[Relationship Chart] The Imperial Coroner (Drama)

I’ve finally finished watching the drama! Some people think the ending was too rushed but I think it’s just right. All loose ends tidied without rushing them to fit within the drama, and all couples well-established with a believable relationship progression. I might write a longer review later on, comparing the book and drama.

The story does have a lot of characters so here’s a few relationship charts to help anyone who is confused as I was. Firstly, the main cast:

Next, the relevant Officers and Ministers of the Imperial Court, including some deceased:

I didn’t pick up some of the names, if they were ever mentioned, so please let me know if I missed someone. The relationships and posts are those as of the start of the drama, so that there aren’t any spoilers.

Last but not least, and also the most confusing, is the answer to the question: what relationship does Princess Xiping have to the current Emperor?

Thanks to the help of another viewer on discord, and some cross-checking on my own, digging into actual Tang dynasty history… here’s the chart:

References: https://3g.163.com/dy/article/GAI5VSE205444QJ8.html?spss=adap_pc and https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%94%90%E6%9C%9D#%E5%90%9B%E4%B8%BB%E5%B9%B4%E8%A1%A8

Who knew that Princess Xiping and Duke Chang were real people? Who knew that I would actually look up chinese history? The numbers in brackets are the years of reign for each of these Emperors.

Who knew that the eunuchs being so powerful in this drama isn’t a glitch but a reflection of true history during that time? The 12th and 14th Emperors of Tang, also featured in this chart were said to be killed by eunuchs, who literally were kingmakers.

Xiao Jinli and Xiao Jinyu likely are entirely fictional though (but don’t quote me on this, I just don’t want and don’t know how to find out for sure).

I really do appreciate the scriptwriters for adding this historical element which I would never have thought to look up if not for this drama. The presence of Princess Xiping, Duke Chang, and the Xuanzong Emperor in the drama is solely thanks to them. The novel merely had a vague indication of historical period, and the novel Emperor is actually Xiao Jinyu’s nephew.

The scriptwriters listed are the original author, Leisurely Lass (清闲丫头), and Qian Xiaobai (钱小白). It must take great courage to look at past (and probably quite immature) work, then recreate it for the better along with someone else. So my sincere thanks to the scriptwriter duo for creating a fantastic story!

Please also check out my initial impression of the drama, chapter 1 of the novel translated, and here for more translations, including Bone Painting Coroner.
If you liked this, leave me a comment below or buy me a coffee!

[Drama Review] The Imperial Coroner

I’m so excited for this drama! A story about a female coroner? Hell yeah! Why not BPC though? The first two episodes premiered on the WeTV Youtube today (video embedded below) but more episodes are available on the WeTV site itself.

I also found the novel that the drama is based on in my library and started reading it at the same time.

Live-action Drama

Title: The Imperial Coroner (2021)
Network: WeTV/ Tencent Video
Episodes: 36
Synopsis:

(Translated by me from the Tencent Video site because the WeTV version is… :x)
This drama tells the story of Chu Chu, who comes from a family of coroners. She travels to the capital because her hometown doesn’t allow women to work as coroners, and accidentally joined the Three Judicial Offices. 

From there, she met Prince Xiao Jinyu, Vice-Minister Jing Yi of the Court of Judicial Review, the swordswoman Leng Yue, and General Xiao Jinli. The group of them work together to solve one mysterious case after another and in the process tell a tale of love and friendship.

Novel

Title: The Imperial Coroner (Madam Coroner) 御赐小仵作(仵作娘子)
Author: Leisurely Lass 清闲丫头
ISBN: 978-7-5402-2636-7 
Publisher: Beijing Yanshan Press (2014) 北京燕山出版社
Synopsis:

(Translated by me)
Everyone says that, as a woman, you can’t have both a husband and career. Chu Chu just refuses to believe that!

The prince lacks a person to investigate cases; Chu Chu lacks a person as a husband. 

The prince doesn’t scorn Chu Chu for her naivete, ignorance, and stubbornness; Chu Chu doesn’t scorn the prince for his frail sickly body and his many rules. 

Chu Chu has a bright idea: If she married the prince who oversees criminal justice, wouldn’t she have everything she wanted?

First Impression (no spoilers)

The story centers around Chu Chu and Prince Xiao Jinyu. Chu Chu is a rural girl from a family of coroners who had entered the capital for the first time while Prince Xiao is the unpopular young overseer of the Three Judicial Offices, son of the Imperial Princess, and someone with a brillant investigative mind. 

I have no comment on the cast as I’m not familiar with any of the leads and only vaguely recognise some of the supporting cast.

The live-action drama seems to follow the novel quite closely, with Ep1 covering ~ Ch1-5. I do actually like this initial characterisation of Chu Chu better in the drama than the novel – in the novel she was so naive and ignorant i was in spasms of 2nd hand embarrassment, while in the drama she is still naive but not effusively and irreverently ignorant. 

While there are certainly dead bodies aplenty, the drama does limit the gore rather tastefully, showing most post-mortems as close-ups with diagrammatic overlays on top of (clothed) corpses. So far, at least for these first 2 episodes, it has been a VERY pleasant surprise that the deduction logic MAKES SENSE. AND the medical + herbal info (at least compared to the little I know). 

This is such a refreshing change from Bone Painting Coroner where 9/10 times when any medical info comes up, I need to add a translator’s note to say that the drugs and disease descriptions are NOT accurate to real life (BPC is still my precious baby tho). 

It’s a bit of a pity that the first coroner test didn’t feature the same case as the novel as it was hilarious but the novel case is… rather too explicit for TV lol. Cough aphrodisiacs cough. 

There are comedic moments scattered throughout, obvious pairing of the two main leads and secondary leads, and what looks to be mostly Imperial Court politics (not palace harem!) and treachery, mixed with some wuxia elements.

I definitely look forward to watching the rest of this show (and reading the novel)!

I’m also translating the first chapter of the novel for fun, hoping that the ban hammer won’t fall on me.

[Drama Review] Wrong Carriage Right Groom

All 20 Eps (Chinese only, unfortunately)

An old romantic comedy series (aired in 2000) that I just discovered. Its a cutesy, feel-good drama with some unexpected twists and turns as well as cheeky winks to typical cliches.

The premise of this drama is that these two girls, Du Binyan and Li Yuhu, were born and married off on the same day. One was to be married to a sickly third son of a rich family; the other, to a fearsome general whose first and second wives had already passed away. Not wanting to be outshone, the vanity of Du’s father prompted him to order an identical carriage and wedding dress made for his daughter on hearing that another girl in the same city was also getting married on the same day.

The wedding processions set off at the same auspicious hour, on the same route out of the city, met with a freak thunderstorm, and took shelter at a run-down temple. There, the two girls met for the first time. A convenient band of robbers set off general panic and confusion, leading a mix-up of the brides and the start of the story.

The two couples then cultivated their relationship through nursing an injury and plotting against a fox in the henhouse respectively. Even after the couples accepted each other, they had to go war, murder attempts, and royal intervention, before they finally were able to live happily ever after, bringing together three other couples along the way, with the help of a wise old teacher (of course) and doctor.

I liked that the plot was simple, even cliched, but managed to throw in unexpected gems like [SPOILER] revealing the presence of Miss Du to the army camp because one of the sergeants confessed to liking her and feared being prosecuted for homosexuality (Yes, its NPC, but also an undeniably unique plot device), as well as the delightfully diabolical matriarch grandmother who so obviously enjoyed acting out a play to catch the fox red-handed.

It was also a nice reminder of how difficult it must have been the days before green-screens and special effects. (That scorpion scene… *shudders*) All in all, a toast to cheesy nostalgia with a cutesy feel-good story. 4/5 stars.