Strange Tales from Chang'an

[The Female County Magistrate] Ye Yuan takes her elder brother's place and travels far away to serve as magistrate of Xishan County. She inherits a dilapidated yamen buried in debt and vows to become a good magistrate and a legendary figure like the great constable Ji Ran.

Upon arriving in Xishan County, Ye Yuan meets Zhou Jie, a young man from a nearby town skilled in ingenious illusions, and witnesses the bizarre case of the Guanyin statue setting the city ablaze.

Meanwhile, in the capital, Prince Li Sujie summons a phoenix and cuts out his heart to cure the empress. The people across the realm praise him as a filial son, while the crown prince is too anxious to eat or sleep.

Illusion magic flourishes in the Tang Dynasty.

To solve the cases, Ye Yuan and Zhou Jie join forces. Paper effigies take brides, the Judge of the Underworld claims lives… one case after another leads straight to the powerful families of Chang'an.

The assassin Gu Hanyi and the poison doctor Bai Yu join the investigation team, but Ye Yuan discovers that Old Zero's identity is suspicious…