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When Letting it go, becomes the hardest and most beautiful thing to do
It's been a while since I've come across a complex character as shrewd and layered as Mei Chang Su in Nirvana in Fire, and an actor like Hu Ge who can pull off such a portrayal convincingly well. So when I read the synopsis of Mysterious Lotus Casebook, about how a disillusioned man, Li Xiang Yi, abandons his identity, relationships and past glory in order to discover the truth about the past, my curiosity was piqued and before I knew it, I binged through 40 episodes of this period costume investigative mystery drama.
The drama is helmed by 3 male characters who come from significantly different backgrounds. Li Xiang Yi, the lead protagonist of the story, is a stray orphan with missing parents. He and his senior, Shan Gudao, another orphan, are picked up by a kind couple, who take them in and train them up in martial arts. Because of his gifted skills, Li Xiang Yi becomes crowned as Sigu sect's visionary leader despite his young age. His peer rival is Di Fei Sheng, a cold, apathetic leader of another pugilistic sect, the Jinyuan Alliance. Fang Duobing/Xiaobao, a Government official's adopted son, is born physically weak, frail and handicapped. He grows up within the sheltered and restricted confines of a wealthy powerful family that is known for manufacturing sophisticated weaponry and contraptions.
Di Fei Sheng grows up as an abandoned child enslaved by a cruel bandit who grooms slaves as personal assassins. He eventually becomes the head honcho of the Jinyuan Alliance, a rival pugilistic sect to the Sigu sect, known more for their ruthless skulduggery more than their charitable merits. Di Fei Sheng's sole aspiration in life is to is dethrone Li Xiang yi's number 1 martial arts status so that he can be recognised as the most skilled martial artist on the jianghu. Fang Duobing/Xiaobao, on the other hand, harbours his own aspirations of breaking into the pugilistic world and becoming recognised as a credible detective at the Bai Chuan Yuan agency. He has absolutely no interest in being caged into a moulded life of politics and arranged marriage, but instead has a fanatical obsession about Li Xiang Yi, his childhood idol, so much that he self-declares Li Xiang Yi to be his Shifu and himself to be Li Xiang Yi disciple.
The story starts with Li Xiang Yi fighting Di Fei Sheng out in the middle of a stormy sea, thinking he was the culprit behind the death and disappearance of his senior in the Sigu Sect, Shan Gudao. Li Xiangyi is heavily poisoned and ends up being defeated by Di Fei Sheng during this battle. His body is swept up along the sea currents and washed away on a faraway shore. His body is not found and his death is presumed to explain his 10 year disappearance.
10 years later, Li Xiang yi re-emerges as Li Lian Hua. Using this new name and persona, Li Lian Hua makes his living as a quack doctor capable of "curing" people from disease and death while he roams around freely with a pet dog in his triple-storeyed mobile caravan, growing and cooking his own vegetables. On the surface, he pretends to be a carefree hippie living in some kind of Howl's moving castle, occupied with the simple sustainable farm-to-table life. Under this cover, he lies low to stealthily gather clues about his senior's death while deliberately keeping a strategic distance from his Sigu sect members and girlfriend lover, all remnants of his former glory and past. He wants no interference during his own investigation because he is absolutely focused on finding his missing senior's remains and hellbent on tracking down the murderer behind his senior's death.
The trio's paths converge when Fang Duobing latches onto Li Lianhua to borrow his brain to help him crack unexplainable murder mystery cases happening across the city and Di Fei sheng realises that Li Xiangyi is actually Li Lian Hua. Each of the guys start out with their own motives and unexpectedly, form a bromance over their shared experiences of cracking several murder mystery cases as a team.
Each of the guys also start out in the dark, being woefully ignorant about different things. Fang Duobing has no idea that he is actually an adopted son and that Li Lian Hua is actually his childhood idol Li Xiang Yi in disguise. Li Xiang Yi has no idea who actually poisoned him and does not realise his senior Shan Gudao is actually still alive. Di Fei Sheng has no idea that the only reason why he defeated Li Xiang Yi out at sea was because Li Xiang Yi was already heavily poisoned before their epic showdown and his own Jinyuan alliance key members had already bought over by Shan Gudao. At the end of the story, they each come to their own revelation about the truths surrounding their biological lineage and backstory. More beautifully, each of the 3 male characters grow to accept each other as loyal comrades and trusted partners, as they each struggle to reconcile with the uncomfortable truths from their past and look past each others differences and prejudices.
This drama was highly enjoyable to watch as it has unexpectedly comedic moments whenever a misunderstanding arose between the 3 male leads. But most importantly, the script was coherent and sufficient clues were dropped during the earlier murder mysteries to help the viewers connect the dots as the overarching conspiracy surrounding Shan Gudao's disappearance following his death unfolds towards the end of the drama.
Sizzling romance and couple chemistry does not form the main appeal of this drama, which is quite refreshing for a change. Quite the contrary, we see plenty of unrequited romance from the 3 male leads. Li Xiangyi smothers the romantic longings of his former longtime girlfriend and his frenzy of girl fans in waiting, Fang Duo bing happily breaks off an engagement with a palace princess, Di Fei Sheng shirks off and eventually finishes off a his crazy sadistic female subordinate. The 3 main lead characters seem more interested in their accomplishing their own agendas and protecting the loyalty around their bromance. Thankfully, there are no tropey love triangles or wallflowers to defocus the drama from it's main storyline.
Li Xiang Yi/Li Lian Hua has become one of my favourite fictional characters amongst the Chinese costume period dramas because what truIy sets him apart from other wuxia heroes is his ability to deny himself of his ego, past grudges, ambitions and personal desires for the sake of others and let it all go to face a future full of unknowns. I feel like the show has ended in an incomplete way and I really hope there will be a season 2 in the making!
The drama is helmed by 3 male characters who come from significantly different backgrounds. Li Xiang Yi, the lead protagonist of the story, is a stray orphan with missing parents. He and his senior, Shan Gudao, another orphan, are picked up by a kind couple, who take them in and train them up in martial arts. Because of his gifted skills, Li Xiang Yi becomes crowned as Sigu sect's visionary leader despite his young age. His peer rival is Di Fei Sheng, a cold, apathetic leader of another pugilistic sect, the Jinyuan Alliance. Fang Duobing/Xiaobao, a Government official's adopted son, is born physically weak, frail and handicapped. He grows up within the sheltered and restricted confines of a wealthy powerful family that is known for manufacturing sophisticated weaponry and contraptions.
Di Fei Sheng grows up as an abandoned child enslaved by a cruel bandit who grooms slaves as personal assassins. He eventually becomes the head honcho of the Jinyuan Alliance, a rival pugilistic sect to the Sigu sect, known more for their ruthless skulduggery more than their charitable merits. Di Fei Sheng's sole aspiration in life is to is dethrone Li Xiang yi's number 1 martial arts status so that he can be recognised as the most skilled martial artist on the jianghu. Fang Duobing/Xiaobao, on the other hand, harbours his own aspirations of breaking into the pugilistic world and becoming recognised as a credible detective at the Bai Chuan Yuan agency. He has absolutely no interest in being caged into a moulded life of politics and arranged marriage, but instead has a fanatical obsession about Li Xiang Yi, his childhood idol, so much that he self-declares Li Xiang Yi to be his Shifu and himself to be Li Xiang Yi disciple.
The story starts with Li Xiang Yi fighting Di Fei Sheng out in the middle of a stormy sea, thinking he was the culprit behind the death and disappearance of his senior in the Sigu Sect, Shan Gudao. Li Xiangyi is heavily poisoned and ends up being defeated by Di Fei Sheng during this battle. His body is swept up along the sea currents and washed away on a faraway shore. His body is not found and his death is presumed to explain his 10 year disappearance.
10 years later, Li Xiang yi re-emerges as Li Lian Hua. Using this new name and persona, Li Lian Hua makes his living as a quack doctor capable of "curing" people from disease and death while he roams around freely with a pet dog in his triple-storeyed mobile caravan, growing and cooking his own vegetables. On the surface, he pretends to be a carefree hippie living in some kind of Howl's moving castle, occupied with the simple sustainable farm-to-table life. Under this cover, he lies low to stealthily gather clues about his senior's death while deliberately keeping a strategic distance from his Sigu sect members and girlfriend lover, all remnants of his former glory and past. He wants no interference during his own investigation because he is absolutely focused on finding his missing senior's remains and hellbent on tracking down the murderer behind his senior's death.
The trio's paths converge when Fang Duobing latches onto Li Lianhua to borrow his brain to help him crack unexplainable murder mystery cases happening across the city and Di Fei sheng realises that Li Xiangyi is actually Li Lian Hua. Each of the guys start out with their own motives and unexpectedly, form a bromance over their shared experiences of cracking several murder mystery cases as a team.
Each of the guys also start out in the dark, being woefully ignorant about different things. Fang Duobing has no idea that he is actually an adopted son and that Li Lian Hua is actually his childhood idol Li Xiang Yi in disguise. Li Xiang Yi has no idea who actually poisoned him and does not realise his senior Shan Gudao is actually still alive. Di Fei Sheng has no idea that the only reason why he defeated Li Xiang Yi out at sea was because Li Xiang Yi was already heavily poisoned before their epic showdown and his own Jinyuan alliance key members had already bought over by Shan Gudao. At the end of the story, they each come to their own revelation about the truths surrounding their biological lineage and backstory. More beautifully, each of the 3 male characters grow to accept each other as loyal comrades and trusted partners, as they each struggle to reconcile with the uncomfortable truths from their past and look past each others differences and prejudices.
This drama was highly enjoyable to watch as it has unexpectedly comedic moments whenever a misunderstanding arose between the 3 male leads. But most importantly, the script was coherent and sufficient clues were dropped during the earlier murder mysteries to help the viewers connect the dots as the overarching conspiracy surrounding Shan Gudao's disappearance following his death unfolds towards the end of the drama.
Sizzling romance and couple chemistry does not form the main appeal of this drama, which is quite refreshing for a change. Quite the contrary, we see plenty of unrequited romance from the 3 male leads. Li Xiangyi smothers the romantic longings of his former longtime girlfriend and his frenzy of girl fans in waiting, Fang Duo bing happily breaks off an engagement with a palace princess, Di Fei Sheng shirks off and eventually finishes off a his crazy sadistic female subordinate. The 3 main lead characters seem more interested in their accomplishing their own agendas and protecting the loyalty around their bromance. Thankfully, there are no tropey love triangles or wallflowers to defocus the drama from it's main storyline.
Li Xiang Yi/Li Lian Hua has become one of my favourite fictional characters amongst the Chinese costume period dramas because what truIy sets him apart from other wuxia heroes is his ability to deny himself of his ego, past grudges, ambitions and personal desires for the sake of others and let it all go to face a future full of unknowns. I feel like the show has ended in an incomplete way and I really hope there will be a season 2 in the making!
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