Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield

Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield (绣春刀II修罗战场) is a 2017 Chinese wuxia film directed by Lu Yang. It is a prequel to the 2014 film Brotherhood of Blades. Set in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), the story follows Shen Lian, captain of the embroidered uniform guard (锦衣卫; pinyin: Jǐnyīwèi) the imperial secret police of the court, as he searches for the truth behind a conspiracy that framed him, his colleague Pei Lun and a young woman named Bei Zhai. Starring Chang Chen, Yang Mi and Zhang Yi, the film was released in China on 19 July 2017.

Plot
In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign of the Ming Dynasty, Shen Lian, a Jinyiwei of the Northern Pacification Division, killed his colleague Ling Yunkai in order to save the painter Beizhai during a mission to eliminate the rebels. After that, he had to get rid of the suspicion and investigation from Lu Wenzhao and Pei Lun on the one hand, and set fire to the Jinyiwei's case library under the threat of a mysterious woman on the other hand. In the turbulent times, Shen Lian and Beizhai fell in love, but they fell deeper and deeper. Behind all this, a huge conspiracy was secretly laid out

Cast

 * Chang Chen as Shen Lian
 * Yang Mi as Bei Zhai
 * Zhang Yi as Lu Wenzhao
 * Liu Duan Duan as Chongzhen Emperor
 * Lei Jiayin as Pei Lun
 * Xin Zhilei as Ding Baiying
 * Chin Shih-chieh as Wei Zhongxian
 * Li Yuan as Ding Chong

Director
Lu Yang graduated from Beijing Film Academy and has a master's degree in directing. His first feature My Spectacular Theatre (2010) won the Audience Award at Busan International Film Festival 2010. Brotherhood of Blades (2014) is his second feature.

Reception
The film has grossed CN¥131 million in China.