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Here, the emperor is still alive. Wu Zetian's real power comes later, as empress dowager and regent, and after that period, when she proclaimed herself as emperor.
In this early stage, everyone looked on her as on a shameful social climber: she entered the palace as a concubine of the former emperor, technically her father-in-law, and although she was still a child (who never saw the old emperor) when he died, she was supposed never to marry again. She was a nun for a certain period of time, then re-entered to the harem, obviously not as an empress (her family background was too modest) and climbed through the ranks of concubines, gradually becoming the favourite. The gossip of the time tells us that the empress (that one was from a powerful family) was deposed due to her schemes, she accused the empress of murdering her daughter, while she was the one who killed baby daugther with purpose to frame the empress. The truth about all these will never be known, but the rumor was real and highly probably most of the people hated her, especially among Confucian scholars. Historical (and van Gulik's) Di Renjie was a Confucianist, too, the clashes of pov-s between them (she appointed and removed Di as a chancellor twice) are due to a clash of confessional-philosophical currents of the time.

The way Di Renjie looks at Cao An, OMG it's so obvious he's in love with her. The actor act so well.

Absolutely 💯%

Case 4 - Rain Master Legend (Episodes 12-15)

More Information about Judge Dee from the novels of Robert van Gulik :

Under the imperial system, magistrates were assigned to posts for three-year terms, and they generally assembled teams of assistants who followed them throughout their careers. Robert van Gulik, in writing his Judge Dee novels, not only borrowed the main character but all four assistants from Dee Goong An. Robert van Gulik used Judge Dee’s different assigned locations to present China’s vast territorial regions and describe their different cultures, neighboring peoples and challenges

The whodunit element is also less important in the Judge Dee stories than it is in the traditional Western detective story, though still more so than in traditional Chinese detective stories.

However, Judge Dee is not infallible, and sometimes he makes mistakes or faces difficulties in his investigations. These examples show that Judge Dee is a human character who has flaws and limitations, but also learns from his experiences and strives to uphold justice.

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In the case of the 'Rain Master Legend' we see a more frail, human side of Di Renjie. He wants to save everyone but he is not always successful and that frustrates and pains him. The story of how he wanted to save crickets when he was young but they always ended up dead shows his vulnerable side. He also made mistakes in his reasonings in the beginning of this case, making him flawed and imperfect, prone to making mistakes. However he accepts his errors and learns to live with his limitations all the while striving to serve the law and provide justice to common people.

Click the link to read Summary of case 4, I have only included the details to understand the case but deliberately left out the resolution.
https://kisskh.at/discussions/judge-dees-mystery/122837-basic-information-about-the-cases-and-judge-dee?pid=2959309&page=1#p2959309

I am not usually a romance fan, especially in my detective drama, but the chemistry between Di Renjie and Cao An is perfect. Understated, but hot at the same time. I hope it doesn't end in tragedy. The writer is Dutch, so maaaybe Di Renjie gets a happy private life. If they were Chinese, I would start burning incense, lol.

It’s more of a one-man show, so no bickering bromance. The detective has helpers, but it’s not the same. The women have a more prominent role and the romance feels less like a superfluous add-on. The cases are good, quite unpredictable and there are some greater mysteries running through the whole drama.
The acting is very good and there are some really good fight scenes as well (more than in Strange Tales).

I enjoyed Mysterious Lotus Casebook that is why I was excited for this. Mind you I skipped all the romance scenes and I did the same in Judge Dee. Give me cases and fights. I love Ma Rong character she can fight and represents a “brawler” or gangster that’s on the line of don’t break the law too much. And she helped to solve cases she provided the 3 dices needed. I see the people that love romances scenes have an issue with the character 🙄. Give me strong women that don’t need to depend on the ML for everything. Even the Empress is giving boss energy. Love to see it. However, a romance is not needed by Ma Rong or Cao. What’s Cao purpose in following them? Is she just a love interest/ eye candy? It’s annoying! I’m watching because 2 years ago I watched the ML in “The Rebel Princess” and he was amazing!! His Character did what needed to be done.

Started the drama after randomly coming across the trailer and so glad that I did. So far, I'm really loving how they shape the story and all the historical details they include. I also find it refreshing that just because the main is genius, things don't come easy. He has his own doubts and gets in trouble as well, which adds a realistic touch based on the timeline the story is in.

Just finished the first 8 episodes…
When i first saw di ren jie.., i thought why he looks so familiar… it turns out he was the ML of the rebel princess drama… i like him there, i like him here too..

And i might say Elaine Zhong finally takes a very suitable role for her? 😊 she looks good as an empress here.

Cao An.. there’s something about her role here.. she’s so full of mystery

after completing till ep 8 , i really can't wait for more episodes ....🥵🥵🥵
this drama is so perfect that its rating can even end at 9 like of mysterious lotus casebook ....

This drama had a frenzied start with the judge showing off his incredible memory and powers of observation. It foreshadowed the fact that justice will not always be served when it comes to the letter of the law. He's going to see the disconnect between revealing the truth and justice served. The second episode gave us more insight into the nature of his mind. His circle of support that has helped him to survive became more evident. And then there is a plunge into the nature of a great power struggle inside and an even larger mystery. As Dee comes closer to the greater truth more of his own personal history becomes evident. You feel the deeper emotional bond between that circle of his supporters. The tension is that the rational mind can deduce the facts but metaphysical explanations are more comforting or more soothing to the general populace.

My favourite drama😍😍👏👏💯💯

I decided to give this one a try since I loved The Blood of Youth and on ep 22 so far. Absolutely not regretting giving it a try. I can see why people love this drama. The trio has good chemistry and Cheng Yi is amazing. You don't even need romance in this one, even though I did have tears in my eyes when Wan Main realized that he is Li Xiangyi. Interested to see in which direction it goes.

Overall enjoyed the drama after dropping it the first time, started again after few months, n it was worth it, the ending was the best part of all the pain we endure, making it the most satisfying ending of a xianxia drama I have watched so far.

I think to create a conclusive happy ending for cdrama need massive funds, bunch of geniuses in production team, a superhero director, and an alien writer. because it's ridiculously difficult.