Closer to 3.5 stars overall. Super well-developed characters; story starts off fluffy but as novel progresses there’s a persistent sad undertone. Gets pretty angsty towards the end and quite heavy in court politics, if you jive with that; I personally was in more of a mood for romance and because my ship sunk, I feel a tad bit upset. I can’t really give an objective review at the moment since my heart is still reeling from the ending. All I will say is, be careful who you ship... :p T’was fairly enjoyable albeit lengthy. Ending was bittersweet as well.
Disclaimer: I read a fan-made translation since sadly I cannot read Chinese, so my impression may e be different from someone who has read the original source material.