#fang duobing x li lianhua

[eirenical]

I’ve been thinking a lot about Fang Duobing and names.

(Disclaimer: I’m learning Mandarin but have very very little of it under my belt and have pulled these definitions from Yabla.  If I’ve missed a major nuance, please feel free to add on. ^_^)

He’s first introduced to us as 袁健康 (Yuan Jiankang), the alias he gives at Baichuan Court when he’s participating in the tests to get accepted.  健康 means health or healthy. And when you consider his actual name, that’s... telling.

Fang Duobing (方多病), we find out not much later, is his real name.  But it’s not really a name, is it?  It’s what his mother and father and aunt called him as a child because he was 多病 -- often/always ill.  Much later in the series, we hear from his father that his mother didn’t give him a proper name at the beginning because they weren’t sure he would make it.

The only other name he ever gets called is Fang Xiaobao (方小宝).  He’s called this by his mother and aunt and eventually by Li Lianhua, as well (at first, I think this is almost ironic or teasing in nature, but becomes sincere as they come to mean more to each other, but I’ll get to that).  小宝 means “little treasure”.  This is the same 宝 as in 宝贝 (baobei).  From what I understand it’s the kind of affectionate pet name that parents might call their children, but isn’t... really the kind of nickname you’d use for an adult.  (...unless you’re Zhao Yunlan and have absolutely zero shame and are kind of a horn dog.  XD)

And this progression just fascinates me and makes me feel endlessly sad for him.  He’s “always ill” to everyone he’s introduced to because he never was given a proper name.  He’s “healthy” when he’s trying to break away from his family’s control and his entire past to follow his own dreams in the jianghu and Baichuan Court.  And he is forever “little treasure” to his mother and his aunt who wanted nothing more than to keep him safe and coddled at home because they can’t imagine him no longer being the “always sick” child he was when he was young.

And to Li Lianhua, he starts out as Fang Duobing because that’s the only name that he knows him by, but over the course of the series that shifts.  He starts calling him “Xiaobao” eventually.  And at first it’s said teasingly and not in the nicest of ways.  It’s a little condescending.  A reminder of how young, how innocent, Fang Duobing is.  A constant subtle suggestion that he should maybe go home to his mother, marry his princess, and live a safe and comfortable life.  But the more he accepts Fang Duobing’s presence in his life and the connection that’s building between them, once he hears Fang Duobing call him 知己 (zhiji) and MEAN IT, once Fang Duobing starts stepping up and living up to his potential as an equal and a partner... that shifts.  It becomes less ironic, less teasing, and far, FAR more sincere.  More of an acknowledgement of how much Fang Duobing has come to mean to him, even if he can never put that into words.

...but it’s still not a name.

The Emperor calls his father out on this towards the end of the series and for a moment I thought we might see him given a real name at that point, and I was almost relieved when it didn’t happen.  If he’s going to get a “real” name at this point, I’d rather see it be one he picks for himself or one given to him by someone who loves and understands him in ways he deserves.

So he makes his way through this story named only as a testimony to how other people feel about him: a sickly child who may be a burden, may never live up to expectations, may not live long enough to be worth naming; a treasured child who survived and, against all odds, THRIVED, but needs to be protected at all costs; a vibrant youth who’s one shot to name himself is to deny his entire past and leave it behind him... and eventually to being a treasure again, but no longer one that needs to be coddled.  One that truly IS a treasure and an unexpected one: a legacy, a partner, a support strong enough for someone who refuses to rely on anyone’s strength but his own.

And that makes sense.  Because at the core of it, Fang Duobing is a people pleaser.  Once he finds someone he feels strongly about, he’ll do whatever he can, be whoever he needs to be, to make that person happy, to protect them.  And with the way he shapes his own personality to suit those goals, he’s more of a chameleon than Li Lianhua ever was.  And his lack of a real name reflects that beautifully.

...and now I’m going to go sit in a corner and cry about it some more.  TT^TT

#mysterious lotus casebook #fang duobing #names #eirenical.meta #mysterious lotus casebook meta #mlcb meta #long post #just in case #fang duobing & li lianhua #fang duobing x li lianhua #could go either way #fanghua

[randomingoftherandomness]

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

[jupiter-86]

Me writing Fanghua fanfic: Am I making Fang Duobing too over-the-top protective of Li Lianhua? He's asked him if he's ok a lot in this fic and it's only chapter 1... and he keeps trying to kill anyone who even looks at Li Lianhua wrong... am I overdoing it?

I look back at any given episode of MLC: Nevermind.

#he's canonically insane over li lianhua right from the beginning #i am writing something for them rn but i'm not promising it'll be posted i'm mainly writing it for me #fanghua #fang duobing x li lianhua #mysterious lotus casebook #chinese drama #cdrama

[solariene]

►Li Lianhua & Di Feisheng | Sacrifice

My contribution to this fandom!

#this drama and this ship deserve more hype #i love everything about it #i know they're not very the main relationship #i like the trouple vibe #and fang duobing #but feihua checked every trope I love 😂 #and they gave me enough inspiration to make a video #li lianhua #di feisheng #li lianhua x di feisheng #li xiangyi #mysterious lotus casebook #莲花楼 #lian hua lou #cdrama #feihua #video edit #my edit #Youtube

[madamadragon]

THIS IS THE MOST FUNNY AND BEAUTIFUL THING I EVER SEEN

#mysterious lotus casebook #li lianhua and fang duobing giving dean and cas vibes #credit to the owner of the fanart #mlc x supernatural #destiel #fanghua #funny as hell #li xiangyi #li lianhua #mlc #fang duobing

[tarsusingkirk]

fang duobing made one (1) friend (llh) and then was absolutely ecstatic to find out his new best friend Also had a friend (dfs) because that automatically meant he now had Two (2) friends! after he got over his jealousy ofc

#mysterious lotus casebook #fang duobing #li lianhua #di feisheng #difanghua #hes an only child he never learned how 2 share ok . also hes a rich spoiled brat #twirls my hair and batters my eyeballs whats ooc idk that #im in my ignoring canon and they live happily ever after era 🥰🫶 #txtpst #feisheng x lianhua x duobing

[shentunans]

#cheng yi #zeng shunxi #joseph zeng #mysterious lotus casebook #gifs #my gifs #cdrama #Fang DuoBing being annoyed by Su Xiao Yong is relatable because oh lord #like she would be cool if her sole existence wasn’t to get into Li Lianhua’s trousers and frankly that Qiao Wanmian’s property #even DuoBing and FengSheng are team Xiang Yi x Wanmian otp like c’mon

[evolutionsbedingt]

New Fic!

Ascend the Lotus Tower (2.1k words) Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 莲花楼 | Mysterious Lotus Casebook (TV) Rating: T Warnings: None Relationships: Di Feisheng/Fang Duobing/Li Lianhua Additional Tags: Post-Canon Fix-It, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Blind Li Lianhua, Terminal Illness, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Angst with a Happy Ending Summary: Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng find Li Lianhua on the beach, but this is only the first step to saving the man.

#*mine #my adventures in writing #mysterious lotus casebook #di feisheng x fang duobing x li lianhua #mysterious lotus casebook fic

[potahun]

Fang Duobing being marked by the Spiral (aka the Fear in charge of gaslighting) would be so hilariously mean, just saying

#lhl #lhl x tma #having a lot of tma-inspired au thoughts all of a sudden #di feisheng is marked by the Slaughter but he would rather die than obey #lmao only li lianhua would succomb huh #fang duobing and di feisheng would both Tim their way out rather than succomb #and they would do it for different reasons #fang duobing would die to protect others #di feisheng would die because he refuses to bow to anyone or anything

[larinaliel]

The meeting with his fiancee is to blame for everything.

-

Во всём виновата встреча с его невестой.

-

FeiLianDuo, first kiss

#mlc #mysterious lotus casebook #fang duobing #li lianhua #di feisheng #fang duobing x li lianhua x di feisheng

[eirenical]

for the ship ranking: Fang Duobing X Li Lianhua

Hi, nonny! Thank you for playing! :D

Squick / Just nope / A trainwreck you can’t look away from / Mehh but they are bloody everywhere / Not interested but no negative feelings / I need to see how I could make it work / BroTP / Cute / I love them / They rented a room in my mind and are here to stay

Fang Duobing and Li Lianhua are one of those rare ships for me that I will happily take in whatever form they come. Romantic? Platonic? Familial? Teacher/student? Adoptive son/brother? Like, there is no way in which I DON'T like this ship. (I think the only other ship I feel exactly this way about is Anakin x Obi-wan, actually and for all the same reasons, really?)

Their relationship is just SO complex and it goes through so many transitions throughout the story that at some point in the story they are ALL of those things to each other and I love every single iteration of it.

That being said, there is a DEFINITE shift in the relationship after FDB finds out who LLH is. Once that happens, he is able to break his obsession with LXY, see LLH for who he really is, and most importantly stop seeing HIMSELF as a child constantly chasing after an ideal that he fears he'll never catch or live up to. You can see it in their every interaction after that. FDB is no longer a child clinging to LLH's coattails because he's afraid he can't stand on his own. He's an adult after that, an equal, able to make his own way. Until that shift happens, I can't really see them being lovers, but after that? ABSOLUTELY YES.

So yeah. I LOVE THEM A PERFECTLY NORMAL AMOUNT.

^_^

#fang duobing #li lianhua #mysterious lotus casebook #fanghua #fang duobing x li lianhua #ask meme answers #highly specific ship ranking meme

[randomingoftherandomness]

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.

[polyamships]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 莲花楼 | Mysterious Lotus Casebook (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Di Feisheng/Li Lianhua/Fang Duobing Characters: Li Lianhua | Li Xiangyi, Fang Duobing, Di Feisheng Additional Tags: Post-Canon Fix-It, wherein the canon ending was yet another one of Li Lianhua's schemes, Li Lianhua lives, Happy cottage-core ending, also canon compliant Summary:

Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng find Li Lianhua at the edge of the sea. He finally gives them an explanation for everything, and much more.

#fandom: mysterious lotus casebook #ot3: di feisheng x fang duobing x li lianhua #fanwork: fanfic

[jupiter-86]

i won't let you die // li lianhua x fang duobing // cheng yi

#youtube #there's so few fan vids of these two it's criminal but this one is really really good #fang duobing x li lianhua #fanghua #mysterious lotus casebook #chinese drama #cdrama

[olderthannetfic]

if i'm posting a fic about a poly pairing, is it good practice to tag all the sub ships (x/y, y/z, x/z) in addition to the poly pairing x/y/z?

--

No. It is extremely bad practice.

The only time you should tag the two-person ships is if the fic has a heavy focus on one or more of them by itself and not in the context of the OT3. For example, if X and Y spend a bunch of the fic getting together and then Z shows up late in the game and it ends in OT3, you might want to tag both X/Y and X/Y/Z.

I've done that on some fics when I wanted to really emphasize that a lot of the content focused on X/Y, especially if it's the least common of the three 2-person options in the fandom.

However, I didn't bother in my latest fic of this type because the whole Di Feisheng/Fang Duobing part is them both being in mourning for Li Lianhua, so the specter of his presence is hovering over their interactions the whole time. The overall intent is very OT3. The part of the fandom that is going to be interested in this fic is, for the most part, people who ship the OT3.

[mx-myth]

Mlc au where li lianhua just. Doesn't re-enter the jianghu. He has a couple of Big Realisations and disassociates so hard that li xiangyi is permanently dead now and he's not touching that shit with a ten foot pole.

He still meets fang duobing except they meet during on of fdb's probationary cases because he's like, sprained his wrist. He's also bleeding a lil' bit everywhere so when he sits down at the booth where llh has set up shop llh is like who is this yucky boy. Fdb is like daifu I'll pay you x amount of money to heal me. Llh ups his first impression to yucky rich boy.

Anyway it turns about when llh isn't there to guide him fdb is really reckless. But guess what! He always meets li-daifu wherever his case is! Isn't it a miracle? (Llh is long-suffering. Why does this (his, unfortunately) yucky little rich boy keep coming back to him)

Very soon fdb starts giving him gifts instead of money (because he has no money management skills). He starts off small like flowers and little soaps then desserts and then suddenly he's showing up with a set of fancy robes for llh (who had seen fdb looking at him all intently when he was estimating his measurements and thought he was checking him out. It was the start of a minor - soon to be major and ongoing - crisis) (but it turns out he likes the fucking robes).

At some point fdb runs into A Spot during one of his cases and declares, to everyone in the vicinity, that he's li xiangyi's disciple. This is overheard by di feisheng's spymaster (I CANNOT remember what his name is) who reports it back to dfs, who is like hmm, interesting.

And obviously, the most logical response here is to kidnap him and announce that he has li xiangyi's disciple held hostage.

Llh hears of this, scoffs because xiaobao can take care of himself, paces for ten minutes, and then grumbles to himself while grabbing his sword and booking it. He bursts onto the scene and it's all like:

Dfs: ...li xiangyi? You're alive?

Fdb: li lianhua-daifu!!! ...why do you have a sword.

Dfs: oh, i get it, you went into hiding. *shaking fdb* is this your new boytoy

Llh: di feisheng! Unhand him, he's a paying customer!

Dfs, nodding: I see. Boyfriend then. But you haven't had the balls to court him properly, huh

They have an argument that is actually just them exchanging small talk. Fdb is slowly dying because this is dfs, villain of the jianghu, so why is he having a reaction to him scruffing him like a kitten? Also, is li-daifu actually li xiangyi???

Long story short about three weeks later dfs arrives for dinner. And then he just. Keeps showing up. The third time he shows up fdb is there also having dinner with llh. They bristle at each other like street cats but eventually it becomes a Thing That They Do.

(In the background dfs is picking up the fucking slack and destroying the whole nanyin revival plot. Fdb keeps unintentionally and accidentally foiling related plots as he takes cases)

(Fdb: I found this in my latest case and I don't know what it is. *holds up the Rama heavenly ice shard or whatever it is*

Dfs: ...it's a screwdriver.

Fdb, who has never seen a screwdriver in his life*: oh, okay *sticks in a drawer of the lotus tower and immediately forgets about it*)

(Dfs thinks it's amusing bordering on ridiculous because fdb just keeps bringing these artifacts back. But he doesn't know what they are and neither does llh so the lotus tower is turning out to be a really safe place to put them)

Also because this version of llh actually knows from the start that he wants to live. He just never actively looked for a cure because he didn't have much to live for in his little life. But now he does so he accepts the Styx flower or whatever dfs finds for him and they all live happily ever after.

(*Edit: oh I'm an idiot. Of COURSE fdb knows what a screwdriver is. He lives with the Queen of Inventing Clever Things (master he my beloved) for god's sake. I think if he knew dfs was lying to him he wouldn't be able to let it go, since we all know how he is. So I don't know what dfs would actually tell him lmao)

#Li-daifu hearing about stuff in the jianghu: hmm. it's not my problem anymore #He definitely got tired of it quicker than canon llh did #He basically is the stay-at-home boyfriend #Xiaobao is the breadwinner #Because dfs shuts down the jinyuan alliance and becomes stay-at-home boyfriend number two #lian hua lou #mysterious lotus casebook #li lianhua #li xiangyi #di feisheng #difang #fanghua #feihua #liansanjiao #difanghua #mlc brainrot is real #gonna call this the #li-daifu au #fang duobing