Summarizing Qin family's current family chart for anyone who is confused (based on the drama as of episode 8):
Qin family has 3 branches based on the 3 sons from the second generation: Qin ? (name not revealed yet/first branch), Qin Liang (second branch), and Qin An (third branch).
***First generation: Grandfather Qin was the former Marquis of Zhongyong and he has already passed away.
Grandfather Qin had a legitimate wife (who also passed away already) who birthed 2 sons; Qin ? (name not revealed yet in the drama) and Qin Liang.
The current Madam Qin who is in control of the household is the second wife of Grandfather Qin. She birthed Qin An.
***Second generation: 1) First son: Qin ? (name not revealed yet in the drama). Current Marquis of Zhongyong, in the palace currently, and regarded highly by the crown prince.
2) Second son: Qin Liang (the one who saved Shen Wan in the beginning). He is not close to the family and left to live in the Medicine King Valley years ago. His wife also passed away years ago and his daughter is Qin Wan (passed away a year ago at the start of the story).
3) Third son: Qin An (the man playing with the crickets in episode 1). Qin An's legitimate wife is Qin Lin (she is weak-willed and is seen hanging around Madam Qin a lot) and they birthed 2 children: Qin Chen and Qin Xiang. Qin An also has concubines and has children with them. His favorite is concubine Liu.
***Third generation: 1st Young Master: Qin Chen (ambitious and very different from his dad). His legitimate wife is Xinlan and she is currently pregnant. Legitimate son of Qin An.
2nd Young Master: Qin Li (the one who has syphilis). Son of Qin An and one of his concubines.
5th Lady: Qin Xiang (Madam Qin's favorite granddaughter). Mrs. Huo wanted her to marry Huo Ning instead of Qin Wan. Legitimate daughter of Qin An.
6th Lady: Qin Shuang (the one who got canned for talking shit about the Grand Princess and who Qin Wan saved from the well). Daughter of Qin An and one of his concubines.
9th Lady: Qin Wan (our girl). Had an engagement with Huo Ning.
3rd, 4th, 7th, and 8th of this third generation are currently unknown.
How is Yan Chi related to the emperor. He calls the emperor's aunt grandma after all ?
Yan Chi is the emperor's nephew (his dad, Prince Rui, is the emperor's brother). Yan Chi is ranked 7th in his generation (birth order) so he is the 7th prince.
Also the English subs sucks. 💀 They always just translate the names and never the titles. For example, the family members don't straight up call Qin Wan as "Wan" as translated, they call her by her rank within the family which is "9th lady" or "9th sister" or "9th brat" (behind her back sometimes like Grandma Qin).
Just to add, Bai Feng actually started calling Fu Ling as "Fu Ling jiejie" (and they didn't translate that either) so yes, we have an older woman/younger man situation going on.
I am really enjoying Qin Wan's and Yan Chi's developing relationship. It is progressing at a nice pace and Yan Chi has already revealed a vulnerable part of himself from his past to Qin Wan, that says a lot.
I loooove the scenes of Qin Wan working/investigating so much. It shows her charisma so much.
And case #2, it is actually some readers' favorite case just because of the twists and turns and the drama is developing it nicely.
Woman who is supposed to be married - Song RouGuy who is escorting her - Wei Yanzhi (works for Song Rou's father…
No problem! Yeah, the drama just kind of throw the viewers in because they kind of have to in order to get all 8 cases in. In the novel, the very beginning before the first case took a bit to set up. But once you start understanding the power/ranking system in the drama, it will be easier to get everyone's rankings/relationships as they do mention the ranks via dialogues but for international viewers, it might be tough to get on the first view.
I'm a bit confused by the 1st case. The subtitles are quite fast and I don't understand the relation between some…
Woman who is supposed to be married - Song Rou Guy who is escorting her - Wei Yanzhi (works for Song Rou's father aka the Duke of Song and Wei Yanzhi's older half-brother is also Song Rou's cousin)
Song Rou is supposed to be married into the Yue family to one of the Yue sons due to the emperor's decree.
The Yue and Wei families are marquis level while the Song family is at Duke level (higher than the other two).
Just want to mention for the first case, there is another level of relationship with the Song and Wei families in the novel. Wei Yanzhi stated his mom was killed by the main wife of the Wei family (also in the drama). The main wife who married into the Wei family is actually Song Jingxi (the sister of the Song Duke and Song Rou's aunt). Song Jingxi as stated in the drama would also abuse him during his childhood, so it added another twist layer to his relationship with Song Rou because it was in part revenge too.
I keep wondering — does our ML actually suspect her, or is he just super into her as a woman?? ’Cause the…
Both! He knows she is suspicious but also can't help but be curious about her. ARP on their livestream confirmed it was on some level love at first sight, but it was through getting to know her that it really became something more.
In ep2, I liked how Prefect HU or so actually Wasn't evil and rude and stuff towards FL. like he was just fun…
Yeah he is pretty funny. 🤣 He is definitely not a good prefect in the sense that he will take the easy way out BUT he is also very flexible and adapts to the situation quickly. His bickering with his son is funny too.
Listen. The brown and white hanfu she was wearing was very elegant and gave it a strange Victorian-esque style.…
I love those little details. On one hand he is suspicious of her + investigating her but on the other hand, he just can't help but be curious about her. He is really getting to know her on a deeper level with what she values and her thoughts as a coroner. These scenes are just really smart and sprinkled throughout so viewers can really see the process of him falling for her even deeper (because yes, he was high key mesmerized during their first meeting already, but he is also logical about it).
Okay I don't think anyone mentioned it yet but that scene of the three ladies (Qin Wan, Yue Ning, and Fu Ling) at the festival with their cute masks and giggles? ADORABLE. I just love scenes of girls hanging out so much.
Qin family has 3 branches based on the 3 sons from the second generation: Qin ? (name not revealed yet/first branch), Qin Liang (second branch), and Qin An (third branch).
***First generation:
Grandfather Qin was the former Marquis of Zhongyong and he has already passed away.
Grandfather Qin had a legitimate wife (who also passed away already) who birthed 2 sons; Qin ? (name not revealed yet in the drama) and Qin Liang.
The current Madam Qin who is in control of the household is the second wife of Grandfather Qin. She birthed Qin An.
***Second generation:
1) First son: Qin ? (name not revealed yet in the drama). Current Marquis of Zhongyong, in the palace currently, and regarded highly by the crown prince.
2) Second son: Qin Liang (the one who saved Shen Wan in the beginning). He is not close to the family and left to live in the Medicine King Valley years ago. His wife also passed away years ago and his daughter is Qin Wan (passed away a year ago at the start of the story).
3) Third son: Qin An (the man playing with the crickets in episode 1). Qin An's legitimate wife is Qin Lin (she is weak-willed and is seen hanging around Madam Qin a lot) and they birthed 2 children: Qin Chen and Qin Xiang. Qin An also has concubines and has children with them. His favorite is concubine Liu.
***Third generation:
1st Young Master: Qin Chen (ambitious and very different from his dad). His legitimate wife is Xinlan and she is currently pregnant. Legitimate son of Qin An.
2nd Young Master: Qin Li (the one who has syphilis). Son of Qin An and one of his concubines.
5th Lady: Qin Xiang (Madam Qin's favorite granddaughter). Mrs. Huo wanted her to marry Huo Ning instead of Qin Wan. Legitimate daughter of Qin An.
6th Lady: Qin Shuang (the one who got canned for talking shit about the Grand Princess and who Qin Wan saved from the well). Daughter of Qin An and one of his concubines.
9th Lady: Qin Wan (our girl). Had an engagement with Huo Ning.
3rd, 4th, 7th, and 8th of this third generation are currently unknown.
Just to add, Bai Feng actually started calling Fu Ling as "Fu Ling jiejie" (and they didn't translate that either) so yes, we have an older woman/younger man situation going on.
I loooove the scenes of Qin Wan working/investigating so much. It shows her charisma so much.
And case #2, it is actually some readers' favorite case just because of the twists and turns and the drama is developing it nicely.
Guy who is escorting her - Wei Yanzhi (works for Song Rou's father aka the Duke of Song and Wei Yanzhi's older half-brother is also Song Rou's cousin)
Song Rou is supposed to be married into the Yue family to one of the Yue sons due to the emperor's decree.
The Yue and Wei families are marquis level while the Song family is at Duke level (higher than the other two).
I really hope the drama continues to do what it does because it is clearly working.