Cast:
Yi Zhi Mei members:



The Good:

The Bad:




The Different Quests:
1. Episodes 1-4: The introduction of the main characters and the formation of the Robin Hood group Yi Zhi Mei. Ying Wu Qiu tricks Li Ge Xiao into helping him steal government money from righteous official Hai Rui. In order to atone for his actions, Li Ge Xiao once again seeks the help of Chai Hu, He Xiao Mei and Yan San Niang to help him successfully steal the money back.

2. Episodes 5-7: The first problem that Yi Zhi Mei becomes involved in. Bandits ravaged a town because they failed to pay them tribute.

3. Episodes 7-11: Yi Zhi Mei helps a pair of couple retrieve their family heirloom, a cricket that has lived for ten years, Flying General from Yan Song's right-hand man, Xiao Ben.

4. Episodes 11-14: The townspeople are ill because a pharmaceutical business has tested their new products that are supposedly the solution to immortality. Accused of selling fake medicine and harming the lives of  citizens, the business is shut down by Yan Song. In actuality, it was Yan Song who persuaded the owner to collaborate with him in concocting a medicine that gives immortality. The son of the owner has the contract on hand that serves as evidence that it was Yan Song's idea. Since Ying Wu Qiu is after the contract, the son hides the evidence in a bag containing gold powder. After Yi Zhi Mei rescues him, not only do they have to retrieve the contract to unveil Yan Song as the mastermind but also to heal the ill townspeople.

5. Episodes 14-17: A girl appears and claims to be Chai Hu's daughter, Chai Yan. She actually has ulterior motives and steals their money and other valuable items in order to save her mother who is captured by a Tartar general. In actuality, her mother was captured because her father stole a map of the Chinese territories, boundaries, and army resources from the general.

6. Episodes 17-20: He Xiao Mei receives a mysterious visit from an old man who claims to be his grandfather and his cousin Su Ying. His grandfather dies so he decides to return with her cousin back to the He village to fulfill his grandfather's wish in inheriting their estate as the only remaining heir. However, once he returns, he is strangely met with eerie occurrences and mysterious people. He finds out eventually that his family is cursed when his ancestor betrayed a friend for wealth and money.

7. Episodes 20-24: Ying Wu Qiu tracks down where Li Ge Xiao is to seek revenge. But he fails once again with Li Ge Xiao's clever schemes. Flashbacks begin to reveal the bitter history behind Li Ge Xiao and Ying Wu Qiu's animosity.

8. Episodes 24-29: The emperor is tricked into hiding from his officials to attain immortality. Yan Song's son, Yan Shi Fan is introduced to be the main mastermind behind everything as he is even smarter than his father. Deemed the second Li Ge Xiao, he is an erudite but is also ruthless and heartless at the same time. The Yan father and son uses illusions to deceive the emperor but in the end their actions backfired, causing their downfall.

9. Episode 30: The final showdown between Li Ge Xiao and Ying Wu Qiu. Ying Wu Qiu captures Yan San Niang and Hai Rui and forces Li Ge Xiao to decide whether he wants to save the world or save his loved ones. But in actuality, Ying Wu Qiu's set-up is a trap for the Yan father and son who caused the death of Ru Yi.


My Thoughts:

What I Liked:
1. The characters: None of the characters were too annoying to watch. Although Chai Hu can be too impulsive and loud, I was fine with it since he wasn't the main focus of the series. Each character has their own unique personality and specialty which forms the perfect team. With different quests, there are also new additions of characters to keep the story alive and refreshing.

2. The storyline: The storyline is awesome especially the pace of introducing is very fast. There are no filler episodes that focus on irrelevant things so it dives right in to the next story once the previous one is wrapped up. In addition, the development of each character in Yi Zhi Mei is established through the different stories since each story relates to each member of the group. The case with the fake medicine reveals Yan San Niang's identity and her background; the case of the bandits and the stolen map reveals Chai Hu's past life; the case of the family curse talks about He Xiao Mei's family; the flashbacks provide useful information about Li Ge Xiao as well as Ying Wu Qiu's past life. Each story allows the character to develop and
3. The cast: I felt the main actors did their part well but I believe the storyline was the main element that pushed this drama to success. However, without stellar acting, the drama won't be able to succeed with just an entertaining script.

4. The ending: It's a happy ending with the downfall of the villains in episode 29 and then a full closure in episode 30. Not rushed at all and everything was wrapped up nicely. I liked how people from their previous quests came out to help them in their final fight against Yan Song. It really connects the whole story together as you would have to watch the whole series to understand why they were willing to risk their lives in helping Yi Zhi Mei.

5. The bromance: The bromance is great especially between Chai Hu and He Xiao Mei. Chai Hu always call He Xiao Mei a sissy but in the end he doesn't call him that anymore which shows how close they are after all their quests.

6. The subtle romance: The romance is not the main plot so there isn't a lot except you will see developments between Li Ge Xiao and Yan San Niang through the quests. I think it's great that their romance is developed through the stories since it doesn't take away the main focus of the storyline but is also able to add a hint of romance to this drama.

What I Disliked:
1. Flashbacks of the seventh story: I didn't really enjoy the flashbacks of Li Ge Xiao and Ru Yi as it's basically a retell of how she dies. Maybe it's because I've watched this before but I remember I didn't really enjoy watching it the first time. Luckily, these flashbacks weren't really that long. It makes me feel like the scriptwriter cleverly decided to incorporate the flashbacks three-quarters into the drama so watching twenty plus episodes already, the viewers won't easily give up as it's ending soon anyways. If these were added in the beginning, it wouldn't have successfully lure in viewers like me.

2. The death of Zheng Dong Liu and the children: I mean, I understand why he died; his death is a catalyst to Li Ge Xiao's weakness towards Ying Wu Qiu. He died to save the lives of the righteous officials and general but I don't understand why the general and one of the officials have to die! His death should have at least preserved the lives of those officials especially since he died such a cruel way under Ying Wu Qiu's hands. This is a tragic character; he sacrifices his life, his family to remove the corrupted officials from the Ming dynastic court.

Favorite Scenes:
1. Of course, when Li Ge Xiao's plans work out and the villains fall for them, especially the last scene when Yan Shi Fan is finally outsmarted

2. The cricket story: It's comical and one of my favorite as Li Ge Xiao acts as a wealthy squanderer to steal the Flying General back from Xiao Ben. Yan San Niang even pretends to marry Xiao Ben.

3. The scene where Ying Wu Qiu finds out Li Ge Xiao's whereabouts and falls for his trap. Ying Wu Qiu fights with Li Ge Xiao and then is made to believe that the latter died. The next scene shows Ying Wu Qiu, Yan San Niang and Chai Hu, holding onto Li Ge Xiao as they are escorted out. In actuality, He Xiao Mei disguised himself as Ying Wu Qiu to save the child that was captured and Ying Wu Qiu was disguised as the dead Li Ge Xiao. He was almost hung until he woke up and realized he was tricked again.

4. When Ying Wu Qiu avenges Ru Yi's death as that was his intention from the start when he went under Yan Song's wings


Music:

Opening Theme: When the Plum Blossoms Bloom (天地梅花开) by Hu Ge