Joy of Life (Season 1+2)
Watched two seasons back to back, and I've gotta say - this is definitely one of the best cdramas ever made! Everything is top-notch: storytelling, acting, character development, plotting and backstabbing, amazing background music and OSTs, stellar cast, aesthetics, loads of drama AND humor, and just enough romance to make it all even more yummy.
Fan Xian is definitely one of my most favorite characters in terms of brain, sass, charisma, foxiness, sprinkled with even more intelligence and a bit of a hero complex that he denies having, but the story kind of pushes him towards 'doing the greater good' with whatever means that are available to him.
The whole show is a yummy collection of delicious morally grey characters - the Emperor is cunning to the point it gets scary, but you still have to respect the guy because he's so good at what he does (later in S2 he becomes more of an obvious bad guy, but still spectacularly genius). Chen Ping Ping is truly the King of Plotting - some of his schemes started as soon as the ML was born! That's how good he is. But no matter what manipulative shenanigans are happening in the show, he always ends up on FX's side, even if he uses the boy like a pawn most of the time. He has a mentor/teacher kind of aura and FX learns a lot from him. Papa Fan is one of the most devoted daddies in the series (especially towards FX) he's the only father figure that is not trying to use him in his schemes, which is endearing, really. Prime Minister Lin was also amazing in his ability to read through the lines of what the Emperor was saying/doing and what he was actually trying to accomplish.
Let's not forget about all the comedy! The show would have ended up being dramatic AF without all the hilarious moments and relationships between the characters. The first season was a bit more lighthearted in this regard, but season 2 still has loads of funny scenes, which come as a very welcome relief.
As for the girls, Fan Xian is a real ladies' man and there are lots of gorgeous women all around him in the show (they say in the book it's an actual harem with no 'buts'), still, you can feel in the drama as well - he has different kinds of relationships with various women and all are quite interesting with lots of chemistry. I think he got it from his mom - she left behind a harem of her own. Everyone is now doting on Fan Xian (and using him in their schemes as well).
If you're wondering whether to watch this show - please do! it's a proper wuxia with lots of palace schemes and machinations, but so well-written that it's never boring to watch.
