A friend recommended Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty (唐朝诡事录) to me before I finally gave it a go. Prior to that, I have been wavering between watching and skipping for a few weeks because I was afraid the cases may not be interesting enough to hold my interest in this detective drama. So, the recommendation nudged me to watch it. I completed it but I also have to admit that it took me longer than usual for a 36 episodes drama. The reason will be discussed in length in the Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty review below.
My rating: 8/10
Episodes: 36
Type: Mystery, Crime
Aired: September 2022
Images Credit: Douban Movie
The Cast Of Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty
- Yang Xu Wen as Lu Ling Feng
- Yang Zhi Gang as Su Wu Ming
- Gao Si Wen as Pei Xi Jun
- Chen Chuang as Fei Ji Shi
- Anson Shi Yue An Xin as Xue Huan
- Sun Xue Ning as Ying Tao
- Zhang Zi Jian as Pei Jian
- Liu Zhi Yang as Crown Prince
- Yue Li Na as Princess
Main Characters
Lu Ling Feng
Lu Ling Feng is a General of the Imperial Guards. He is a man of integrity but prideful. He comes from a prominent family and is deemed to be loyal to the Crown Prince when it comes to palace politics. Lu Ling Feng is smart and good in martial arts but can be rash in his actions.
Su Wu Ming
Su Wu Ming is the new Sheriff of Chang’an. He is also a disciple of the late Di Ren Jie who was a respected and renowned detective. Su Wu Ming is calm and rational with a brilliant mind. He also has the gift of the gab but has no martial arts skills.
Supporting Characters
Pei Xi Jun
Xi Jun is the only daughter of an Assistant Minister. She was betrothed to General Xiao who has died during a battle. Xi Jun is intelligent and a talented artist.
Fei Ji Shi
Fei Ji Shi is an idler who roams around the Ghost Market. While he appears as a useless man, Fei Ji Shi actually has vast medical knowledge. He also loves drinking and eating chicken.
Xue Huan
Xue Huan is Xi Jun’s personal servant. He is a teen with limited martial arts skills. However, he is very loyal and protective of Xi Jun.
Ying Tao
Ying Tao is the daughter of a Prefecture Governor. She has martial arts skills and displays a serious and unfriendly demeanor on first impression. Ying Tao can be persistent and does not trust others easily.
Pei Jian
Pei Jian is the Assistant Minister of the Personnel Ministry and Xi Jun’s father. He is a loyal and experienced official who is cautious not to offend different parties who are tussling for the throne.
Crown Prince
The Crown Prince appears to be a good and responsible man. However, his actual motives are vague as there are others vying for the throne. He is assisted by Great General Lu Tong of the Imperial Guards.
Princess
The Princess is the Crown Prince’s aunt. She has a sharp mind with an ambition to bring further glory to the Tang dynasty by being the next ruler. She is assisted by Wei Feng Hua.
Synopsis
A series of murder involving brides for the past one year in Chang’an has gone unnoticed until General Lu Ling Feng starts to dig deeper into the cases. At the same time, the Sheriff is also found dead in his residence. Su Wu Ming is transferred to Chang’an to be the new Sheriff as a result. He is a disciple of the renowned Detective Di Ren Jie. The prideful Lu Ling Feng tries to find fault with Su Wu Ming initially but gradually comes to respect him as a brilliant investigator and good working partner.
As both men put their heads together to investigate the murders, they learn that the cases involving the brides and government officials are related. The killings are tied to the mysterious Chang’an Black Tea which is sold at an exorbitant price via an underground network. It is touted to have medicinal properties and even the Princess is known to consume it.
However, Lu Ling Feng is fired from his job and expelled from the city after solving the case. Su Wu Ming is sent to take up a position in another city as decreed by the Princess which leads to the perception that he belongs to her camp in the fight with the Crown Prince. The jobless Lu Ling Feng decides to take up Su Wu Ming’s offer to join him in the new city. Together, they are faced with several murder cases along the way for them to solve.
Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty Ending (Spoilers Alert!)
Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty ends with a notice that more cases await viewers. So, we shall see if there is a Season 2 to come. As for this drama itself, Su Wu Ming is transferred to work in the Royal Mausoleum away from the city at the end of Episode 36. He is happy and contented to leave for a quieter and more peaceful life than having to maneuver around hidden objectives and dirty politics. Ying Tao is together with him with clear indications that they will get married and start a family.
Lu Ling Feng is promoted to the the Deputy President of the Supreme Court after helping to solve the last case and kill the villain. Pei Jian is demoted and sent to be a county official. He leaves Chang’an and entrusts Xi Jun to Lu Ling Feng who is more than happy to accept.
The Final Case
The final case involves a magician by the name of Sass who was the previous Empress’ subordinate. He was involved in the killing of many dissidents. Su Wu Ming’s master took the case but couldn’t get Sass arrested before he died. Sass then killed a retired official and took over his identity to escape detection for 12 years. His plan is to crumble a tower and purportedly kill the Emperor during a magic show which was organized to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Sass is stopped and killed by Lu Ling Feng during the show. But he is merely a pawn in the grand scheme of things. The Emperor is aware of who he is and it was his eunuch who told Pei Jian to recruit the fake official as a minister again. Therefore, the Emperor was actually planning to kill the Crown Prince and the Princess because they have many followers between them in the royal court which will threaten his position. When Sass’ identity is exposed, the eunuch is killed and Pei Jian is demoted to be the sacrificial lambs.
Pei Jian knows the truth but denies the Emperor’s involvement when Su Wu Ming raises his suspicions towards the end of the drama. That is why Pei Jian purposely twisted his ankle to avoid going to the magic show as he knew he would die when the tower crumbles. It is a secret he has to keep knowing that the Emperor demands loyalty from his underlings and will sacrifice people’s lives for it.
Lu Ling Feng’s Identity
Lu Ling Feng is actually the Princess’ son. The Princess fell in love with a man named Yang Guan when she was young and had an affair with him. She got pregnant but then found out that Yang Guan was a rebel. He was part of a group that opposed the previous Empress who was the Princess’ mother. The Princess subsequently lured Yang Guan out to enable the authorities to capture him. Being a proud man, Yang Guan didn’t blame the Princess and committed suicide.
The Princess decided to keep her baby rather than abort. But the Princess’ mother convinced her that she needed to leave her son behind if she wanted to return to the palace and fight for power. Hence, the Princess left Lu Ling Feng in a temple orphanage. She lost contact with him after a man adopted him and took him away. The man was Lu Ling Feng’s uncle. The uncle also told Lu Ling Feng that his father was killed by the Princess. The whole story is revealed by the Princess to Su Wu Ming in Episode 31.
However, Su Wu Ming advises the Princess not to reveal her identity to Lu Ling Feng as the latter may not be able to accept the truth given his pride. Hence, Lu Ling Feng remains in the dark although the Princess’ behavior towards him does make him suspicious.
Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty Review – Well-Written Detective Drama
Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty is a serious mystery drama that focuses solely on investigations. The cases may be out of the ordinary with talks of ghosts, illusions, and the supernatural but they don’t end up being too bizarre or defy logic. Overall, the cases are well-written and you can sense the effort put in just like The Imperial Coroner. However, the romance is minimal. So, don’t watch this and expecting the 2 couples to have lots of gazes and hugs while investigating the cases. This is not the drama for it. Instead, most of the screen time is dominated by the 2 male leads. They are the ones who spend a lot of time together with their banter and unique partnership.
Altogether there are 8 cases confronting the protagonists in the drama. Each case takes about 4 to 5 episodes to complete. There are very few filler scenes in between the cases. Hence, this is a pretty tightly focused and plot-heavy drama from start to finish. This is also precisely why I needed to take breaks in between because it isn’t a breezy watch compared to your usual rom-coms. Similar to Sword Snow Stride, you can’t skip scenes because it will be hard to follow the story if you do. Some viewers will find this a prefect drama to binge on because of the logical story flow and good execution.
But to me, Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty is also a conversation-heavy drama and thus, a certain level of concentration is needed to understand what is going on. You can’t play this in the background while doing something else. It is a drama that demands your attention as the details are in the dialogues rather than the action.
Whodunit Mysteries
Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty is the kind of drama that gives your the opportunity to guess the villains just like Luoyang. But the difference is this is a collection of cases while Luoyang is a story about revenge as the protagonists drill down to the core of the crime. Therefore, if you like whodunits, Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty will be able to offer you that thrill.
At the end of each case, the protagonists will explain how they arrive at their conclusion. This include the giveaways that they noticed along the way to lead them down the right path in unearthing the murderer. Such stories need to be well-written and executed so that everything makes sense to the viewers. I think this drama did that successfully. Of course, this is not enough as stories that make sense don’t necessarily mean the drama is interesting. You need more than that to give life to the drama and this is where the characters play their important role.
Delightful Male Leads Combo
Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty is not a drama to watch for eye candies. This is not an idol drama after all. But the 2 male leads’ interactions is a delight to watch because of the humor and witty remarks between them. It is an interesting combo with unique dynamics due to the 2 contrasting personalities. Lu Ling Feng is full of pride due to his position and family background while Su Wu Ming is crafty notwithstanding his lower rank. Hence, while Lu Ling Feng is arrogant, Su Wu Ming is able to use his wittiness to make the former come around albeit grudgingly at first.
That is why this pair is a pleasure to watch in addition to Su Wu Ming’s dry sense of humor. Given the seriousness of the subject matter and the detailed conversations during the investigations, it is easy for a detective drama to end up being boring and monotonous. But this combo of Lu Ling Feng and Su Wu Ming seems to have been carefully crafted to provide the much needed engagement to the viewers. Of course, the leads’ acting and chemistry also help to increase the drama’s watchability.
Acting
This is my second Yang Xu Wen drama in a month after the modern Love In Time. He has certainly come a long way since The Legend Of The Condor Heroes. In Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty, I feel that he has managed to catch the essence of Lu Ling Feng’s character and bring forth all his attributes. It is not an easy role to tackle as Lu Ling Feng has multiple facets to his personality. He can be stuck-up and pretentious but he also has his insecurities and envy. The subtleties of this character have been convincingly portrayed by Yang Xu Wen here.
The veteran actor, Yang Zhi Gang, played the role of Su Wu Ming. He gave a very good depiction of the character with facial expressions and body language that you can naturally associate with craftiness and a wily mind. I think it will be hard to find another actor who can top Yang Zhi Gang’s performance for this role. Together with Yang Xu Wen, they have such great understanding and rapport as partners.
My Verdict – Must Watch For Detective Drama Fans
Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty is a well-written story that deserves higher viewership. It seems to be flying under the radar possibly due to a lack of promotion and it doesn’t have big names to attract eyeballs. With little romance in its plot, it is also a harder sell in general. In fact, the whole arc is expendable with a not so likable female lead. The romance itself is also poorly scripted with the second couple’s relationship being utterly unnecessary.
So, if you are after a good romance, this should be among the last on your list. Instead, this is a kind of drama that needs concentration and not one where you can leave your brains behind. Similarly, this is also not a great choice for those who like the wuxia genre despite the various fighting scenes. Once you have watched Side Story Of Fox Volant, the fighting scenes in this drama will look mediocre.
But what it does really well though is the storytelling of the cases which is the main focus of the drama. These cases is what makes this drama addictive. If you can concentrate for long periods, you can easily binge watch this and complete it within 2 days. But even for someone like me with a short attention span, I still find it intriguing despite taking breaks in between. A bit more effort is needed to sit through it to understand the cases through the dialogues but they are captivating nonetheless.
Therefore, for this Strange Tales Of Tang Dynasty review, I would rate it 8/10. Some marks have been deducted because certain sub-plots that have been introduced got nowhere towards the end such as the palace politics. They are not crucial overall but it feels like the door has been left open for another season.
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