A political drama set during the Sui dynasty with a slow burn romance featuring espionage, hate flirting, and political machinations.

It is slow to start and there is a lot of information which can be difficult. I read up a bit because I was getting lost with what kingdom was where and why they didn't like or did like the Sui dynasty (this helped a lot).

Romance is not a big element. The focus was on solving a murder, the interplay between the different bureaus and then the political machinations. 

I really liked the two main characters. They were both assholes and I'm glad they found each other so no one else is subjected to them.