A coroner and a detective/criminal psychologist.
Notable Actors/Actresses
Notable Actors/Actresses
Su Xiao Tong: Chu Chu
Wang Zi Qi: Xiao Jin Yu
One review is insufficient to contain my love for The Imperial Coroner and so here’s a second thorough one! In here, what I cover are specific plots, the ingenuity of it all, and random things I liked. It’s quite unstructured. I tried not to be exhaustive with the minor details. The operative words being "I tried”.
Warning: You have entered a spoiler zone. For a general spoiler-free(-ish) review, please read full recaps&review.
Emphasis: Everything here is my interpretation unless I sourced it. I can be wrong. Feel free to share your thoughts!
Green Bold: An emphasis on information I did not discuss in detail in my recaps.
Intro: History
[Ep1] The focus on the health pill that Qin Luan gives the Emperor is to refer to the real Emperor that this drama is based on. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (reigned 846-859) was notoriously known to rely on these health pills with “aphrodisiac” effects. Sooo, sort of like Viagra? He doesn’t have an Empress, just a lot of consorts. He did fall in love with this one consort but found that he loved her too deeply and it affected his career, and so he ordered her to be killed. Sweet guy, really. He supposedly died because he took too much pills and wouldn’t abstain from sex. This is the Emperor our drama is based on (Source: Youtube video – this Youtuber gives very thorough and interesting Chinese history lessons; do take into account there may be some level of exaggeration on the pills).
The main question the same Youtuber explains: Is a Prince Chang rebellion possible in history? TL;DR: Yes. There’s enough of an historical gap for Prince Chang to have organized a coup.
Interesting to note, during this era, eunuchs had a lot of influence on the succession of the throne which is usually father to son, but with their manipulation, brothers take over brothers. The eunuchs empowered whoever they thought would be a malleable emperor, someone they can control and hence the characterization of Qin Luan: a cunning and nefarious eunuch. It's not out of the ordinary that he can control Minister Han and General Zhou.
Other characters in history:
- Princess Xiping is the grandniece of the Emperor; there’s two generations between them!
- Princess Xiping’s marriage was never recorded in history so our Xiao Heng story can be plausible in dramaworld.
- Prince Chang and Princess Xiping are paternal cousins (no wonder they seemed kind of close in the drama).
P.S. Do not ask me on for more history! I swear, all I know is here.
Romance: Xiao Jin Yu & Chu Chu
The Ladle: The literal and figurative use
[Ep9] Chu Chu makes Xiao Jin Yu a ladle (a mirror) to reflect the contents of a windowless chamber. Xiao Jin Yu never uses it but always keeps this big whopping spoon around him. However, I say he does use it – figuratively. How, you may ask, does he use the ladle figuratively?
[Ep17] It starts with Jing Yi who tells Xiao Jin Yu to look inside his heart and ask: What is the real reason you are keeping Chu Chu at your side?
Then...
[Ep20] Lalala~ Chu Chu searches for the missing ladle all on her own. Xiao Jin Yu boils with rage – an emotion he's unaccustomed with. Then, voila, he sees his own reflection in the ladle; he pauses, and, aha~ he sees his heart reflected in the ladle. In his expression – in his heart – he saw how much he loves Chu Chu and recognizes she is the only one for him.
Allow me to remind you the anatomy of the heart: there are four chambers, all windowless (valves do not count!). It shouldn’t be a surprise Chu Chu’s special ladle can reflect the heart, her very own eyes can do bone scans.
[Ep5] Here's a small little interim to remind you all about the fifth rib which is closest to where the heart beats.
Hola, fifth rib! Do you feel Xiao Jin Yu's heart beating for Chu Chu? ♪ Can you feel my heartbeat ♪
Anyway...
[Ep23] After the angry ladle scene (and when drama-time permitted some romance), Xiao Jin Yu proposed! Here was his logic: Jing Yi told him to look inside his heart → using the ladle he saw his heart → there is Chu Chu → fifth rib confirms → propose! His proposal, really, wasn't all that random. He had his analytical flow; the mirror was his concrete proof – Xiao Jin Yu is that kind of guy who requires proof. To him he was acting based on logic no matter how flabbergasted we all were when he dropped that "Marry Me”.
The Depth of Brotherhood: "親如兄弟”
Xiao Jin Yu’s connections to everyone
Xiao Jin Yu and Chu Chu were meant to be
There’s multiple levels of brotherhood that run deeper than what’s visible to the eye. Xiao Jin Yu, Xiao Jin Li, and Jing Yi are pretty obvious. But there’s also a level of brotherhood in the previous generation: their fathers.
- Daddy Jing would kill Chu Chu for Xiao Heng. Similarly, Jing Yi will protect Chu Chu for Xiao Jin Yu.
- Chen Ying (Xiao Jin Yu's father) sacrificed his life to ensure Xiao Heng could escape. I'm pretty sure Xiao Jin Yu and Xiao Jin Li can do the same for each other as well.
- Xiao Heng's family (Princess Xi Ping) took the risk of adopting Chen Ying's child (Xiao Jin Yu) when his family was accused of treason.
- Chu Chu’s father (Yun Yi) was charged with treason as well because he is loyal to Chen Ying.
- Leng Pei Shan (Leng Yue’s grandfather) also did everything he could to save the “rebels” from Chen Ying’s camp after they were charged of mutiny
Isn’t it beautiful how all our leads’ fathers (or grandfathers) have such a deep interconnection? Then our leads, not knowing their fathers' history, have formed their own bonds that’s deeper than brothers, deeper than friendships, and more like family. Leng Yue would stay with Chu Chu to dissect a bomb out of a body; Xiao Jin Li would princess-carry Xiao Jin Yu up the stairs; Jing Li would betray his father for Xiao Jin Yu, etc.
Although logically, I would prefer Xiao Jin Yu to be Xiao Heng’s son, for the bigger picture, Xiao Jin Yu being Chen Ying's son makes more sense. This whole drama becomes Xiao Jin Yu vindicating his father (Chen Ying) and repaying all the people he and his family were indebted to: 1) finding Xiao Heng, 2) clearing Yun Yi's name, and 3) saving Leng Pei Shan and 4) fulfilling Daddy Jing's revenge for Xiao Heng
Also! If Chu Chu and Xiao Jin Yu grew up in their own respective family, they could have been engaged because of the relationship between their fathers: Chen Ying is the army general and Yun Yi is his trusted aide. Chu Chu and Xiao Jin Yu were fated to meet.
Handsome Judge is not Xiao Jin Yu
Handsome Judge is Xiao Jin Yu
I really like how there are multiple proofs that Xiao Jin Yu is not the Handsome Judge. When Xiao Heng told Chu Chu stories of the Handsome Judge, Xiao Jin Yu was only a toddler. The Handsome Judge is Xiao Heng's make-believe character. In Chinese, “Handsome Judge” (yumian panguan) is a judge with a face of a jade. Jade represents a lot of good things in Chinese: beauty, nobility, sincerity, power, wealth, etc. Xiao Heng conjured this ideal judge who didn't exist but he had hoped could exist.
[Ep13] Chu Chu is aware that Xiao Jin Yu is not the Handsome Judge but the similarities between them are uncanny. As Chu Chu said that, it hit me how brilliant this moment was. Xiao Jin Yu was set up to be the Handsome Judge which is followed by the systematic elimination of all possibility that Xiao Jin Yu can be the judge and yet ultimately, Xiao Jin Yu has transformed into the Handsome Judge before our eyes. He embodied all the characteristics to be the judge who Xiao Heng dreamed of.
Xiao Heng's Endgame
Prince Chang's Endgame
[Ep21] The realization of how Xiao Heng concluded his life was profound and heartbreaking. I’ve already exhausted my energy to explain this in my full recap. I do want to highlight the brilliant use of “endgame”. The Chinese term is “殘局” which also translates to “a desperate situation”. It was foreboding but I always had a hope that Xiao Heng could be alive.
[Ep14] I do want to emphasize how clever that juxtaposition of Xiao Heng's endgame with the match between Daddy Jing and Xue Ru Cheng. While Xiao Jin Yu and Xiao Jin Li were deciphering the endgame, in another scene, Daddy Jing uses the chariot (車) to checkmate Xue Ru Cheng. Daddy Jing represents 車 – he is Xiao Heng's (馬) teammate and brother.
[Ep36] I also want to clarify I don't think Xiao Heng knew of Prince Chang to assign him as 象 (xiang; elephant / appearance / to imitate) and his soldiers as 卒 (zu; soldiers / pawn) but I do believe the symbolism was deliberate of the drama. In the very end, Prince Chang's final fall was delivered in this way:
- [Ep34] A checkmate by Daddy Jing: it was thanks to him that Qin Luan let his guard down. With Qin Luan gone, a formidable piece down, Prince Chang, our revolt king, cannot escape.
- [Ep35 &Ep 36] Rendering Xue Ru Cheng to a mere imitation of Prince Chang, claiming that he’s a fake and then...
- [Ep36] Dismantling the trust of his soldiers. They were loyal because Xue Ru Cheng manipulated their faithfulness to Prince Chang and if Xue Ru Cheng isn't Prince Chang, the soldiers don't know whom they are to fight for.
- In Chinese chess (xiangqi) 象 is only on the Black pieces while 相 is on the Red (or White) pieces with 相 meaning “image”. They both sound the same: xiang. Why do you think drama choose 象 over 相?
- In [Ep14] Xue Ru Cheng held onto this chess piece – my limited knowledge on Chinese chess tells me that it's a canon (in the picture above with the hand). Xue Ru Cheng uses his canon to take out the elephant 象. Did he just take himself out of the game?
Prince Chang's Candle
[Ep36] First of all, is Xue Re Cheng the real thing? I think he is. But. With Xiao Jin Yu using rumours to kill him off, it really doesn't matter if he is Prince Chang. To everyone, Prince Chang is already dead and Xue Ru Cheng is an impostor.
As for the candle, to be honest I'm not certain what it is. It could be:
- A bomb. This was my initial theory and probably what Xiao Jin Yu was planning for. He could not let Prince Chang be aware that he’s at a dead-end otherwise he could possibly commit mass suicide. The candle-bomb was his last resort when he no longer had hope.
- A candle. If it's merely a candle, then it shows us the emotional side of Prince Chang who went into this final battle with hope that he could win. Remember the first scene of Prince Chang. It was the chandelier-like candles that introduced him. It's sort of in the shape of a Christmas tree where each successful step he takes, he lights a candle. At the very apex, he had prepared the red candle with a dragon design, the symbol of the Emperor. Once he triumphs, he will light the final candle – his very last step. But he died. And when he died, the dragon candle dropped – the symbol of his demise.
- You tell me.
Depth and Breadth of Knowledge
[Ep5] I really liked how the drama explained contrecoup injury and then used its symptoms appropriately to fit the story. Chu Chu figuring out HOW they died was just the first puzzle piece – the tip of the iceberg. Then the plot thickens as Xiao Jin Yu strings all the logic together of WHY these minsters were killed.
For example, Feng Jie, the man who died of contrecoup injury was silenced because he had information from Qianzhou. Okay, so the drama takes us to Qianzhou. Done. But, wait, no. We’re nowhere near done with the ministers’ stories. We continue to uncover the message that Feng Jie held which was Leng Pei Shan’s deteriorating health – the key piece of information estranging the Emperor from Leng Army which allowed Prince Chang’s forces to parasitically flourish under Leng Pei Shan. Cheeky little Drama even had Daddy Jing tell us that Oh, Leng Pei Shan is a little fishy hiding his health records right around the time Feng Jie died. The hints were there.
[Ep11] Xiao Heng’s haunted house. Again, I’m impressed with the drama inserting knowledge about using wind to induce eerie ghost-callings but it is the reasoning behind WHY Xiao Heng would hide a corpse for five years that deeply awes me.
[Ep14] The chess endgame – the foretelling message down to the very end of the drama.
[Ep17] The reveal of how Prince Chang wanted to be resurrected by rumours and by Xiao Jin Yu nonetheless, was ingenious. HOW Xiao Jin Yu knew from the beginning blew me away (and it made logical sense how he knew). Qin Luan doing the exact same thing as Xiao Jin Yu impressed me too. [Ep36] Then we arrive to the finale and Xiao Jin Yu brilliantly instills rumours to kill off Prince Chang whether or not Xue Ru Cheng is Prince Chang. Xiao Jin Yu just owned Prince Chang at his own game.
[Ep19] I absolutely love that the show made Tan Guai so suspicious that he could not be suspicious. When we arrive to the end of that episode, his overt suspiciousness is not a bug in the drama but a deliberate move to fool everyone his true motives on killing Chu Chu.
- It's this ostensible red herring moment that reminds me why I appreciate this detective drama. There's no unnecessary scene of making anyone suspicious for the sake of increasing suspense. When the drama made us doubtful of Jing Yi and Daddy Jing, there were enough hints that they're good people but WHY is it that they're acting so dubiously, and figuring out that WHY has a fundamental part in the story to explain their utmost loyalty to Xiao Heng and Xiao Jin Yu.
- The fact that the bridge was built after Xiao Heng “left" the city confirms he never left. At this moment Xiao Jin Yu thought of the map and has figured out where Xiao Heng is.
- The bridge is later brought back into the story [Ep26] where we learn it wasn't at all for the citizens but for increasing the flow of criminal activity.
[Ep21] It’s so clever and yet so heartbreaking how the swamp is the perfect condition to keep a corpse from degrading.
[Ep25] I learned a way to test which direction the wind is coming from but I don’t know when I’ll ever need it.
[Ep28] I like how the drama used opioids, touched upon tolerance and tied in its symptoms of hallucinations.
[Ep30] Our drama isn't just concerned with science and anatomy but also literature: "Book of Songs"
[Ep33] I love how the drama used ice to smuggle in Xiao Jin Yu and Chu Chu, and not even bother telling us ice was needed to keep the corpses in pristine condition. It’s something I belatedly picked up in the next episode.
[Ep34] It was clever how Xiao Jin Yu, Daddy Jing, and Jing Yi teamed up to mess with Qin Luan’s internal clock all to tamper with his internal GPS. I also loved Daddy Jing's consideration of burying Qin Luan's mustache with him. It's a good throwback to all the mustache scenes.
[Ep36] The delayed release of the meatball/pill was pretty cool. I love how the drama creatively borrowed this knowledge from delayed-release medication.
As for how all three poisons in Xu Ru Gui work to strike three birds with one stone, I have a guess:
- Once the meatball dissolves via digestive enzymes, Xu Ru Gui will die of “climbing vines”.
- Chu Chu will die from inhaling “ricin" during her autopsy. First she’ll experience short of breath and then she’ll die of respiratory failure.
- The fire will still be burning and that will heat up the mercury. Normally liquid at room temperature, but once heated, mercury can evaporate into vapour – odourless and invisible. When Chu Chu doesn’t come out, Xiao Jin Yu will check on her and he’ll die of “mercury poisoning”
- The funeral will be the grand event to seize the Emperor.
The meatball was packed; each poison had a purpose. It was a cunning plan had it not been for Chu Chu activating her surgeon-prowess.
Opening Songs
I've never had a drama where it doesn't have an opening song and then seven episodes in, it gives us an opening song, then further on, it changes the opening song and then it disappears and then is reappears with a new one. It's so unconventional that I end up paying much more attention to the opening segments than I normally would. My favourite would be the second one, just because of how powerful Leng Pei Shan's appearance was.
The most telling one would the the third opening theme. If you pay attention to each scene, you'll notice it captures all the important moments of the third arc in the drama which is the final showdown with Prince Chang.
I like the tea scene near the end which can symbolize the poisonous tea that Qin Luan plotted or the wedding tea. It's probably the former but the romantic me likes to believe it's the latter. Also, the romantic me is rather certain that those red lines – red threads – all over the opening segment is to represent marriage. Marriage was the net used to capture Prince Chang.
Extra: Chickens
I love how the chickens make a comeback in the end as Xiao Jin Yu is feeding them and at the very end as “彩蛋” (post-ending credit). The chickens were Chu Chu’s way of thanking Xiao Jin Yu for letting her stay in his home. That really was the beginning of their cohabitation for the rest of their lives. She had also wanted to plant veggies and I remember asking just how long was she planning to stay. Forever was the answer.
P.S. The "蛋" in "彩蛋" means egg and it's clever that the post-credit is about eggs but, really, I think it's about Xiao Jin Yu and Chu Chu's children. Then Jing Yi made a second chicken fly and I'd say that's a cue for Jing Yi and Leng Yue's offspring.
Extra: Foodie Scenes
I love how Drama doesn't use food scenes as mere props, They add extra layers to the story and to the characters.
[Ep5] Grapes! Xiao Jin Yu peeling them for her is so cute as he was completely engrossed in her open autopsy story. Seeing her liking the imported grapes, he wouldn't even let Jing Yi have them.
[Ep10] Fish. Xiao Jin Yu complimenting Chu Chu's knife skills with a poem that no one gets except Jing Yi. Jing Yi is actually well learned and I say “actually" because I keep forgetting he’s smart too when he’s next to the likes of Xiao Jin Yu.
[Ep13] Chicken soup. A cure for the angry heart. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
[Ep20] Rice. "The heart is like rice.” ...and the fifth rib is like a chopstick...? Well, no. "Strike while the iron is hot” is what Leng Yue tells our gullible Little Goldfish. It’s cute how Xiao Jin Yu takes others' advices so quickly especially when it comes to romance. As smart as he is, he’s a good student.
[Ep22] Rice. Leng Yue makes fun of Xiao Jin Li with ‘rice’ while holding a drumstick. This is the episode where I realize our Leng Yue is a foodie.
[Ep22] Drumstick. Leng Yue and Xiao Jin Li fight for a drumstick. This fight is won by Jing Yi who is always settling their childish arguments (cue Kongzi moment).
[Ep26] Peas. Xiao Jin Yu needs a distraction from his pounding heart. Ah, so he’s always picking at stuff when he’s in love. Is that what the grape scene meant? (:
[Ep29] Dipping sauce. Leng Yue is the one to ask if Chu Chu is planning to dip some yummy corpses into the sauce.
[Ep34] Plain noodle. Chu Chu cooking simple dishes suitable for Xiao Jin Yu's poor digestion
Extra: Xiao Jin Li’s 一兩句說不清楚
Xiao Jin Li is such an adorable liar because he can’t lie. Instead, he says his iconic line and I think I’ve kept a pretty good record of it. :D
[Ep14] Xiao Jin Li → Jing Yi because he doesn't know how to lie that his brother and Chu He love Chu Chu
[Ep14] Xiao Jin Li → Xiao Jin Yu to avoid telling him Chu He loves Chu Chu
[Ep20] Xiao Jin Li → Chu Chu because he promised Xiao Jin Yu to not tell her she’s in danger.
[Ep22] Xiao Jin Li → Leng Yue because it's a secret mission from Xiao Jin Yu.
[Ep36] Xiao Jin Li → Xiao Jin Yu during the 彩蛋 to surprise him about the chicks.
[Extra!!] There's an interview (YouTube video) of Su Xiao Tong and Wang Zi Qi. @7:00 They're asked when was the last time they each held hands. To avoid answering, Wang Zi Qi handshakes Su Xiao Tong and that is their answer:"Now". Our smart emcees quickly follow up "When was the last time they kissed?" Wang Zi Qi's reaction was so cute!! They avoid answering (lol) with "一兩句說不清楚"
Extra: Production
The script took three years to complete. It’s by Qing Xian Ya Tou (the author’s pen name) and Qian Xiao Bai. Both of whom are newbies at scriptwriting. Lou Jian, the director, guided them for those three years. It’s a low budget drama and apparently the actors’ pays are embarrassingly low. The staff saved what they could but made sure the scenes were rich. Candles were used for the lighting so that scenes looked natural. To this director, budget isn't a barrier to details. It was also the director who thought of the line "一兩句說不清楚”.
When Su Xiao Tong read the script for Chu Chu, she made sure her staff followed up on this project. Wang Zi Qi had auditioned and thought he fitted the role of Jing Yi¹ but after a talk with the director, he was casted for our Little Goldfish and what a blessing this is! I adore Wang Zi Qi as Xiao Jin Yu and Wang Yan Xin as Xiao Jin Li. Lou Jian has an eye for casting and well, just about everything to create this masterpiece, especially with how little resources he was given.
(I’d like to source this but these are bits and pieces I remember reading on Weibo or watching interviews)
And that’s my wrap to this wonderful little drama.
一兩句說不清楚 how much I will miss this.
[Corrections]
1. Wang Zi Qi auditioned for Jing Yi, not Xiao Jin Li [comment].
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