LayarHijau– The Chinese drama Against the Current (兰香如故), starring Tan Songyun and Liu Xueyi, has reached its finale. The final episode was released early to VIP members on Tencent on October 5, and its ending has left viewers heartbroken. In the drama, Liu Xueyi’s character, Lin Jinqi, dies after an old illness caused by injuries from a previous battle resurfaces, leaving his wife, Xu Lanxiang, to live out the rest of her life alone. Their heartbreaking farewell has become one of the most emotional moments of the finale.
SPOILER Warning: This article discusses the ending of Against the Current, including Lin Jinqi and Xu Lanxiang’s fates and the eventual resolution of the Shen family case. If you have not watched the finale and want to avoid spoilers, please read on only after finishing the final episode.
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Compared with the original novel Lanxiang Yuan (兰香缘) by Chinese author He Yanshan, Against the Current makes two major changes to the story’s ending. The novel gives its central couple a much happier conclusion, while the drama takes a more bittersweet route that places greater emphasis on female independence, one of the story’s central themes.
Lin Jinqi and Xu Lanxiang: Together Until Old Age in the Novel, Separated by Death in the Drama
The biggest difference lies in the fate of the main couple.
In Lanxiang Yuan, Lin Jinlou and Chen Xianglan eventually overcome all the hardships they face and remain together for the rest of their lives. After finding a successor who can take over his responsibilities as a military leader, Lin Jinlou steps away from his position and returns to family life with Chen Xianglan.
The couple grows old together and enjoys a happy later life, watching their two sons and one daughter establish families and careers of their own.
Against the Current takes a very different direction. Lin Jinqi, played by Liu Xueyi, does not get to spend his later years with Xu Lanxiang, played by Tan Songyun.
The injuries he suffered during an earlier battle never fully heal. The damage eventually takes a toll on his health, and his old illness returns when he reaches middle age.
Lin Jinqi ultimately dies, leaving Xu Lanxiang to continue her life alone.
Their farewell becomes one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the finale. While the novel gives the central couple a happy ending, the drama uses Lin Jinqi’s death as a crucial turning point in Xu Lanxiang’s journey, showing that she continues to live and pursue her own path after losing her husband.
The Shen Family: Cleared Sooner in the Novel, 113 Years Later in the Drama
The second major difference concerns the Shen family case, which has continued to cast a shadow over Xu Lanxiang’s life.
In Lanxiang Yuan, Chen Xianglan carries the painful memories of the Shen family being wiped out. Their wrongful conviction is eventually overturned after the Crown Prince ascends the throne.
Lin Jinlou plays a major role in helping the Crown Prince secure the throne. Once he takes power, the Shen family’s case is revisited and their name is cleared. In the novel, this happens after Chen Xianglan marries Lin Jinlou.
The drama takes a much more tragic approach.
In Against the Current, Xu Lanxiang never gets to see an official imperial decree clearing the Shen family’s name. Even by the end of her life, the long-awaited justice has still not arrived.
One reason the case is so difficult to reopen is that the emperor who ordered the destruction of the Shen family was the father of the new emperor. The former emperor also left behind significant achievements during his reign, making it politically difficult for his successor to overturn such a major decision.
Lin Jinqi had previously heard calls for the Shen family case to be reopened. However, the political complications surrounding the previous emperor mean that the matter remains unresolved throughout Xu Lanxiang’s lifetime.
It is not until 113 years later, when people still remember and lament the Shen family’s fate, that the emperor of that era finally issues a decree clearing the family’s name.
As a result, Xu Lanxiang dies without ever witnessing the day when her family finally receives justice.
Although these two changes make the drama’s ending far more tragic than the novel’s, many viewers have praised the adaptation for giving the story a stronger sense of purpose.
Lanxiang Yuan gives its central couple a happy life together into old age, while Against the Current refuses to make Xu Lanxiang’s happiness entirely dependent on her marriage to Lin Jinqi.
After Lin Jinqi’s death, Xu Lanxiang continues living her own life. She keeps writing opera and uses her work to encourage women to become independent and stand on their own.
In the end, although Xu Lanxiang loses her husband and never lives to see the Shen family officially vindicated, her story does not end with either tragedy.
These changes have led viewers to see the drama’s ending as more closely aligned with Against the Current’s message about female independence, while also giving the adaptation a distinctly different tone from the novel’s more conventional happy ending.
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