Original subtitles

[English subtitles are available]

[Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty]

[Episode 2]

Young, young Master!

Somebody!

My son.

-Master. -My son.

Master.

Help him out first.

And don't let the madam in, either.

Yes.

Slowly.

Slowly.

He had porridge this morning.

So the murderer should not have left for long.

Guo Zhuang, go after him!

Yes.

You also noticed

that he didn't kill himself?

For a person who hung himself

his eyes would be shut and his mouth would be open.

If the rope was hung around his throat,

his tongue would be against his teeth.

If the rope was stuck under the throat,

his tongue would stick out.

And he...

Hands, too.

Those who commit suicide

should have their hands clenched, while he...

Judging from his look,

he should have been throttled first

and then hung up.

Wu.

Ask the Dou family

to come out for questioning.

Yes.

Where is the groom?

Here.

The horse

was chosen by the young master himself.

He even fed the horse himself

and sent the bride in person.

It has nothing to do with me.

So,

you have see something?

That day,

I went to feed the horses

as usual.

I found the young master was adding something to the barrel

for the horse to drink.

I dared not ask more.

Did Dou Yulin

act

weird these days?

On the day young miss went missing,

he came back at midnight

and got drunk.

Young Master.

Why are you home so late?

And you're drunk.

Move.

What's wrong?

Where exactly did it go wrong?

What happened after that?

Had he ever left the house?

Where had he been and who had he met?

Young master was a good man.

He was a very good man.

Did you find anything?

General.

On the wall of the backyard,

there were some crushed tiles.

The murderer has disappeared long ago.

Aren't you leaving?

General, you go first.

I have something else to do.

What's the name of the little girl

on the left of the front row?

Ling'er.

Sheriff.

You can leave now.

You must be Ling'er.

My name is Su Wuming.

I'm the sheriff of Chang'an.

Do you have anything to say to me?

I'm sure

young master was killed by Yin Shilang.

Please sheriff, you have to avenge him!

Yin Shilang!

Yin Shilang!

That bride's younger brother...

Thank you for reminding me in time.

I just finished my business

and the Imperial Guards arrived.

That was close.

That fool looked down on his future brother-in-law,

so he asked me to help him kidnap his sister.

He would never have thought

that we just needed a bride.

To choose a bride,

the old way is safer.

Yes.

You're in trouble.

The General of the Imperial Guards, Lu Lingfeng,

is the trusted aide of the Crown Prince.

Recently,

he has got his eyes on Chang'an black tea.

You must be careful of him.

He is just a nobody.

Immortal Venerable,

you overestimated him.

You're really something.

You could tell that maid

had an affair with Dou Yulin.

Dou Yulin already knew

Song Chai is a gambler.

He didn't want his sister to jump into this fire pit.

But Dou Cong

insisted on fulfilling the engagement.

With no other choice

Dou Yulin found out

there's a man in the Ghost Market

called Yin Shilang who is capable of anything.

So he took a lot of money with him to ask him for help.

This Yin Shilang

took the money.

However, he abducted and killed Dou Cong.

Then he killed Dou Yulin to silence him.

We can only say

Yin Shilang is the prime suspect.

To investigate the case,

before the truth is revealed,

the last thing you should do is

jump to a conclusion.

It seems that we must go to the Ghost Market.

The Ghost Market is full of all sorts of bad characters.

Dangers lurk on every side of it.

You're just a scholar.

Do you have the guts?

What are you talking about?

I'm the sheriff of this county.

I have

some elite and tough soldiers under my command.

It's just a market.

Why wouldn't I dare to go?

Sir,

my wife is going to give birth soon.

[Constable of Chang'an County, Jia]

She had a difficult labor last time,

and almost lost her life.

I've hired the best delivery lady.

I have to stay at home.

[Constable of Chang'an County, Luo]

I have poor eyesight.

At night,

I can't see anything.

Sheriff Su.

I, I...

[Constable of Chang'an County, Liu]

I don't dare to go.

You don't dare?

You don't even try to come up with an excuse?

To be honest,

Sheriff Wu once took us

to the Ghost Market many times to track the fugitive,

and killed

several outlaws there.

But not long after we came back,

Sheriff Wu started acting like he was bewitched.

And you knew what happened to him in the end.

So

none of you is willing to go with me?

I'm just asking.

That kind of place,

I won't go either.

What are you doing?

Come and give me a hand.

He killed someone,

and used spices

to make the dead body not decay.

This is so strange.

We're going to the Ghost Market anyway.

So we can also look for

the source of this spice there.

You want to go to the Ghost Market?

How many people will you take with you?

No one.

I'll go alone.

Sheriff.

Why are you here?

I heard there are often ghosts here.

I'm worried about you.

There are no ghosts and demons in this world.

Chang'an is designed by Yuwen Kai of the last dynasty, Sui,

who took into account the six high hillsides in the city

and used the Qian Diagram

from the Eight Diagrams.

The position of Nine-Two

is the Imperial Palace where the Emperor lives,

Nine-Three is the Imperial Court

where the officials is on duty.

And the sovereign Nine-Five is

where the Xuandu Temple is built

along with Xingshan Temple.

But in the last years of the Sui dynasty

the depression next to Xuandu Temple

began to sink ever lower,

and became an underground world.

Since our Tang dynasty,

the curfew has been tight.

Some homeless people

and those who do small business at night

have gathered here.

So it gains its name, the Ghost Market.

Move!

Sheriff.

I heard

there are many fugitives,

killers, robbers,

and the most vicious people here.

You can't be too careful.

There's nothing to be afraid of.

When I followed

my teacher, Detective Di,

we came here many times.

Get him!

Freeze!

Catch the chicken thief!

Catch him!

Freeze!

Catch him!

Catch that thief!

Stop!

Freeze!

Freeze!

Stop!

Freeze!

Catch that chicken thief!

Watch out!

Move!

Move!

Move!

You steal my chicken every day.

I'll chop off your hands.

Ghost!

Ghost.

This person is a ghost.

Let's go, go.

Sheriff.

Are you alright?

I'm fine.

What did he shout?

Ghost.

Chang'an black tea.

How much for the black tea?

How much?

I'm here to buy it.

If you have it,

I'm willing to buy it with silver,

or even gold.

I really don't have the tea.

Sir,

you mean

you bought the Chang'an black tea before.

Is it good?

How can I afford it?

I bought it and resold it in the East Market.

It's an easy business, right?

It depends on

whether you can get your hands on the authentic goods.

The rich and the noble like this tea.

The price is high.

Take him.

Yes!

The omnipotent Yin Shilang.

[The omnipotent Yin Shilang]

How dare him hang such a big brand!

I'll go in there alone.

You can find a place to rest.

No way.

I'll go in before you.

Weird.

Why is there no one here?

[Chang'an Black Tea]

Help!

Help!

Help!

Help!

Go!

Didn't you buy black tea

from Yin Shilang?

Tell me which one is him.

If you can identify him,

I won't punish you for reselling black tea

at a high profit.

Ok.

This...

This...

I can't see their faces clearly.

Put them down.

Sheriff Su?

General, we meet again.

You hurry up.

Put us down.

What are you doing here?

What do you mean?

Dou Cong's death

and Dou Yulin's death.

Yin Shilang

must have something to do with them both.

I'm here to investigate the case.

How could you say that?

Did you find anything?

No, not,

not yet.

Su Wuming.

As the sheriff of Chang'an,

it's fine that you can't catch the murderer,

but you ruin the trap

we set for the villain.

Are you a good-for-nothing?

You!

Wu.

Don't be so rude.

I was impressed by you

when we were at Dou's house.

Now that I think about it,

you're just better at

watching what people is doing and saying than I am.

You only learned that

from Di Renjie?

I think you should stay up there

and see

how I catch the real culprit.

Wait, General.

Please let us down.

I can hold on.

But my servant...

is old.

He can't take it

if you keep hanging him up.

Pull them up.

Put me down!

Put me down!

How dare you!

How dare you treat the sheriff of Chang'an like this?

Is sheriff also a government official?

You're worse than a cat. A cat can catch rats.

Do you really think you're a tiger?

This...

Tiger?

Nonsense.

How can there be a tiger here?

It looks like...

It's really a tiger.

Don't jump out of the window.

General of the Imperial Guards.

What are you waiting for?

Kill the tiger with that sword!

The Lu family of Fanyang

has been a distinguished family for 500 years.

Lu Lingfeng,

you're such a disgrace to your ancestors.

Where is the tiger?

There's no tiger.

But we saw it just now.

Look at what's on the floor.

It's clearly some pieces of

tiger fur.

It's just an illusion.

Illusion?

Su Wuming.

How did you know?

Have you ever heard of such a giant tiger

in this world?

If there was,

the bones and skeletons in the Ghost Market

would be piled up.

How can you even see a living person?

I'm the General of the Imperial Guards.

I actually was deceived by an illusion.

Go get Wu

and the tea sellers back.

Yes.

Wait.

General.

The reason

why I didn't let you jump out of the window

is that

the two people who jumped out of the window

might be dead.

What did you say?

The enchanter wants

to force you

to jump out of the window with the illusion.

Wu!

Someone must be controlling this place.

The enchanter must be nearby.

Search this place!

Yes, sir!

God is flying up to heaven!

God is flying up to heaven!

God is flying!

God is flying!

God is flying up to heaven!

Since you have ascended,

This form of you

and the name, Yin Shilang...

Indeed, I have been using them for a long time.

It's time to change them.

Meet you with respect,

Immortal Venerable.

From tomorrow onwards,

anyone who wants to buy Chang'an black tea

will have to

curry favor with you.

Sheriff.

The Dou family is here.

They are waiting for you in the county government.

At such an ungodly hour? What happened?

They tied Ling'er up,

charging her of theft.

I didn't steal anything.

Then where did you get this?

That's the black tea left by Mr. Dou.

Is it Chang'an black tea?

Dou Yulin drank that tea too?

No, he didn't.

He said he bought some authentic Chang'an black tea

from Yin Shilang

and planned to sell it at a high price in Luoyang.

The money he earned would be left to Miss Dou.

A-And me.

Su Qian.

Untie her.

Yes.

Sheriff Su,

I'll leave this thief at your disposal.

I want to take away Cong's body

so we can put her and her brother to rest.

Sir,

we haven't found the murderer yet,

so I'm afraid you can't take her body away now.

As for Ling'er…

Leave us alone.

Yes.

What did you say?

My son Yulin really did that?

He was hoodwinked into doing that.

Last night, I found the drug

he used

at Yin Shilang's place

in the Ghost Market.

It's a herb found in Lingnan.

If feed it to cows and horses,

in two hours,

they will all run wildly

and sweat blood until they die.

Therefore, the drug is called Sweat Blood Powder.

When the carriage arrived at a certain place,

Dou Yulin pulled the horse to another direction

and made the horse panic.

Hurry.

Dou Yulin planned on

letting Yin Shilang

take Dou Cong

to live in Dongdu for a while.

She would come back when you were less angry.

However,

Yin Shilang is a scumbag.

Your son basically helped the guy

who meant no good for his sister.

If I had known better,

I wouldn't have insist

that marriage.

I should've listened to Yulin

and broken off Cong's engagement.

My son and daughter died

because of me.

I'm sorry for your loss.

In Dou Yulin's plan,

Ling'er would go to Luoyang as well.

Ling'er?

Why was that?

Ling'er didn't steal anything.

She just wanted to find

the tea that Dou Yulin left for her.

She knew it was valuable.

She wanted to sell it

and use the money to raise the child.

Raise the child?

She's just a maid.

Ling'er.

Dou Yulin promised

to take you to Luoyang.

Why?

How dare you.

Sheriff,

it's not my fault.

When Mr. Dou learned

that his sister had to marry that gambler,

he felt very depressed

and drowned his sorrows every night.

Then...

I see.

My son

indeed had feelings for that maid.

Sir.

Take Ling'er back

and treat her well.

After all,

she's pregnant with your son's child.

What kind of tea is this?

The highly hyped

Chang'an black tea.

When I cleaned this house earlier,

I seemed to have seen this tea.

Really?

Where is it?

Boil water.

My lord.

How is Xijun today?

Not good. She tried to kill herself several times.

We made it to stop her

but if we fail the next time...

I understand.

Father,

please let me leave Chang'an

and go search for Xiao.

Yes.

Xijun.

I know you love General Xiao

to distraction.

But he died on the battlefield long ago.

He can't come back to life.

Are you going

to search for his ghost?

No.

I saw him last night.

He didn't die.

You saw him in your dream.

How could the imperial dispatch be wrong?

Xiao.

Xiao.

All right, Xijun.

I brought you

a pot of tea.

This is top-notch tea.

Drink it.

It can relieve your pain.

Don't be so willful!

This is Chang'an black tea.

Even Her Highness is drinking it.

What a waste.

I just want to marry Xiao.

Please grant my wish, father.

I'm Su Wuming, the sheriff of Chang'an.

It's such an honor to meet you, Assistant Minister Pei.

Good to see you, Sheriff Su.

Have a seat.

Thank you.

What brought you here?

You don't look well, sir.

Did you sleep badly last night?

I'm in my fifties now.

My only child is my daughter.

Xijun is my everything.

She's gone mad recently

and insists on marrying

General Xiao, who's a dead man.

I'm the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Administration.

Does she expect me

to agree to her marrying a dead man?

Last night,

I drank a whole pot of

Chang'an black tea,

but I still couldn't have a nice sleep.

I mean no offense,

but please don't drink

that tea again.

Chang'an black tea

is the best tea among all teas.

Even Her Highness is drinking it.

Why can't I drink it?

I suspect

that tea contains prohibited ingredient.

Please think twice

before you drink it again.

I recall something interesting.

After you got drunk that day,

you mistook the first-class black tea as blood

and fainted.

Don't spread

ungrounded rumors

just because you don't like the tea yourself.

Have you ever experienced hallucinations

after drinking that tea?

You don't have to answer.

I came here today

to warn you about that.

I'm not doing this

because you helped me get promotion.

It's just that

my teacher, Detective Di, once told me

that you're a virtuous and knowledgeable man,

and that you're the pillar of the country.

Take care.

By the way,

I saw the portrait of General Xiao

drawn by Miss Xijun the other day.

It's so vivid.

I suppose

you know this General Xiao

very well, right?

We met a few times when he was a boy.

After his father, Minister Xiao, retired and returned to his hometown,

I never saw him again.

So Miss Xijun drew his potrait

by imagination?

No.

When General Xiao came to the capital to meet His Majesty,

he stayed in Chang'an for several days,

but he didn't pay me a visit.

Maybe he was too busy with military affairs.

Without me knowing,

Xijun held a farewell banquet for him

before he left.

This is an vibrant era

and there are boisterous parties every day.

Besides, she's a young girl

engaged to General Xiao

who had feelings for her too,

so I just let her.

I see.

Wine!

Wine.

Give me wine.

It's you.

Drink with me.

Enough, General.

I was fooled by the enchanter.

Wu died because of me.

Su Wuming.

Are you here to laugh at me?

I was fooled,

but you saw through the trick.

It turns out that Detective Di was right

in taking you as his disciple

instead of me.

I'm a loser.

I am a loser.

I'm a downright loser!

General,

don't give up on yourself.

We're humans and humans make mistakes.

It doesn't matter

as long as you can correct your mistake.

Bullshit!

General!

Calm down.

Calm down.

Let me tell you something interesting.

It didn't take me much effort

to find out that General Xiao Bozhao

is your cousin.

What does that have to do with you?

I'm just curious.

I heard that General Xiao was over six feet tall

and used a silver spear.

On the battlefield,

he could take off the enemy leader's head without effort.

Nonsense.

If he were truly that able,

he wouldn't have died in the Western Region.

He used two maces

and was about five feet five.

So I guess it right.

The man Pei Xijun

drew in the portrait

was not General Xiao,

but you.

Su Wuming.

As the sheriff of Chang'an,

you should be busy looking into the murder cases

instead of making fun of me here.

Your head

should be on the ground already.

Look at you.

So that's true.

General!

What is it?

The Crown Prince

wants you to be presented at court, General.

Six months ago,

Helan Mieming, the Master of the Horse, died.

Three months ago,

Lieutenant Li Buqi died.

One month ago,

Sun Xiu, the Military Commander of Yongzhou died too.

They all committed suicide for no reason.

Lu Lingfeng,

have you found anything?

The three of them

had been secretly drinking a kind of tea.

Chang'an black tea?

Yes.

Last night,

Professor Cui Dongwang,

the man with acclaimed excellence

in poetry and calligraphy,

a standard-rank-five official,

[The Crown Prince of Tang]

spent the last penny he had

on Chang'an black tea.

He was up to his eyeballs in debt then.

He wasn't repentant at all,

claiming to hear gods summoning him

after drinking that tea.

He then jumped into Qu River and died.

Chang'an black tea

is diabolically poisonous.

How can you be so sure?

I sneaked into the Ghost Market

and found Yin Shilang,

the man who sold Chang'an black tea.

But I was set up

by that enchanter.

He made me see illusions

and almost killed me.

Tea

is not harmful.

Although it's relatively new in the country,

as far as I know,

many people are drinking it in Chang'an.

But now,

someone is using tea to fool our people

and weaken the spirit of the country.

Lu Lingfeng,

you'll assist the Capital Tea Alliance

to investigate the case.

Yes, Your Highness.

You'd better

quit drinking.

Thank you for your concern, Your Highness.

I'll keep that in mind.

Go.

Be careful.

Why are you still here?

Welcome back.

How can I leave

without biding you farewell?

What were you doing here?

I couldn't find the records of many old cases

in the county government,

but I found them here at your place.

They may not be comprehensive and evidence-based,

but

they're helpful for the investigation.

These are not official documents.

I recorded those cases myself.

I've seen that.

I read

your speculations and analysis of the cases.

Some of them are brilliant,

but the others…

Are total nonsense.

Su Wuming.

You're in my house,

not your office.

You can leave now.

General.

I can't leave.

I remember that when I first came to Chang'an,

you told me

the sheriff before me, Mr. Wu,

died a strange death.

Recently, I found out

that Sheriff Wu had also been drinking Chang'an black tea

until his death.

Enough.

You're just a sheriff.

Leave the tea case to me.

Go focus on

those murdered brides.

One bride disappeared every month.

If this continued,

no families in Chang'an

would dare to marry their girls.

You're so very right,

but my instincts tell me

that Chang'an black tea is a very important clue.

Why don't we work together?

Su Wuming,

who do you think you are?

His Highness ordered me

to thoroughly investigate the tea case.

Who are you to meddle in?

Get out,

or I'll kick you out.

It's recorded clearly in those files

that the brides started disappearing a year ago.

Chang'an black tea

appeared in the market a year ago too.

One bride went missing

every month.

The price of Chang'an black tea

changed every month too.

Perhaps

the two cases are related.

Leave!

Or it'll end badly for you.

Fine.

I'm leaving.

I'm leaving.

General.

Sheriff,

what are you doing?

What a thoughtful man.

Who are you talking about?

Lu Lingfeng.

That general?

He's so arrogant

and intimidating.

Don't judge a book by its cover.

There are no official records

of the missing brides.

But I found records of each disappearing

in Lu Lingfeng's house.

Up to now,

four bodies have been found

in the south, north, east, and west

of Chang'an.

I suspect the murderer deliberately dumped the bodies

for people to discover them.

Those brides were killed as a part of

a ritual.

If I'm right,

more bodies can be found

at the places I marked.

It won't be an easy task.

We need to search carefully

and even dig under the ground.

♫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 fire 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 the earth are held together by a strong will♫

♫The world is at ease♫

♫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♫

♫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♫

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

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

♫The world is at ease♫

♫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 does life and death mean?♫

♫I'll paint the sunshine into the landscape♫

♫The spirit of righteousness♫

♫Will last forever in my heart♫