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the-wintry-mizzenmast · 7 months

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When a dao isn't just a dao 笛飞声的刀不只是刀

A quick and dirty analysis of Di Feisheng's dao

Following up from my previous post speculating about Di Feisheng's dao 刀, I think the configuration of Di Feisheng's dao is quite clever and consistent with his character, despite looking like nonsense at first glance. I know more taiji and kung-fu 刀 dao forms than I do 劍 jian forms, and this is what I choose to do with my knowledge and time, I guess.

Before I launch into his dao in particular, I think it's important that you understand what a dao is, and how you are supposed to attack and defend with one.

When you say 刀 dao (in English, it's also been called a Chinese saber or broadsword), this is what it's supposed to look like (I've annotated the image below from the Wikipedia entry on dao). They are by definition single-edged, and the majority are slightly curved (though there are some variants such as the Nandao 南刀 which are straight). A dao should have a point, a sharp edge (in red), and a blunt edge (in blue). The blunt edge (short edge, or inner edge, since the thing is curved) is usually quite thick.

One of the main ways that a dao does damage is through slashing/chopping motions, either down, sideways, or upwards (which my sifu always called uppercuts). All upwards slashes with the dao require that you turn your wrist so that the sharp edge, which usually faces down, faces upward instead.

The other way that a dao does damage is via forward thrusts, where the point of the dao is supposed to pierce enemy flesh. The basic attacks I've mentioned above are in the beginning of this clip, and I've added text to the original video below to highlight what's what and what they're supposed to look like.

(n.b. I was just randomly searching for videos to show what I'm trying to describe, no endorsement intended).

One of the things you'll notice from the above video as well is that the master is putting his hand on the blunt edge. This helps stabilize and give more power to the dao through its various motions, and is a basic part of how dao forms are supposed to work.

The blunt edge is also important because it helps in defense. One of the cardinal rules of a dao is that when you are defending, the dao should be kept close to your body, with the blunt edge facing your body. This is what a basic block looks like:

Should you get hit, you can brace the blunt edge of the blade using a shoulder or upper arm. In certain positions you can also use your hand as a brace on the blunt edge to stop (or execute) a particularly strong attack.

These are the dao basics. Now you have enough background to know what makes Di Feisheng's dao so unusual: it is double-edged, and it has a blunt tip.

These two things must follow if you have a dao that has two edges and is blunt at the tip:

You are limited to slash and chop attacks as your main blade damage. Thrust attacks won't penetrate flesh unless you have a serious amount of qi behind it.

Your defense is limited, because you can't use your dao to defend in the usual way.

But wait, does Di Feisheng's dao really have two full edges?

If you're a details guy like me, and completely obsessed over Di Feisheng (guilty as charged), you'll notice that one the edges of his dao doesn't actually extend the full length of the blade:

From the way that light reflects off the edges of his dao, you can see a bit on the short (inner) edge of the dao where the blade seems to transition from sharp to blunt:

And this shot, it's confirmed that there is a short blunt area on the inner edge of his dao:

In this memorable scene, Di Feisheng uses his hand against the very short blunt part of his dao to press his attack into Li Xiangyi's cheek:

One of the upsides of his unusual dao is also that he can use the inner edge for attacking as well. Upward sweeps using the inner edge aren't possible with usual daos (because they are blunt), but are possible with Di Feisheng's dao. I think we see an example of that here in the way you see his arm sweeping upward. (He has also added a substantial amount of qi to this sweeping strike, most of us plebs don't have enough qi to do anything like this.)

You can see how he gains some flexibility to his attacking capabilities, when he flips his blade mid-block into an attack:

While a double-edge gives him more adaptability in terms of attack on along the slashing and chopping edges of his dao, what he is losing out on because of the blunt end is thrust. You almost never see Di Feisheng thrust his dao forward because his sword just doesn't work like that.

In this final scene in the episode one fight when they are charging at each other, Li Xiangyi thrusts the Shaoshi Jian forward, but Di Feisheng, due to the design of the dao, has to slash:

However, most of the power of a dao is in its slashing and chopping motions. This is where the weight of the blade and its curved design (plus gravity and force) result in the most damage. Unlike the jian, the dao's thrusts do less damage. My conclusion about this is that it's a purposeful trade-off that Di Feisheng has made. He would rather maximize his offensive capabilities where they are strongest.

In terms of blocking, the design of Di Feisheng's dao means he's at a defensive disadvantage, since there's no blunt area to brace his body against for blocking (he can use his hand on the bit that is blunt, but because he has an edge along the rest of it, he can't use a shoulder or upper arm). This is a key feature of the standard dao that Di Feisheng's dao is missing.

In this move in the Battle of the Eastern Sea in episode 1, we see Di Feisheng execute a block, but he's got both of his hands along the hilt instead:

At this point, it should be noted that the standard dao is typically a one-handed weapon. The hilt is slightly curved, so you can get a good downwards chop with your wrist. There are other daos that have straight hilts and can be two-handed like the Miaodao 苗刀 (which is more similar to the Japanese katana 刀 than most Chinese folks like to admit). Di Feisheng's dao being straight-hilted and two-handed isn't that unusual because it's a feature that can be present on certain types of dao (it's way less unusual than the two edges!), but I thought it was worth pointing out in case any eagle-eyed readers noticed the difference between the Wikipedia image and what Di Feisheng has.

I could wax on about Di Feisheng's dao and his fighting style forever, but I think this thread has gone on for long enough.

I believe that the design of Di Feisheng's dao is very clever. At first glance, it seems utterly silly (what kind of dao has two edges?), but on deeper inspection of his style and how he uses it, it is consistent with his character.

He is always playing on Hard Mode because he is trading defense for more flexibility in his offense. And he is maximizing his offense where it is strongest (slashes and chops), and choosing to forego the offensive capabilities where it is weaker (thrusts).

...And that really is Di Feisheng's martial arts style in a nutshell, isn't it?

#mysterious lotus casebook #di feisheng #笛飞声 #meta #莲花楼 #Di Feisheng's dao #which is just named 刀 #刀就是刀要什麼名字 #i know more 刀 forms than 劍 forms and this is what i do with the knowledge #笛飛聲 #蓮花樓 #cdrama #cdrama meta #I'm sorry the GIFs are terrible quality I can't be bothered #also at some point I really want to an analysis of the choreo in the final fight #there was awesome shit being pulled by the choreographers that I've never seen in a wuxia

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lyselkatzfandomluvs · 7 months

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Mysterious Lotus Casebook 蓮花樓

2023.09.16 concert

The Queencard dance, this time in character costumes!!

MASTERPOST

#mysterious lotus casebook #蓮花樓 #li lianhua #di feisheng #fang duobing #jiao liqiao #qiao wanmian #su xiaoyong #shan gudao #mysterious lotus casebook concert #cdrama

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kdram-chjh · 7 months

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Cdrama: Mysterious Lotus Casebook (2023)

［成毅］李莲花小表情合集 😗 【莲花楼｜MysteriousLotusCasebook】#chengyi #莲花楼

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LryJ-g_VYtg

#Mysterious Lotus Casebook #莲花楼 #Auspicious Pattern Lotus House #Ji Xiang Wen Lian Hua Lou #吉祥紋蓮花樓 #吉祥纹莲花楼 #The Lotus Casebook #蓮花樓 #2023 #cdrama #chinese drama #youtube #shorts #short video #Cheng Yi #Li Lian Hua #Li Xiang Yi

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randomingoftherandomness · 8 months

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Fic: Love is when you try to place it out your mind

A/N: For @lovesickfolly and based on their deliciously wonderful plot bunnies :) The title is based on Mona Lisa by Dominic Fike

Fair warning, as of writing this fic, I'm on episode 10 of the show but I'd been Tumblr-watching it while it was airing so I have a gauge of what's what. If there are some discrepancies with the details or whatnot, *handwaves* consider this a Canon Divergence?

As a whole, I hope I did the prompt I chose some proper justice. This fic is not betaed. Enjoy!

It happens a little like this:

Fang Duobing holds on a little tighter just to keep Li Lianhua from running away. Li Lianhua uses some sleight of hand to keep him at a distance. Fang Duobing falls for it but only for a moment, before he catches the corner of his sleeve, holding on just long enough to say, "I love you, I have loved you for the longest time. I can't live when you aren't near, yet I can't breathe when you are away from my side."

"You frustrate me, you drive me insane, but there's no one better for me. In this life, I want no one else. I've never had to beg anyone for anything but, please..."

"Fang Duobing, I think you've drunk too much tonight."

A gentle push at his wrist that he doesn't fight is strong enough to have him stumbling back. Hurt lances through his heart at the way Li Lianhua's dark gaze lifts and meets his own unwaveringly. Like two bottomless pools in a moonless night, there is little he can do but to listen to his heart break when Li Lianhua says, "I'll forget everything you just said. Bury this deep and never think about me like this again."

It ends a lot like this:

Li Lianhua leaves him behind without a second thought.

It has been a year since he last saw him.

It feels very much like this:

An ache in his heart follows him closer than a shadow, far more familiar than his own skin, settling deeper in his marrow than his own blood. He cannot eat, he cannot sleep. The best wine is tasteless, the finest dishes are ash on his tongue.

For the first month, he knows his mother spends sun up to sundown cursing the jianghu. It takes his youngest Aunt coming to his room to hold him by the hand as she'd used to do when he was little and ill from a bout of sickness, tearfully pleading with him to please, just eat something, just one bite, one sip of water, just do something instead of staying in his room like he'd lost all his will to live.

(if he only climbs out of bed because his mother and aunt threaten to bring this case up to the whole of the jianghu, if he only takes his first bite of food because they bring Fox Spirit to his side to comfort him, that's something for him and him only to know)

By the time the seasons change, his mother only kisses his cheeks in goodbye and tells him to take care of himself on the road when he leaves to roam the jianghu and carry out his duties to the Baichuan Court.

And through all that, the ache settles in like an old friend. His aunt says that heartbreak will take time to get over. Fang Duobing doesn't know if he wants to wait to find out.

He's probably cursed at this point, but there's nothing much to be done about that.

The first time he hears that Li Lianhua is back is half a year since he spilt his heart out and it is through gossip he overhears in a tavern in the middle of escorting a criminal. There's a twinge of instinct like a cut-off nerve ending that still feels sensation even when it shouldn't, to get up, ask those men where they heard such a piece of news and chase that man down by hook or by crook.

Instead, Fang Duobing takes a deep, calming breath, swallows down his mouthful of food, and takes another breath.

In the months after, it's as if he is seeing ghosts.

A glimpse of a lotus leaf hairpin on someone, the scent of herbs and fire on another, the sight of red ribbons floating in the wind. The touch of warmth on his wrist as he walks in a crowd. Despite all these, Fang Duobing trudges on. Smiling when he has to, laughing because he wants nothing but to put the frown off his mother's brow, joking when all he wants to do is scream that the withered and dying heart in him is so hollowed out that nothing matters.

Not helped is how the rumour of Li Lianhua's return was anything but an exaggeration.

Everyone seems to have seen him. Everyone but him.

The masters of Baichuan Court had a meal with him a week ago. Su Xiaoyong managed to corner him for tea a day ago and Qiao Wanmian is having him over for lunch in a week. Sometimes, if he comes back at the right time, he spies Fox Spirit's food bowl filled with his favourite snack that only Li Lianhua knows how to make.

He swallows down the bile and keeps trudging on. Pulls himself up by the boots and solves case after case, making an empty glory for himself. Runs himself ragged so that at night he can just fall into bed and sleep. It is a small bliss when he doesn't have to think about how Li Lianhua hates him so much that he won't even seek him out to show him just a glimpse of the hem of his robe.

What goes around comes around. Or so the saying goes, and no good deed goes unpunished. Fang Duobing would call it a relief when he slips up enough that a rogue swordsman can get an upper hand long enough to stab him through and through with a blade, pinning him up just enough that he can get away.

As the darkness takes him, Fang Duobing wonders if he can sleep this time without dreaming of Li Lianhua.

"You fool."

The ceiling he wakes up to is not his own. The bed he wakes up in is familiar in a way that makes his heart stutter and skips a beat in pain. He must have groaned because deft hands are quick to be at his shoulder to settle him down. Fang Duobing gasps. Gropes through the breathlessness at a thin wrist, looking up to meet eyes that watch him with undisguised worry.

"You con artist..."

Li Lianhua sighs, the corner of his lips twitching. "I probably deserve that."

"You absolute mother--"

"Hey, no need to bring my mother into this!" Li Lianhua laughs, trying to pull away, only for Fang Duobing to hold on to his sleeve.

"I..." He tries, licking his dry lips. Blinking rapidly, he looks around him. "Where am I? What happened?"

"You got stabbed. The fogeys at Baichuan Court brought you to me, telling me to help." Fang Duobing can taste the familiar acridness of rejection creep up the back of his throat. Letting go of the sleeve in his hand, he huffs a soft chuckle.

"So that's the case." Fang Duobing swallows thickly. "You're only helping Baichuan Court."

A silence grows and sits between them. Eventually, he hears Li Lianhua drag a stool closer to the bed. "Fang Xiaobao, look at me."

He closes his eyes, turning his face away with great difficulty. "My apologies Physician Li. I am sure this is a great inconvenience to you that I am here. Let me rest awhile and I'm sure I'll be well enough to leave by then. I do not want to bother you too much."

"You-- Fang Duobing, you fool, look at me!"

He pulls the covers over his shoulders. "That's not necessary--"

"Fang Duobing, look at me, please..."

The thread of pleading is thick in the syllables, and by the gods above, Fang Duobing has never mended his walls to protect him against Li Lianhua. So, he opens his eyes, slowly turning back to look.

And sees the red-rimmed eyes. Then sees the long grey hair that is a shade away from white. He sees the lines on Li Lianhua's face that have deepened in the year that they've not seen each other.

"Li Lianhua..." Fang Duobing starts, heart pounding like a war drum when he reaches out to run his fingers through his hair and finds that instead of pulling away, Li Lianhua is leaning in.

Pressing his cheek into the palm of Fang Duobing's calloused hand, he lets out a shaky breath, as if he is releasing all his worries in that one exhale. "I don't deserve you, Fang Duobing. I never have."

"You came into my life and you made yourself home like you've always been there. You didn't care for how much hurt I inflicted, you didn't care that I pushed you away. You stayed when all others left." Li Lianhua lifts his hands to keep Fang Duobing's hand to the side of his face. The curtain fall of his hair wraps itself around their hands, tangling black to grey on the bedspread. "Every time I tried to hide, you always knew where to find me. Every time I ran, you followed. You've bewitched me, body and soul."

Li Lianhua sighs, turning his face into Fang Doubing's touch. Giving into an impulse, he reaches out, ignoring the twinge of pain. Carding his fingers through Li Lianhua's hair.

Softly, he whispers, "Please don't say things you don't mean."

The hurt that colours the browns of Li Lianhua is tinged with regret. But with a blink, it is replaced with a steely determination that has Fang Duobing reeling when he barely has a moment to process how Li Lianhua swoops in and slides their lips together.

"Li Lianhua--"

He shakes his head, lips still pressed to the corner of Fang Duobing's. "I'm a normal man now. I have nothing to give you. Everything that you have loved about Li Xiangyi, everything that you idolised about the man I was, I am not that anymore. That's why I couldn't reciprocate your feelings that first time. I didn't even know if I was coming back. That's why I ran."

"And what's this?" Fang Duobing asks, the words tripping over themselves as they burn their way into the air between them. "Did you do all this because of, what? Guilt?"

Li Lianhua looks absolutely gutted at that. He shakes his head, eyes begging him to believe him. "No! Never! I... I came the moment I received word that you were injured." Ducking his head, he presses his lips to the jut of their joined hands. "I knew I couldn't stay away from you. I know now that I shouldn't have."

Fang Duobing lets himself process this. Sniffling a little and not fighting Li Lianhua when he smiles wetly as he wipes away the tears that make tracks down his cheeks.

"You hurt me."

"I did." Li Lianhua leans in again. This time, Fang Duobing moves back so that there is space on the bed for him to climb into.

"You really hurt me."

"I know, but if you're willing," Li Lianhua says, the light of the sun catching in the pale strands of his hair as he pledges. "I swear on everything good and true, on everything I have left, on the love you have given me, I, Li Lianhua will be good to you, will spend the rest of my life making it up to you for every moment you were hurt by me."

Fang Duobing feels himself smile genuinely for the first time in a very long time. Lifting his hand to cup at Li Lianhua's face, he rubs his thumb over the dark circle under his eye. "Liar. You can't promise me the rest of your life if we aren't married."

This sparks a gleam of mischief in Li Lianhua's eyes that curls something warm in his gut. Something alive that he wants to chase and pin down with joy.

"You did promise to take my name if I could bring a dead man back to life." Li Lianhua murmurs, plush lips curved upwards. "Haven't we been married since then?"

And really, who is Fang Duobing to deny that? Especially since he has the rest of their lives to figure it out.

The hurt isn't gone. Not by a long shot. But as Li Lianhua willingly takes strands of their hair, braiding them together with a smile before carefully kissing his shoulder and laying back down beside him -- the weight of him so very real, so warm to the touch, and here because he wants to be -- he can feel the space where his heart is start to come back alive.

And that, if nowhere else, is a good place to start again.

#mysterious lotus casebook #蓮花樓 #fang duobing #li lianhua #li xiangyi #duohua #fanghua #what's their pairing name anyways #fang duobing x li lianhua #gab writes stuff #lovesickfolly #mysterious lotus casebook fic

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murderedbyhomework · 7 months

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山居秋暝 is so Li Lianhua coded. Essentially it's this poem about someone who retires to the mountains to live. It talks about how quiet it is and how peaceful the surroundings are and how simple the lives of the people surrounding it are. And it also references the poet's disgust of the manipulations of royal court life and how he'd rather stay in these mountains and live a simple life even with his former acquaintances sending him letters asking him to go back.

空山新雨後⑵，天氣晚來秋。

明月松間照，清泉石上流⑶。

竹喧歸浣女⑷，蓮動下漁舟。

隨意春芳歇⑸，王孫自可留⑹。

This is the poem as copied from Baidu BTW.

#li xiangyi #li lianhua #mysterious lotus casebook #lian hua lou #Can you tell I'm bored out of my mind #這叫活學活用哈哈 #在温習書本內容啊 #蓮花樓 #Chinese poetry

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ttt456 · 9 months

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I liked the originall novel of this drama, iQiyi has announced just few hours ago that it will start airing on 23 JULY, hmmm hope the adaptation will be good.

#mysterious lotus casebook #蓮花樓 #吉祥紋蓮花樓 #Li Lien-Hua #李蓮花 #cheng yi #成毅

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f26fa262fa626fa62fa · 1 year

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花蓮定點LINE-gg883691 #花蓮定點按摩花蓮定點花蓮頂級花蓮定點外送茶花蓮定點按摩花蓮定點舒壓花蓮定點專家花蓮定點叫小姐-花蓮樓鳳按摩花蓮樓鳳按摩花蓮按摩理容論壇花蓮舒壓套房個工個人工作室花蓮外約定點魚訊找女人花蓮旅館叫小姐.花蓮叫小姐/ 約妹外約茶莊/花蓮叫小姐/花蓮正妹/花蓮美人魚訊、樓鳳魚茶訊個工按摩-吃魚喝茶,約妹台灣叫小姐按摩論壇外送茶按摩舒壓/喝茶約妹花蓮定點LINE-gg883691 #花蓮定點按摩花蓮定點花蓮頂級花蓮定點外送茶花蓮定點按摩花蓮定點舒壓花蓮定點專家花蓮定點叫小姐-花蓮樓鳳按摩花蓮樓鳳按摩花蓮按摩理容論壇花蓮舒壓套房個工個人工作室花蓮外約定點魚訊找女人花蓮旅館叫小姐.花蓮叫小姐/ 約妹外約茶莊/花蓮叫小姐/花蓮正妹/花蓮美人魚訊、樓鳳魚茶訊個工按摩-吃魚喝茶,約妹台灣叫小姐按摩論壇外送茶按摩舒壓/喝茶約妹

#花蓮定點LINE-gg883691 #花蓮定點按摩花蓮定點花蓮頂級花蓮定點外送茶花蓮定點按摩花蓮定點舒壓花蓮定點專家花蓮定點叫小姐-花蓮樓鳳按摩花蓮樓鳳按摩花蓮按摩理容論壇花蓮舒壓套房個工個人工作室花蓮外 #約妹台灣叫小姐按摩論壇外送茶按摩舒壓/喝茶約妹

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huafanghua · 4 months

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#fang duobing #li lianhua #mysterious lotus casebook #蓮花樓

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59fa59fa95fa9595af · 1 year

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#花蓮定點LINE-gg883691 #花蓮定點按摩花蓮定點花蓮頂級花蓮定點外送茶花蓮定點按摩花蓮定點舒壓花蓮定點專家花蓮定點叫小姐-花蓮樓鳳按摩花蓮樓鳳按摩花蓮按摩理容論壇花蓮舒壓套房個工個人工作室花蓮外約定點魚訊找女人花蓮旅館叫小姐.花蓮叫小姐/ 約妹外約茶莊/花蓮叫小姐/花蓮正妹/花蓮美人魚訊、樓鳳魚茶訊個工按摩-吃魚喝茶,約妹台灣叫小姐按摩論壇外送茶按摩舒壓/喝茶約妹#花蓮定點LINE-gg883691 #花蓮定點按摩花蓮定點花蓮頂級花蓮定點外送茶花蓮定點按摩花蓮定點舒壓花蓮定點專家花蓮定點叫小姐-花蓮樓鳳按摩花蓮樓鳳按摩花蓮按摩理容論壇花蓮舒壓套房個工個人工作室花蓮外約定點魚訊找女人花蓮旅館叫小姐.花蓮叫小姐/ 約妹外約茶莊/花蓮叫小姐/花蓮正妹/花蓮美人魚訊、樓鳳魚茶訊個工按摩-吃魚喝茶,約妹台灣叫小姐按摩論壇外送茶按摩舒壓/喝茶約妹

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lyselkatz · 8 months

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Night Lotus Flower

...☕?/commission

#li lianhua #li xiangyi #mysterious lotus casebook #蓮花樓 #chen yi #cdrama #fanart #lyselkatzcreations #the wedding gown!!!

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65fa66afa6f6af6af6af · 1 year

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lyselkatzfandomluvs · 7 months

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Xiao ShùnYáo 肖順堯

Getting ready for today's Mysterious Lotus Casebook 蓮花樓 concert.

#xiao shunyao #aero xiao #mysterious lotus casebook #di feisheng #蓮花樓 #lian hua lou #cdrama #chinese actors #mysterious lotus casebook concert

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kdram-chjh · 3 months

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Cdrama: Mysterious Lotus Casebook (2023)

Lý Tương Di trở về rồi? 🥺 #成毅 #chengyi #thanhnghi

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rCLTzo-egv4

#Mysterious Lotus Casebook #莲花楼 #Auspicious Pattern Lotus House #Ji Xiang Wen Lian Hua Lou #吉祥紋蓮花樓 #吉祥纹莲花楼 #The Lotus Casebook #蓮花樓 #2023 #youtube #cdrama #chinese drama #short video #shorts #CCTV #iQiyi #Cheng Yi #Li Lian Hua #Li Xiang Yi

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randomingoftherandomness · 8 months

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Fic: But I need your lips on mine

Tags: Fang Duobing x Li Lianhua, Fluffy, Established Relationship

Stepping out of the perfumed heat of the room feels a little like being reborn. Or at least, that's the first thought that comes through the fog in Fang Duobing's mind as he tries to shake off the ringing of the gu zheng string in his ears and the lingering taste of wine in the back of his mouth.

He takes a deep lungful of air into his lungs, barely missing the way Li Lianhua steps up right next to him and holds him up by the elbow.

Through the haze, he catches the soft tilt of his mouth. Amusement at his expense yet again. Li Lianhua is drawling on about how he should have noticed how the music was a secret technique passed down through some dead cult called The Flower Whispers of a Thousand Moons or some rot like that. The jianghu is rife with stuff like these.

And Fang Duobing really can't care.

His lack of verbosity does not go unnoticed because Li Lianhua pauses to run his gaze over Fang Duobing's face. There's a flicker of worry in his gaze but Fang Duobing blinks and it's gone.

"Sit."

Fang Duobing obeys. Parking himself down on a step, Fang Duobing shakes his head again, blinking rapidly only for Li Lianhua to cup him by the cheeks, squishing his face.

There's a worried furrow between Li Lianhua's brows and Fang Duobing oscillates between wanting to reach out and smooth it flat, and--

"Are you worried about me?"

The words trip off his tongue before he can push it back into his gut.

"Can you kiss me, please? Your kisses always make me feel much better about things. And your lips are so, so soft... Like, so soft... And I love feeling them on mine when you wake me up in the morning and-- and when you kiss me when I do something well..."

Ah, shit.

Fang Duobing swallows thickly, throat clicking. "I'm so obsessed with you, you don't even know..."

Someone in the heavens above must still be listening to his prayers because Li Lianhua doesn't laugh. He doesn't say anything, really, just crouches down and takes Fang Duobing's hands in his. Wordlessly, he kisses the backs of his fingers, tenderly, reverently, and Fang Duobing shivers under the tickle of his breath over his skin.

Li Lianhua chuckles, rubbing his wrists as he leans in. Fang Duobing closes his eyes tilting his head, lips parting as they press against Li Lianhua's. Once, briefly. Then again, a slow spit slick slide. And once more, a shy darting of tongue against tongue, tasting the wine in his mouth, lips tingling as he reaches out to pull Li Lianhua in by the waist.

"I'm never letting you live this down. Ever." Li Lianhua murmurs, absolute smugness and happiness oozing through the soft giggle that they exchange in the scant space that separates their lips. "My Xiaobao is so obsessed with me. I'm flattered."

"Can you blame me?" Fang Duobing hums, pulling back far enough to lift a thumb to trace the arc of Li Lianhua's cheekbone. "You're the best person I know."

Li Lianhua's eyes open. Pure surprise colours the warmth of his eyes. Fang Duobing merely smiles, leaning in for another kiss. "Let's go home, hm?"

"Yes, let's."

#mysterious lotus casebook #mysterious lotus casebook fic #fang duobing #li lianhua #li xiangyi #fang duobing x li lianhua #gab writes stuff #蓮花樓 #listen. i had a plot bunny. i followed it.#was it a fluffy bunny? evidently.

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