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[Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty]

[Episode 4]

Magistrate Yuan.

I heard that you

went to the Ghost Market last night to crack the murder case.

I've been worried sick.

What do you mean by that?

What?

That's untrue?

I did take the liberty

of sending 19 county guards

to assist the Imperial Guards.

I'll accept any punishment.

It's not your fault.

Lu Lingfeng is deeply trusted by His Highness.

You had no choice but to give him what he asked.

I saw those guards.

All breathing.

I'm worried about you.

Me?

I drank too much last night

and went to bed early.

Did something go wrong?

You can't fool me.

All the constables in Chang'an County

were sent out last night.

So I came here to check on you,

but you were nowhere to be found.

Did you lead the guards

to the Ghost Market?

Wuming,

you're like a brother to me.

Why can't you be honest with me?

I really wish I could.

It's just that I visited the Ghost Market twice

but made no progress at all

and nearly died there.

I'm too ashamed

to tell you that.

I've been the magistrate of Chang'an for many years.

All the six sheriffs working for me,

except for Wu Daqi,

have been promoted.

But in terms of talent and courage,

you're better than any of them.

You came to the capital

on the recommendation of the princess.

Risking you life in investigations

and doing all the work yourself,

you will definitely achieve great accomplishments.

It'll be my honor to be in your favor when that day comes.

Stop kidding me.

I will always stand by your side

and be at your service.

Lucky me.

If you'd started snoring any earlier,

I'd have been even more embarrassed.

He's gone?

I told you to let me go,

but you insisted that I stay.

Now you're blaming me for snoring.

Cut the crap.

Get your ass up.

We're going to visit the government official of the West Market.

[Government Office of the West Market]

Sheriff Su.

Mr. Kang went on patrol.

I go fetch him.

No need.

I'll wait for him inside.

Sheriff Su.

Fed.

Sheriff Su, why don't you

wait in the hall?

You can't be here.

Tsk, the backyard is very beautiful.

Mr. Kang grew those flowers himself?

Yes.

Sheriff Su,

come with me

to wait in the hall.

This place…

This place is perfect.

I love flowers.

It smells so good.

So refreshing.

The Soul Returning Incense

is made of this kind of flower.

Are you sure?

You don't trust me?

I...

I do.

But that day when I mentioned

the Soul Returning Incense with Mr. Kang, he...

He was playing dumb.

He can do that again.

After all, we have no proof.

Mr. Kang will never admit it.

That's easy.

Take some flowers back with you.

I'll make the incense out of them.

Why did you

bring the guests here?

Mr. Kang, I...

Don't blame him, Mr. Kang.

The air smells so good here.

I followed the fragrance here.

What can I do for you, Sheriff Su?

You were of great help that day.

I came today

to express my gratitude.

You're welcome.

Let's go inside.

This is not the place for talking.

Mr. Kang,

those flowers smell so good.

I haven't seen

this kind of flower before.

Could you kindly give me some of them?

These flowers are planted here

but I don't own them.

I can't give them to you.

Who's the big shot owning these flowers?

Can't believe he made a government official take care of his flowers.

He's a businessman.

You don't know him.

Let's go.

We're both public servants

working in Chang'an.

Hope we can…

Mr. Kang!

Mr. Kang.

Mr. Kang.

Mr. Kang.

We caught a thief stealing flowers.

What?

Go.

You...

Let go of me.

Su Wuming.

You're not here to thank me.

You came to steal flowers.

Guards! Beat this thief!

Hold on.

Mr. Kang,

calm down.

He's not a thief.

Well…

He stole the flowers

once I looked away.

He is a thief.

He just saw

how much I love those flowers

and wanted to get some for me.

No need to explain, Sheriff Su.

Beat him!

Beat him!

Are you serious?

Stop!

Mr. Kang.

He's my man.

Release him.

Kang Yuanli,

are you defying the General of the Imperial Guards?

I don't dare.

General Lu.

You came to my rescue in time.

I thought I could never

eat chicken again.

Su Wuming...

Shut up!

General.

Beautiful flowers.

Mr. Kang,

give them to me.

He cut, ground,

and burned the flowers.

He's taking this place as his workshop.

Come in.

Take a sniff.

They smell the same.

They are the same thing.

The red cloth

was once drenched in this fragrance.

Giving me more time,

I can make it even better.

If any of you dies,

smear this incense on your body

and you won't rot for months.

Clear?

You're welcome. I'm leaving.

Wait a moment, sir.

You suffered just now.

I apologize to you.

Save it, Sheriff Su.

Nothing good happens to me

when I'm with you.

Let's not see each other again.

General.

Later,

I'll change your dressing again.

Then I'll bid you farewell.

I can live longer

in the Ghost Market.

Living in the Ghost Market all this time,

how do you know

the Soul Returning Incense

is made of the flowers Kang Yuanli grew?

The businessman he mentioned

is no one but Yin Shilang.

You know him?

We both fiddle around in the Ghost Market.

Yin Shilang claims to be a dead man

who's been using this incense

to prevent his body from decaying.

By the way,

it's said that he became immortal a few days ago.

Who knows what he's up to this time.

You're well-informed.

I've lived in the Ghost Market for 40 years.

Of course I am.

The Ghost Market is actually a good place

except that the sun never rises.

No plants grow there.

That's why

Yin Shilang

turned to Kang Yuanli for help.

This is Chang'an.

The city is guarded by six armies.

It's almost impossible

to transport prohibited stuff in.

The raw material of the Soul Returning Incense

is actually produced in Chang'an.

Could that be the case with the Western Magic Grass too?

The Western Magic Grass?

General,

my guess is

that Chang'an black tea is mainly made of

the Western Magic Grass.

No wonder

one has to buy it with gold or silver.

That thing

ruined many people's lives.

The Western Magic Grass

has been listed

a prohibited herb since Sui dynasty.

It's impossible

to import it into Chang'an.

So I suspect

it's produced here in Chang'an.

But there's nowhere here where that herb

can be planted without being noticed.

The Imperial Guards

will in no way let that happen.

There are two large and unoccupied

yards in Chang'an County alone.

I'm afraid there are more and larger available spaces

across Zhuque Avenue in Wannian County.

They were sealed up

after the Rebellion of Queen Wei.

Have you

led the Imperial Guards

to check those places, General?

Who dares

to plant poisonous herbs there?

General.

The Great General is here.

Meet you with respect, Great General.

Are you hurt?

No.

-Great General. -Great General.

In a just matter of days,

three soldiers were lost.

You were injured too.

It didn't happen on the battlefield

but in this Ghost Market?

Lu Lingfeng,

you're a huge disgrace

to the Imperial Guards.

You forgot every word I said to you that day,

didn't you?

Great General.

Shut up!

From now on,

you have no right to command the soldiers.

Reflect on your mistakes in confinement.

Wait for your punishment.

When you emerged from the tunnel last night,

did you see what the so-called

Immortal Venerable

was wearing

on his face?

The mask of Fang Xiang God.

You said

the brides started disappearing a year ago.

And Chang'an black tea

was put on the market

a year ago as well.

I read the records carefully again.

All the brides disappeared

at the beginning or the end of every month,

while every new batch of the tea

was released

during the third and the fifth day of each month.

It suggests

that these two cases must be related.

What you said

is exactly the same

as what Su Wuming just said.

I was just guessing.

What the General said is a conclusion.

How are they the same?

Besides, how can you compare me

with the General?

You...

You can figure that out sooner than me.

You're the disciple of Detective Di after all.

Our priority now

is to find the Western Magic Grass

to prove Su Wuming's guess.

Well...

He just said that too.

I can't make it myself.

I'm just a sheriff.

I have no right to search those places.

Leave it to me.

General,

the Great General

has forbidden you to command the troops.

Even if he hadn't,

it wouldn't be easy to access those places.

Bringing guards would only alert the enemy.

But you're not allowed to go out.

The Great General confined you to the house

to reflect on your mistakes.

The Great General has just left.

It would be too conspicuous

if I left through the front door.

However,

no one will know if I sneak out through the window.

Wait.

You need to wait

until it gets dark.

I'll be on the lookout.

Are you advising me to break the curfew?

As the General of the Imperial Guards,

how can I uphold the law and break it?

Besides,

approaching those places in the broad daylight

is less suspicious.

Guo Zhuang,

bring Wen Chao here,

the man we arrested in the Ghost Market last night.

Keep it quiet.

Don't let the Great General know.

Yes. -Wen Chao?

The minister of the household?

He went to buy

Chang'an black tea in person.

He must be hopelessly addicted.

I couldn't elicit anything from him.

But he is in charge of civil affairs like marriage and funeral.

He must know something.

I'm going right now.

You're so meticulous, General.

I haven't eaten any chicken today.

Can you bring one back?

There are three suspicious yards.

I brought herbs back from each of them.

Where are those books I gave you for entertainment?

Wait a minute.

[Encyclopedia]

[Western Magic Grass]

Look.

It's indeed this toxic grass.

Where are you going?

Report this to His Highness.

We haven't arrested the wrongdoer.

What's the point of reporting it to His Highness?

The Great General has banned me from commanding the troops.

How am I going to arrest the wrongdoer?

Rumors have spread widely

that the Imperial Guards confiscated the black tea

on the directive of His Highness.

There're voices against it already.

Do you mean

to make things harder for His Highness?

Do I have

a better option?

You have me,

the sheriff of Chang'an County.

Your county guards

are all just useless punks.

In the Ghost Market last night,

under your leadership,

those 19 guards

manifested great courage and strength.

But our enemies

are not easy to deal with.

I have no soldiers.

I can't defeat them.

You can if you fight them the right way.

Someone as able as you

won't have much trouble

taking down that old swindler.

As for his underlings,

they're not your worries.

General Lu.

Sheriff Su.

Where am I?

General.

General!

Ge…

Who is this?

A dead man.

Don't bother.

Mr. Fed,

what's the rush?

Come with me.

You, come here!

I went back to the Ghost Market

and got news for you.

On the 18th of this month,

there will a batch of first-class

Chang'an black tea released in the Ghost Market.

It's unreasonably expensive.

The pre-order has started.

They don't take silver.

One ingot of gold

for one liang of tea.

One ingot of gold

for one liang of tea?

Wen Chao went to the Ghost Market to buy the tea?

Yes.

He also confessed

that you gave him the money

to buy the tea.

I can explain.

A few days ago, he came here

and asked for a cup of that tea.

I didn't have much tea left myself,

so I gave him money to buy some.

I never expected him to go to the Ghost Market.

Sheriff Su,

last time you said there was

prohibited ingredient in that tea.

That's just your guess.

It was just a guess.

I have evidence now.

Please take a look.

What's inside?

The raw ingredient of Chang'an black tea.

The Hades Grass,

also known as the Western Magic Grass.

It's really a prohibited herb?

What else did Wen Chao say?

He said the Chang'an black tea

you've been drinking

was from him.

That's true.

It's just a gift from a student to his teacher.

That's not a bribe, right?

Of course not.

But do you know

how Wen Chao got the tea?

I suppose he bought it.

You must have heard of

how expensive Chang'an black tea is.

How much

is the monthly salary of the minister of the household?

I bet you know it very well.

Can he afford it?

He came to me twice a month.

The exchange occurred in my house.

Wen Chao is the official in charge of civil affairs.

He exchanged the name lists of the newlyweds

for Chang'an black tea.

I wonder if His Highness...

Sheriff Su.

That has nothing to do with me.

If I'd known

how he got the tea,

I wouldn't have accepted it.

I'm afraid

His Highness

won't think so.

Su Wuming,

don't try to threaten me

with His Highness.

What do you want?

Just name it.

I want to see my father.

Who dares to stop me!

My Lord,

I...

Xijun.

What's the matter?

Father,

you told me

that Chang'an black tea

could relieve my pain.

I want to drink it now.

No problem.

Sheriff Su,

my daughter hasn't eaten or drunk for days.

She only wants death.

Now she's finally willing

to have some tea.

I have to make it for her

no matter what the tea is make of.

Wait a moment.

Come on.

Xijun.

Have a seat.

I'll make you some tea.

Xijun.

What are you doing?

Father,

you've sent guards to watch me day and night.

I got no chance to end my life.

I have no choice.

I've made up my mind.

Please prepare a horse for me.

I'll go to the Western Region

to seek for Xiao.

I'll hit the road right now.

You don't have to travel that far

to see General Xiao.

Who are you?

Sheriff of Chang'an, Su Wuming.

Greetings to you, Miss.

It's none of your business.

Then I'll take my leave.

What a pity.

There is no scope

for my revival skill.

Stop!

Revival skill?

Where you miss the dead

is where the soul of the dead is.

Miss Xijun

misses General Xiao day and night,

and even wants to die with him.

How could his soul

stay in the Western Region?

Su Wuming.

You don't know the whole story

of my daughter's thing.

Stop interrupting.

If you believe me, Miss Xijun,

please wait patiently.

At midnight tonight,

I will use my revival skill

to summon General Xiao

to meet you. How is that?

Why should I trust you?

Trust me or not. It all depends on you, Miss.

It's just that even if you want to kill yourself,

waiting for another four hours isn't hard, right?

You look pale.

I think you should eat something right now,

and then dress up.

Otherwise,

when you see General Xiao later...

Four hours will pass in a blink.

Okay.

Okay.

Su Wuming.

What revival skill?

If you can't slove the problem,

Xijun will die

and I will kill you.

Assistant Minister Pei,

you asked me just now

what exactly I wanted to do.

I didn't have time to tell you the truth.

I didn't expect

Miss Xijun to come here at that time.

You wanted to do something

to my daughter?

I want to cure Miss Xijun.

I want to relieve her from anxiety.

Can you?

I already have a ready-made prescription.

Don't play tricks on me.

General Xiao is the anxiety to my daughter.

Now General Xiao is dead.

There is no prescription to cure her.

Assistant Minister Pei,

just wait and see

my revival skill.

I need to borrow something from you.

The picture.

General Xiao's portrait

drawn by Miss Xijun.

Who drew this?

The daughter of Pei Jian, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Administration,

Pei Xijun.

Su Wuming.

The war is around the corner,

why are you talking about Assistant Minister Pei's daughter again?

Don't you have anything else to do?

In the past,

the new tea was launched

on the third day

after the bride went missing.

But this time,

the so-called first-class Chang'an black tea

will be launched on the 18th day of the seventh lunar month.

Three days before that is the Hungry Ghost Festival.

If they made the brides go missing

to make tea,

are they taking advantage of

the nether marriage?

But what is the connection

between these things?

The key to solve the case

is to act cautiously.

Some doubts

can't be solved at once.

So just now,

I asked you to let Wen Chao go.

He has signed

on his statement.

If he doesn't want to die,

he will atone for his crimes by doing good deeds.

You are here, Immortal.

Minister Wen, how are you these day?

Good. Good.

No, no. Not good.

Why didn't you come last month, Immortal?

I've prepared

the list of the brides.

You are blaming me for not delivering tea, right?

Yes.

Without the immortal tea,

my mind has been somewhat unhinged lately.

Take it.

By the way,

I heard a rumor before

that you had ascended

and left the mortal world.

Fortunately, it's just a rumor.

It's not a rumor.

I did ascend.

So, you are...

If you drink immortal tea often,

it will be easy

to ascend and become an immortal or come back to the mortal world.

Immortal,

what can I do for you?

Three days later is the Hungry Ghost Festival.

How many marriages are there?

You must be joking.

What kind of people would marry a daughter on that day?

Nether marriage.

It has been a century since Chang'an had such custom.

Is Minister Wen trying to hide it?

No. No. No.

It's just that they come to report the nether marriage

the day before the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Okay.

Prepare the list

at midnight of the 14th day of the seventh lunar month

and wait for me.

Yes.

Only you can save yourself

if you don't want to go to the Imperial Prison.

How?

The Immortal Venerable who met you before

will come to you again soon.

No, I don't think so.

He usually comes at the end of the month or the beginning of the month.

This time,

he will come in the middle of the month.

What does what you said

have anything to do with Miss Pei?

Of course.

Chang'an is so big.

I'm afraid many families

have nether marriage.

Only by letting the opponent

lock the target we prepared for him

can we secure the victory.

And

Miss Xijun wants to meet the person in the painting...

You'll kill her.

Su Wuming.

I won't allow you

to use Xijun as the bait.

General

calls the name of Miss Pei directly.

It seems that you two...

Please tell me the truth, General.

A few months ago,

my cousin Xiao Bozhao met His Majesty.

He was appointed General Mingwei

and was going to lead the army to the west.

Assistant Minister Pei's daughter warmly hosted a feast

to see him off.

But he was having fun with female singers

and didn't have time for the feast.

He asked me to take his place.

I always hated him for being dissipated.

So I decisively refused.

But he was so shameless.

I decided to tell Miss Pei

about my cousin's scandals when I met her.

I'd never hide his scandals for him.

However,

although Miss Xijun is not beautiful enough to overthrow cities and ruin states,

she is elegant,

and intelligent.

General didn't want her to be sad

when you saw her.

Exactly.

You had a great conversation during the feast

and fell in love with each other.

No.

I kept the appointment in place of my cousin.

So I didn't take it seriously.

How could we fall in love?

You didn't take it seriously?

You performed the swordplay

very seriously.

I drank a few more cups.

I performed the swordplay

to thank Miss Pei for her kindness.

But now, her kindness has become deep love for you.

Since General Xiao passed away,

Miss Xijun

has tried to kill herself many times.

If anything happens to her,

it's you, Lu Lingfeng,

who cause her death.

It's my fault.

I'll go to the Assistant Minister's residence

to explain the whole story.

You are now

General Xiao who died in battle.

If you show up rashly,

you'll really scare Miss Xijun crazy.

What should I do then?

Just make the best of a mistake.

How about performing the swordplay again

tonight?

Su Wuming.

Why do I think

this guy looks so familiar?

That's right.

You know him.

General of the Imperial Guards, Lu Lingfeng.

How could you

use such a clumsy trick？

What if...

What if Xijun finds out the truth?

What trick?

It isn't

General Xiao in the painting.

It's him, Lu Lingfeng.

He is the one.

Xiao.

Wait.

This is an illusion.

Don't disturb General Xiao.

Su Wuming always comes up with bad ideas.

Why did he ask you to perform the swordplay?

Look.

The wound opened up again.

If I had the golden armor to protect the body,

I wouldn't have been shot.

With the silver spear,

it can't take me a lot of effort

to kill the enemy.

Golden armor and silver spear?

Take them wherever you go.

It's easy to say.

Golden armor is easy to carry.

But the spear

is too long.

General must be thinking about

the things three days later, right?

What are you doing?

My spear!

How dare you! Chicken Fed!

Is this what you did?

No.

Didn't you say it was too long

to carry.

Listen to me. Listen to me.

Listen to me.

I went back to the Ghost Market last night

and bought this from the tomb robber.

So expensive!

Take a look.

Take your time.

Give it to me.

Look how it is now.

Good for you, Chicken Fed.

You do more than healing.

Since it's expensive,

tell me the price.

I'll pay you.

Do you think I have money?

Then whose money did you use?

Of course it's yours.

When I changed your dressing yesterday,

I took the jade tablet

on your waist.

You...

Listen to me.

I wanted to exchange it for money,

so that I could eat and drink my fill for months.

I didn't have to come back

and take risks with you.

But I didn't expect

to meet it.

I thought you would need it recently.

So I didn't use that money

to buy chicken

or booze.

It's a blessing for the jade tablet

to be exchanged for this treasure.

How's it going?

The Crown Prince's oral instruction:

I've been busy with official affairs lately.

I have no time to see you.

Crown Prince also said

that since the Great General

asked you to ponder over your mistakes in solitude,

you should just obey the military order.

Greetings to you, Sheriff Su.

What are you doing?

We searched the Ghost Market under your order the day before yesterday

and met strong opponents.

Without the protection of the Imperial Guards,

we wouldn't have come back.

The two Imperial Guards

covering us behind

were shot to death.

They were His Majesty's bodyguards.

Each of them is more valuable

than all of our humble lives.

I apologize

for putting brothers in danger.

Sheriff Su, what are you sorry for?

In the capital,

those enchanters are so rampant.

If we meet them again,

we will definitely raise our swords

and kill them.

That's it.

We are practicing hard

the killing skill.

If there is another chance,

we can't disgrace Chang'an County.

Three foremen are right.

We can't eat official rice for nothing.

Yes.

We can't eat official rice for nothing.

I admire

your heroic saying.

Those enchanters have shown their slip.

We can catch them all in three days.

This is the time for brothers

to make contributions.

Under your order, Sheriff Su.

Pei Jian, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Administration,

said that Chang'an black tea was evil tea

in the court today.

He listed four major crimes,

which shocked the court.

Has His Majesty issued an edict?

No.

Then what is the attitude

of His Highness?

I didn't hear of it either.

Okay.

I see.

[Nether Marriage List]

Tomorrow, there will be twelve girls for nether marriage

in Chang'an tomorrow.

Please have a look, Immortal Venerable.

Pei Xijun, daughter of Pei Jian.

Yes.

I heard that she looked pretty good.

But at this time,

why did Pei Jian suddenly

marry his daughter to a dead man?

It's quite a puzzle to me.

I know a little about it.

Pei Xijun's lover

died in a battle in the Western Region.

She misses him like crazy.

Pei Jian had no choice.

Otherwise, in such a high postion,

marrying his daughter to a dead man

would make him a joke.

God helps me, too!

[Pei Xijun]

She will be the one!

Today, Pei Jian

openly listed four major crimes

of my immortal tea in the court.

I'll use his daughter

to make my best immortal tea.

♫The storm rises with no reason♫

♫In the night of illusions♫

♫I go into the maze♫

♫In a world of prosperity♫

♫A heart burns with obsession♫

♫With the darkness rising♫

♫I can't stop wandering through the night♫

♫With light in my heart, I'm not afraid of the storm♫

♫It's because of justice♫

♫That I seek a truth for this long, lonely night♫

♫The heaven and earth are held together by a strong will♫

♫The people are in peace♫

♫Carving right and wrong into a clear heart♫

♫The truth♫

♫Will reinterpret this justice♫

♫Even if there is a fog♫

♫Even if there are invisible waves♫

♫I'll tell the story of the fate♫

♫Tell the love of the world♫

♫For the memory of grace♫

♫And the resentment is not yet over♫

♫The rivers and mountains are immortal, the clouds are overturned♫

♫To be consoled by the truth, even with thorns on my back♫

♫Only for justice♫

♫Even if there are a thousand sails, it's not a waste of time♫

♫The heaven and earth are held together by a strong will♫

♫The people are in peace♫

♫Carving right and wrong into a clear heart♫

♫The truth♫

♫Will reinterpret this justice♫

♫Even if there are a thousand sails, it's not a waste of time♫

♫What I am afraid of is the unrighted wrong♫

♫What is the meaning of life and death?♫

♫I'll paint the sunshine into the landscape♫

♫The spirit of righteousness♫

♫Exists for the one I care♫

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