# Yu Zui (余罪)
**Yu Zui** (余罪) is a 2016 Chinese crime and suspense web drama produced by iQiyi, New Classics Media, and Zeus Entertainment, adapted from Chang Shuxin's (常书欣) novel of the same name. It follows Yu Zui, a slacker police academy student who is pushed into an undercover assignment inside a drug trafficking organization, and stars Zhang Yishan, Chang Rong, Wu You, and Zhang Jincheng.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BD%99%E7%BD%AA/17366760?fromModule=lemma_inlink) Season 1 premiered on iQiyi on May 23, 2016, and season 2 followed in June of the same year; the two seasons together run 24 episodes of about 45 minutes each.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BD%99%E7%BD%AA/17366760?fromModule=lemma_inlink) • [2](https://thetvdb.com/series/313115-show)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 余罪 (Yu Zui), also the protagonist's name and a legal term for undisclosed offenses[3](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/news/2016/2016-06-15/274346.html) |
| Source | Adapted from Chang Shuxin's web novel of the same name, about 2.9 million characters long[3](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/news/2016/2016-06-15/274346.html) |
| Broadcast | Season 1 from May 23, 2016; season 2 from June 2016; 24 episodes, 45 minutes each, on iQiyi[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BD%99%E7%BD%AA/17366760?fromModule=lemma_inlink) • [2](https://thetvdb.com/series/313115-show) |
| Main cast | Zhang Yishan as Yu Zui; Chang Rong as Xu Pingqiu; Wu You as Lin Yujing; Zhang Jincheng as Fu Guosheng[4](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Yu_Zui) |
| Production | Director Zhang Rui; screenwriters Shen Rong, Zhang Shidong, and Jiang Wuji; producer Zhang Yuxin; filmed in Shenzhen[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BD%99%E7%BD%AA/17366760?fromModule=lemma_inlink) • [4](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Yu_Zui) |
| Viewership | Over 3 billion cumulative views by July 14, 2016; 31.8 billion (3.18 billion in Western numbering) at finale per iQiyi; over 4.2 billion per the producer's prospectus[5](https://www.iqiyi.com/common/20160720/066bdf14103be747.html) • [6](https://qxb-pdf-osscache.qixin.com/AnBaseinfo/e5d406c51591de89bfe9e4eaf641f13a.pdf) |
| Awards | Golden Budo Award for Best Web Drama (2016); top 10 web drama at the 2016 China Pan-Entertainment Index Ceremony; Golden Lotus Outstanding Web Drama at the 7th Macau International TV Festival[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BD%99%E7%BD%AA/17366760?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and source novel
The drama's title is the protagonist's name and also a legal concept. The author explained that "yu zui" (余罪) refers to offenses a suspect has concealed and not yet confessed to the authorities.[3](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/news/2016/2016-06-15/274346.html) In the story, Yu Zui is a police academy student, nicknamed "Jianren Yu" (贱人余, roughly "scoundrel Yu"), who enters a special selection exercise and is then placed undercover in a drug trafficking ring, where he encounters a series of dangerous situations.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BD%99%E7%BD%AA/17366760?fromModule=lemma_inlink) The provincial criminal investigation chief Xu Pingqiu chooses him precisely because he thinks and acts like a street hustler rather than a conventional officer; in the novel, Xu half-coerces and half-deceives Yu Zui into the undercover role after losing more than one informant to the same trafficking organization.[7](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1483767)
The novel was already a phenomenon before adaptation. In December 2013, CCTV's *News Liveroom* covered the book's popularity, and serving police officers joined online discussions of its plot developments.[8](https://culture.people.com.cn/GB/n1/2016/0623/c22219-28470813.html) Chang Shuxin, born in 1975, has said the novel's detailed depiction of criminal psychology and gang structure drew on his own year spent in a detention center after a robbery conviction in his youth, as well as real cases told to him by police officers.[3](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/news/2016/2016-06-15/274346.html) • [9](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1483440) The television adaptation rights were sold in 2013 for 600,000 yuan, a price the author described as low; production was delayed because of the perceived censorship risk of the crime genre.[3](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/news/2016/2016-06-15/274346.html)
## Production
New Classics Media, a traditional television drama producer behind titles such as *Mr. Right* and *Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace*, acquired the novel's rights in 2014 and made the project its first commercial web drama; iQiyi then included it in its "super web drama" program. [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began in May 2015 and lasted more than 110 days.[10](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/tashuo/browse/content?id=11fca6ec315f236af5c559bf) The total production cost was reported at just over 3 million yuan, a modest budget that the drama outperformed commercially.[11](https://m.huxiu.com/article/154648.html)
Director Zhang Rui, a Beijing Film Academy graduate, has said the screenplay was polished with his writers against the structural model of classic American series, and that the show's broad framework referenced *Breaking Bad* and *24*.[12](https://www.jiemian.com/article/725362.html) He had planned the city atmosphere after *Gotham*, but budget limits forced all shooting into the outskirts of Shenzhen, and he estimated that less than a tenth of the camera setups and shot types he wanted were achieved. His cut ran 30 episodes; the producer had six cut for iQiyi's scheduling and format requirements, which he blamed for plot holes in season 2.[12](https://www.jiemian.com/article/725362.html) The 24 episodes took about two years from script to screen, longer than some television productions.[13](https://www.ikanchai.com/article/20160722/91263.shtml)
## Release and viewership
Season 1 went out on iQiyi from May 23, 2016 under a membership-first model: VIP members could watch all 12 episodes at once while non-members waited. Within 72 hours of release the season's view count passed 100 million, and mobile views exceeded 60 million in the same window.[3](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/news/2016/2016-06-15/274346.html) • [1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BD%99%E7%BD%AA/17366760?fromModule=lemma_inlink) Season 2 was scheduled for June 13 but was moved up a day after the complete season leaked online; the leaked episodes drew 165 million views in three days, and the author publicly blamed piracy for damaging the series.[3](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/news/2016/2016-06-15/274346.html)
The show's commercial performance set records for a Chinese-made web drama at the time. By July 14, 2016, cumulative views exceeded 3 billion; iQiyi put the final figure at 3.18 billion when season 2 finished its free release on July 13, with a daily average above 40 million views.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BD%99%E7%BD%AA/17366760?fromModule=lemma_inlink) • [5](https://www.iqiyi.com/common/20160720/066bdf14103be747.html) New Classics Media's prospectus stated that Yu Zui was the first web drama to pass 3 billion views before all episodes had been released, and that its cumulative clicks had since exceeded 4.2 billion, making it one of the most-viewed domestic pure web dramas to that date.[6](https://qxb-pdf-osscache.qixin.com/AnBaseinfo/e5d406c51591de89bfe9e4eaf641f13a.pdf) iQiyi reported that about 40 percent of the show's audience was female, which it attributed to the "tender tough guy" positioning developed from pre-production market research.[5](https://www.iqiyi.com/common/20160720/066bdf14103be747.html)
## Reception
**Critical response was strong for season 1 and cooler for season 2.** At broadcast, Douban ratings stood at 8.3 for season 1 and 7.0 for season 2, with most criticism aimed at plot holes in the second season; by 2024 the season 1 score was 8.4 from about 250,000 users and season 2 stood at 7.7.[12](https://www.jiemian.com/article/725362.html) • [14](https://www.chinaz.com/2024/0421/1611611.shtml) Commentators credited Zhang Yishan's performance as the foul-mouthed, streetwise undercover officer with shedding his child-star image from the sitcom *Home with Kids* and with grounding the police hero as an ordinary, flawed figure rather than a righteous archetype.[15](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0707/c1013-28531364.html) Critics also noted the show's structural choice: it emphasized psychological contest between police and criminals over case-of-the-week deduction, and iQiyi framed it as an anti-genre take on the police procedural.[5](https://www.iqiyi.com/common/20160720/066bdf14103be747.html)
The drama's success had industry effects. It was credited with helping drive iQiyi membership growth, and with prompting a wave of suspense and crime web drama adaptations, including *Ten Deadly Sins*, *Medical Examiner Dr. Qin*, and *Ming Dynasty Antiques Bureau*, that entered production lists in its wake.[8](https://culture.people.com.cn/GB/n1/2016/0623/c22219-28470813.html) • [15](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0707/c1013-28531364.html) Zeus Entertainment, one of the production companies, later announced plans for a Yu Zui film through its film subsidiary.[16](https://pdf.dfcfw.com/pdf/H3_AP201611030053362213_1.pdf) Some original-novel readers objected that the adaptation compressed roughly a tenth of the book, shifted focus toward romance, and softened the protagonist's edge.[17](https://ient.ifeng.com/42636695/news.shtml)
## Removal and return
In September 2016, Yu Zui was taken offline along with several other popular web dramas, including *Master Devil Do Not Kiss Me*-era contemporaries *Mie Zui Shi* and *Darkener 2*. iQiyi stated that the removal, effective 9:00 a.m. on September 18, 2016, was for content adjustment under relevant policy, with a return date to be announced; iQiyi founder and CEO Gong Yu joked publicly that the title character "doesn't look like a proper police officer."[18](https://mxgxt.com/news/view/967526) The series returned to iQiyi in 2024, with both seasons restored and drawing renewed attention on release.[14](https://www.chinaz.com/2024/0421/1611611.shtml)
## References
1. [余罪（2016年张一山、常戎主演的悬疑网剧）, Baidu Baike](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BD%99%E7%BD%AA/17366760?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
2. [Yu Zui, TheTVDB.com](https://thetvdb.com/series/313115-show)
3. [《余罪》作者常书欣：被关过一年所以写得出很多细节, 中国作家网 / 澎湃新闻 (2016)](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/news/2016/2016-06-15/274346.html)
4. [Yu Zui, DramaWiki](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Yu_Zui)
5. [VIP会员剧《余罪》超31亿收官 爱奇艺成功探路新警匪剧, iQiyi (2016)](https://www.iqiyi.com/common/20160720/066bdf14103be747.html)
6. [新丽传媒招股说明书 (prospectus), qixin.com](https://qxb-pdf-osscache.qixin.com/AnBaseinfo/e5d406c51591de89bfe9e4eaf641f13a.pdf)
7. [网剧《余罪》热播：行走在光暗之间的贱人英雄, 澎湃新闻 (2016)](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1483767)
8. [《余罪》让人不再挑网剧的瑕疵, 北京晚报 via 人民网 (2016)](https://culture.people.com.cn/GB/n1/2016/0623/c22219-28470813.html)
9. [网剧《余罪》原著者常书欣：被关过一年，所以写得出很多细节, 澎湃新闻 (2016)](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1483440)
10. [一部"混混版《无间道》"网剧走红，我们采访了它的导演, 百度百科 TA说 (2016)](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/tashuo/browse/content?id=11fca6ec315f236af5c559bf)
11. [《余罪》凭啥成了网剧黑马？, 虎嗅网 (2016)](https://m.huxiu.com/article/154648.html)
12. [专访《余罪》导演张睿, 界面新闻·三声 (2016)](https://www.jiemian.com/article/725362.html)
13. [网剧如何像《余罪》一样，实现市场和口碑双赢, 光明日报 via 砍柴网 (2016)](https://www.ikanchai.com/article/20160722/91263.shtml)
14. [豆瓣8.4分！爆火悬疑网剧《余罪》重新上线爱奇艺, 快科技 via Chinaz (2024)](https://www.chinaz.com/2024/0421/1611611.shtml)
15. [从"太子妃"到"余罪":网剧与电视剧的新战争, 人民网 (2016)](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0707/c1013-28531364.html)
16. [东吴证券研究所研究报告 (2016)](https://pdf.dfcfw.com/pdf/H3_AP201611030053362213_1.pdf)
17. [《余罪》网剧遭原著粉声讨, 凤凰网 (2016)](https://ient.ifeng.com/42636695/news.shtml)
18. [龚宇回应《余罪》下架:余罪不像正经警察, 新浪科技 via mxgxt](https://mxgxt.com/news/view/967526)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › East Asian web and streaming serials › Titles Sp to Z*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license