Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty Episode 3

Sheriff and General unite

The episode begins with Sheriff Su needing deputies to help with a case. They are all most reluctant until they are told a benefactor will spend a good sum to have case solved. This results in many of the bride corpses being recovered. General Lu has taken a different route. He is arresting any and all having deals with Chang’an tea. His arrests have been noted by superiors and he is being asked why so thorough an investigation. His superior general is not enthused he won’t drop the matter but allows him to investigate..with the stipulation that no imperial troops can be deployed. Magistrate Yuan keeps showing up. First he informs the Sheriff that they are being responsible for taking on prisoner overload thanks to General Lu’s broad net of arrests. The official wants to know what to do with them all. The sheriff tells him to release them. That was far from the answer the official expected. The sheriff reminded him that while the male royal did not drink the tea, his wife did and did they really want her grieved with them? He shamed General Lu into taking the fable books and trying the infamous tea. The general looked the tea over and smelled it but didn’t drink it. The sheriff shamelessly charges him for it anyways.😂 He used the money to pay off his deputies and tells them the general is their benefactor. This gives him an opening with the general to hitch a ride to ghost market under the guise of supplying troops. Lady ShiYi is running the place serving the tea. I think it is more the one that borrowed her face. They are hosting various officials and royals by getting them addicted to the tea. The general is deciding how to approach the situation when the sheriff’s deputies take control of the situation. They are completely incompetent, but at least spring most of the traps. While the general is fighting off arrows, the sheriff tried a different approach. He has a strip of the burial cloth with the odd spice on it and is trying to locate the source. While talking to a seller he notices the chicken thief and follows him instead. The thief recognizes the smell and thinks the sheriff is a ghost😂 He leads the sheriff through under ground tunnels and they both find themselves coming up through the floor of lady ShiYi’s establishment and joining the general in his cage with a shower of arrows coming at them. The sheriff tells General to follow and he takes an arrow to protect thief. It turns out the thief has medical skills and they have a clue about the preservative incense used on the brides. They escape ghost market and once again magistrate Yuan is showing up pretending concern. The general is paying the thief a chicken a day for his help with the poisoned arrow. Interesting swirl of events the sheriff and General keep circling around. If they would only work together instead of counterproductively they would have made lots more progress. Their contest of who the better Di disciple is, is costing them extra effort and time to get to the bottom of things. Here the general is better equipped but even his head General thinks it is out of his purview and will cost him his career. He is warned that if he pisses off the royals that even he won’t have the influence to have General Lu’s life spared. Both of these diehard investigators aren’t going to stop and so far they are still using more time to show each other up than get the case moving along. It is time to compare notes gentlemen.😝

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