Cheng hua shi si nian

... good chemistry between the main characters, fun side characters, nice costumes & set pieces, excellent choreography of the action scenes (NB: we may thank Jackie Chan for the exciting action scenes).

While the drama series is not perfect, there's little to dislike about it. I certainly enjoyed the show.

You can definitely see Jackie Chan's touch in this program, it's funny, witty, keeps you entertained all the way through. Darren Chen is amazing in it, official Tang Fan is such a loveable character, he's done a great job. Highly recommended!!

After five years of Kdramas, I wanted to branch out a bit. Happened upon Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty via a Reddit discussion. The subject was "What is your favorite scene with a cross-dressing actor?" Someone noted Darren Chen in this series. I love a good mystery/detective show, so I gave it a try. OMG I LOVED every second of this series? So much so, I can't find another Cdrama like it! It doesn't hit you over the head with palace opulence - not once did I feel like the creators were trying to dazzle me with "Look how much money we throw at TV shows". I've tried Nirvana in Fire and Rebel Princess - right off the bat I felt like over the top design was THE THING. In Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, the palace settings were someone humble compared to most historical Cdramas. Half of the scenes took place outside the palace, in the homes of the characters which might be considered middle class for that era. The whole story had such modern feel to it, you could have changed the setting to Los Angeles or NY and it would have worked. The opening and closing theme music are pop songs as opposed to lush orchestral music. I fear I'll never find another Cdrama like it. 10/10 - I'll probably rewatch it at some point. It is that good.