With Word of Honor turning out to be quite a success this year, fans of the genre have been eagerly turning their attention to the remaining BL adaptations that have yet to air. One of them, A League of Nobleman 张公案 in particular, has been causing a bit of confusion recently after Zhang Gongan’s author Dafeng Guaguo 大风刮过 confirmed the web novel where the drama is based on is in fact a suspenseful detective mystery with no romance at all. This goes against many fan’s expectations particularly since the drama version has long been touted as a BL adaptation starring Jing Boran and Song Weilong.
Responding to Netizens who pointed out that her web novel has been marked as “no CP (couple)” in a literature website, the novel’s author said “then … how do you think I should classify it? If I mark it as a danmei 耽美, will you say I’m taking advantage of the genre’s popularity …?” She further adds how she has “always been puzzled as to why some people have always asked her to characterise “Zhang Gongan” as a romance. Although the writing might not look like it, I am really writing a detective novel. . .” Dafeng Guaguo said that whilst the novel’s classification has always been under “suspense” or “mystery”, because the literature website didn’t have those classifications, she just marked it under “no CP”.
The Drama Version is Not The Same as the Book
You may remember that Dafeng Guaguo previously talked about her objection to the drama’s casting for Zhang Ping which Netizens were quick to surmise referred to Song Weilong since he starred in Yu Zheng’s Untouchable Lovers, a drama alleged to have been plagiarised from one of her works. Now that we all know Song Weilong landed the part of Zhang Ping, you can be sure the author made good on her promise to distance herself and her book from having any connection at all with Zhang Gongan’s drama version.
In the comments section, the author further emphasised that the drama version is completely different from the novel she’d written. “I’ve said it many times before, the drama version and my story is completely different. The male protagonist in the drama will use hypnosis to solve the case…another protagonist is weighed down with a blood feud. So it’s a story that’s completely original to the drama.”
A League of Nobleman, originally titled The Society of Four Leaves, is adapted from Dafeng Guaguo’s novel Zhang Gongan. Although production has already wrapped filming last December 16, 2020, there’s no announcement yet when the drama will air.
HL
Many of these Web Novelist have their works being taken advantaged off… From plagiarised, making script changes without author consent to not paying them their fair rate etc.. I am glad to see this author fighting hard to express her opnions and not to allow the industry to silence her.