During the Song Dynasty, there was a scholar named Zhao Cheng in the town of Mingqing in Hejian Province, who had just turned twenty years old. He was good by nature, honest and trustworthy, but this was both his strength and his weakness.
As for why? It is because of his good qualities that he has become a very popular person in the town, and no one in ten miles and eight townships does not say that he is good.
However, some unscrupulous people took advantage of him and often stopped him halfway and asked him for money.
These people would first put on tattered clothes, unkempt, and look miserable and pitiful, and even worse, they would starve for a few days before passing, so that he could believe it.
Although Zhao Cheng understood the purpose of these people, he was worried that there might be people in real difficulty among them, so he could not bear to refuse, so he would give them some silver as appropriate.
In this way, more and more people gradually surrounded him, and even began to affect his life.
Father Zhao and Mother Zhao saw it in their eyes, knowing that this was due to their son's weak heart, and it was not a way to continue like this, so they let him live for a while at the second uncle's house in Cangzhou.
Unexpectedly, he went and encountered a series of troubles on the road.
(i)
Due to the distance from Cangzhou, Father Zhao had arranged a carriage for him, but he considered the bumpy road, so he finally decided to take a boat.
Early this morning, Zhao Cheng carried the package, bid farewell to his parents, and rushed to the dock alone.
On the occasion of parting, Father Zhao said to him: "There are many people on the road, there is no one around to take care of you on this trip, you must pay more attention to everything." ”
Zhao Cheng listened and nodded his head to be taught, reassuring them, and then embarked on the journey.
When he came to the dock, he heard that the merchant ship had set off at about noon, and he was idle, just wandering around the dock, so he walked and suddenly saw a woman rushing out of the alley in a hurry, and then running out of the alley behind her.
The men shouted as they ran, telling the woman to stand, but the woman did not stop at all, looked around, and then ran directly towards Zhao Cheng.
The woman did not speak, and after she came to Zhao Cheng's side, she seemed to have used him as a shield and hid behind him all the time and refused to come out.
Not long after, those strong men also rushed to Zhao Cheng's side.
"A few good men, why did this woman offend you, and why did you chase her again?"
Zhao Cheng asked out loud, and as a result, the big men looked at each other, and the leader of the group said, "What kind of person are you to take care of things, what does this have to do with you?" ”
Zhao Cheng replied, "I'm just asking a few more questions, if this girl really offends a few good men, if you want to take her away, I will never stop her." ”
As soon as he finished saying this, the woman behind him suddenly pulled on his sleeve, and he looked back just in time to see the woman looking at him pitifully.
At this time, the big man who was the leader said, "Young man, don't be deceived by her, this girl is a thief, stole a few of our brothers' things, and only then was chased by a few of us." ”
Zhao Cheng listened, frowned and asked, "What did you steal?" I'll get her to return it to you. ”
"A piece of jade, our brothers picked up from outside the city, it was less than an hour, and she remembered it."
Then, the man spoke more and more, and Zhao Cheng finally understood what was going on.
It turned out that several of them were vendors who had come to the city from outside to sell dates, and on the way today, they picked up a piece of jade from outside the city.
Originally, they decided to take the jade to the pawnshop to exchange for some silver, but just as several people were arguing about how to divide the silver, the woman suddenly bumped into it.
The woman quickly apologized, and several of them did not bother, so they let her leave. But then they found that the jade pendant that had just been placed in the bamboo basket was missing.
At this point, they suspected that Yu Pei had been stolen by this woman, so after returning to her senses, they quickly came to chase her, and then they chased her all the way here.
Zhao Cheng's brow frowned even deeper, and he turned to look at the woman and asked, "But what they said is true?" ”
"This jade pendant is obviously mine, they picked it up, I just took my own things back."
The woman seemed to refuse to admit her mistake, and said that this jade pendant was hers, Zhao Cheng asked her to take it out first, and the woman had to take out the jade pendant from her arms.
"The texture is good, but it is not a valuable thing, at most it is worth three or two pieces of silver." Zhao Cheng was well-informed and could see the value of this jade pendant at a glance.
Then he continued, "Since this is yours, why didn't you ask them directly, but instead chose to steal it from them?" ”
At this point, the woman began to shut up and did not know how to reply.
And the man who was the leader quickly answered: "You are right, if this jade is really hers, a few of us will return it to her, where she can use this villain's behavior, I see, she is eighty percent weak-minded!" ”
The woman's eyes were red when she was said, and she almost cried out, Zhao Cheng was kind again at this time, and he could not bear to ask the woman to return the jade pendant, so he advocated that he pay for the jade pendant himself.
After the strong men listened, they discussed for a while and said, "Since this is the case, the prince will give each of us a piece of silver or two, and we will not worry about this matter in the future." ”
Zhao Cheng nodded after listening, and from the pocket around his waist, he felt three or two pieces of silver and gave them a few, and after those people got the silver, they turned and left.
Now, Zhao Cheng finally had time to ask about the girl's origins, but the girl only said that her name was Li Shuang'er, and she didn't mention anything about her origin and parents, and finally just thanked her and left.
After a delay in this matter, the time was almost noon, and Zhao Cheng finally began to board the ship, but he did not expect that he was on the boat and met this girl surnamed Li again.
(ii)
"The boat is good, you let me in, I have an urgent matter to go to Cangzhou."
"No, no one is allowed to board the ship without silver!"
Zhao Cheng saw two boatmen pushing a woman in her forties, and rushed over, and when he asked, he realized that it was this woman who did not bring silver, but insisted on taking a boat to Cangzhou.
Looking at the woman's anxious face, Zhao Cheng subconsciously touched the silver around his waist, but he shouted in shock: "What about my silver? ”
He took out his empty pocket, only to find that the silver was long gone, and when he went out, he had brought more than twenty taels with him.
At this point, the boatman smiled and said, "Yes, there is another one, I want to hit our merchant ship, there is no door." Then the two boatmen were about to drive the two of them down.
Zhao Cheng blushed and asked, "How long does it take for this ship to leave?" ”
The boatman replied, "Less than half an hour." ”
He estimated in his heart that it was too late to go home and get the silver now, so he gritted his teeth and felt a silver ticket with a face value of fifty taels out of his arms, and said to them: "Do you accept the silver ticket?" ”
"Collect, of course, the guest officer quickly inside please."
The boatman hurriedly invited him in, and Zhao Chengyi turned around, saw that the woman was still standing anxiously, and said, "Big Lady, come in with me."
The woman hurriedly answered the call and boarded the merchant ship with him.
The interior of this ship is splendidly decorated, with two floors above and below, and the space is much larger than the average inn. He found a place with the woman to sit down, and then he saw the boatman leading a middle-aged man dressed in satin over.
As soon as the man saw Zhao Cheng's face, he introduced himself: "It turned out that Zhao Gongzi came, and just now his subordinates didn't understand things, please don't mind if you offended Gongzi." ”
"I am the steward of this ship, you can call me Hu Treasurer, and I know your father, so I know you."
Zhao Cheng heard that he knew his father and knew his identity, so he stood up and arched his hand and said, "Don't get in the way, it was because I was not careful and lost the broken silver that caused this trouble." ”
Hu said with a smile: "This pier is a mixture of fish and dragons, everyone has it, you have to be careful when you go out, don't help anyone, otherwise it will bring misfortune." ”
After saying that, Hu Also consciously or unconsciously glanced at the woman next to him, but Zhao Cheng did not notice, and what he thought in his heart was that the girl surnamed Li who had just met on the dock had helped her himself, but he had harmed himself. I couldn't help but blush with embarrassment.
When Treasurer Hu saw that he did not reply, he asked him to take out a bag of silver and gave it to him, and said: "Here is the silver left after deducting the two people's boat fees, a total of forty-five taels, you put it away, and if you have something to do, you will go to the second floor guest room to find me." ”
Zhao Cheng nodded in response, and then Hu Turned and left.
After another half an hour, he only felt the hull of the ship shake, and with the roar of the boatman, the merchant ship finally began to sail, but at this moment, he saw a familiar figure in the cabin.
(iii)
Zhao Cheng suddenly stopped hitting the breath, walked over to the man and suddenly shouted, "Li Shuang'er, I was kind enough to help you break the siege, but you stole my silver, quickly return the silver to me!" ”
Li Shuang'er was frightened, looked up and saw Zhao Cheng, who looked angry, and couldn't even take care of eating, blinking his eyes and replying: "What silver, when do I owe you silver?" ”
"You still dare to argue that after I met you at the dock, the silver was stolen, isn't it who you will be?"
"It's really not me, if you don't believe me, you can come and search for yourself!"
Li Shuang'er opened her arms and did not seem to be afraid at all, while Zhao Cheng took a step forward and was thinking of searching, only to suddenly remember that she was a girl, so she took a few steps back and said: "You follow me."
Li Shuang'er got up and followed him, and the two came to the woman's side, and Zhao Cheng bent down and said a few words to the woman, and after the woman listened, she walked towards Li Shuang'er.
After a while, the woman said, "She has no silver on her, only this jade pendant." ”
Zhao Cheng looked at it, and sure enough, it was the jade pendant she had carried before, and he couldn't help but think to himself, was he really wrong to blame her?
Li Shuang'er also said triumphantly at this time: "What, I didn't lie to you!" ”
Zhao Cheng did not say a word, obviously he did not fully believe her, and sat down alone, while the woman said beside him: "Zhao Gongzi, you are a good person, and money will naturally roll in in the future, and now you are still relaxed." ”
Subsequently, the woman sat down beside him, and Li Shuang'er, alone, also sat next to him.
In this way, the three people did not say a word, sat alone in their positions, and waited until it was nearly dusk, when the boatman brought food, and several people moved their chopsticks.
When Zhao Cheng was eating, he saw that the woman had been refusing to move the chopsticks, so he asked her why she did not eat, and the woman replied that she was not hungry, and pushed the food in front of her to Li Shuang'er.
And Li Shuang'er was not polite at all, he wrapped up the two meals all, and his eyes kept staring at the plate, as if he was afraid that Zhao Cheng would rob her.
When Zhao Cheng saw this, he suddenly thought of something, stared at the woman and asked, "Do you know this Li girl?" ”
As soon as the woman was about to answer, Li Shuang'er preemptively replied, "She is my mother, of course she knows me." ”
Zhao Cheng suddenly realized, no wonder this woman has just been speaking for Li Shuang'er, it turns out that the two of them are mother and daughter, then he also let him search Li Shuang'er's body before, is it not a white search?
In an instant, he felt that he had been tricked, so angry that he could not even eat, and he was about to turn around and leave here.
The woman gave Li Shuang'er a blank look, and then said to Zhao Cheng: "Zhao Gongzi, I do know this Li girl, but she is not a mother and daughter, she is teasing you." ”
"The concubine's name is Lu Suqin, and I have only met this Li Shuang'er girl on the street a few times, and this trip to Cangzhou, I did not know that she was also on the boat."
After Zhao Cheng listened, he didn't know whether to believe her, but it didn't matter, he had been busy during the day, and now he just wanted to go back to his room to rest.
When Lü Shi saw that he was leaving, he hurriedly stopped him, and then took out a toad made of wood from his waist and said, "If you go back to your room to rest, please take this thing with you." ”
Zhao Cheng turned around to see that Lü Shi was holding a wooden toad in his hand, and he took it with curiosity, holding it in the palm of his hand and looking left and right, thinking that this thing was quite exquisite.
However, he knew that this thing was not worth a few dollars, so he casually carried it in his arms and thanked Lu Shi before turning to leave.
However, he did not expect that he would accidentally escape the disaster because of this wooden toad.
(iv)
Zhao Cheng followed the boatman to the room, pushed the door and looked, only to see a small room with only a bed and a few cabinets.
However, this time he did not have to squeeze into a room with others, so he was more satisfied with the arrangement of the room, and after sending the boatman away, he put down the package and lay down on the bed.
Just when I was about to fall asleep, I suddenly heard a footstep from above, and then the sound became more and more noisy, as if I also heard the shouting of the Hu treasurer.
Zhao Cheng suddenly lost sleep, put on his clothes and came to the deck, and when he looked at it, he realized that they were holding a boat banquet on the ship.
I saw that the boatmen took out the fine wine and delicacies that had been prepared before boarding the ship, and drank together in front of the bright moon, and some people gathered at the table to talk about some beautiful things, while the Hu treasurer and the boatman were on the side to preside over the order.
Zhao Cheng walked over to Hu and asked, "Why didn't I hear that there was a boat banquet on the ship beforehand, if I had known earlier, I would have come earlier in the evening." ”
Hu said with a smile: "In fact, there was not originally, this is the request of the boatmen themselves, and today the moonlight is just right, so I agreed to push the boat along the water, did not disturb Zhao Gongzi you rest, right?" ”
Zhao Cheng waved his hand and said, "It's okay, I'm worried about the long distance, staying on the boat is a bit boring, I'm actually a lively person." ”
Hu Smiled even more and said to him, "Then Zhao Gongzi, you can be lively with them, Hu Mou still has a lot of things to deal with, I will go back first." ”
After the hu treasurer finished speaking, he told the boatman to look closely at it and not make trouble, and then left the place.
And Zhao Cheng, because he didn't know anyone well on the ship, could only come to the stern of the ship alone and wait quietly.
Suddenly, he noticed that someone behind him seemed to be approaching, and then turned to look at two strange men behind him.
The two men saw him turn around, his footsteps flickered, and then they went on to him and said, "With such a beautiful view, why are you staying here alone, this prince?" ”
Zhao Cheng saw that they took the initiative to come over to talk, and they were dressed as scholars, thinking that they just wanted to simply come over and make a friend, so he replied: "I traveled alone, no one accompanied, so I had to come alone to admire the moon." ”
The two of them laughed casually after listening to it, and then said to him: "Since this is the case, then you will sit with our brothers and brothers, we have a pot of good wine, and there is a shortage of people to drink it." ”
When Zhao Cheng heard it, he didn't think much of it in his heart, so he casually agreed.
The three of them sat at the stern of the boat, poured a full glass of wine in front of them, and then began to drink each other.
During this time, the two men had been inquiring about Zhao Cheng's identity and origin, as well as the purpose of going to Cangzhou. Because he had already left an extra eye in his heart after Li Shuang'er's affair, he said that he was just an ordinary person's family, and this time he went to Cangzhou to visit his relatives.
The two students seemed to have believed it, nodded their heads, and then stopped asking questions and kept refilling him.
Finally, Zhao Cheng felt that the drink was almost over, and he was about to say goodbye to the two of them, but at this time, the two men in front of him revealed their true faces and said to him: "Why should Zhao Gongzi hide from us, who in Mingqing Town does not recognize you?" ”
Zhao Cheng only began to pay attention at this time, and replied, "Since you know where I came from, why do you two ask questions knowingly?" ”
A man laughed after hearing this: "Our brothers and sisters have no other ideas, just want to ask you for some silver flowers, if you give it to us, we can ensure that you arrive in Cangzhou safely, but if you don't want to, you may not be able to get to Cangzhou." ”
As soon as Zhao Cheng heard this, the two men were an undisguised threat as soon as they opened their mouths, and they didn't seem to worry at all that they would find someone to expose them.
You must know that although he himself could not defeat these two people, but the strength of their Zhao family in the town is not weak, if their father knows, they will certainly not spare them, and the Hu treasurer who searched the ship also knows him, then how dare these two people blatantly?
When Zhao Cheng saw that there were people nearby, he prepared to call for people to come over, but one of the men was quick in his eyes, dragged him over, covered his mouth, and then punched him in the stomach with several punches.
Because of the man's strength, Zhao Cheng only felt that the juice in his stomach was about to spit out, and then he lay in the stern of the boat for a while before standing up.
The man shouted, "Knowing how powerful we are, if you know each other, you will obediently hand over the silver." ”
Zhao Cheng thought that if the good man did not eat the immediate loss, he might as well give them the silver, and then he gave the forty-five taels of silver given to him by Hu Treasurer to the two of them.
After the man took it, he swept it in his hand, nodded with satisfaction, and then asked, "Do you still have it on you?" ”
Zhao Cheng replied, "No, the silver on my body is all here." ”
At this moment, the two men finally took the silver down and came to Zhao Cheng's side, saying: "Zhao Gongzi, just offended a lot, I hope you are not strange, now our brothers and sisters promise that they will not do anything to you again, since you are now physically inconvenient, let us two send you back to the room." ”
The two men took Zhao Cheng's arm one by one and left, and Zhao Cheng didn't think much about it, thinking that they really wanted to send themselves back to the house, but the result was just the opposite, only to see the two of them use force, suddenly lift it, and then throw it to the stern of the boat, and directly throw him into the river.
Just at this moment, a gong and drum sounded on the ship, as if the boat banquet had just begun, and Zhao Cheng's voice was drowned out in a burst of noise, and no one noticed.
Zhao Cheng can't water, his body sinks down after he enters the water, and then his ears and nasal cavity are into the water, and in the panic he wants to call for help, and as a result, he just choked on a mouthful of water and could only struggle wildly.
In this dangerous situation, his consciousness is still there, so he has not given up the opportunity to escape. But now that you are in the water, what can you do to get yourself out of danger?
Zhao Cheng struggled several times, only to feel that it was useless, just when he was about to be unable to support it, he felt that there seemed to be a warm thing in his arms, and he immediately thought that this was the wooden toad that Lü Shi had given him.
In the panic, Zhao Cheng took out the wooden toad from his arms, and his body began to gradually float, and it didn't take long for him to return to the water, and the wooden toad seemed to swim in the direction of the merchant ship.
"Hu Treasurer, Big Brother Boatman, help me!"
Zhao Cheng saw a boatman standing there at the stern of the boat, and shouted loudly, and then he saw the boatman throw down a rope, he successfully grabbed the rope, and the boatman took the passenger ship.
"Zhao Gongzi, how did you end up in the water?" Fortunately, I heard your cries, otherwise it would be dangerous. ”
"More big brother, you quickly take me to see the Hu treasurer, and I will talk to you in detail later!"
Zhao Cheng was breathing heavily while talking to the boatman, and the boatman did not dare to be sloppy, and quickly led him to find the Hu treasurer.
Treasurer Hu was shocked to hear this, and then asked him to remain silent first, so as not to scare the snake at night, and wait until tomorrow during the day to find the two men.
In this way, Zhao Cheng slept in the boatman's room at night, and the next morning, Hu Cheng called everyone to him and asked him to identify them, and Zhao Cheng recognized the two men from last night at a glance.
As a result, the two men saw that Zhao Cheng was still alive, and knew that they had lost their hands this time, and if they were caught, they would inevitably be sent to the yamen, so they quickly turned around and ran, but in the end they were caught by Hu Treasurer's men.
Later, Treasurer Hu asked Zhao Cheng, what do you want to do with these two people? Zhao Cheng then said that according to the rules, it was up to The Hu treasurer to decide.
After hearing this, Hu said, "Since these two people have thrown you into the river, I will throw the two of them into the river and let them swim all the way to Cangzhou." ”
After saying this, he ordered the two men to be driven off the merchant ship, and then the ship slowly sailed away.
After about two more days, they finally arrived in Cangzhou, and before disembarking, he found Lu Shi, who had given him the wooden toad that day, and wanted to thank her well.
Lü Shi said, "Zhao Gongzi has done good deeds and accumulated virtue, and he can kill Ji in every way, and he doesn't need to thank me for anything." ”
Later, Zhao Cheng asked her about the origin of the wooden toad, and Lü Shi said that it was given by a high monk she had met earlier, and she had experienced the same thing on her body.
Later, Zhao Cheng returned the wooden toad to The Lü family, and then thanked him again before disembarking and leaving.
After this incident, Zhao Cheng finally knew that he could not trust others casually, and learned how to beware of the villains around him, and his personality became more resolute.
After living in the second uncle's house for more than two months, he returned to Mingqing Town again, and Zhao Father and Zhao Mother noticed that there was a significant change in their son, but they did not know what had happened to him.
After that, Zhao Chengyi changed his previous style, handled the previous problems properly, married a wife a year later, took over his father's business at the age of thirty, and later became a rich person in the town of Mingqing.
Disclaimer: This story is a fictional folk story, mostly from anecdotes, legends, strange novels, operas, legends, etc., the author's original intention is to inherit Chinese folk culture, do not believe in authenticity, and do not feudal superstition!
Folk tale: The man went to visit his relatives, saw two men acting strangely, and he took out a wooden toad to escape the disaster
Folk tale: The man was on a boat, and when he saw the woman in distress, the lady said: Put the wooden toad at the head of the bed