RyugaLDrago

Wuxia Comedy Sitcom With A Mature Storyline

This is one of the few underrated drama series which didn't get attention because of MangoTV poor subtitles . But worry not if you are interested in this genre with comedy wuxia then this drama is for you with wordplay, sitcom style. Some time i even forgot that i am watching a mystery series. But there are mystery in the story but it is presented with comedy and if you were to remove the comedy then you would be left with despair just like in EP 25.

The story seems like a dark comedy genre but it is more than that it is about friendship, overcoming hatred of revenge, realizing a sense of belonging after abandonement and still living.

It must seem that drama series make character foolish for comedy troupe but here our main characters (boys) are actually smarter. And the girl gets a few moments of enlightment.

I have watched this series twice and know where to watch it the next time i will.

Enough, if you want to watch this show here are some places you can (as of now) :
1. [Youtube with worst subtitles ever in MangoTV] : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDEDu62Caes&list=PLBNHceQmsdFRjo9Svq1iU9S4XjnSibew2&index=1

2. [Youtube with better subtitles than MangoTV but without intro and outro songs, also you will not able to differentiate which episode you are watching] : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLjThYOLbZk&list=PLlg7bBBbjhqWwg4AR0g78Hv0fYgyHcAc9&index=1

3. [The Recommended One, Daily Motion with good fan-made subtitles and with intro and outro, with the ability to differentiate episodes also with an extra episode EP 25] : https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9eqbn6














Now comes the spoilers part: DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED IT YET !!!!!

Also for any confusion Da means the eldest son/daughter of the family. Then comes Er, San , Si and Wu. It means 1,2,3,4,5 in chinese.

Even after the end of season 01 and not knowing if season 02 will ever come the show leaves many things hidden some of them are below:



1. What happened at the ending? Why was Wei Dongyang was given order to kill Nan Xiaotian (the spiritual totem of Sanqi Dao)?
Ans: Well, SanQi Dao elders realized that then cannot kill Nan Xiao Tian as there was no justification. He was their spiritual totem because he never killed anyone. For their utopia is a world where no one kills any one, if they were to explicitly kill Nan Xiao Tian then their image in martial world will be ruined and they would become the public enemy who kills anyone without justification.

Hence, they ordered Wei Dongyang to be killed by Nan Xiao Tian to ruin his just image and have a justification to eradicate him. It was not written in the order but Wei Dongyang understood it. As for why only they choose Wei Dong Yang. Well, he is the only person in San Qi Dao who has yet to kill any person means he is still pure.

If he were to kill Nan XiaoTian, then the San Qi Dao would have had justification to kill Wei Dong Yang for murdering an innocent person (Nan Xiao Tian). So, it's like die or die.

Thus, at the ending Ye Wuzhi took Wei Dongyang to Yamen and accuses him as a criminal who assaulted Meng San Xi which Wei Dongyang admits and is sentenced to 7 years in exile in Mubian City. Thus, ending the cycle of kill or be killed and helped Wei Dongyang to live.



2. What happened to the perpetrators of the Li Family Caravan Massacre (Liang Da, Liang Er, Liang Si)?
Ans: By the end of Season 1, their ultimate fate is left unresolved as a cliffhanger. During the Show at the Market assembly, it is revealed through Duan Shou (Severed Hand) testimonies that Liang Da and Liang Si (who also slaughtered Tuoba Village) were the masterminds who disguised their men as bandits to intercept the caravan, intending to bankrupt the Dai family who had insured it. Liang Er is also heavily suspected to be involved. However, they are not shown being killed or officially brought to justice before the season ends, setting them up as lingering antagonists for Season 2.



3. Why was the Liu Family Grandmaster(also a SanQi Dao Elder) guarding Duan Shou?
Ans: Duan Shou was one of the fake bandits hired for the caravan massacre whose hand was chopped off by Dai Da during the fight. To prevent him from leaking the truth, Liang Da wanted to silence him. Duan Shou fled into the mountains where he was secretly saved by Liu San (Liu Yungui). Liu San deliberately hid him at the Liu estate and assigned a Grandmaster (who is secretly a member of San Qi Dao) to guard him. The goal was to keep Duan Shou alive as a crucial living witness to the Liang family's crimes, allowing the Liu family to hold leverage over the Liang family.

As for the reason why did San Qi Dao killed Bei Xiao Hai when one of the Elders of San Qi Dao (Liu Family Grandmaster) knew that it was the doing of Liang Family (Da, Er, Si not Wu). Well, the timeline doesn't matchup. Let me explain, Duan Shou fled to the mountains so that he will not be recognized for the killing of Li Family Caravan Massacre and stayed there for a year. Bei Xiao Hai was killed a year after the Li Family Caravan Massacre. So, Bei Xiao Hai was killed first and then did Duan Shou came down from the mountains to get treated by Liu San.

Then, did San Qi Dao realized that they fucked up. They killed the wrong guy.



4.At the end of ep 24, Gu Niangu and Lao Ding are going to fight San Qi Dao - are they anti-San Qi Dao faction members?
Ans: The finale presents this as a massive shock and leaves their true allegiances deliberately ambiguous. Based on clues throughout the show, i have two theories:

Anti-San Qi Dao Alliance: They are an independent, undercover faction (Just like Ye Wu Zhi ) gathering on the mountain to launch an assault against the corrupt San Qi Dao. As for how they knew the location of San Qi Dao Ye Wu Zhi heard from the Liu Family Grandmaster during the interrogation scene and must have told Lao Ding or Lao Ding over heard it. As you know Lao Ding is a member of Anti- SanQi Dao and knew the location of Sanqi Dao except for the Mountain Name which he told Ji Mingzhao that he hid 30000 taels there.
OR
A "Clean" Faction of San Qi Dao: They are actual members of San Qi Dao, but belong to a righteous faction within it. Earlier in the show, Wei Dongyang mentions that he is the only "clean" person among the higher ranks, foreshadowing that San Qi Dao might be internally divided between corrupt leaders and a hidden, clean rebellion.



5. The Liang Shop arson case which killed 16 people (same people hid as bandits and massacre the Li family caravan with Liang Da and Liang Si) done by Liu Da ?

[This happens 4 days after the Li Family Caravan Massacre]

[Also, if you don't get why Liang Wu (Bei Xiao Hai) was involved in this case. Well, Liang Da, Er, Si probably framed him and made him the owner of the shop. So, he was a scapegoat for the Li Family Caravan Massacre Case and the Liang Family Shop Arson Case as well.]

Ans: Around EP 17-18 Ye Wuzhi (Mo Rushi) recalls her final conversation with her senior brother, Liu Yunxiao (Liu Da), before their sect was purged by San Qi Dao and Liu Yunxiao died.

Liu Yunxiao did explicitly admit to Ye Wuzhi that he was the one who set the fire and killed the 16 people at the Liang family shop. He explicitly stated that even if he were given the choice to do it all over again, he would still burn them to avenge his friend and protect others. He explained to her that those 16 were actually the disguised fake bandits responsible for the Li Family Caravan Massacre. Liu Yunxiao told Ye Wuzhi that he killed them as vigilante justice.

While San Qi Dao's intelligence broker (Li Jun/Qi Yifan) correctly identified Liu Yunxiao as the arsonist, San Qi Dao completely ignored the context of the crime. They branded Liu Yunxiao a vicious murderer who slaughtered 16 innocent people and used this as justification to wipe out 30% of his sect.
In reality, Liu Yunxiao was acting as a righteous vigilante taking out the true villains of the caravan massacre. So, while he wasn't a scapegoat for the fire, he was severely wronged by the martial arts world's (and San Qi Dao's) narrative of why he did it.

Furthermore, those 16 people were the ones who killed his best friend (Li Family Master). It is said that Li family Master was a close friend of Liu Da (Liu Yunxiao) and on the day of massacre he invited Liu Da in his caravan.

Liang Da didn't knew that Liu Da is inside the caravan and Dai Da is following the caravan because The Li family had purchased an incredibly high-premium insurance policy from the Dai family. To ensure they didn't have to pay out this massive sum (enough to severely weaken the finance of the Dai Family), Dai Da was secretly tailing the caravan to protect it.
When Liang Da and Liang Si's disguised bandits attacked, Dai Da intervened. During this fight, he chopped off the hand of one of the bandits (who would become the witness "Duan Shou").



6. Why didn't Liu Yunxiao (Liu Da) tell the yamen about the 16 people in the Liang Wu shop he identified as the bandits of the Li Family Massacre Case and rather be a arsonist?
Ans: Liu Yunxiao (Liu Da) chose to burn the 16 fake bandits rather than hand them over to the Yamen because the official government in Muyun City was powerless against the true culprits, and he knew standard legal channels would inevitably fail.

The Liang Family's Immunity: The 16 individuals were officially registered as clerks for a shop owned by the Liang family—the most dominant and ruthless of Muyun City's great families. The local Yamen was heavily influenced by and terrified of these major factions. Reporting Liang family subordinates to a paralyzed government office would have resulted in the case being immediately suppressed.

The Active Cover-up: The masterminds behind the Li Family Caravan Massacre (Liang Da and Liang Si) were already manipulating the aftermath. They had successfully framed their own brother (Liang Wu) for the crimes and neutralized the only surviving witness (Duan Shou) by holding his family hostage, his wife and daughter. Liu Yunxiao (Liu Da) knew that if he tipped off the authorities, the Liang family would destroy the remaining evidence, bribe the officials, and protect the killers.

The Ineffectiveness of the Yamen: The show repeatedly establishes that the Yamen is useless when it comes to high-level Jianghu or Muyun City inter-family crimes. This is precisely why Dai Menghui (Dai San) spends years working as a Yamen constable—he knows he has to investigate his brother Dai Da's murder secretly from the inside because the official justice system will never touch the major families.

Vigilante Justice: As a highly skilled martial artist from the Qingjing Sect, Liu Yunxiao operated under the rules of the Jianghu. His close friend Li Family Master and his caravan consisting of 50 people had been slaughtered. In his view, turning to Yamen was not only futile but irresponsible.

When Liu Yunxiao recounted the event to Ye Wuzhi, he made it clear that he had no regrets. He knew that if those 16 men were allowed to live—or were inevitably acquitted through a rigged legal process—they would simply disguise themselves as bandits again to slaughter for the Liang Family. Taking the matter into his own hands was the only guaranteed way to stop them permanently and secure justice for his best friend, Li Family Master.



7. On, the 4th day after the Li family caravan Massacre, same day as the Liang Family Shop arson case Who killed Dai Da, Ji Da and 2 yamen runners ?
Ans: The "Day of Silencing" (4 Days Later):
Dai Da was murdered, and his body was left outside the city's South Gate.
Ji Da was murdered on the exact same day (it is not known why he was killed).
Two yamen runners were killed.
The 16 surviving fake bandits were burned to death in the shop by Liu Yunxiao (who was avenging Li Family Master).

Episode 24 successfully proves that Liang Wu (Bei Xiao Hai) was a scapegoat who took the fall for all these crimes. The deaths of Dai Da and Ji Da are set up as the primary driving mystery for the next season. Dai Menghui (who spent years becoming a constable just to investigate this) and Ji Er are still hunting the killer . While Episode 24 doesn't name the killer, but they mention : "That person is now the branch leader/ leader of Lei Ting Zhou (Thunder Clap Prefecture)". Either they have found clues or killer himself.



Whooooh, After all this if you still have some questions or want to read a even more comprehensive review of this series of what, how, when happened then i recommend these :
1. [Review of Be With You Drama by Cyn Lynn (not me)] : http://cyn-lynn.blogspot.com/2023/09/be-with-you-recap-and-review.html

2. [ Friends | Character, Plot, and Details Summary (Spoilers Included!) by Mushroom] : https://www.douban.com/group/topic/295306711/

3. [Timeline of the Entire Series by Ivy] : https://www.douban.com/group/topic/296986520/

4. [The Distribution of Power in Muyun City After the Li Family Caravan Was Killed (Part 1,2,3,4) by TongChen_]: https://www.douban.com/group/topic/296147599/

Enough, Now i will move on to the next drama.

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Unanswered Questions Answered

Now that i read the comment sections of this drama and some of the reviews and there are some things i disagree with which is why i am writing a review. This is a review for the people who have watched this drama. If you haven't, and are thinking to watch it or not then i strongly recommend to watch it. Its is just 15 episodes, it will be over in 2 days and also after the first 3 episodes the drama will hook you up.

Now comes the spoilers part!!!
People think these are plot holes or convenient writing to progress the story but i disagree. Here's why:

1. Many people disagree with the ending or maybe specifically the reason why the dead girl (Wang Meng Meng) wanted to just get out from the bus instead of making a ruckus over the pervert but as we know she was timid and shy. Maybe she just wanted to get/run away from the situation or save her reputation. I am not saying it is a good choice but many people do that when they are presented in a uncomfortable situation they just pretend so that the situation can pass.

2. Also many people say that why was the bus driver was wrongfully implicated which i disagree because according to the drama the bus drivers are not allowed to stop in middle of the road and open the doors. Also who the fuck stops the bus in the middle lane of a three way highway in the middle of the bridge to get a girl go. Bro could have parked in the right lane. In most of the bridges people could walk there entire way through foot on the right pedestrian path too.

3. People say that the criminal (pervert) got away with it easily rather than the parents of dead girl going to prison for terrorism and mass murder attempt probably has a higher jail time than sexual harassment. I don't think so because for unwanted sexual touching and groping offenses in China "Crime of Forcible Indecency" (Article 237). The fixed-term imprisonment is 5 years. And we don't know if Wang Meng Meng was a minor or not so it can be more than 5 years. Also at the end of EP 15 there is a scene where the father of Wang Meng Meng , Wang Xing De identifies the pervert in the jail and stares at him. So, i don't think he is coming out of jail alive.

4. Some don't understand the characters: the FL has more emotional intelligence and thinks with the heart we got to know that in one of the loops where she just tried to convince Wang Xing De why he betrays her. And it doesn't work. And the ML is the rational / logical body of the entire operation. This makes the drama and the chemistry between the leads more interesting.

5. Some argue that there are too many repetitions maybe of police station inquiry that it became boring. I don't think that way, the police station is the only place where they can do confidential information gathering and that can only be possible if they get in as a suspect not as a witness. Remember they will go back to the loop, if they sleep, in the bus and have 20 mins to stop a bomb blast. In the starting however, they did it unintentionally and in the latter half of the series they did it intentionally. Also this is a time loop drama how did you think it will turn out to be? Also one of the rare dramas where the police is not corrupt.

6. One of the reviewers says that there is no reason explaining why they are in stuck in a time loop?
Now there is not a concrete reason behind this by the original creator (Qi Dao Jun) but we can interpret.
Let me explain: One of the reviewers noticed that Wang Meng Meng and the FL are almost identical
i. they are wearing blue tops/outfits
ii. have almost identical if not the same bag with the same keychains and pins (can be verified in EP 15)
iii.. they both go to the same college / University
iv. and they have the same Teacher Wu
My interpretation is that the soul of Wang Meng Meng wanted to prevent the tragedy , save her parents and punish the pervert makes the FL the center of time loop. She wanted the FL to do it alone. But in one of the loops the FL blames the ML to be a pervert and the ML also enters the time loop not because the FL saves the ML from explosion but that was a clue given by Wang Meng Meng to FL that what her (Wang Meng Meng) story was about? This was also the reason why Lu Di did not enter the time loop.

7. Now there is one question that why was the ML growing weaker with each loop? And why was he okay in the last loop where i felt that he will die in EP 15?
According to my theory above the reason is that he wasn't the original choice for the time loop by Wang Meng Meng , the FL (Li Shi Qing) was, and she being a ghost could not afford two people going through time loop. He was literally dragged of by the FL altering his fate to die in an explosion. That may be why his body was growing weaker with each loop.
As for why did he recover in the final loop where he was about to die may be due to this being the last loop or maybe because Wang Meng Meng didn't want a sad ending to her story like us (I also didn't want a sad ending).

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Mini-Murder Mystery or Historical Conspiracy Tragedy?

I don't know why this drama has such a bad rating. If you are a fan of historical mysteries(like me) and you liked slightly darker, more morally ambiguous edge, something like Ripe Town or Under the Microscope mini-series then The 300 Loyal Ghosts is absolutely worth your time.

Also which dumbass wrote the description of this series. If you are interested in this series then do not read the description of this series as it contains major spoilers which is in the WeTV too. And if you have started watching this series and it seems boring in Ep 02 - 04 then hold with it until Ep 07 and it will blow your mind. Plot A++++

Now the story is good it starts with a description that in the Ming Dynasty the Emperor, at the proposal of Eunuch Wang Zhi (Important for the story) and Consort Wan (Important for the story) established the Western Depot (secret sleeper agents who can be anyone) alongside the Eastern Depot whose head is Eunuch Shang Hua (Eastern Depot Head and the master of Wang Zhi and Shen You Zhi) (Very Important Character).
Our main character Zhang Yi is a Vice Minister of Court of Judicial Review and it starts of with the execution of the Minister of War Li Chen Yang, again an important case to remember. In this case, something goes wrong and the Director of Eastern Depot Feng Hai is dead and Li Chen Yang is kidnapped. And the investigation starts ...

Fight Sequence / Martial Arts:
There are numerous good fight sequence whether it is in the ep 01 where Zhang Yi confronts Tang Xi or other fight sequences where are above production of a mini-series.

The Dynamic:
The tension between the Court of Judicial Review and the Jin Yiwei is a classic trope in Chinese historicals, but the chemistry between Huang You Ming (Zhang Yi) and Xu Yang (Shen You Zhi) elevates it. Their shift from bitter rivals to brothers-in-arms, only to have that trust tested by Zhang Yi's hidden agenda, forms the emotional core of the series.

Pacing & Production:
At only 12 episodes (around 38 minutes each), the show avoids the notorious "mid-season slump" that plagues 40 episode historical dramas. Every conversation is a clue, and every action scene pushes the plot forward. The cinematography leans heavily into the "shadows" of its title, featuring moody lighting, atmospheric political courts, and sharp, grounded martial arts choreography rather than CGI fights.

Final Verdict:
The 300 Loyal Ghosts is a sharp, suspenseful revenge thriller. It asks a heavy question: If the law fails the innocent, is a righteous crime still a crime? It’s a perfect binge for anyone who loves intricate plots, morally gray characters, and the aesthetic of Ming Dynasty espionage.











Spoiler's Ahead !!!!


The main plot of this story is the tragedy of 300 loyal soldiers who unjustly died due to Wang Shi and Shang Hua. And the main protagonist just escaped from death by hair's width. Also Lu Shi Jue who is the strategist of that battle who was at other place at that time.

Main Protagonist:
The most compelling aspect of the drama is its protagonist. Instead of the typical "righteous detective seeking the truth," Zhang Yi is the puppet master. Watching him play 4D chess—pretending to investigate a conspiracy that he is secretly orchestrating—creates a brilliant layer of dramatic irony. You are constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop as he tries to keep his Jin Yi Wei partner in the dark.

Teamwork:
The team of Zhang Yi, Tang Xi, Wu Qian Gu , Yuan Ran and Lu Shi Jie is superb. There is a slight romance between Zhang Yi and Tang Xi but this is no romance drama and there is a nuance between Wu Qian Gu (Who lost his wife and child) and Yuan Ran .
Also there is a bromance between Zhang Yi and Lu Shi Jie because Lu Shi Jie was the Strategist in the battle where 300 soldiers died so he feels that because of him they died and has PTSD but Zhang Yi tells him that it was not his fault.

Ending:
This drama has a sad ending. Now, comes that most disturbing part : everybody dies. Yeah, literally none of the characters except Zhang Yi, Shen You Zhi and Yuan Ran survives. Every other supporting character such as Tang Xi, Wu Qian Gu and Lu Shi Jie (who has a wife and a child) dies at the end. This doesn't make this drama bad but yeah shouldn't have killed Tang Xi and Lu Shi Jie (i liked that guy).

Lastly, i want to say that this drama is honestly not bad and doesn't deserve that 7.2 rating. I mean maybe people not liked the ending where everybody dies. I would still rate it a 9 because:

Pros:
1. Ming Dynasty Historical Murder Mystery with Marital fights
2. Zhang Yi (Main Manipulator)
3. Friendship/ Teamwork of Tang Xi, Wu Qian Gu, Yuan Ran and Lu Shi Jie
4. Shen You Zhi vs Zhang Yi
5. Production is Quite Good for a Mini-Series

Cons:
1. Everybody except Zhang Yi, Shen You Zhi and Yuan Ran dies.
2. Shouldn't have killed Lu Shi Jie.

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