holic89

Through S1 and S2, Xijun character attested to be more than just the girl for the protagonist. Not to be the eye candy or love tool but instrumental and significant to the whole plot. She has characters and her back story is well-written considering her being a support character to the two main characters.

Not only she’s the daughter of a former high-ranking minister but she was also born into a prestigious family, the Pei Clan of Hedong which on par with LuLu’s. (Google it, you’ll know.). Therefore, her conduct is graced with gentleness and kindness. However, she is no pushover. She is opinionated and will stand her ground on what she believes. Some misinterpreted her as too emotional, I called it passionate. If the discourse did not sit right with her, she would argue. We saw multiple times in S1 and it continued in S2 i.e the ‘Shangxian Hall’ case. If she is in the wrong, she will willingly forfeit her ego for what is right, as we see tidbits in Mara’s Defeat. Granted that she likes LuLu but that doesn’t mean she gonna follow his thoughts foolishly. I don’t know whether here or on Weibo, someone pointed out that her outspoken and forthright attitude may influenced by the policies upheld by the previous reign of Empress Wu Zetian. Not sure if it is credible or not, that have to check the history. But, the assumption sounds reasonable.

Not only that she loyal, evidently not only to Lulu but also to the rest of the team, she is also compassionate and fearless i.e she tries to find LuLu at the Ghost Market or is willing to go to Immortal Steps in order to rescue Chicken Fed (I think it was reckless but seeing Lulu was half-hearted stopping her cause he already got plans under his sleeve, I sighed in relief.) We cannot deny that Xijun is an intelligent woman from the start, every character in the show acknowledges that. Even the princess (LuLu’s mom admitted it 😁). She has helped countless times in LuLu and SWM investigations, not just directly but also indirectly. Worth mentioning, is the ‘Drunk in Yunding’ case where LuLu was caught stuck in political play, and she handled the officials with virtue and intellect. Not being loud, obnoxious, or getting drunk with them of so-called distraction.

From the beginning, she made it clear about her feelings for LuLu and was willing to follow him whenever he wanted to. Despite that, LuLu was technically not being honest about who really he was when they first met. And viewers tend to overlook it. Regardless, she doesn’t see LuLu as a deceiver but as a rescuer, it all played out in the early episodes of S1. Plus, she knows how to push LuLu at the same time she knows when to back out. And I think Xijun character was fitted perfectly for LuLu character. Xijun is far from annoying, far from useless, and far from irrelevant to LuLu, and overall to the story. Apologies for the long comment, but I couldn’t help it because Xijun character has become fairly misunderstood resulting in people dropping the series without giving it a chance. I hope the writer will stay loyal to Xijun character and get to see her joining the investigation a lot more with LuLu and SWM like in S3.

p.s. All the shenanigans about ‘Xijun’s threat’ and ‘women's empathy’ that happened got me curious more about the actress who plays Xijun. Found out that she is relatively a young actress but definitely not new to the TV drama/film screen. I pray for her for a prosperous acting career after the success of SToTD and hope to see her again more further future, in drama and film screen.🥰

No complaints about SWM character, love him from the start till the end of S2. He’s still wise, calm, witty, caring, and patient. His guidance was cherished dearly by LuLu, shown evidently by how LuLu from time to time heavily relied upon him for his opinion. Even though he was dismissed from his position, he did not exploit his status as a senior disciple of Di RenJie over LuLu, which I believe doubled the sense of respect from LuLu. I love that the writer switched their position as Lulu the imperial officer, and SWM the assistant. It’s not just entertaining but also proves that the dynamic between SWM and Lulu is gold and irreplaceable.

I stick with the unpopular opinion regarding SWM relationship with Yingtao. His vagueness about his feelings for Yingtao and his lack of attentiveness towards her shows that SWM character was imperfect. Which led to perfection in my opinion. Remember the scene when he had to ask something intimate in the ‘Provider’ case, his face looked so uncomfortable and he stuttered forward the question. I was grinning ear-to-ear because it was amusing.

Everybody has weaknesses or parts that lacking. And same goes for SWM. All I can say is kudos to the writer for choosing this direction. Although I didn’t like how the way he emotionally hurt Yingtao in Episode 7 just to make her leave his side for her own good. SWM’s leaving without explanation also upset LuLu and got him sulking for quite some time during the ‘Coroner’s Death’ case. This gave a similar vibe when LuLu left Xijun secretly in S1. One thing is for sure, these two think alike, especially for the benefit of someone that holds dear to their heart. Hope SWM character will progress seemingly in S3.

Some might have a problem with how the actor carried SWM character especially the way he talks, but I don’t. I find it memorable. I enjoy SWM character throughout the whole season, and anticipate him more in S3. 🙇

I have nothing else to say other than how proud I am of LuLu. *happy tears* From arrogant, prideful, and reckless, he has proven to be more than just all that. He charmed us with his humble disposition, mature thinking, and collected self throughout the season. I still remember back when the series came out, everybody couldn’t stand LuLu character, including me. But I adored SWM character, so I stayed to watch patiently throughout the whole S1 and gave LuLu character a chance, and he did not disappoint me. The same goes in S2, only a thousand much better. Now, I love LuLu character, dare to say surpassing SWM, and hope to see him more in the future in S3.

The actor who played LuLu really knows how to act in the fight scenes. I saw him in BTS videos, actively moving around executing the fighting sequences, enough to show his familiarity with action drama/movies. Resulting in smooth motion pictures, without looking uncoordinated and clumsy. 👏 I’m impressed with all the fight scenes that were included in each case. What I like the most is what was in the ‘Mara’s Defeat’ case and the ‘Mo’s in a Snowstorm’ case. Bravo! To the actors and the BTS teams for their hard work in making every shot incredible. NGL, after finishing watching an episode, I would replay the fights just to be amazed at how cool all of the scenes were.

Okay, another thing I would like to point out is LuLu’s outfits. Props to the costume department, they did a great job on LuLu's outfit selection cause I was fascinated each time when LuLu got to change to a new set of outfits. Every single time, regardless of whether during the start of a new case or somewhere in the middle, I always anticipate what kind of outfit design he gonna wear next. Yes, admittedly, the actor is good-looking. But with all the rows of outfits that he had, from the uniform to the daily wear, 😏 LuLu character looked dashing at best every single time he appeared on the screen. Hope to see more pretty clothes from LuLu in S3! 😉

Same. I thought we would have him much earlier, maybe in the second last case. That may allocate him some screen time to interact with his master, LuLu and of course his lady, Xijun. But..oh well. At least we got him in the last case and still a lot to come in S3.

Probably.

True, LuLu and Xijun complete each other. Those people really need to watch back S1.

I couldn’t wait to share, the SToTD production team released an official statement on Weibo today that S3 is a go! YAY! Along with the first official poster for S3 titled, SToTD: To Chang An.

There’s no direct statement saying when they gonna start shooting, however, excerpts from the official statement abstractly said ‘In the autumn of Chang An, the wind and the rain are coming!’. I presumed it gonna be Sept/Oct/Nov. This year or next year I’m not sure. Let's pray it this year, so that the sooner they film it, the sooner we get to see S3.

Same thing about the cast, no news yet. However, I saw on Douban that they listed the 6 teammates with the same cast members. So, … finger-crossed.

Who excited as I am?

Same here. When I finished watching the episode I was like, ‘Umm…okay.’ Then a few hours later, I scrolled through Weibo looking at what was news on show like I always do, I wasn’t expected to find the infamous discord. Which left me dumbfounded. I was like, ‘Am I missing something in the latest episode?’ I presumed it wouldn’t become an issue. Just like you.

I think the scene was placed right minute in the end, which caused the heat. It left viewers hanging and created something that was supposed to be ‘fleeting’ but ended up being blown out of proportion, just for the sake of killing time waiting for the next episode I guess. Like I said, maybe they purposely did it. Maybe if it was put in the middle, none of this would happen. Who knows. All and all, the main thing was both our LuLu and SWM did what was right, instead of following the norm of what was correct. Justice is served.

Li Yun can rot in hell, the bastard!

p.s. This is the first time I’ve lurked on Weibo. Needless to say, I should do as I did during S1 airing. Which is not to poke my head at Weibo. But, my sorry ass is just too in love with the show. So, I just found out today that some fans just like to pick on Xijun. 😔 Sigh… I don’t want to elaborate further. I think you all can guess the reason why.

Exactly! In early episodes in S1, you can see Xijun few times was butting heads with LuLu. SWM was roll-playing the peacekeeper. 😄

But I think he was more worried on behalf of Xijun rather than Yingtao. Cause Yingtao had martial arts skills compared to Xijun she had none. Even Yingtao agreed. 😁

This case caught them between the truth and justice.

It gets more difficult when compassionate Xijun is entangled when comes to judgment calls. It is fair, how Xijun acts the way she acts. This time, she has been investigating the case with them since the beginning, not just giving opinions or not just doing suspect sketches. She spent the time with all person-of-interests, who then turned into suspects, and lastly turned out to be original victims. Knowing our Xijun since S1, of course, she worked up due to this.

True. Detective works are mostly black and white, it's all about evidence. But here comes the part, where they have to hand over the next stage where, here judicial acts are more grey. All aspects must be taken, evidence and humane.

It begs the same question again, “Is the truth the same thing as justice?”
Yup. It’s a similar premise to Murder on the Orient Express. I think the ending Poirot lets go of the main perpetrator and later lives with the lie for the first time in his life.

Same here, I’m anticipating what SWM might do next. Cause he always has something up in his sleeve.

Same here. I also love the romance between LuLu and Xijun. And I love the amount of screen time they reserved for them. Not too much not too little. Sometimes, less is more. So that, their love story did not distract the main course of the plot.

You followed the story from S1, there was always angst in them. 😉 I don’t mind at all. It gave both characters flavor. Little angst won’t hurt, if not their love story is mundane and boring. Plus, it’s the reality in relationships. Couple clashes, fights and in the end, they make up. That’s more believable.

Did you know they dubbed them as 喜追风, which literally means ‘Like chasing the wind’? I don’t think it means that, I think is the mixed name of Xijun喜君 and LuLu 卢凌风. With to like 喜 chase/persue 追 wind. For me, I interpreted it as Xijun chasing LuLu. LOL. Even the production teams acknowledged it, in their update feeds in regards to LuLu/Xijun. I missed the bus when they started using them.

To reply @Drama_fluff

I think some fans got defensive over LuLu and misunderstood Xijun all the way. Yup, there is a whole discussion about Xijun being too emotional, and some deemed her as a bad character, annoying, etc. Just because she clashed opinions with LuLu and allegedly used his love for her to cloud his judgment.

We all knew that LuLu was in love with Xijun from the moment he first met her. With that being said, it raised concerns among some people that this might disrupt LuLu’s impartial action while handling the case. If this were said by someone other than Xijun this wouldn’t be a topic in the first place. So it is understandable. However to conclude that Xijun is a bad character etc. is far-fetched. It got more heated when those who defended Xijun pointed out that the fans who brought the issues should be disgusted and speak out more about LiYun’s heinous crimes rather than attacking Xijun's sudden fury.

I agree with those who came to stand up for Xijun to say, don’t see it as a ‘threat’ but more like an ‘angry talk’. If it is a threat, you know LuLu would retaliates back. Instead in the episode, he takes it maturely and calmly. Because he knew Xijun, she talked out of anger on behalf of the women. There was one post suggesting that the ones responsible for raising the on Xijun were the newer viewers who didn’t watch S1. And it’s plausible. That is why it is important to watch S1, to actually understand every character's arc. To avoid misunderstanding. I admit I rewatched S1 so I can remember back the essence of the story before continue watching S2.

Some questioned why the screenwriter wrote in such a way and why the director placed the scene at the end episode. Maybe they purposely did it to see the viewer's reactions. If it is true, then they got it.

Nevertheless, this kind of discussion is a double-edged sword. Some questioned Xijun's character, but I saw a lot of others defend her. It’s heartwarming. For me, I love this kind of discussion, it’s a sign people actually care about the story rather than watch the drama just for the sake of the actor/actress.

Maybe it’s already popular considering what Xijun said in the latest episode Ep 34 causing quite a stir, up to the point it reached the top 4 hot searches/topics on Weibo. 😏