During the blog’s belated anniversary post I mentioned briefly about getting back into cdramas with The First Frost 难哄 and Blossom 九重紫 which you guys can read some of my overall thoughts on there; After mostly talking about kdramas the previous three (3) recent posts, I thought I would feature some cdramas with the crime and wuxia genre. I am in no way an expert but for those of you who are unfamiliar, wuxia (武侠, literally translates to martial hero) is basically defined as a fictional genre that explores the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. If I am not wrong, this genre started in novels but has since been adapted into television drama series, films and popular culture due to its overwhelming popularity. For the crime portion, it’s because the dramas that I am going to talk about feature various crimes, mainly murder and it is up to the show’s characters to investigate the complexities and figure out the truth. Before you turn away thinking that they are purely procedural style, rest assured that it’s not because the cases are actually linked to a bigger conspiracy behind or dark palace secrets that have been kept hidden for ages. Besides the variety of cases featured, I felt that it was probably the conspiracy tying everything together that kept me invested. Most, if not all of the actors are also new faces to me so I guess this batch of dramas led me to discover new talent! This post’s timing is also just nice since I kinda got into a cdrama mood (which included reminiscing about Nirvana in Fire/langyabang 琅琊榜) and ended up watching 3 historical cdramas lately. I also tried not to give away too much spoilers, but some background details on the premise is necessary to understand the story of each one. Now is therefore the time to tell you all readers about it (in no particular order) 😄

the wanted detective 定风波

First up we have the newest one, The Wanted Detective/dingfengbo just released in August this year which I found out about from reading some c-ent news – it stars Wang Xingyue as Constable Xiao Beiming of the Elite Constabulary Unit and Deng Kai as Constable Zhuge Kongyun of the Secret Investigation Unit. Right from the beginning, it is evident that the two constables are ‘elites’ of their respective units and they see each other as rivals. Not only that, their chiefs in each unit are also at loggerheads trying to gain the emperor’s favour in the palace after three senior ministers died mysterious and terrible deaths by a killer going by the name of “Yesha”. Thus the chiefs are doing their utmost to be put in charge of getting to the bottom of the case at hand, since it has caused much unrest in the imperial court and in the capital where strange phenomenon have occurred. Over-confident, Constable Xiao promises the emperor that he would crack the Yesha case in three days but of course he’s not able to as things turned out to be more complicated than they’d appeared. Instead, he gets embroiled in the whole issue and even framed for being “Yesha”. It’s just bad because all this happens at his wedding ceremony with Chief Zhong Yunchi’s (of the Elite Constabulary Unit) daughter Zhong Xueman (played by Xiang Hanzhi) and he has to live life hidden, away from the palace and authorities. After this incident, they embark on investigations into mysterious killings – forming allies along the way. The uncovering of all the truths, bit by bit gradually lead them to finding out the real identity of the Big Bad “Yesha” but not without countless obstacles and struggles.

The most interesting character for me would be Zhuge Kongyun – I felt Deng Kai did a good job for his portrayal and wow, he actually looks great in that red costume (see above!) His whole character arc and the rivalry with Beiming was one of the show’s aspects that worked best for me. Just like in competitive sports, sometimes in life you need a worthy opponent to become a better version of yourself. They’re both smart, capable and good at their work – ultimately what really mattered was justice being served. I’m pretty sure it was for comedic purposes that given Kongyun’s pompous investigator style, he winces at corpses and can’t stand being around at autopsies, lol. I also think Kongyun’s father, Chief Zhuge Tong (veteran actor Feng Hui from Nirvana in Fire!) and his backstory which led to him becoming blind in one eye was unfortunate; the scene between father and son was affecting, it was hard to imagine how Chief Zhuge kept this pain inside him for so many years unbeknownst to even Kongyun. As for Wang Xingyue (whom I know has many fans), his performance to me was quite average and I attribute that to his very young age with not a lot of acting experience yet. Having said that, this is my very first time watching him and I have nothing against him – it was just my very frank opinion about his overall portrayal. The drama on the whole started out strong, the cases also got stranger but I wasn’t really captivated by the romance between Beiming and Xueman – chemistry wise was also neutral so I was only invested in the “Yesha” discoveries as more details were revealed. Generally speaking, I would say that the supporting characters did better jobs with their roles – actor Cheng Youwei as Feng Qingzhuo and actress Zhang Nan as Huo Dairong for instance. It’s also a pity as the writing wasn’t as solid as when the show started, but still managed to have little twists and turns in the mix. Could be better, but I would take it for the elaborate and realistic set-ups for each case (plus discovering Deng Kai.) Hah😆

coroner’s diary 朝雪录

Next kid on the block is Coroner’s Diary/zhaoxuelu which aired the month before The Wanted Detective did in July – I also found out about the drama from the news and our cast includes Li Landi, Ao Ruipeng, Shen Yujie and Yu Chengen. Li Landi is drop dead gorgeous – I think I spent quite some time being mesmerised by her good looks 😍 Coroner’s Diary is adapted from a Chinese novel, and Li Landi plays the titular character Qin Wan who uses her medical knowledge and autopsy skills to assist Yan Chi (Ao Ruipeng) in uncovering hidden truths about certain gruesome and mysterious deaths. Amidst all these cases, Qin Wan and Yan Chi have their own hidden agenda and suspicions that everything could possibly be linked to a larger conspiracy, so they start working together and fall in love as a result. They realise without a doubt that they need each other work wise – Yan Chi for his men, investigative and military skills; Qin Wan for her medical skills and knowledge. It started out as a mutually beneficial relationship which then blossomed into romance. Qin Wan also found a good friend in Princess Yue Ning (Shen Yujie) after a chance encounter and she also ultimately contributed to the cause. Yan Li (Yu Chengen) only appeared in the later part of the drama but he was a breath of fresh air in the midst of all the serious things that were going on as he had always lived life freely without selfish desires. Subsequently, he had no choice but to become personally involved in the incidents due to his identity.

Li Landi also put up a fine performance as Qin Wan, having to navigate her hidden identity as the daughter of a palace minister who was deemed to be a traitor. I rode with her emotions – from her joy to her pain and sorrow. On the other hand, Ao Ruipeng was rather mediocre in his delivery as Yan Chi. From what I read online, his popularity came from doing another drama previously which I didn’t watch but am sorry to say that his range of expressions in this project were quite limited in my opinion for what his character had to go through. Thankfully, love story wise both lead actors were able to bring out chemistry in each other as a couple. While I am not big on romance, their unwavering as well as unconditional love and support for each other resonated with me. Regarding the murders, some of the case details were a tad predictable so a portion of the mystery angle was lost there. However, there were still quite a number of bizarre things which were interesting to see and I liked to see the process of everyone getting to the bottom of it hand in hand. Crime scenes and bodies were real enough to serve the necessary impact on viewers, albeit grotesque at times. If you happen to feel uncomfortable, covering your eyes during those particular scenes might help. Nevertheless, certain plot twists remained unexpected, therefore story wise Coroner’s Diary still did surprise me at times since I have not read the novel. The budding romances between Yue Ning and Yan Li (they were the funniest!), also Bai Feng (Cheng Hongxin) and Fu Ling (Wang Luqing) were also pretty cute. Definitely not as flawless a drama as Li Landi looks, but a relatively good quality watch with the help of a strong storyline.

mysterious lotus casebook 莲花楼

Wanted to save the best for the last, so this section featuring a less recent series titled Mysterious Lotus Casebook/lianhualou that first aired back in July 2023 starring Cheng Yi, Zeng Shunxi, Xiao Shunyao and Chen Duling based on a wuxia novel written by Teng Ping. It was recommended by my friend sometime earlier this year, and I am thrilled to report that I enjoyed this one the most. After finishing my watch, I read that lianhualou became a huge hit then and public reception was overwhelming – I would say that it was certainly well-deserved as the drama was so much more than its detective/crime aspect. The more impactful and memorable elements were values reflected such as friendship, love, loyalty and most importantly, the spirit of wuxia. Cheng Yi takes on the role of Li Lianhua, a travelling physician who is carefree and slightly mischievous with a knack for deduction skills. Li Lianhua harbours a secret though – he’s actually the famous chief of Sigu Sect and warrior Li Xiangyi who was on the brink of death from a bloody battle at East Sea a decade ago but managed to survive. He also lives a more laid back life as Li Lianhua, until he meets young master of the Tianji Manor (shaoye少爷) Fang Duobing/Xiaobao (Zeng Shunxi) who wants to become a detective as part of the Baichuan Academy. Due to his parents’ disapproval he participated in a martial arts test at the academy under a fake name and won, but was found out as soon as the test ended. Fang was then given a condition to fulfil to become part of Baichuan officially – that was to solve three big cases. He works together with Li Lianhua to achieve this and their friendship blossoms from there on.

There were too many good things about the drama, so I’ll just pick two of my favourite points to talk about. One was the bromance between Li Lianhua, Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng (Xiao Shunyao). Fang met Xiangyi as a kid – and has since considered Li Xiangyi as his idol and master/shifu师傅; as a young adult now he crosses paths with Li Lianhua, unaware that he is actually Li Xiangyi. Zeng Shunxi’s portrayal as the pure-hearted Fang Duobing with a strong sense of justice and good martial arts skills was befitting for his character – his overall learning curve and growth was probably the most prominent as he transitioned from being not just a good talker but becoming able to walk the talk and realise his true potential. Navigating all the injustice was one thing, yet the most precious would be their heart-to-heart interactions. Li Lianhua went from desperate attempts to hide his identity secret from Fang to go through several life-and-death situations together and eventually forging a strong bond. Though a man of a few words, Di Feisheng managed to break out from his painful childhood and become the chief of the Jinyuan Alliance, second in martial arts skills to Li Xiangyi. Upon discovering that he did not win over Xiangyi fair and square ten years ago, he resolves for them to have a make-up battle in an equal match-up. But when they reconcile, Xiangyi is no longer the person he was back then, particularly in terms of martial arts. To make matters worse, Di Feisheng becomes obsessed with helping Xiangyi recover after finding out that his own Jinyuan Alliance had something to do with the incident at East Sea and things weren’t as simple as he’d thought. Di can be ruthless, but he’s also deeply loyal and sees his personal honour in becoming the best at martial arts strongly; Xiao Shunyao embodies all these traits in his performance, and it was possibly a breakout character in his career. Also became a fan of the styling for his character😆 guess there is a charm in dressing antagonist supporting characters, hah. See below!

Apologies, my ramblings kinda getting a bit long here… the second thing I liked was Cheng Yi’s acting. I think he hit the ball out of the park for this role, and from some behind-the-scenes shorts/clips, I could see that he’d enjoyed the filming process. In fact, I would say all three of them did. The differences in micro-expressions when Cheng Yi was speaking as Li Lianhua versus Li Xiangyi were executed to perfection. The look in his eyes can change within milliseconds – from the dorky, comical and unserious Li Lianhua to the subtle restraint and wistful yearning of Li Xiangyi. I can only imagine how much it took to be revered in the whole jianghu江湖 to only rebuild a new life in the shadows, hiding for 10 years. But getting involved in all the whodunnits and the determination to bring to light the truth behind his shifu’s death would mean that the identity secret couldn’t really be kept under wraps anymore, as our resident baddies would try all ways to stop them. Plot twists and betrayals in all directions led up to the final act which felt gratifying and heartbreaking, all at the same time.

nirvana in fire 琅琊榜

This section is more of a P.S. but since I am bringing back cdramas and wuxia, I might as well share about Nirvana In Fire/langyabang in line with its tenth airing anniversary. Langyabang first aired exactly 10 years ago (19 September 2015) today – it has become a classic in cdramaland for its remarkable display of a scriptwriting, directing AND acting masterclass. Hu Ge hit a second career high with this drama, starring as chief of the Jiangzuo Alliance and strategist Mei Changsu. He returns to the capital of Jinling with the intention to help Prince Jing aka Xiao Jingyan (Wang Kai) ascend the throne. Little does Jingyan know that Mei Changsu is actually his best friend, Lin Shu, whom he has dearly missed for 12 years and counting. The Lin Manor and Chiyan Army was framed for rebellion, along with Prince Qi, Xiao Jingyu (Jingyan’s eldest brother) and they all died unjust deaths, falsely accused. Jingyan vows to reopen the case so that all his comrades can rest in peace. Every single event and plot point were meticulously planned just to lead up to that – it was a palace thriller through and through, with bits of romance and even comedy. No amount of words can describe and depict what langyabang meant to me – the only way is to watch and bask in its cleverness.

Let me also take this chance to share a YouTube 10th Anniversary Special of Nirvana In Fire. Since it was just uploaded onto the channel today, sorry that it’s not subbed yet but its a monologue in exploration of Mei Changsu’s thoughts and emotions, revisiting some brilliant scenes from the drama. I’m pretty sure if you wait it out a little it will get subbed soon 😉

Closing Remarks

With that, I’ve come to the end of this post. If you’ve reached this point and would be considering which one to pick up, I would recommend Mysterious Lotus Casebook AND Nirvana In Fire if you haven’t seen it. Mysterious Lotus Casebook had one of the best wuxia scenes I’ve seen in recent times from cdramas and cmovies, and also a lot of heart. It’s because I teared watching Mysterious too and it became somewhat like a driving force to bring me down memory lane and re-watch Nirvana. The themes are recurring – justice, love, friendship, loyalty and allies. There’s not so much political intrigue in Mysterious Lotus Casebook though, so if you are new to cdramas its probably the better and less confusing choice between the two. Blog-wise I think I first talked about Nirvana In Fire in my 2015 year-in-review. I reckon most people would have seen Nirvana already, lol I mean it’s been ten years, but I would say its greatness lies in the fact that no matter how many times you watch it, the feels are overflowing. Every cast member in the ensemble, regardless of how small or big the role was really put up a work of their life. Please support, guys! ❤️😭 Twist✌🏽