Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty Episode 1

There’s a new sheriff in town

The episode begins with the sheriff of Chang’an being awakened by a cat. It’s actually rather funny him chasing it around with a sword. As he is led outside the cat becomes female demon who further taunts him. As he promises to kill her to save the town, he plunges her first in a pond. I found this funny too but he does not come up spluttering as expected. A disciple of his is called in to inspect the body. From the outset the general of the guard is interested in murder investigations. He and new sheriff butt heads as their investigative methods collide in pursuit of the culprit. After the mysterious death of sheriff a new bride also dies under mysterious circumstances. The smirk of her brother as horse runs off with carriage had me thinking he was culprit. But we find the husband had gambling issues and planned on selling his bride to traffickers but she never arrived at his home. A masked entity finds her wandering around after carriage mishap. Many hours later the new sheriff arrives to find her shrouded with mask plastered to face. What is very unusual is her body is not decomposing and he wants to know what is preserving her. The brother can provide no assistance because he is found hanging in his room. The husband was out after curfew and an overly enthusiastic guard shot and killed him with arrow even as General tried to stop him. The only other aside is the minister of personnel’s daughter has a crush on the general. The new sheriff learned this at his visit before he passed out at the sight of red tea. It is curious why a person who passes out at the sight of blood wants to be a murder investigator. 😝He is an odd duck because he is floating leisurely in the pond where his predecessor died wondering how he could have drowned in such a shallow place. In the west market he learns of a ghost shop that may have the preservative he is looking for. This episode definitely introduces the weird and rivalry of general and sheriff in case investigations.

Read More