General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20266 min read

Coroner's Diary (朝雪录)

Coroner's Diary (朝雪录) is a 38-episode Chinese costume detective drama produced by iQiyi, adapted from the web novel The Powerful and Favored Coroner Imperial Concubine (权宠之仵作医妃) by Bu Yue Qian Zhuang (步月浅妆), and starring Li Landi and Ao Ruipeng as a forensic-minded noblewoman and a prince's heir who solve cases together while seeking to clear their families' names¹. It premiered on iQiyi and iQiyi International on July 13, 2025, and became one of the platform's summer hits, with its in-app heat value breaking 10,000 on the eleventh day after release, the third iQiyi title of 2025 to enter the platform's "honor hall"².

Key fact	Detail
Format	38-episode costume detective drama combining suspense, revenge, court intrigue, and household-intrigue elements¹
Source	Adapted from the web novel 权宠之仵作医妃 by Bu Yue Qian Zhuang, an author on China Literature's Xiaoxiang Academy³
Director and cast	Directed by Li Huizhu with Deng Weien; led by Li Landi (Qin Wan/Shen Wan), Ao Ruipeng (Yan Chi), Yu Cheng'en (Yan Li), and Shen Yujie (Yue Ning)³^•⁴
Premiere	July 13, 2025 at 18:00 on iQiyi and iQiyi International; IMDb lists a China release date of July 16, 2025³^•⁵
Peak heat	iQiyi heat value peaked at 10,365 on July 28, 2025; it broke 10,000 on day 11⁶^•²
Overseas reach	Topped the iQiyi International hot-drama chart in 13 markets and ranked first in Google heat for mainland dramas in 5 markets (Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Vietnam) as of July 24, 2025⁷
Ratings	Maoyan score 7.6; iQiyi page rating 8.7⁶^•⁴

Spoilers

Premise and plot

The story is set in a fictional dynasty. Shen Yi (沈毅), Minister of the Dali Temple, the court office handling judicial review, is implicated in the case of the Prince of Jin, who died by suicide, and his entire family is massacred in the first episode¹. His daughter Shen Wan escapes by jumping into a river and, to survive and investigate the murders, assumes the identity of Qin Wan (秦莞), the ninth daughter of the Qin household, traveling to Jingzhou under that name⁴.

The formerly meek Qin Wan "changes temperament": she can treat the sick and also perform autopsies and examine corpses as a coroner, and she subdues the scheming aunt, half-sister, concubine, and servants of the Qin household⁴. During her investigations she meets Yan Chi (燕迟), heir to the Prince Rui, who wants to reopen the Prince Jin case; his goal of overturning that verdict aligns with her aim of clearing her father's name⁴. The two return to the capital together, solving a series of strange cases on the way, and after arriving they reexamine a set of discovered remains that lets the Prince Jin case be reopened, gradually approaching a hidden secret inside the palace⁴.

Cases and style

The drama uses a road-movie structure, following the heroine's perspective from Jingzhou to the capital, with each case built on a distinct puzzle⁸. The opening "headless bride case" presents a corpse in wedding dress seated in the bridal sedan; Qin Wan deduces from staged blood spatter inside the sedan that the killing actually happened on the road⁹. The second case, the "well burial," uncovers 13 female skeletons sealed over decades beneath a noble household, exposing its rot and driving an early ratings peak⁸. Reviewers noted the heavy use of Chinese horror atmosphere in cases such as the headless bride, with eerie bridal chambers, music, and lighting¹⁰.

Critics highlighted the forensic detail: the heroine works both as a healer and as a coroner, unafraid of dissecting bodies, which commentators called the drama's most praised distinction from typical costume romance¹¹. The pacing is fast; some viewers said the first episode moved "like reading a script outline," compressing the family massacre, identity change, and first meeting into a single hour, though the plot steadied once the case-driven main line began in episode two¹².

Production

The project was locked in when producer Quan Haojin's team joined iQiyi in 2021; he cited the novel's solid core and his own fondness for classics such as Young Justice Bao and Forensic Song Ci as motivations². The writing credits go to Zou Yue, Gao Shen, and Huang Zi'en³.

New episodes dropped daily at 18:00 China time, with VIP members receiving two episodes per day and non-members one³. The finale posted on July 31, 2025, closing with a peak heat of 10,365¹³^•⁶.

Reception

Commercial performance. The series topped the Yunhe long-drama chart and, by July 22, 2025, held a 27.9 percent share of effective plays, which the Beijing Daily described as a commanding lead⁹. On large-screen TV data, it recorded 36.3 percent user loyalty and 4.6 viewing sessions per user per day, first among costume dramas that premiered on iQiyi from May to July². Internationally, it reached number one on iQiyi's international charts in 13 markets including Thailand, Taiwan, the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, and Australia⁷. Its popularity in Japan and Korea was cited by a broadcast regulator researcher as an example of suspense dramas driving "viewing plus tourism" engagement¹⁴.

Critical response. Early reviews praised the cast's looks and acting and the unusual coroner premise¹⁵. A People's Daily commentary, while noting the drama topped the Yunhe chart, criticized the later episodes: case logic was called strained, the political-intrigue line "floating," key clues appeared abruptly, and the romance was weakened by forced misunderstandings¹⁵. A Douban reviewer similarly judged the early cases tightly constructed in the vein of The Imperial Coroner and Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty, but found the later plot sliding into conventional romance-led costume drama¹⁶. Defenders pointed to the tight case-to-case linkage, clear if concise reasoning, and the characterization of Qin Wan as the reasons the drama stood out in a crowded summer season¹²^•⁹.

Context in the costume-detective genre

Coroner's Diary belongs to a wave of Chinese "costume detective" dramas, most of which mix romance-drama conventions with investigation rather than focusing purely on deduction¹⁷. Unlike older detective series built on canonical historical figures such as Bao Zheng or Song Ci, the new generation of these dramas often draws its scripts from web literature, as this one does¹⁸. Commentators placed it alongside Ding Feng Bo, which followed it on iQiyi's schedule, as evidence of the platform's continued investment in the genre¹⁹. TVB scheduled a Hong Kong broadcast under the title 女法醫解密 from June 15, 2026, in a 22-episode cut³.

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › East Asian web and streaming serials › Titles symbols to Co

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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