I watched SCI, me likes it
AND LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT IT
SCI is based -or heavily inspired if you will, after all that's where the characters came from- a novel written in the Qin Dynasty (1644-1911 more less) in the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1825-1908) attributed to Shi Yukun and Yu Yue.
I won't say much bout it rn, except:
The novel went to several names and hands but ended up with the names '7 heroes and 5 gallants' and '3 heroes and 5 gallants'.
It began as a collection of stories of the real person that was Bao Zheng, Bao Qingtian, a judge of unbreakable character known for being fair to all. It mixes both real things and fiction, tho it's mostly fiction.
In the novel, Bao Zheng shares protagonism with the heroes and gallants, all which are:
The heroes:
Hero of the North, Ouyang Chun.
Hero of the South, Imperial Cat, Zhan Zhao.
Black Fox, Zhi Hua.
Twin heroes, Din Zhaolan and Dong Zhaohui.
Xiao Zhuge, Chen Zhongyuan.
Young Hero, Ai Hu.
And the gallants:
Sky Rat, Lu Fang.
Earth Rat, Han Zhang.
Mountain Rat, Xu Qing.
River Rat, Jiang Ping.
And Sleek Rat, Bai Yutang.
Other characters include:
The four warriors:
Ma Han, Zhang Long, Zhao Hu and Wang Chao.
Bao Xing, Bao Zheng's page boy.
Gongsun Ce, Bao Zheng's secretary, sometimes also doctor.
Zhao Zhen, the Emperor (also a real person, he was an Emperor of the Song dynasty, in which the story takes place)
And, the Prince of Xiangyang, the Emperor's uncle, Zhao Jue.
The novel covers how Bao Zheng became a Judge and the many wacky and not so wacky adventures of those who would end up working for and/or with him. Not all the heores and gallants start working for the government, in fact, those who end up as officials, do so because the Emperor orders so and you can't just say no to the Emperor.
When it comes to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang... Their relationship goes from one-sided rivalry to rivals to coworkers also maybe friends, and well, there are many reasons (dont expect much tho, better put on the pink tinted glasses to help) why they're a popular ship, not to spoil but the first time Zhan Zhao sees Bai Yutang he finds him to be so handsome that he can't help but put down his wine cup.
I won't go into details but I REALLY TRULY LOVE this novel, is 120 chapters long, divided in 3 volumes. Its stories work both as a whole story and as independent ones, all protagonist get their time to shine and it can be so SO funny.
I may make more posts about it, cuz I LOVE it, but also not just about it, but also in relation to SCI, as one of its MANY adaptations/derivative works.