's wig. Jeez, they looked like mucus strands to me that made me run to my scissors to ease the kissing scene. Anyway, I really recommend this gem.
