he yuan's wang fei's epilogue broke my heart. He really was inlove with MC even until his death, he kept the painting of her with him. Although he was a s*um at first, reading his one sided love with the MC is heartbreaking

Our MC was a some sort of time traveler, who possessed the body of the second prince's wang fei after the original's soul died from illness. There was no explicit mention of the MC's previous life so I have doubts on how fast she was able to adapt to her current circumstances, especially at acting inside the imperial palace. Fortunately, she was steadfast in managing the wang fu and decisive in her choices and conduct. There was character progress, especially on how she dealt on her emotions and principles towards the ML, but for me, her character was a bit surreal, mainly because she was flawless, someone who upheld proper morals and conduct at that time - the epitome of a virtuous wife. What I do like about her was she was clear (1) that her happiness does not depend on others but only on herself, especially as a princess during those times, so she learned to love and prioritize herself first in all circumstances (but later on she learned to give a part, NOT WHOLE (needs emphasis here), of her heart to the ML so they live happily ever after), and (2) the fact that the circumstances around women at that time forced them to act how they acted, and thus was not harsh and cares for them whenever possible, but that's to be expected since she has come from the future. My favorite quote from the story was coined from her:

As a woman, if one could choose, it would be to receive one person’s heart, and to not separate until death.

He Heng is our ML, and for the fight to the throne, he was depicted as the oriole in the saying "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind". He was indifferent to love, and so he initially intended to give a minimum amount of respect to our MC as his wang fei in managing his wang fu. But of course, as the story progressed, they became closer to each other and became 'fated pair of the heavens'. I won't say much about his character, just that 'once the horse is taken, the Troy has fallen' - up to you how you understood that.