LayarHijau – Discussion surrounding the ending of the Chinese drama Against the Current resurfaced on Weibo on October 5. According to WeTV’s schedule, VIP Express users can watch through Episode 47, which is also the finale, on October 5, while regular VIP users without Express access will be able to watch the final episode on Friday, October 9.
SPOILER: The information below about the drama’s ending and the ultimate fates of several major characters comes from discussions and posts shared by users on Weibo in China. The information has not been independently verified and may differ from the official version shown in the final episode.
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One of the discussions drawing attention was the hashtag #兰香在睡梦中离世, meaning “Lanxiang dies in her sleep.” Several netizens also discussed the fates of other major characters and shared footage from the final episode.
One lengthy post focused on Han Liang, who was described as a character whose fate was particularly difficult for viewers to accept. Han Liang is initially portrayed as a gentle scholar who once sent a message to Lanxiang from behind a wall. He later rises to a high-ranking position as a minister.
However, on a snowy night, Han Liang kneels outside the imperial study and eventually dies from the cold at the age of 39. The netizen described his fate as that of a civil official who risks his life to deliver advice or admonishment to the ruler.
He maintains his integrity but ultimately loses to the political intrigues of the imperial court. The netizen commented, “Luckily, Lanxiang didn’t marry him. Otherwise, how could she have endured this suffering?”
Lanxiang’s fate was described as the most painful part of the ending. After Lin Jinqi dies, Lanxiang lives alone for 34 years, eventually reaching the age of 80.
In her later years, she continues writing opera scripts, gradually recording the story of the Shen family so that their reputation can one day be restored after the injustice they suffered. According to the post, 113 years later, people continue submitting petitions from generation to generation until the emperor finally rehabilitates the Shen family’s name.
The netizen commented, “She finally got what she had waited for, but she also didn’t.” The figure of 113 years refers to the time that passes before the Shen family is finally rehabilitated, not Lanxiang’s age.
What moved the netizen most was the way Lanxiang dies. She does not suffer from illness and does not have to endure a heartbreaking farewell. After finishing the final part of the opera script she has been writing, Lanxiang goes to sleep peacefully and dies in her sleep.
She keeps the red-string promise she once made with Lin Jinqi throughout the rest of her life. One by one, the people she knew pass away, but Lanxiang continues to remember all of them.
Because of this, the ending is described as “the best ending, but also the loneliest ending.” Everyone is gone, leaving only Lanxiang to remember them.
According to the post, Lanxiang dies without having to suffer from illness or endure a painful separation. After writing the final part of her opera script, she simply goes to sleep peacefully.
Discussion of Lin Jinqi is also connected to a Weibo discussion from September 25. At the time, the hashtag #兰香如故BE#, referring to a “bad ending for Lanxiang Rugu,” became a topic of discussion, particularly regarding the fates of Lanxiang and Lin Jinqi.
One widely discussed rumor claimed that Lin Jinqi would live only until the age of 50, after which Lanxiang would spend 34 years living alone following his death.
What attracted the most attention at the time was the possibility that Lin Jinqi dies when Lanxiang is actually at the point when she loves him the most. If that is indeed what happens, their separation is not caused by their love fading or changing. Instead, death comes while Lanxiang’s feelings for Lin Jinqi are still at their deepest.
That possibility makes the 34 years Lanxiang spends alone even more painful.
Lanxiang’s journey is also one of the reasons the ending feels so tragic. She begins the story as a cautious servant and gradually becomes the leading woman of the Lin family, capable of managing the household and dealing with its various problems.
In the end, after finally obtaining the life and love she had spent so long fighting for, Lanxiang loses Lin Jinqi and has to spend the rest of her life without the person she loves.
Meanwhile, the drama’s ending has a major difference from the novel. In the novel, the female protagonist is Chen Xianglan, who is actually Shen Jialan, the granddaughter of a Grand Secretary from the Shen family.
After dying in her previous life, she is reborn in the same era as Chen Xianglan of the Chen family and works as a servant in the Lin household. The male protagonist in the novel is named Lin Jinlou, rather than Lin Jinqi as in the drama.
In the novel, Xianglan and Lin Jinlou get married. They later discover that Xianglan is pregnant. During her pregnancy, Xianglan reveals to Lin Jinlou that she is actually Shen Jialan and tells him about her past and the tragedy that befell the Shen family.
The Shen family was previously punished as a result of a power struggle. Her grandfather and the men in the family were executed, while her grandmother, mother, and several other women chose to end their own lives.
When the punishment against the Shen family was imposed, Shen Jialan was already married and had to go into exile with her husband. Her husband later died of illness during the journey. Jialan eventually died in poverty.
While in exile, she once prayed before Guanyin and promised that if someone helped restore the Shen family’s reputation and provided them with proper burials, she would be reborn in her next life as a servant to serve that person.
That promise is later connected to her rebirth as Chen Xianglan and her life in the Lin household.
This difference makes the drama’s ending considerably more tragic than the novel’s. In the novel, Xianglan and Lin Jinlou remain together until the end, with Xianglan’s pregnancy becoming an important part of the story’s closing chapters.
They also bid farewell to the Shen family together. In the drama, however, Lanxiang has to spend the final 34 years of her life alone after Lin Jinqi dies.
One netizen then argued that the meaning of the drama’s Chinese title, Lanxiang Rugu, only truly becomes clear at the end. 兰香 refers to the female protagonist’s name, Lanxiang, while also literally evoking the fragrance of an orchid.
The netizen therefore interpreted the title through the idea that “the fragrance remains, but the person is gone.” This is a play on the meaning of 兰香 as Lanxiang’s name and its literal meaning, rather than a translation of the international title Against the Current.
According to the netizen, Han Liang’s fate, the injustice suffered by the Shen family, and Lanxiang’s life are all encapsulated in the four characters of the Chinese title. A fate that begins with a divorce letter or separation and ends with a red-string promise is filled with helplessness.
For the netizen, the meaning of Lanxiang Rugu only truly becomes clear after Lanxiang’s story reaches its ending.
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