Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Zhu Shusheng, a native of Yanggu County, is young and frivolous, and speaks freely.A man was widowed and lived alone, so he was very lonely, so he asked a matchmaker to make love for him. When he came to the matchmaker's house, he met a young woman who was beautiful. After inquiring, he found out that the young woman was the matchmaker's neighbor, so he immediately said to the matchmaker, "Please help me Plead for mercy, marry a young woman next door." The matchmaker smiled and said: "She is a married woman, how can she marry you? Unless you kill her husband."

The scholar said: "It's a good idea, let's do it this way." A month later, the young woman's father-in-law went out to collect debts, was killed, and left her body in the wilderness.The county magistrate arrested the scholar for interrogation. The scholar was not the murderer, so he was wronged.The county magistrate refused to listen, and suspected that the scholar had an affair with the young woman, and the two conspired to kill the deceased.Immediately, the young woman was arrested in court and tortured severely. The young woman was beaten into a trick and confessed indiscriminately.

The county magistrate showed the confession to the scholar and ordered him to confess quickly. The scholar said tragically: "The young woman next door is innocent. I coveted her beauty and killed her husband-in-law. The real culprit is me and has nothing to do with her." Ling asked, "What proof do you have?" The scholar said, "There are bloody clothes at home as evidence."

The county magistrate sent his men to search the scholar's home, but found no bloody clothes. He was angry and hated, and turned his anger on the scholar, and beat him severely. The scholar said: "The evidence is indeed at home. Mother can't bear to see me die, so I refuse to take it out, I will look for it when I go home.”

The yamen servant took the scholar home, and the scholar said to his mother, "With or without the bloody clothes, I will surely die. It is better to take out the bloody clothes and die sooner." The mother wept bitterly, went into her son's bedroom, took out a coat, and stabbed her with a dagger. Cut off the arm, drip the blood, soak it red, and hand it over to the Yamen servants to return to life.

The county magistrate received the bloody clothes and the physical evidence in hand, and immediately sentenced the scholar to death, and asked to beheaded after autumn.On this day, the county magistrate was sitting in the yamen, when suddenly a man broke into the hall, glared at the county magistrate angrily, and cursed: "Such a stupid official, is he worthy of governing the people?!" The county magistrate was furious and ordered his subordinates immediately To arrest the man, all the yamen guards were at a loss and locked him firmly. The man sneered slightly, his arm shook, and a huge force came out, which immediately knocked all the yamen guards to the ground. The county magistrate turned pale in shock and ran away. Loudly said: "I am General Zhou Cang next to Emperor Guan. Faint officer, if you take another step, I will kill you immediately. Listen to me, everyone, the murderer is another person, named Gong Biao, who is not the same as the scholar." It doesn't matter at all." After finishing speaking, he fell to the ground and couldn't get up.

After a while, the man woke up slowly, his face pale, and he said in surprise: "Why did I get to the county government office? Could it be that the news was leaked and the matter was exposed?" The county magistrate was very surprised, and immediately detained the man for interrogation. It is the palace mark.

At the beginning, the young woman Xianggong went out to collect debts, Gong Biao heard the news, intercepted her halfway, killed her, and wanted to seize money, but who knew that the deceased had empty pockets, did not get a penny, and instead owed a life.Later, I heard that the scholar was arrested and imprisoned, and I was very happy.I was working at home this day, and suddenly I couldn't help myself, and ran to the county government office in one breath, and I haven't figured out the reason until now.

The county magistrate asked the reason and closed the case immediately. Gong Biao was sentenced to death for intentional homicide, and the scholar was acquitted.Due to his ignorance in handling the case, the county magistrate was eventually dismissed from office, imprisoned, and soon died in prison.

After the scholar was released from prison, he couldn't forget the young woman, so he came to propose marriage again. The young woman thanked him for saving his life, so she agreed with her body.