The Imperial Coroner Review

The Imperial Coroner (御赐小仵作) does not have any big names among its cast but don’t let that stop you from watching. In fact, I think this is a rarity among the large number of Chinese dramas that get released all year round. I’m actually surprised by its quality as I had expected it to be an average drama that will be littered with boring stretches throughout. But a nice surprise is always welcomed. The Imperial Coroner review below will spell out why I like this investigative historical drama and my overall verdict.

My rating: 8/10
Episodes: 36
Type: Crime
Aired: April 2021
Images Credit: Tencent

The Cast Of The Imperial Coroner

• Su Xiao Tong as Chu Chu
• Wang Zi Qi as Prince An / Xiao Jin Yu
• Zhao Yao Ke as Leng Yue
• Yang Ting Dong as Jing Yi
• Wang Yan Bin as General Xiao Jin Li
• Guo Qiu Cheng as Scholar Xue Ru Cheng
• Mu Huai Hu as Eunuch Qin Luan
• Guo Jun as Emperor Xuan Zong
• Chai Hao Wei as Chu He
• Sun Rong as Chu Ping
• Zhu Peng Cheng as Grandpa Chu
• Li Sheng Rong Xu Ru Gui
• Lin Shan as Wu Jiang
• Shi Lan Ya as Princess Xi Peng
• Tim Tian Mu Chen as Xiao Heng
• Xu Zheng Ting as Minister Jing Zhi
• Zeng Qiu Sheng as General Leng Pei Shan
• Ma Jian Xun as General Zhou Han
• Zong Feng Yan as Minister Han Ji

Main Characters

Chu Chu

Chu Chu comes from a family of coroners and is a rare talent in this field. She is from Qian Zhou in the Southwest. While she is an astute and talented coroner, she can also be naive and simple-minded due to her lack of friends as a result of her family’s profession which is considered inauspicious.

Prince An / Xiao Jin Yu

Jin Yu oversees the 3 Judicial Offices and is an expert at solving crimes. He is a very observant and intelligent young man with a good memory. He doesn’t like to socialize and his upright personality hardly wins him friends in the royal court. Jin Yu has a fraternal twin brother while his mother is a princess.

Leng Yue

Leng Yue is Jin Yu’s distant cousin and the granddaughter of a warlord in the Southwest. She was brought up by Jin Yu’s mother. Leng Yue is good at martial arts and leads a free life away from her grandfather whom she hates. She regards Jin Yu as an older brother.

Jing Yi

Jing Yi is a Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. He is Jin Yu’s subordinate as well as good friend as they grew up together. He is also good in martial arts. While Jing Yi appears as a playboy, he only has interest in Leng Yue. His father is the Grand Preceptor in the royal court.

Supporting Characters

General Xiao Jin Li

Jin Li is a military leader in the Southwest. He is also Jin Yu’s fraternal elder twin brother. Jin Li is good in martial arts and very protective towards Jin Yu who had saved him from drowning when they were kids. Jin Yu’s health weakened as a result of the incident and hence, Jin Li likes to fuss over him.

Scholar Xue Ru Cheng

Royal Scholar Xue is an academician and Jin Yu and Jin Li’s teacher. He appears to be an unambitious man with no interest in expanding his power and influence in the royal court. Scholar Xue often helps to smooth over Jin Yu’s antagonistic relationship with the ministers.

Eunuch Qin Luan

Eunuch Qin is the Acting Chief Eunuch under Emperor Xuan Zong. He also controls the Shence Army which guards the imperial palace. Eunuch Qin is a vain eunuch who likes power. He has served 3 emperors with much skeleton in his closet. Eunuch Qin is smart and analytical. His disciple is Eunuch Sun Ming De who will carry out his orders without question.

Emperor Xuan Zong

Emperor Xuan Zong is the previous emperor’s uncle. He survived the purge of the previous emperor by pretending to be insane before succeeding the throne with the help of the eunuchs who thought he would be easier to control. But Emperor Xuan Zong is a smart man who doesn’t completely trust those around him.

Chu He, Chu Ping & Grandpa Chu

Chu He and Chu Ping is Chu Chu’s elder brother and father respectively while Grandpa Chu is her grandfather. The 3 men love Chu Chu and care a lot about her. They are also all coroners.

Xu Ru Gui

Ru Gui is the owner of a high-class restaurant on the surface. But he is also involved in intelligence gathering on the quiet.

Wu Jiang

Wu Jiang is Jin Yu’s subordinate and guardsman.

Princess Xi Peng

Princess Xi Peng is Jin Yu and Jin Li’s mother. She is the daughter of the previous emperor called Emperor Wen Zong while General Leng is her uncle. She loves her sons and is constantly worried about Jin Yu’s safety due to the palace politics.

Xiao Heng

Xiao Heng is Princess Xi Ping’s husband who is presumed dead after an expedition to the Southwest years ago on the orders of Emperor Wen Zong. He is also Jin Yu and Jin Li’s father.

Minister Jing Zhi

Minister Jing Zhi is the Grand Preceptor and senior minister in the royal court. He is a good man who is also respected for his seniority. Emperor Xuan Zong would also listen to his advice. Minister Jing Zhi is Jing Yi’s father.

General Leng Pei Shan

General Leng is an old warlord in the Southwest being the Military Commissioner of Qian Zhou. He has a strong army which makes him very influential and powerful in the region. This raises Emperor Xuan Zong’s suspicions towards him. Leng Yue is General Leng’s granddaughter.

General Zhou Han

General Zhou Han is the Commander of the Shence Army. He reports to Eunuch Qin. He is a womanizer who enjoys the good life. General Zhou also tends to be careless in carrying out his duties.

Minister Han Ji

Minister Han is the Minister of Justice. He is a petty man who doesn’t like Jin Yu who is younger but has been appointed as his superior.

Synopsis

Chu Chu arrives in Chang’an in the hope of passing the exam to be an official coroner. She comes from a family of coroners from Qian Zhou. Chu Chu meets Jin Yu who is the son of a princess and heads the Judicial Offices. He recognizes her talent and takes her in work for him to solve a few murder cases. As they investigate these cases, they begin to find a connection to an old case involving Jin Yu’s father who has long been presumed dead. Jin Yu is also suspicious of Chu Chu’s relationship with his father as she possesses a pendant that belonged to him.

With their relentless pursuit of the truth, they find all the clues pointing to Qian Zhou. As the enemies try to hide their tracks, Jin Yu and Chu Chu are constantly at risk of being harmed. Hence, not only they have to do their investigation, Jin Yu also has to pre-empt their enemies’ moves.

The Imperial Coroner Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

The Imperial Coroner has a happy ending. Chu Chu marries Jin Yu and her talent is also recognized by Emperor Xuan Zong. Thus, she is officially appointed as a coroner and granted permission to assist Jin Yu in investigating cases. Before that, they worked together with Jing Yi and Leng Yue to outsmart Scholar Yue who wants to usurp the throne. They set a trap for Scholar Yue to attend Jin Yu and Chu Chu’s wedding and then Jin Li takes him out by an indirect shot that kills him instantly.

Who Is Scholar Xue?

Viewers are initially made to believe that Scholar Xue is the late Emperor Wen Zong’s son called Duke Chang. He claims to be the rightful heir and that Emperor Xuan Zong ordered his clan to be killed when he took the throne. He survived by hiding among the dead bodies.

But Scholar Xue is only Duke Chang’s slave and study partner. Medical records showed Duke Chang had smallpox and died because of it. Hence, even if he managed to survive the illness, his body should have the scars. However, Scholar Xue doesn’t have such scars. Furthermore, he got the eunuchs to kill the old doctor who knew Duke Chang’s medical history. Scholar Xue merely took advantage of Duke Chang’s death and assumed his identity.

Are Jin Yu and Jin Li Really Twins?

Jin Yu and Jin Li were brought up as fraternal twins. But Jin Yu is actually Chen Ying’s son. Chen Ying was the Military Commissioner of Jian Nan. When Chen Ying was framed for being a rebel, his wife was 8 months pregnant at that time. She knew she would be killed and hence, induced labor to deliver Jin Yu. Before she died following the delivery, she asked a servant to pass the baby to Princess Xi Peng as the 2 women were good friends. The princess took pity on the newborn baby and brought him up like her own son.

Jin Yu has already known earlier that he is not Princess Xi Peng’s biological son but they only have a chance to talk about it in Episode 34 after enemies try to use it to bring them down. The reveal did not change their mother-son bond in any way.

Chu Chu’s Background

Chu Chu’s biological father was Yun Yi who was Chen Ying’s general. When Chen Ying was accused of rebelling, all his soldiers were automatically deemed as rebels and killed. Yun Yi’s wife ran back to her family in Qian Zhou and seeked refuge with her brother. Although she was heavily pregnant, her brother got his butler to kill her to avoid trouble with the authorities. Her brother is Xu Ru Gui which makes him Chu Chu’s uncle.

Chu Ping was then hired to collect the corpse. He took the baby out who was lucky to be alive. Chu Ping and his father decided to keep the baby out of compassion and raised Chu Chu like their own. But they hid her identity because it was considered inauspicious to be born in this way. Hence, rumors circulate that Chu Chu was born out of wedlock as Chu Ping’s wife had died much earlier.

What Happened To Xiao Heng?

Xiao Heng was Princess Xi Peng’s husband. He was sent by Emperor Wen Zong to the Southwest to meet with Chen Ying. The eunuchs were very powerful at that time and Emperor Wen Zong wanted to take them down. But Eunuch Qin turned around and accused Chen Ying of being a rebel. He led his Shence Army to kill off Chen Ying and his soldiers. Xiao Heng escaped by jumping off a cliff but was heavily injured. Eunuch Qin continued to hunt Xiao Heng down throughout the years because he knew the truth.

Xiao Heng was saved by a witch doctor who subsequently died. He then took the witch doctor’s identity to escape from the eunuchs’ pursuit. Due to his injuries, he couldn’t walk freely and ended up being the Chu’s neighbor. That is how Chu Chu got to know Xiao Heng and became close to him without knowing his true identity. With the eunuchs always on the lookout for him and his lack of mobility, he couldn’t return to Chang’an.

Xiao Heng then disappeared 5 years before Chu Chu met Jin Yu. When they find out who he is, he has left behind clues to his location and notes to what happened years ago. His wish was to clear the name of Chen Ying and his soldiers. Xiao Heng ended his own life by drowning himself in a secluded swamp as he knew he didn’t have long to live due to his poor health. His notes and other evidence helped to convict Eunuch Qin who subsequently committed suicide in prison when his plan to kill the Emperor failed.

The Imperial Coroner Review – Great Storytelling

The Imperial Coroner actually reminds me of Maiden Holmes but with better storytelling and less romance. This is a crime and investigative drama that is very plot-driven. The cases are woven together in a way that link back to the overarching plot of a planned rebellion. You don’t feel it straying all over the place as they solve the different cases compared to some dramas that tend to get carried away with the sub-plots. As the story progresses, it gets kind of addictive as they unravel a few background information on the 2 main characters.

Well-Written Story

This is what makes me feel drawn to this drama. It is written in a way that is logical with good pacing. The cases could be complicated with the hidden motives but it is precisely the not-so-obvious schemes that make the drama interesting to me. Sometimes, when everything is laid bare and simple, it takes away the enjoyment of watching a drama. This one requires a bit more brain cells to connect the dots as the characters explain what the bad guys have been up to. But they make sense and are realistic as the whole story is well-written and executed.

As you follow the protagonists’ adventure, their enemies keep trying to kill them to cover their tracks. Their evil plans behind the scenes and the protagonists’ counter-measures then become an addictive watch. So, this is a drama with a brainy male lead and if you like an intelligent prince, this would be a fitting choice.

Slow Burn Romance

Is there romance in The Imperial Coroner? Well, yes! But it isn’t something that you might want to pick if you are looking for a pure love story. The 2 main leads are together most of the time but they only become a couple in Episode 25. They have developed feelings for each other earlier on but romance just isn’t the focus of this drama. This is not a love saga like The Eternal Love Season 1 and 2 or even The Long Ballad. It is simply an investigate drama with romance being a side dish to offer viewers a bit of warmth and variety.

Furthermore, the romance is on the light side like Legend Of Fei although the couple’s handling of problems are wise and mature. So, don’t expect any serious smooches like those that can be found in General’s Lady and Maiden Holmes. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, there is only one kiss in the drama and that is also because she has to resuscitate him. The other is a near kiss which got interrupted.

Acting And Chemistry

Su Xiao Tong and Wang Zi Qi are no big names but they played their roles well in The Imperial Coroner. I think Wang Zi Qi nailed the role of Jin Yu perfectly to give the character a serious demeanor with an air of nobility. He is also convincing as someone who is highly intelligent. As for Su Xiao Tong, she displayed an innocent vibe which is consistent with Chu Chu’s background and character. Her young face and the way she carried herself helped to project a pure hearted person.

When the 2 of them are put together, they naturally give off a couple feel but in a subtle manner. It is in the way they look at each other and appreciate each other’s talent and presence in their lives. Thus, even without the skinship, this couple managed to emit the necessary romantic vibes.

Main Weakness

While The Imperial Coroner is a generally great drama, there are still some things that could be done better. The main weakness that I can see lies towards the end of the drama. This is when the supposedly smart and cautious bad guy suddenly becomes impatient and starts making errors of judgement which is very uncharacteristic of him. Throughout the drama he has been projected as someone who is patient and plans meticulously. But when it is time to wrap things up, his errors do not seem to jive with the character buildup.

Therefore, this also gives the feeling of a rushed ending. If they have lengthened it by another episode, I think it would have been better in terms of pacing. The protagonist’s evil plans could also be more detailed to provide additional excitement.

The other minor issue is that the bad guys are made known early on in the drama. So, this isn’t exactly a whodunnit type of detective story. It might be more interesting if we are left guessing as who is the ultimate evildoer. But nope, this is more about the schemings behind the scenes which give rise to all the cases that the protagonists have to solve.

My Verdict – Worth A Watch

Personally, I think that The Imperial Coroner is worth a watch with its tightly written storyline. If you like dramas that focus on the plot rather than just fluffy romance, then chances are it will resonate with you. I know some will find it boring because it tends to be conversation-heavy at times as they explain the cases through the dialogues. So, you do need to follow the conversations closely to know what is happening. But this is also what drives this drama as the detective work has a strong foundation to it rather than being a background to a romance.

i guess this is a drama that requires a bit more attention than usual. Hence, it is not something that you should opt for if you want an easy and relaxing watch in the mould of rom-coms like The Romance Of Tiger And Rose. But don’t let that scare you either as the overall story isn’t that complicated or messy. Moreover, explanations are sometimes accompanied by drawings which help the viewers to understand what happened to the victims.

For this The Imperial Coroner review, I would give it a score of 8/10. This is indeed a gem for detective drama fans with its well-written story. It is compact with few filler scenes and everything is well-planned without anything being over the top or overly dramatic. While it is not a big budget production, it still managed to punch above its weight to give us a credible and intriguing story. Basically, watch it for the plot rather than the romance. You might well be surprised by this drama that didn’t try to do too much and yet, sail along very smoothly with a tightly-knitted overarching plot.