Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Liang Youcai, a small trader from Shanxi, has no wife, no children, and no land property. He lives in Jinan.On this day, we will visit Mount Tai together with the villagers.At that time in April, believers gathered on Mount Tai, and the incense was very strong.There are also hundreds of men and women, kneeling under the altar, watching others offer incense, and making wishes in their hearts, which is called "kneeling incense".

Liang Youcai wandered around, and saw a girl in the crowd, seventeen or eighteen years old, with a beautiful appearance, and he was very happy, so he dressed up as a pilgrim, knelt down on the ground, took the opportunity to approach the girl, secretly stretched out his palm, and gently touched the girl's calf. caress.The girl frowned and turned her head, looking annoyed, but she didn't attack, she just moved her body away from Liang.

Liang Youcai was not discouraged, and stuck to pester him again. The girl realized that he had malicious intentions, stood up and rushed out the door.Liang Youcai chased after him, and when he came to the door, there was no trace of the girl, feeling melancholy, he returned disconsolately.On the way home, he met two women unexpectedly, one old and one young, the young one was the girl, and the old one seemed to be her mother.The second daughter was chatting and laughing, but the old woman said, "You know that it is a good thing to kowtow to the empress of Mount Tai. I hope that the empress will bless my daughter to find her son-in-law. The old woman dare not expect her son-in-law to be a nobleman. As long as he is filial, I will Wishing is enough."

Liang Youcai eavesdropped on the conversation between the two, secretly pleased, stepped forward to strike up a conversation, and asked the old woman's whereabouts.The old lady called herself "surnamed Yun, daughter named Cuixian, and her hometown is forty miles away on the west mountain." Liang Youcai said: "The mountain road is difficult to walk, the aunt is not young, and the younger sister is slender, how can I go back?" The old woman said: " It's getting late, so I have to go to my uncle's house to spend the night."

Liang Youcai said: "Madam Shicai said that she wants to choose a husband, and she will not dislike her because of poverty and lowliness. I am still unmarried, can I be satisfied?" This person has a dissolute and dissolute character, his personality is repetitive, his blessings are shallow, and the children do not want to marry him."

Liang Youcai tried his best to defend himself when he heard the words, and swear to the sky, saying: "I am a simple person, and I am not a prodigal son, please be careful." Make the decision for my daughter and betroth her to you." Hearing this, Cuixian was depressed, but her mother's fate was inevitable, and there was nothing she could do.

The old woman reached out and patted Liang Youcai on the shoulder a few times to show her approval. Liang Youcai became more and more proud, and paid for two soft sedan chairs to escort the two daughters on the road, and walked along with him, respectful like a servant.Whenever the road was difficult, Liang Youcai always told the porter to "slow down, don't keep dangling." He was considerate and courteous.

After a while, a group of people came to a village. An old woman invited Liang Youcai into her house as a guest. His uncle and aunt came out to greet him.The old woman called her "Big Brother, Big Sister." Pointing at Liang Youcai, she introduced, "This is my son-in-law, who is of good character and is destined to be with Cui Xian. It is better to hit the sun than to pick the sun. Let the young couple get married today." The uncle was overjoyed, Immediately took out good food and wine to entertain Liang.

After a while, Cuixian came out after putting on her make-up. After the men and women worshiped heaven and earth, the aunt cleaned the bed and urged them to go to bed.In the room, Cuixian said: "I know that the young master is not a good person, but he is forced to obey his mother's order for now. In the future, if you behave well, you can still stay together forever." Liang Youcai promised.

Waking up early the next day, the old woman said to Liang Youcai, "You go back first, and my daughter and I will be there later." Liang Youcai returned home and cleaned the house.Sure enough, the old woman escorted her daughter back. When she entered the house, she saw that the house was empty and had nothing. She sighed and said, "How can I live in such poverty? I will go back first and find a way to send some subsidies."

The next day, several men and women brought clothes, money, eating utensils and other things, and they piled up the whole room without eating, and left without eating. When they left, they left a maidservant behind.

Since then, Liang Youcai had no worries about eating and drinking, and gathered to gamble with the rascals every day. He gradually sat on the mountain and became penniless, so he turned to Cuixian to steal his wife's dowry jewelry from time to time. The wife was nagging and impatient.Cuixian has no choice but to guard his property strictly, like guarding against thieves.

One day, a rascal came to visit. He was shocked to see the appearance of Cuixian, and he said to Liang Youcai half-jokingly, "Your Excellency is destined to be rich, why should you be poor?" Liang Youcai was puzzled and asked, "Why?" The rascal said "Just now I saw my wife. She looks like a fairy. If you sell it as a maidservant, you can get a hundred taels of silver. If you sell it as a singer, you can get a thousand taels of silver. If Brother Liang is pregnant with a thousand pieces of gold, why don't you worry about having no money to gamble?" Liang Youcai said incredulously. Saying that, I quite agree with it in my heart.

After returning home, he complained to his wife: the family was poor and it was difficult to survive.Cuixian ignored him, Liang Youcai was furious, beat the table and threw chopsticks, insulted the maid, and made trouble for no reason.

This evening the husband and wife had a drink together, Cuixian pondered for a while, and suddenly said: "The husband always said that the family is poor, and you are troubled, and the concubine can't share your worries, so I feel ashamed. For the current plan, it's better to sell the maid for some silver taels. Liang Youcai shook his head and said, "A maidservant looks ordinary, how much is it worth?" Cuixian drank a glass of wine and said, "What Mr. Xianggong said is absolutely true. Now you are impoverished, even if I swear to die, it will only be a few years of hardship Rizi, what future do you have? Why don't you sell me to a wealthy family, what do you think?"

Liang Youcai was overjoyed, but his face was full of astonishment, and he said, "Why bother?" Cuixian insisted again and again, Liang Youcai gritted his teeth, and said, "Let me think about it slowly." So he begged the eunuch to sell Cuixian into the government as a official ji.The eunuch saw Cuixian's appearance and was very satisfied. He immediately bid 800 taels of silver and signed a contract of sale.

Cuixian said to Liang Youcai: "My mother is often concerned about her son-in-law's poverty. Now that the fate between you and me is over, we have to tell our parents about the breakup. I want to go home and have a look, is that okay?" Liang Youcai hesitated and said, "Just I'm afraid that my mother-in-law will know the truth, so I will stop it." Cuixian said: "I voluntarily did this, and I guarantee you will be fine." Liang Youcai nodded in compliance and no longer objected.

In the middle of the night, the two returned home, knocked on the door and entered.Liang Youcai married Cuixian for more than a year and had never been to his mother-in-law's house. Now that he was there, he saw the magnificent house and the slaves and maidservants. He was terrified and thought: "Mother-in-law is a big family. I'm afraid that the old man will be unwilling."

Cuixian led Liang Youcai upstairs, and his mother came out to greet him, and asked in surprise, "It's midnight, why did you come back suddenly?" Put two ingots of gold on the table, and said: "Fortunately, the gold was not stolen by the villain, and now it is returned to the original owner and returned to the mother." Mother asked the reason in surprise, and Cuixian said: "He just wants to sell me. , It’s useless to keep gold around.”

Pointing to Liang, he scolded: "Wolf and rat! Back then you carried a burden on your shoulders, your face was covered with dust, and you were as ugly as a ghost. When you first got close to me, you were covered in sweat and dirt, and the calluses on your hands and feet were more than an inch thick, which is disgusting. If you It wasn't my mother and daughter who gave the dowry, where did you get the money to pamper you? Mother, tell me, did I slander you?"

Liang Youcai bowed his head, not daring to say anything.Cuixian said again: "Although I am not charming, I am not qualified to serve the son of a rich family; but a man like you, I think I am worthy of it. Since I married you, I have not treated you badly. Why don't you read the incense? Love? Am I incapable of building buildings and buying fields? It’s just that you don’t want to make progress, you’re poor, you look like a beggar, and you won’t be able to grow old together.”

All the maidservants were furious when they heard the words, they surrounded Liang and scolded: "It's better to kill such a heartless man, why bother talking." It's gone." Cuixian said angrily: "I'm sharing the bed with you, why do I have the heart to sell my first wife to be a prostitute? It's a heinous crime." The scissors and hairpin were aimed at Liang's ribs and calves, and stabbed randomly, leaving scars and blood dripping for a while.Liang screamed in agony, Cuixian heard it, couldn't bear it, and sighed: "He is not kind, I can't be unrighteous, let him go as a husband and wife."

All the maidservants agreed abruptly, and under the leadership of Cui Xian's mother and daughter, they went downstairs one after another.Liang Youcai sat on the ground moaning alone, with silence beside him, and was about to sneak away, when he looked up, he saw the stars rising and falling, and the dawn appeared on the horizon.Rubbing his eyes, the house disappeared, the lights were extinguished, the surroundings were wild, and he was actually on the edge of a cliff.

The cliff was bottomless, Liang Youcai was horrified, turned around slightly, and with a bang, the rocks collapsed and he fell straight down.Liang Youcai grabbed a dead tree with both hands, but luckily survived.But the body is hanging on the branch, and the hands and feet cannot move. Looking down, the clouds and mist between the cliffs are misty, and it is hundreds or thousands of feet deep.Liang Youcai yelled for help, his voice was hoarse, his wounds were all swollen, his eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and body were exhausted.

As the sun rose gradually, a woodcutter went into the mountain to cut firewood. He passed by and saw Liang Youcai dying, so he rescued him with a rope and carried him home.Liang Youcai tried his best to open his eyes, only to see that the gate of the house was open, the walls of the house were bare, dilapidated like a ruined temple, and the dowry utensils had all disappeared.

Liang Youcai was so remorseful that he stayed in bed alone to recuperate his wounds. When he was hungry, he went to beg at a neighbor's house.The people in the neighborhood looked down on him and spat at him with bad words.Liang Youcai had no choice but to sell his house and go begging in the streets, living in a hole in the ground every day. The only property he had was a broken knife. Someone persuaded him to sell the knife for money, but Liang Youcai refused, saying: "Tigers and wolves are rampant in the wild. Keep the knife for self-defense." In fact, he had another plan in mind, when the scoundrel instigated him to sell his wife, he wanted to keep the knife to settle accounts with him.

Later, Liang Youcai met a gangster on the road, stabbed him to death without saying a word, and was arrested and imprisoned for murder, where he died soon.