C-actor Cheng Yi just had this delicate male lead aura, which suits him playing gods in xianxia drama male leads and has in my mind pegged him in a certain mold. He’s tried breaking out obviously with modern dramas and now with an upcoming straight wuxia drama and still he looks like a xianxia god in the mortal realm doing his penance/training. The drama is Mysterious Lotus Casebook (莲花楼 Lian Hua Lou) adapted from the novel Auspicious Pattern Lotus House (吉祥纹莲花楼). He’s the male lead joined by Zeng Shun Xi (Joseph Zeng) and Xiao Xun Yao to form the male lead trio with this drama being described along the same veins as wuxia drama Heroes which was well received earlier this year and also starred Zeng Shun Xi who is doing tons of wuxia with the most prominent being the most recent C-drama adaptation version of Louis Cha penned wuxia male lead Zhang Wu Ji in Dragon Sabre and Heavenly Sword. I’ve never warmed up to Zeng Shun Xi’s visuals but he looks great here, whatever style he’s gotten looks really good on him. Xiao Xun Yao I remember best as the second male lead in The Blue Whisper and he’s not bad as well. After the spate of BL drama adaptations where the two male leads were intimated to be more than bromance, the three male lead period dramas seem to do the best friends turn into enemies with plenty of pathos of a different sort.

Teaser for The Lotus Casebook: