Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty Ⅲ: To Changan Episode 31 Recap
> Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty Ⅲ: To Changan Recap
Disguised as ox-headed and horse-faced demons and other malevolent spirits, Lu Lingfeng and his companions interrogated He Bi, terrifying him into a full confession of his crimes. He Bi, born to a merchant family, explained that he sought to establish himself in Chang'an by marrying into the gentry, so he proposed to Wei Jia, a newly widowed lady from the Wei family. Wei Jia was initially aloof, and her brother Wei Tao tried every means to stop the union.
However, He Bi’s cunning methods won Wei Jia over, and she defied her family to marry him. He Bi recounted that Wei Tao, having seen through his deceitful nature, never supported him but instead thwarted his efforts at every turn, causing He Bi to harbor deep resentment. Later, He Bi’s business failed, leaving him hundreds of thousands of coins in debt.
Shi Qiansui offered assistance, but being a lecher, demanded to spend a night with a gentry lady as his condition. For his own benefit, He Bi drugged Wei Jia’s food and delivered her to Shi Qiansui. However, the dosage was insufficient, and Wei Jia awoke before dawn, discovering Shi Qiansui. Overcome with shame and rage, she attempted to take her own life.
Fearing the truth would reach Wei Tao, He Bi imprisoned Wei Jia, repeatedly beating her until she went mad. His younger brother, He Qian, who suffered from insomnia and was living in the house at the time, once tried to suffocate Wei Jia with a wet paper mask to quiet her constant wailing. He Bi stopped him, realizing Wei Jia still held value.
As Shi Qiansui had already spread the scandal, He Bi began exploiting Wei Jia by having merchants from the Jinguang Society pay a fortune for a night with her. Pei Xijun, outraged by the confession, rushed forward and slapped He Bi until Lu Lingfeng intervened. Lu Lingfeng grabbed He Bi by the collar, demanding further details. He Bi revealed that Wei Jia had managed to escape and returned to her family.
When he went to reclaim her, Wei Tao refused, threatening to kill him. Later, during the expansion of the Jinguang Society’s villa, the ancestral merit-record pillars of the Wei and Du families were unearthed. He Bi rejected their offers to buy them back, instead shattering the pillars to use as foundations and steps for the villa, an insult to the gentry families’ honor.
Su Wuming analyzed that Wei Jia’s madness was intermittent, meaning she must have had lucid moments to inform Du Juniang of her suffering. This explained Wei Tao’s unusually brutal method of killing He Qian, which clearly indicated his immense anger and knowledge of his sister's abuse. Lu Lingfeng, despite being an imperial official, declared that such a despicable merchant deserved death. Meanwhile, Chancellor Cui hurried to the Grand Princess’s mansion, passionately advocating for Wei Tao.
He argued that Wei Tao was a pillar of the state, loyal to the Princess, and the merchants he killed were wicked individuals from the Jinguang Society who had harmed many innocent women. The Grand Princess, who valued the gentry, admitted she hadn't paid much attention to Wei Tao before. However, his drastic actions to avenge his sister and uphold his family’s honor now made her regard him with new respect.
She acknowledged that state governance should not be based on impulse and expressed interest in awaiting the Emperor's attitude on how to handle Wei Tao and Du Yu. The Emperor, too, expressed his disgust at merchants like He Bi for tarnishing the merchant community's reputation. Yang Xun vehemently defended Du Yu, stating he was merely an accomplice whose actions were understandable, especially after the Du family’s ancestral merit-record pillar was destroyed.
Yang Xun highlighted Du Yu's loyalty to the Emperor, describing him as a rare talent of the new generation of the Du family, skilled in both literature and martial arts, and a promising individual for high office. The Emperor noted Yang Xun's unusual fervor in pleading for someone. While appreciating Du Yu's talent, the Emperor was hesitant to pardon him due to the multiple lives he had taken, fearing public criticism of favoritism towards the gentry.
He, too, decided to observe the Grand Princess's stance. With both the Grand Princess and the Emperor yet to make a final decision, Lu Lingfeng went to the Grand Princess. Though he had intended to plead for Wei Tao and Du Yu, Wei Tao had already refused any such plea, accepting that as a county sheriff, he knew the law and yet broke it, and therefore deserved to face justice.
Lu Lingfeng explained his own stance to the Grand Princess, stating that as Master Di’s disciple, he adhered to the principle that the law showed no mercy. He acknowledged that Wei Tao and Du Yu’s anger was understandable, but taking multiple lives was an unforgivable crime. He asserted that the gentry should hold themselves to higher standards, and if he himself were to break the law, he too should be severely punished.
Impressed by his integrity, the Grand Princess then declared her judgment: if Wei Tao and Du Yu were to be beheaded, He Bi would be cut in half at the waist; if they were cut in half at the waist, He Bi would be torn apart by five horses. As for Shi Qiansui, she ordered him stripped of his position, his property confiscated, and permanently banished from all Tang territory. Upon hearing his aunt's decision, the Emperor fully approved.
He then appointed Kang Yuanli, the West Market Magistrate, to also serve as the Chief High Priest. When Xiong Qiannian offered his apologies for the incidents in Chang'an, the Emperor dismissed the blame, noting that Xiong had only recently returned to the capital. He then praised Lu Lingfeng and Su Wuming for their swift resolution of the major case.
Su Wuming, currently serving as the Chief of Secret Agents for Yongzhou Prefecture, humbly attributed more credit to Lu Lingfeng for the Red Tea case and suggested that Lu Lingfeng, as the Judicial Official of Yongzhou Prefecture, deserved a promotion as his current position was beneath his abilities. The Emperor, in a teasing manner, accused Su Wuming of not wanting an official post from him but rather waiting for a title from the Grand Princess.
Though speechless, Su Wuming did not deny it. The Emperor, in an unexpected move, then appointed Su Wuming as the Wannian County Sheriff, instructing him to always remember this act of grace. On the day of the execution, He Bi was publicly cut in half at the waist, to the satisfaction of the onlookers. As Wei Tao and Du Yu were brought to the execution platform, the crowd silently parted.
The relatives of the Wei and Du families, dressed in white mourning clothes, stood at the forefront. Du Juniang, holding her two children, Qing and Ya, vowed to raise them to uphold the Wei family's tradition of poetry and ritual and the Du family's legacy of scholarship, so they might serve the country and the Tang Empire.
Wei Tao and Du Yu stopped their children from kneeling, telling them that as descendants of the Wei and Du families, they must adhere to family traditions and laws, and study diligently. They emphasized that true dignity came not solely from bloodline, but from the knowledge one held and loyalty to family and country. Wei Tao then told his children to "remember this moment, but you must forget today." As the executioner’s axe fell, Lu Lingfeng, in tears, bowed deeply.
Blood splattered the platform, and the crowd wept. Du Juniang, heartbroken, bid her husband Wei Tao farewell, promising to reunite in the next life, and comforted Du Yu, telling him they would be siblings again. After the executions, Du Juniang, suppressing her grief, ordered that no spirit shrine be set up.
She instructed Qing and Ya to tell Wei Jia that Wei Tao had been appointed by the court to lead troops at the border, and forbade anyone in the household from ever revealing the truth to Wei Jia. She explained that Wei Tao’s lifelong wish was to protect the women of his family from harm, and now that Wei Jia’s madness was subsiding, she deserved to live the rest of her life in happiness.
Once the reconstructed merit-record pillars of both families were put in place, Du Juniang watched Wei Jia happily playing among the flowers, a gentle breeze rustling, symbolizing the enduring spirit of the Wei and Du families. Later, the Emperor, reviewing old documents, realized the injustice that coroners, due to their lowly status, were unable to take imperial examinations. He resolved to abolish this discriminatory practice to correct societal prejudice.
Meanwhile, the mortician Yin Yao was preparing a young girl's body when he discovered she had not hanged herself but had been murdered. He meticulously explained the forensic signs to the distraught father, convincing him that his daughter had been strangled before being hanged. Just at this time, Su Wuming arrived at Wannian County to take up his new post as Sheriff and immediately took on this case of apparent suicide that was, in fact, murder.
