#so i wouldn't use this as a benchmark for other actual dangais getting out of lockup

[shijiujun]

Why You Should Watch 君子盟 (张公案) | A League of Nobleman

Firstly yes it’s nobleman with an ‘a’ i.e. singular for some reason but yes unfortunately that’s the case.

Secondly yes this had multiple other names while it was still locked up in tencent storage but we finally have something, and a note that it’s loosely based on the novel 张公案 but there’s been a bit of drama between the author and the drama production, and in any case, the cases differ quite a bit. You can say we have a Chenghua’s 14th Year situation here where it’s closely related but veered off the original at some point to varying effects.

Summary:

Zhang Ping is a poor, orphaned scholar who has to sell noodles part-time to make ends meet. He has a brain for logical deduction and is personally smart with quite a good memory. He is selling noddles at his stall as usual and minding his own damn business when Lan Jue, a high-ranking officer second only to the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, uses him as a distraction in a case. Lan Jue is the son of an official who was framed 20 years ago for treason, and he has to become Minister of Rites in order to get closer to the truth of his father’s unjust death, but his status as the son of a guilty man means that no one wants to recommend and support him to become Minister of Rites. Moreover, he’s been in contact with an enemy state, the state that his father went to before his death - but the letters are intercepted by the other person who’s in line to become Minister of Rites as well. The other official sets up a case to frame Lan Jue for treason and to push him out of the running for Minister, and Zhang Ping, who’s dragged into this unexpectedly, cannot help but interrupt to solve the case(s) that happen.

Initially, it’s Lan Jue against Zhang Ping, as while Lan Jue isn’t a bad guy, he has laid a lot of groundwork and plans behind the scenes and Zhang Ping who looks at everything in black and white, and insists on pushing for justice no matter the situation, is a hindrance to his plans. Slowly, through each case and being stuck with each other, Lan Jue realizes that he’s strayed too far from the path that his father once wanted him to be on, and the person he originally was, all to set up ruse after ruse to get to what he wants. Albeit he is justified in doing so as he desperately wants to clear his father’s name, but it takes Zhang Ping and a teacher of his to remind Lan Jue that no matter what, he cannot break the law for his own personal motivations.

Once they come to an understanding, Zhang Ping also realizes that Lan Jue and his friend Mo Wen are excluding him firstly to keep him safe, but also because Zhang Ping cannot seem to understand that there’s a time and place for everything, and his insistence at immediately solving crimes and cases especially when they’re targeted at Lan Jue and the treason case 20 years ago, will undo all the work he’s put in so far. So Zhang Ping decides to help Lan Jue, and promises that he knows what he’s doing this time if he’s involved.

Together, they unravel the truth behind Lan Jue’s father’s death, along with Zhang Ping’s noodle store colleague and Lan Jue’s only good friend, Mo Wen. 

Details:

Total Episodes: 29 (10 have been released so far, with one episode released per day for non-members, and 10 episodes a week for VIP members)

Comes from a novel and there is a manhua publications as well, manhua art by 千二百

Why You Should Watch:

(1) ERM BROMANCE AND AN OT3 SHOULD ALWAYS BE A REASON TO WATCH ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE ALL GUYS???

Between Lan Jue and his friend Mo Wen: “Between you and I there is no need for thanks”

“I could handle it by myself but SOMEONE just had to ‘save’ me so I would have to owe him a favour”

Fainting Zhang Ping and Lan Jue being all !!!!!!!!

AND everyone rushes to Lan Jue’s house to give him gifts on 粽子节 because they wanna curry favours with him, and Zhang Ping is the only one who gives him proper dumplings.

“No matter how big or small the gift, I cannot accept them.” 

And then Zhang Ping gives the dumplings to Chen Chou, not knowing that Mr. Lan would walk away and run back to his stall to find him and ask for his dumplings under the table, but they were gone by then

And what’s a bromance without a premature divorce right (Lan Jue stabs Zhang Ping, they agonize in the rain)

+ Yes Lan Jingyi is in this as Chen Chou and he’s fucking hilarious

(2) Also Lan Jue and Zhang Ping Face-Offs + COMEDIC MOMENTS APLENTY

“You’re a scholar but you’re selling noodles here, are you perhaps facing some difficulty?” “Because I’m poor.”

“You’re not here to save him?” “No I’m not, I’m going now”

Lan Jue stuck with a noose around his neck and wolves waiting to eat him and Zhang Ping be like all nope not saving ya

Zhang Ping pronounced dead and then sits up in bed

Zhang Ping using the dates that are placed in the toilet to get rid of bad scents into the porridge he serves Lan Jue

(3) THE CINEMATOGRAPHY IS GORGEOUS

IS THIS A DANMEI/DANGAI?

No, it’s not, according to the author. The original novel had a lot of bromance and hinted at a relationship, but the author has specifically said this is no CP, not a danmei and the production itself should not even be considered a dangai (but the production went ahead and advertised it as such anyway and we all know how that turned out). She was pretty mad when she wrote the clarification post cuz people were asking her to put it under danmei classification on JJWXC. BUT Zhang Ping and Lan Jue can be seen as more than bros for sure.