Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Miss Qiao from Pingyuan County has an ugly face, a snub nose and a lame foot. She is 25 and six years old and still unmarried.There was a Mu Shusheng in the county town, about forty years old, from a poor family, his wife died early, and he was alone and helpless, so he hired Qiao's daughter to pass the family.A son was born three years later.Not long after, Mu Shusheng died of illness, and his family became poorer.Qiao Nu raised the child alone, and it was quite difficult. In desperation, she went to her natal family for help.The mother was indifferent and refused to help.Miss Qiao returned home depressed, and since then she has been self-reliant and no longer dependent on others, spinning and weaving to make ends meet.

It happened that there was a Mengsheng who was widowed and lived alone. He had a young son named Wutou, who had just turned one year old and lacked a mother and no one to take care of him.Eager to find a spouse, he went on blind dates several times, but none of them were satisfactory.Occasionally, she heard that Miss Qiao was a good character, so she came to propose marriage, but Miss Qiao refused, saying: "I know that after marrying the son, I will have no worries about food and clothing, and I was tempted. .If you marry a son, you will not be chaste, and one woman can serve as two husbands. I can't do that."

Hearing this, Meng Sheng admired Qiao Nu even more, and asked the matchmaker to prepare a generous gift, and went to Qiao's house to propose marriage. Qiao's mother was overjoyed, and personally persuaded her daughter to remarry.Qiao Nu refused to listen, and her mother could not force her to do so, but she was also greedy for gift money, and planned to marry her youngest daughter to Meng Sheng, but Meng Sheng had only Qiao Nu in his heart, so he flatly refused.

Soon after, Meng Sheng fell ill and returned to the west, and Qiao Nu went to the mansion to express her condolences.Meng Sheng had no relatives in his life, and when he died, the village scoundrels came to his door one after another, robbed his family property, and secretly plotted to carve up Meng Sheng's land.The servants in the family were even more malicious, taking advantage of the fire to rob, steal property, and scattered like birds and beasts.There is only one old woman who is loyal and holds Meng Sheng's son in the mourning hall.

When Miss Qiao learned the whole story, she was indignant. She heard that Lin Shusheng had a good relationship with Meng, so she visited him and asked him for help. Only Meng Sheng can know me; although I rejected him before, I have already regarded him as a close friend in my heart. Now that Meng Sheng has passed away, leaving the youngest son unattended, I cannot ignore it. But it is easy to take care of a child, but it is beyond my power to resist scoundrels The young master is a good friend of Meng Sheng, seeing his family property being robbed and his youngest son being humiliated, how can he refuse to save him? Please write a complaint to complain for the deceased. The concubine is very grateful. As for the matter of raising the orphan, the concubine will do her best I dare not refuse." Lin Shusheng said: "Okay." Seeing that he agreed, Qiao Nu left.

Entrusted by Miss Qiao, Lin Shusheng was preparing to write a pleading paper; when the scoundrels heard the news, they were furious, and came to the door with a knife, threatening to settle accounts with the scholar, and they would never stop dying.Lin was terrified and dared not go out behind closed doors.Qiao Nu waited for an answer at home, but there was no progress for several days, so she asked someone to inquire, and learned that there was not an inch of Meng Sheng's land left, and it had been divided up by all the rascals.

Qiao Nu was filled with anger, and she went to the government alone to file a complaint. The county magistrate asked, "What is your relationship with Meng?" If what I say is true, you should uphold justice and arrest the culprit." The county magistrate was displeased when he saw her speak outrageously, and ordered her to be expelled.

Miss Qiao couldn't help her injustice, and she couldn't help crying. When a gentleman heard about this, he couldn't bear it, so he filed a complaint on her behalf.After going through twists and turns, he finally got his revenge.

After this incident, someone persuaded Qiao Nu to stay in the Meng Mansion to raise the orphans; but Qiao Nu refused, so she closed the door of the Meng Mansion, and together with the old woman, they took Wutou home to take care of.As long as the aconitum is needed for daily use, it is taken from the Meng Mansion, and he is clean and self-sufficient, without any benefit.Raising his own son carefully, he is willing to be poor and self-sufficient, just like in the past.

A few years later, Wutou gradually grew up, and Qiao Nu hired a husband for him to teach him knowledge; as for her own son, she ordered him to work in agriculture.The old woman advised her, "Why don't you let the two children study together?" Qiao Nu said, "Aconitou's education expenses were left by his father during his lifetime; I can't take advantage of using other people's money to teach my children to read."

A few years passed in a blink of an eye. During this period, Nu Qiao managed the land for Wutou, saved hundreds of shi of grain, hired a rich lady as his wife, rebuilt the house, bought furniture, sent the couple home, and separated.

Wutou sincerely asked her to go back with her, and her words were sincere, Qiao Nu couldn't bear to refuse, and nodded in obedience.But it still spins every day without spending a penny.The Wutou couple didn't want her to work hard and took away the spinning wheel. Qiao Nu said, "If my mother and son eat and drink for nothing, how can I be at ease?" crops, help with work.

Qiao's housekeeping is strict, and the Wutou couple will be reprimanded for the slightest mistake.Not long after, Wutou was admitted as a scholar, and Qiao Nu left again, but Wu Tou refused, and paid for the marriage of Qiao Nu's son. Seeing that her son had already married, Qiao Nu could no longer stay in Meng's house, so she ordered him to go back first.Knowing this, Wutou knew that he would not be able to keep him, so he bought a hundred acres of fertile land nearby and donated it to Qiao Nu.

Soon after, Miss Qiao fell ill and asked to go home, but Wutou refused.A few days later, Miss Qiao's condition became more and more serious, knowing that she was going to die soon, she said, "After I die, I must be buried in the Mu family's cemetery."

Not long after, Qiaonu died of illness, and Wutou had long regarded her as her biological mother and wanted to bury her with her father.Worried that Mrs. Qiao's son would not agree, he secretly gave him a lot of silver taels. Mrs. Qiao's son accepted the silver taels and was happy to be a favor without any objection.

On the day of the funeral, the coffin was very heavy, and more than 30 people worked together, but still couldn't lift it.At this moment, Qiao Nu's son suddenly fell to the ground, bleeding from his orifices, and said to himself, "I'm unworthy, how can I sell my biological mother?" Get down on your knees and pray, and confess your mistakes.After the prayer, Qiao's son recovered immediately.Wutou didn't dare to be negligent, and respectfully sent Qiao Nu to the Mu family's cemetery, where she was buried with Mu Shusheng.