5/5 EXTREMELY GOOD, CANNOT RECOMMEND ENOUGH!!

(1.) Characters 4/5→ There is little to no lack of common sense in the characters; the family behaves more realistically whether it's the doting dad, sis-con elder brother or the avaricious, selfish grandmother - they are all within plausible limits with clear motivations, not exaggeratedly good/evil so it's much more engaging~ the only OP chara is ML's dog lol

(2.) Plot 1000/5→ the story is REALLY REALLY interesting, combining court intrigue with mystery; whether it's scheming, decades-long conspiracies, a hint of the supernatural... more>> or exceptionally interesting CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION, this plot has it all!! Well, theres also a misunderstood-love plot running throughout but it doesn't take any clear priority. Anyway, ML is doting and sweet and theres not a lot of angst~

(3.) Protagonist 5/5 - emotionally and mentally strong FL. In terms of romance she has her own will; in all matters, rather than depending on the ML to fix her problems, she's capable n bold n strong enough to solve them herself!!

FL has 2 'golden fingers' - her rebirth knowledge and some special skills but neither are omnipotent. She doesn't know EVERYTHING that's about to happen; the author doesn't make it too easy for her - things change with her changed choices in this life, making it all unpredictable again, but she's damn clever, loyal n innovative. Hence, the story is gripping and will keep you at the edge of your seat!

Tl;dr → not your typical rebirth-counterattack story; definitely worth the read if you like crime-solving, independent, strong yet feminine women and interesting plots and characterisations. <<less

I rated this novel as 4/5 but it's actually more like a 3.5/5. Not to say that it's bad. I actually really like this novel as well as this author (I pretty much ended up reading all her works despite MTL giving a bit of a headache). But it does have some loose strings in the plot here and there as well as other things that can still be improved.

PLOT
If you think this is your typical palace intrigue novel, it's definitely not. I find most of those actually tend to be extremely monotonous and it generally feels like if you've read one, you don't need to read others because it will basically just feel like a repetition of the other things you've already read. The criminal investigations scattered in the plot definitely give this novel a breath of fresh air that most palace novels do not have and the cases are actually very interesting. The political intrigues also play a big part in the plot -- which makes things even more interesting. I actually really like that towards the end (minus the extras), the plot unfurls with the main couple being in the background and doing their own machinations in the dark while most things get dealt with by the emperor and his ministers.

And like most webnovels, this suffers the monotony of everything going well for the MC after rebirth. Or at least in this case, mostly everything except for Kudos to it having something break that monotony but I wish that there were more cases of that happening

CHARACTERS
I think what I appreciate the most about this author is that she doesn't write the mob characters as people with less than 40 IQ as opposed to most other authors. People watching drama on the streets don't have impaired logic and can actually assess situations normally as opposed to most other mob characters in webnovels who say whatever to make the situation as dramatic as possible.

I also tend to like this author's side characters. TBH I wish the extras featured the lives of the other princes because I do appreciate some of them.

The Emperor in this novel (Yu Jin's father) is also probably my most favorite emperor in the author's novels. He's definitely got faults but he isn't s*upid nor short sighted.

Honestly, it's probably because of the nice side character cast that I end up feeling that the MC and ML could have been written better. They're both likeable, yes but I do find them to be too close to perfection thus making them less interesting as characters. This is something that most webnovels suffer too.

The antagonists are also pretty much cookie cutter webnovel antagonists too and are actually quite boring. They all come from the same spiteful and remorseless mold. That doesn't quite ruin the entire story and the enjoyability you get from it but it does affect my rating of the webnovel.

CONCLUSION
This is really something I do recommend for people to read. It does have loose strings here and there and there are aspects which can be improved upon but overall, it was really enjoyable to read it. If you don't read palace novels because they're monotonous, you might want to give this a chance because it has other aspects in the plot which makes it interesting and even the side characters are distinct enough and minimizes confusion.

TBH I don't really like het Chinese webnovels because I find it's really difficult to find ones that are as good as their BL counterparts (with similar ratings) but this one is definitely one I can recommend to people.

MC mended her mistakes from past life. Its good that neither leads are OP. Most interesting characters are emperor and dog. Emperor is super cool. He is the most likable emperor I have read so far. There are chapters where we don't see leads for a while but enjoyable. Every character is given good background with their own personalities. No one is simpy good or bad.

... more>>

Spoiler

hero was fined for a year lives off erniu and his daughter's Salary and later when he was again fined by emperor he asks emperor to give him another punishment

[collapse]

Spoiler

I don't like hero's mom. She is selfish yet she loves her first son

[collapse]

<<less

It’s more than 4.5. It’s epic, the way the story unravels, the characters, and all the details. Loved the FL and ML, loved their chemistry. It’s a rebirth mixed up with redemption and revenge. And because the novel was so great all throughout, the ending is a bit anticlimactic. Nothing wrong, still happy ending, just not at the same smart?intensity? As the rest of the novel. I also like that all important characters are given closure. Face slapping was appropriate and rarely delayed. Definitely worth the read ^*

Haven't completed this yet but I can tell you, this novel is a hidden gem. The plot is interesting, with many twists and turns, and what I like the most is the criminal investigation which is not like any common rebirth story. I like how the FL realized since she's rebirth she has an advantage unlike any other people, so she decided to do some good things.

Wow amazing story !. Full of twists and turns. I couldn't tear myself away from her, but I have to sleep sometime. Until the very end I wondered who was behind the harem accidents. ML and MC are such a sweet couple. They always support each other in good and bad times. I love this story!

The ending is really abrupt. But the overarching plot is definitely interesting. You can even say that this novel is sort of a compilation of different kinds of mu*der cases which is surrounding the MC as a web of conspiracy that the MC needs to unravel. So it’s sortof a crime investigation theme/genre novel with an ancient china background. The prominent characters are definitely the MC, ML, Minster Zhen head of shuntai something = equivalent of the ministry of crimeinvestigation in ancient times, the emperor, and the ‘boss villain’. There... more>> were many side characters that enlivens the sub plots whether supporting the MC or opposing her as a ‘mini-boss villain’. So even if the novel spans to 800 chapters it’s interesting along the way. My disappointment mainly from the really abrupt ending as they (MC ml) ultimately found out who the mastermind behind all the shenanigans. But at that point, MC and ML are already so OP that the ending of the villain really felt so anti climactic. However I feel like that kind of ending is more realistic to say the least so even as I rack my brain for alternative ending, its still the only ending that I can also come up with.

there are some fine points in the story that made me like it to a point that I rated it as 4.

1. MC wasn’t delusional overly greedy or arrogant with her golden finger. There was a case where she was using the clues from her previous life to try to change what happens in the current life but it backfired on her so bad. I think this makes most realistic sense to have this happen because when you have a golden finger you can’t help but overuse it until... well. So MC throughout the story learns to not prevent the scenes to happen but let them happen but monitors the situation closely and try to intervene. It think that adds more realism.

2. MC can accept the reality of her romantic feelings and wasn’t indecisive in this regard. Some novels try to lengthen the ‘wife chasing’ scene by making the MC overly prideful. The case was, MC loves ML from past life. She has always loved him but she also always believed the ML didn’t love her but use her as a counterfeit or substitute. She has always loved and respected the ML and her only anguish was the substitute part. So when current life began, she wanted to stay away from him to keep herself from hurting again but in the very beginning she knew she couldn’t. The ML wont give up chasing her and she couldn’t stop herself from still loving him so in the very early in the story she had acquiesced to ml. Even when she had a chance to marry well and into a family that is ‘safe’, she never even considered it. I think it’s because she didn’t think it’s right to marry someone when her heart beats for someone else. So when she found out that ML didn’t really treat her as a substitute in the current life nor the past life, imagine how happy she was.

3. The story is actually interspersed with tiny funny moments that are nonsensical for comedic relief. Right now I can’t think of one but to be honest it’s sorta well placed given the tension a crime novel has.

4. Not every villian is killed or mu*dered. I find it rly unrealistic to just kill off every villian that offended the MC. At the same time I also find it s*upid not to kill off all villians that offended the MC. I know it’s contradictory but I think the MC sorta have a balance in her heart which I can’t say is right or wrong but knowing that there is this ‘balance’ makes more sense than just being maniacally mu*derous or otherwise mary sue.
5. Not all Princes were overly ambitious or nonsensically heading towards death to get the throne. <<less