General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Love of Nirvana (流水迢迢)

Love of Nirvana (流水迢迢, Liu Shui Tiao Tiao) is a 2024 Chinese historical romance and political drama of 40 episodes, adapted from Xiao Lou's (箫楼) novel of the same name and starring Ren Jialun, Li Landi, and Xu Zhengxi.¹^•² It premiered on Tencent on September 14, 2024, and its official Weibo account announced the series' conclusion (收官) on October 8, 2024.¹^•³

Key fact	Detail
Original title	流水迢迢 (Liu Shui Tiao Tiao); also known internationally as Forever Flowing Waters¹^•⁴
Episodes / runtime	40 episodes, about 45 to 48 minutes each¹^•⁵
Broadcast	Tencent, September 14 to early October 2024; official Weibo marked the finale on October 8, 2024¹^•³
Source	Novel Liu Shui Tiao Tiao (流水迢迢) by Xiao Lou (箫楼)²
Main cast	Ren Jialun as Wei Zhao / Xiao Wuxia, Li Landi as Jiang Ci, Xu Zhengxi as Pei Yan⁵
Directors	Zhou Jingtao, Qi Xiaohui, and Liang Baoquan⁶
Viewership	Over 2 million pre-release reservations; effective views passed 10 million within 24 hours of premiere and 500 million by October 11, 2024⁷
IMDb rating	7.3/10⁴

Spoilers

Premise

The story is set in the fictional state of Liang (大梁) and the city of Yueluo (月落城). Xiao Wuxia, the young lord of Yueluo City, has lived in hiding in the Liang Kingdom for years under the alias Wei Zhao, bearing the reputation of a sycophantic official as commander of the Guang Ming Guards, the force responsible for the emperor's safety and the capital's security.⁵^•⁸ His true purpose is to clear his father's name: the death of Prince Qi had led to Xiao Haitian being wrongly accused and Yueluo being punished with an annual tribute of slaves, and Wei Zhao has spent years investigating the old case.²^•⁹

The plot turns when Wei Zhao tries to seize Teng Rui, the peace-talks envoy from the state of Wei and the sole surviving witness of the Prince Qi case. His carefully laid plan is disrupted by Jiang Ci, a young woman from the mountains who had slipped down from her master's retreat to find a medicinal congee for her teacher and climbed a tree to watch the negotiations, stumbling instead onto the masked assassin.⁹^•⁵ Jiang Ci saves herself and wrecks the ambush, is rescued by the Marquis Pei Yan, and is kept in his residence under the pretext of recovering while he investigates the "saboteur" behind the disruption.⁹^•⁵

The three principals each hold their own agenda. Wei Zhao's tragic past and sense of duty gradually move the innocent Jiang Ci, and the two develop feelings for each other; Pei Yan, an ambitious official who wants to become prime minister, is the second male lead in a love triangle.⁵^•⁸ In the end, Wei Zhao, Jiang Ci, and Pei Yan set aside their personal grievances and unite against the Liang Emperor Xie Che, achieving the protection of Yueluo City.⁵

Cast and characters

Ren Jialun (Allen Ren) as Wei Zhao, whose hidden identity is Xiao Wuxia; he also appears under the name San Lang⁵
Li Landi (Landy Li) as Jiang Ci⁵
Xu Zhengxi (Jeremy Tsui) as Pei Yan⁵
Zhang Fengyi as the Liang Emperor Xie Che⁶^•⁸
Wen Zhengrong as Rong Yudie, Lady Rong Guo⁶
Supporting roles include Gao Han as Cui Liang, Zhang Yaqin as Yu Lian, Tao Xinran as Yan Qiaoshuang, and Yao Chi as Hong Jie⁶^•³

Production

The drama was directed by Zhou Jingtao, Qi Xiaohui, and Liang Baoquan, written by Xiao Lou, Li Na, and Zhang Yang, and produced by Liu Xu and Guo Jiangxi for TencentVideo.⁶ It is a Mandarin-language production of China, with genres listed variously as historical, romance, political, and wuxia.¹^•⁴ Reviewers noting the adaptation report that some aspects of the novel's story were changed for the screen.⁸

Release and viewership

The series premiered on September 14, 2024, airing daily at 18:00 on Tencent.¹ Before broadcast, reservations exceeded 2 million, and hashtags such as "流水迢迢定档" trended repeatedly before and during the run.⁷ Within 24 hours of the premiere, effective views across platforms passed 10 million; by October 11, 2024, they had surpassed 500 million, with the series topping the Guduo heat index rankings on multiple days.⁷ Internationally, the series streams on Rakuten Viki, among other platforms.⁵

Reception

Response was divided. Early viewers praised the political intrigue, with the emperor, ministers, and rival factions scheming against each other, and veteran actors Zhang Fengyi and Wen Zhengrong were credited with strengthening the drama's atmosphere of court maneuvering.² The "tortured romance" between the leads drew criticism from some viewers tired of the trope in which the male lead mistreats the female lead while she remains devoted.² A Tatler Asia review judged that the drama opened low and rose over its run but never became a breakout hit, citing a plot structure that felt underdeveloped, characters not vivid enough for viewers to inhabit, and a final two episodes dominated by Jiang Ci's flashbacks and weeping scenes that slowed the pacing.¹⁰ A Douban reviewer gave the series five stars, judging the first ten episodes' political scheming and the later Zhixing Pavilion segments well handled while finding middle sections weaker.¹¹ On IMDb the series holds a 7.3/10 rating.⁴

The ending is tragic: Wei Zhao returns to his true identity as Xiao Wuxia and dies in an explosion during the final struggle with Xie Che, judging that in dying he has at last returned to his homeland.¹⁰ Sina's coverage framed Ren Jialun's portrayal of the doomed commander as an example of tragic aesthetics, and noted that the role drew comparisons to his earlier character Zhou Shengchen.⁷

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026