Plot overview

The Zhong family is the wealthiest and most powerful family in the city of Huang, selling incense and medicine to the royal family. The young Zhong Xi Wu is the head of the family and rules with a firm but kind hand. General Manager Hua has a haughty and arrogant daughter, Hua Qian, who would stop at nothing to marry a member of the Zhong family Zhong Ye Lan. With the help of her father, she successfully marries him and also disposes of a rival manager and his family, the Mu family. Her misdeeds do not go unpunished as the daughter of the Mu family, Mu Yao, seeks revenge against Hua Qian. Hua Qian’s entire family is sentenced to death or exile. She tries to escape but faints in the chase. 

She wakes up to find that she’s transported back to her wedding day to Zhong Ye Lan. Stunned at the turn of events, Hua Qian tries desperately to rewrite history and make amends to those she has wronged. However, she never accounted for how history sometimes will go a certain way exactly because of human nature. In her journey to change, she loses more than she bargained for but also forged new relationships in which she does not know the outcome. 

Overall Thoughts

What I liked – minor spoilers

• Wang Xing Ye as Zhong Xi Wu – The actor was only 19 when he filmed this drama! He’s really convincing as the astute yet tolerant head of the family. His portrayal as the conflicted man who’s trying to suppress his feelings for Hua Qian but also extremely happy when things go south with her marriage is really cute.  At this point, I’m really watching the drama mainly for him and Hua Qian’s relationship. 
• Characters who behave as they should based on their own motivations – Hua Qian is desperately trying to right the wrongs of the past including pushing her own husband away, trying to persuade her father to give up his general manager role, and convince Mu Yao to stop seeking revenge. However, she finds that it’s not easy for her to succeed and is constantly challenged despite her best efforts. That actually makes a lot of sense to me because she’s the only one who knows the end result and her simply trying to persuade people to change isn’t enough. Actions speak louder than worders and she has to learn that the hard way.
• Downgrading the stakes – Finally, the story is set around a couple of families in an unknown city. The stakes are much lower but the story still works. Hua Qian does everything she can to divorce her husband and in the context of the drama, a divorce was plausible. In the book, the main characters once again revolve around an Emperor, and Emperor’s brother, concubines, and Empress Dowagers. I started reading the book and was like…there’s no way any of this would fly. As non-royal family members? Yes – plausible.