This satisfying Sherlockian-style mystery has plenty of charm—as well as mummified corpses…
It’s the Tang Dynasty, the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (712-756 CE), a time when eunuchs were powerful and given charge of the Imperial Army Palace Guard.
A time when a game of mysterious deaths is afoot.
But before the criminal excrement hits the fan, exams are about to be held for the position of Imperial Coroner and people from all over the empire have come to the capital to take them. Ostensibly, anyone can take the exams—but a young woman? Though not precisely forbidden, it’s a stretch for most of the men at court to take in. Thankfully, not the two men who matter: Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Jing Yi (Yang Ting Dong, Love Unexpected) and his childhood friend, the Chief of the Judicial Review Commandery Prince An (Wang Zi Qi, Chase The Truth).
Chu Chu (Su Xiao Tong, Chase The Truth) is a young woman from a family of coroners, so you could say she’s to the Manner of Death born. She believes the dead speak (no, not in a creepy way) through their injuries, telling the story of not just their deaths, but their lives. Determined to pass the exams, her fresh-from-the-country naïveté is balanced by a sane and practical attitude—naive she might be, but not stupid.
It’s Jing Yi who first spots Chu Chu on her arrival to the capital. Witnessing how she uses an array of unusual methods and rare insights to expose a man in the midst of committing an ‘accident’ fraud on the street, he’s impressed and intrigued. To put it simply, from Jing Yi she gets a fast pass into the exams and the attention of Prince An. And while it takes a very long time for Prince An to tell Chu Chu whether or not she has passed the exams he’s set up for her (he must verify her identity first), it takes no time at all for her to be installed in the Three Ministries of Justice compound. Side-by-side they investigate a series of sudden deaths befalling court ministers and their disparate talents prove to dovetail perfectly.
Prince An is young for his position (too young, according to some sniffy court officials). A man of reason, justice, vast intelligence, someone who pays attention to the telling details—nothing seems to slip past him. If Sherlock Holmes springs to mind, he’s certainly cast from that mould. And like Sherlock, his chilly demeanour disguises a caring attitude towards friends and associates—and notably, as the relationship grows, with Chu Chu, where he departs from that misogynistic creation.
So by this point we have the assembling of our crack team of investigators: the Sherlockian Prince An; the meticulous coroner Chu Chu; though reputed to be something of a playboy, Jing Yi has a talent for detecting lies (an ancestral skill, he says)—and in tricking what he wants to know out of suspects; Prince An’s faithful guard and spy-master General Wu; and lastly, another childhood friend, the beautiful martial artist Leng Yue (Zhao Yao Ke, Got A Crush On You) is on hand with her medical training.
Beware of eunuchs, Prince An is cautioned by his mother. As it turns out, eunuchs aren’t thing only thing to be wary of in this watchable series. Investigating the sudden deaths—or, murders as it turns out—of court ministers, pulls the cord on a deluge of other mysteries. As far as intellectual puzzles go, they just keep coming.
And eventually take our team to the Southwest of the empire (where Chu Chu is from), to the minting of illegal coins, to other possible conspiracies, to anomalies in the region’s military base, perhaps even to hidden intel regarding an alleged ‘rebellion’ that took place there twenty years before. A rebellion during which Prince An’s father, Prince Consort Xiao Heng, was presumably killed by the rebels. That Chu Chu is the bearer of a pendant, one-half of the love token between the Prince Consort and his wife Princess Xiping, puts her—and her identity—under yet another mysterious cloud. Who exactly is Chu Chu? Does even she know who she is?
Meanwhile, Chu Chu is on the lookout for the Handsome Judge; the man her mentor, the ‘Witch Doctor’ her family took in and cared for, told her about before the good doctor himself disappeared. This judge is the only person to whom she can give the pendant. The more time she spends with Prince An, the more she believes he meets the criteria, although he denies he’s this legendary judge. So when it comes to anything about the pendant, she’s keeping her mouth firmly shut, no matter how much suspicion it puts her under. Which is… quite a lot.
Like the Holmes stories, rather than relying on high drama, a series of intellectual puzzles is presented. (Though for fans of martial arts and a good fight, don’t worry, there’s plenty of those too for your viewing pleasure.) There’s a proper balance of humour, romance, action and revelatory plot twists throughout. The budget for this series was reputedly low (and occasionally shows in the sets), but the quality of the script is high. On-point, by turns humorous and dramatic, one plot twist cleverly leads to another—and to a number of mummified and desiccated corpses. Making good use of re-enactments between Prince An and Chu Chu (they’re constantly, often amusingly, killing each other), and simple but effective graphics and animation, it offers science without confusing us with it. I can think of a number of contemporary forensic dramas that would do well to follow their example.
Character-wise, the team is well-rounded; the acting is natural and engaging. The same can be said of the supporting cast. The eunuchs are something of an exception to this, at times so incompetent you wonder how they’ve retained the position they’re in for so long—they can’t help it, it’s the way they’re written. On the other hand, as far as nasty semi-comic villains go you could do worse. And the actors do appear to relish their roles.
But it’s refreshing to watch how Chu Chu and Prince An engage in an equal partnership. They both learn from, and respect, the talents of the other. In fact, the entire team spark off each other with warmth and charm. Yes, there are misunderstandings along the way but they aren’t illogical, nor do they don’t go on so long we’re tempted to scream at the screen. These are good people to spend an evening with, because I would say this series (again, like the endless canon of Sherlock adventures) comes under the heading of ‘Comfort Watch’. Enough action and intrigue to keep you interested, and fun to keep you entertained.
As for the outcome, the canny Emperor Xuanzong himself sums it up nicely: It makes a good story.