Mystic Nine Ep 2

[Manuela]

During the era of the republic, the town of Changsha was guarded by nine families known as the "Old Nine Gates" (or the "Mystic Nine" Clan). They were incredibly powerful families who wield supreme power over everything in Changsha.

Cost for the drama amounted up to CN168 million; where 70% was allocated for production.[2] The producer, Bai Yicong expressed his gratitude to the main cast for lowering their professional fee. Usually, payment for the main cast would cost up to 60% of the budget but only 30% went back to the cast of The Mystic Nine. As such, more resources were diverted to the set designing, special effects, equipments and props for production as required by the plot.[3]

The cast for the series were introduced through posters which were uploaded online.[4] Chapters related to the character Zhang Qishan (portrayed by William Chan) gained over 70 million readers not long after the announcement of the cast.[5] A ceremony was held for the drama's commencement on the first day of the Shanghai Television Festival on July 6, 2016.[6]

Principal photography started on 23 November 2015 at Hengdian Studios.[8] The entire series took 108 days to complete filming.[9] The scenes set in Zhang Qishan and Er Yuehong's mansion were filmed in Hengdian World Studios, in Dongyang, Zhejiang province. The tombstone scenes were filmed in various parts of China such as Tiantai Mountain, Jietou Town and Hanshanhu at Tiantai County and Yongkang in Zhejiang province and in Manchuria.[10]

The series placed first in television ratings and became the number one most searched and discussed topic online during its broadcast.[11] The drama also set a record for the most online views garnered in a day.

Following the series, a wax figure dressed of Zhang Qishan (portrayed by William Chan) was added to Madame Tussauds Shanghai in April 2017.[12] Another wax figure of Er Yuehong (portrayed by Zhang Yixing) was added to Madame Tussauds Shanghai in October 2018.[13]

The drama endorsed a number of brands throughout the whole broadcast. Apart from endorsing the title sponsor to the series, Xiang Piao Piao, the brand also endorsed Eastroc Super Drink, Rio, iQianJin, Mengniu Dairy, Tantan App and Ctrip.[16]

The upper three clans consisted of Zhang Qishan's Zhang Family, the Hong Family, and the Li Family. These were well-established, honest old families.[2] They had official statuses and operated legitimate business, so they relied on underlings for grave robbing.[2] Their power resembled that of some of the small warlords at the time.[2] The upper three clans included:

The middle three clans were the grave-robbers and consisted of the Chen Family, the Wu Family, and the Hei Family.[2] They were courageous heroes who worked in the mountains all day.[2] They were young, greedy and were willing to steal and commit murder.[2] These families had a reputation from killing people, so they had nothing to fear.[2] The middle three clans included:

The mystic nine clans or families were extremely powerful in Changsha. Almost all of the goods from grave robbing that came out of Changsha had to pass through one of the families.[2] The name "old nine gates" came from the similarities between the nine families and the nine gates of ancient Beijing. Merchants who entered or left the city had to go through one of the nine gates.[2] Similarly, anyone who wanted to do business in Changsha had to go through one of the families.[2] The nine families each have their own territory in Changsha which hadn't changed for decades.[3]

By the time of the early 1950s, Zhang Qishan was pulled into a large conspiracy. In the extra Conversation, Xie Jiuye helped Zhang Qishan sort letters into two separate piles.[4] He then told Zhang Qishan that he was being used as a tool in the conspiracy, and it didn't matter whether he went through with this plan or not. If Zhang Qishan didn't, somebody else would complete it anyway.[4] The conversation ended when Jiu Ye put a gun on top of a pile of letters he just organized. This stack was much thicker[4] and Black Back the Sixth's name was at the top.[5] These letters were a list of who was going to die during the purge.[6]

Before he left China, Qiu Dekao reported many members of the Mystic Nine, including Wu Laogou, to the local authorities in Changsha.[7] Zhang Qishan personally supervised the matter and sent his own people to capture them.[8] The underlings believed Zhang Qishan would protect them but that was not the case. Many of the grave robbers and Mystic Nine members ended up dead with even Zhang Qishan's own underlings suffering the same fate. On the night of the arrest order, Zhang Qishan held up a pistol to his own head but never went through with it.[8]

Wu Laogou later confronted Zhang Qishan about the incident.[8] He just wanted to know why Zhang Qishan caused the deaths of Er Ye's wife and Black Back the Sixth. Although Zhang Qishan did have a reason, he believed telling the other would make no difference.[8]

Some of the Mystic Nine, like Huo Xiangu and Wu Laogou, sided with Zhang Qiling after the loss in Sichuan.[10] Zhang Qishan's control over them had become very strained. Zhang Qishan's own family has also split into two factions. The Zhang Qiling faction was facing a purge, while the second faction was becoming more and more powerful because of its close ties with the top. The two sides ended up fighting fiercely.[10]

Nine powerful families referred to as the "Old Nine Gates" or the "Mystic Nine Clan" guard the town of Changsha during the era of the republic. Zhang Qi Shan/Fo Ye who is the leader of the nine gates, investigates a mysterious train that ends up at his Changsha station that leads to an equally mysterious mine. In order to solve the mystery, he entrusts the help of Qi Tie Zui/Ba Ye and Er Yue Hong/Er Ye, who is an opera singer from a family of archaeologists.Before they can start their mission, they must find medicine to help Er Ye's wife who is terminally ill. Along the way, they meet a young mistress of the hotel Yin Xin Yue and discover a dangerous plot that could take down the people of Changsha. Will they be able to help Er Ye's wife and unravel a mystery that could save their people?(Source: Viki; edited by MyDramaList) Edit Translation

And I bring another Chinese mystery drama based on another acclaimed novel. And supposedly the drama again did not live up to the expectations of novel readers (At this point of time, I am not sure if the novel for this drama exists or not. But its sequel does have one, for sure! It might be that there are references of this story in the actual novel of the sequel but still, I need to do more research).

One day, a mysterious train stops at the station of the city with dead bodies of Japanese people and coffins inside the train. He researches and finds out that this is related to the peculiar mines just outside the city. He wants to enlist the help of Er Ye (The head of the Second family, played by Zhang Yixing), because his family has a history of tomb raiding and the knowledge of those unknown secrets runs deep in their family. But Er Ye has given up that family business in order to receive good blessing for his ill wife Ya Tou. Hence, he works as Chinese Opera singer these days. They come across a magical medicine being auctioned at some other place which might save Ya Tou. So, Fo Ye helps Er Ye to get that medicine, staking his family fortune so that he could convince Er Ye to help him with regards to those mines. Er Ye indeed helps him uncover the truth, but the truth is far more complex than it seems.

The mines are not only ancient tombs of some of the greatest poets of China but they contain something which Japanese people want and hence, they have been doing some experiments in and around the caves. Fo Ye, with the help of Er Ye, and other gates, tries to find out the truth behind the mines and the Japanese conspiracy.

Characters: Characters are amazing but not so amazing. Fo Ye is the ultimate person and sees the most character development. From the most rigid personality who keeps the country above anything to the warmest of husband after he falls in love with Yin Xinyue (played by Zhao Liying), William has done quite a good job. My favorite character however is Lieutenant Zhang, right hand man of Fo Ye. His one smile melts the heart of girls in an instant. Oops, fangirling mode on again. His character is loyal and intelligent.

Er Ye is proficient in martial arts but is too blinded by his love for his wife. So much that major part of the 48 episodes goes into his reminiscing about her after her death and his hallucinations about her. And that gets boring, like really boring. Anyway, next character is Ba Ye, the head of eighth family in nine gates. He is a great fortune teller and becomes a kid in behaviour when he is near Fo Ye. Some times, you as an audience feel like sewing his mouth shut so that he could not whine. However, he is as helpful in the whole series as Er Ye. He is not shown with any family attachments in the series.

Speaking of females, the two most important females of the series are Ya Tou and Xin Yue. Ya Tou is wife of Er Ye and is sick with an unknown illness for the major part of the series. Not much to her character. Xin Yue is daughter of the hotel where the auction for that magical medicine takes place and is really irritating in the beginning. As the series goes on, she becomes one of the most likable and clever character. There are more pretty female characters essential to the plot.

When there is so much evil in the series, there are definitely evil characters. There is this whole Japanese part to the series. And these characters have their own share of screen time, unnecessarily so. I skipped most of the part of their discussions, which saved me almost half of the time I spent on the series watching. And I advise the same to everyone who is watching or planning to do so, especially in the second half of the series. Not gonna spend time on explaining those.

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