In the Qing Dynasty, there was a rich gentleman Jiang Weng in Chaozhou, Guangdong, who lived in Nan'an. He had a son on his knee, named Jiang Cheng, with small characters and a very good show. The people around Chaozhou are commonly known as the best barbarians, because their sons are handsome and handsome, so Jiang Weng and his wife use barbarians when they take the word. Jiang Cheng was seventeen years old, studying at the government, his mother's surname was Xiao, and there was a brother in his mother's family who had served as a six-part lang official, who had been dead for several years, leaving his wife Wang Shi widow to live at home and raise a son and a daughter. The son is six years old, the daughter's name is Qian'er, the same age as Jiang Cheng, born beautiful, beautiful and not bad, which has caused many officials and eunuchs to compete for marriage. The Wang clan loved her daughter, and the choice of son-in-law was very strict, and she refused to do it at will. Jiang Cheng and Qian'er Qingmei Bamboo Horse, two small no guesses. After getting older, Jiang Cheng prepared for the examination and made meritorious names, Qian'er learned to do sewing and embroidery, and the two gradually separated their tracks. However, whenever they met, Jiang Cheng was full of excitement and greeted with a smile; Qian'er was affectionate and her eyes were frequent.
When Wang Shi was not there, Jiang Cheng always tried to talk to Qian'er, and Qian'er did not refuse. One day, everyone went to a relative's house to wish for a happy birthday, the female relatives were full of halls, some went inside to change clothes after dinner, some made up and cut sideburns, some strolled in the courtyard to consume food, some fluttered butterflies and explored flowers, some went to the toilet, but Qian'er was independent under the porch. Jiang Cheng just walked in from outside and asked her for betel nut, Qian'er replied no, Jiang Cheng did not believe it, and searched her sleeve. When they were frolicking, The Wang clan suddenly passed by, Qian'er was anxious to avoid, and the Wang clan beckoned to stop: "You and your fourth brother have been playing together since childhood, and you are flesh and blood relatives, don't be a small family posture, there is no need to avoid!" Qian'er responded with a smile. Jiang Cheng lied: "My sister asked for betel nuts, and my nephew mistakenly offered cardamom." The younger sister accepted it, so the nephew laughed at her. Wang Clan also laughed: "Your sister has always liked to eat betel nuts, is there no such thing in your medicine shop?" He extorts hundreds of pounds a day, which is not much. Qian'er and Jiang Cheng looked at each other and smiled, and from then on they got closer.
Jiang Cheng or take advantage of the gap to say some provocative words, Qian'er is not angry, only pretend not to understand, the two are becoming more and more intimate. On the occasion of Wang's birthday, Jiang Cheng went to the door with his mother Xiao Shi to congratulate him, but he could not go home due to heavy rain. Xiao and Wang Ye drank and reminisced about the past, while Jiang Cheng and Qian'er sat outside playing dominoes and clapping their arms with victory and defeat. Qian'er lost one after another, Jiang Cheng let her stretch out her arm to be punished, qian'er hid and refused. Jiang Cheng squeezed her wrist, rolled up her sleeves, and forcibly revealed her arms that were as white as snow, as warm as jade, and as smooth as gelatin, and said with pity: "So smooth and tender and white, how can I bear to beat it?" "Playfully bite with your teeth. Xiao and Wang Wen laughed and called to inquire about the reason, and Qian'er cheated: "The fourth brother has lost many gambling cards, I let him kowtow, and he refuses to kneel." Xiao and Wang laughed, "You are all sixteen or seventeen years old, do you still play children's games?" Jiang Cheng and Qian'er each smiled and retreated. The two of them became more and more unscrupulous, and they were blasphemous to the point of doing everything, but they did not come randomly.
Qian'er has a handsome Chunlan, delicate and wise, slightly inferior to Qian'er, Qian'er is worried that she will seduce Jiang Cheng, so she is tightly guarded. Chunlan resented and spied on Qian'er's faults all day. One day, Jiang Cheng came to see his aunt early because of the incident, the Wang family had not yet gotten up, and Qian'er was standing by the railing in a shawl, smoking and admiring the flowers. Jiang Cheng suddenly stepped forward to hold her neck and kissed her, but was unexpectedly bumped into by Chunlan, who secretly reported to the Wang clan. Wang Shi was furious and invited her daughter to the bedside to ask questions, but Qian'er refused to admit: "Who saw it?" Wang Clan said, "Chunlan saw it with her own eyes!" Do you shameless still want to be hard-mouthed? Qian'er's face was red, and she turned to tears, scolding Chunlan for why she was talking nonsense and gossiping. Chunlan knelt down with a smile and said, "If there is nothing, how dare the slave maid speak in vain?" The girl was eating a cigarette, and Shiro came and begged to smoke for a long time, and the girl let him smoke three mouthfuls. If nothing happened, how could a slave dare to talk nonsense? Qian'er was ashamed and covered her face and cried.
The Wang clan sent someone to summon his nephew Jiang Cheng to confront him, and Jiang Cheng had already slipped away. Although the Wang family spoiled her daughter, it was a matter of honor and innocence, so she hated it deeply and did not say anything kind to Qian'er. When Xiao Shi heard the news, he angrily reported to Jiang Weng, and the two of them whipped Jiang Cheng dozens of times, not allowing him to go to his uncle's house again. Qian'er was extremely annoyed and cried bitterly for a day, not eating or drinking. After Wang's anger subsided, the heart of the beloved daughter burned again, and secretly ordered the other servants to go to comfort her privately, but Qian'er should never, and even committed suicide that night. Wang Clan was grief-stricken and remorseful, but scolded Chun Lan for being nosy. After Qian'er was buried, Jiang Cheng thought about it morning and evening, confused, emaciated, and often compared the four words "aggressive and strange things" out of thin air. He repeatedly thought of crying in front of Qian'er's grave, but his family did everything to stop him, so he didn't have a chance.
The Jiangjia ancestral tomb is only about a mile away from the Xiaojia cemetery. It was the Middle Yuan Festival, and his parents could not go out due to illness, so jiang Cheng was ordered to go to the festival alone. Jiang Cheng took advantage of this to come to Qian'er's graveyard, wept bitterly, and stayed overnight in the hut next to the tomb. About two more, all kinds of noise, wind and wood mournful; the moon stars are rare, looking around dazed; grass worms chirping, circling the barren steps; fireflies, messing with autumn grass. Thinking that yesterday's beauty had turned into a pile of yellow earth, and then there would be no end, he slept on the bed, and did not feel tears like rain. Soon the bucket turned to the stars, the bamboo shadow reflected the window, and the sound of snapping fingers came from the window in the trance, stopping and knocking. Jiang Cheng looked up in his clothes and saw a person standing in front of the door, it was actually Qian'er. Overjoyed, he took him inside and wept at each other. The two told each other about their sorrows and hatreds, and whispered for a long time before they hugged each other tightly and blended with water and milk.
Qian'er wanted Jiang Cheng to use the excuse to study and live, And Jiang Cheng pondered: "This plan does not work, both parents are sick in bed, and there is a strict teacher at home, there is no reason to live here, or another good strategy!" Qian'er agreed. After a moment, she said, "I want to go home to visit my mother, can you lead the way?" Jiang Cheng was concerned: "There are three reasons why I can't." This is more than forty miles away from home, all rugged mountain roads, you are weak and thin, you can't go, let alone nocturnal? After waiting for home, the sky is bright, the sun is shining, you were born in the boudoir, you don't leave the house, you go out in a car, and now you return on foot, the neighbors are inevitably surprised, and the second is also; walking with you, you can't avoid suspicion, if the old father asks the guilt, how to justify the wording? This is also the third. There are three must nots, you carefully examine. ”
Qian'er gazed affectionately, "As long as you concentrate, you can concentrate." I have been here for a long time, and I miss my relatives very much, you only have to take me with you, and none of you should commit any crimes. Jiang Cheng couldn't bear to go against her intentions, so he helped her set off. Just out of the door, only to feel the body is light, fluttering like a falling leaf, moving with the wind, can not be autonomous, a meal of work to the uncle's house. I went straight to the inner chamber, but when I saw Wang's tears and lamentations, I was instructing my family: "Tomorrow you will take the wine and fruit fragrant paper and go first, and I will personally go to the grave of Qian Yatou the day after tomorrow to pay tribute." Qian'er stopped in front of the door, did not dare to enter, and covered her crying. Jiang Cheng wondered, "Why come and go in a hurry?" Qian'er replied, "The sound of the five more is about to ring, and go back to rest first!" The two met Chunlan in the hall, and Qian'er felt nostalgic and went straight to the front to slap her mouth. Chunlan fell to the ground in shock, gagged and did not dare to make a sound.
Qian'er could not be relieved, and let Jiang Cheng strip Chunlan of her clothes and humiliate her. After the bullying, he took the dirt and shoved it into her body, and then flew away. At the mouth of the alley, someone was giving alms, and the two of them had eaten, and suddenly came to the mountain. The moon has sunk in the west, the stars are in the east, and the scene is particularly bleak. Jiang Cheng was stunned: "Back." Qian'er tugged at her sleeve: "Why don't you visit my house?" Jiang Cheng was very strange: "Just came out, do you want to go back?" Qian'er explained, "It's not going home, it's my hiding place." "Dozens of steps through the pine forest, there is a burrow, as big as a lamp. Qian'er dragged him into the hole, and Jiang Cheng suddenly felt that his body had shrunk, only a few inches high. All four walls of the cave are wooden planks, and you can only crouch down on your knees. The two of them talked on their knees, and Qian'er wept and instructed, "My Yang life is not over, the Yin Division is not collected, and the spirit is not scattered here, so the body is intact." If you don't give up, you can go home and tell your widowed mother to ask the scabies monk who is begging in Nanguan, and I will be able to return the yang. ”
At this time, Jiang Cheng realized that Qian'er was dead, and the place where she was sitting was her coffin. He was both surprised and happy, and gladly promised to let Qian'er still return to the hut next to the tomb, and Qian'er also smiled and agreed. The two of them walked slowly under the moon and came to the hut, Jiang Cheng saw himself lying on the bed, his parents were stroking and crying, he couldn't help but be shocked, Qian'er woke up: "Oh, almost ruined your business, don't hesitate, hurry up and go in!" Jiang Cheng was still wandering, and Qian'er panicked and pushed him hard. Jiang Chengxian felt that his whole body was fiery, and he sat up from the bed, and his parents took a few steps back, looked at and sobbed: "My son has finally woken up!" Jiang Cheng was worried for a long time, his mind was fixed, and asked his parents how they were here, Xiao Shi cried with joy: "Son, are you still dreaming?" You can't wake up, it's been a day and a night, we thought you had no reason to survive, we didn't think you woke up, and the speed was amazing! Because of you, I am also frightened of the disease. Jiang Cheng was confused, but he did not dare to tell the dream, so he had to respond to them at will.
After dawn, the family of three returned to the trip, halfway met the Wang family, she recounted the tragic situation of Chunlan being abused by the ghost, just in line with Jiang Cheng's behavior at night, Jiang Cheng secretly surprised himself. Passing through the wang family alley, sure enough, someone was giving food, and he became more and more alarmed, and he went to explore the beggar monks and found his people in the deserted temple. Jiang Cheng knelt down on his knees, pained his intestines, and the beggar monk stretched out his loins: "Haha, ignorant children, sloppy behavior, so that the old man has to do one more good deed." So he met with him and claimed to be able to save Qian'er. Wang Shi was half-convinced, thinking about it, the first thing to do, or it has an irrational effect, let it go and let it go, in order to see its technique. A group of people rushed to the cemetery and dug out the coffin, and Qian'er's countenance did not change in the slightest. The beggar monk squeezed her hand from the top of her head to her heel: "Two inches dead." Like a dead fish, where is the reason for not rotting? In seven days, there was no chance she would survive. The probe took out a red pill, as large as a grain of rice, and put it into Qian'er's mouth, and then catalyzed it with luck.
Soon, hearing the sound of groaning, Qian'er woke up slowly, her body temperature was soft, and Wang Shi was overjoyed, and if she had obtained a rare treasure, she arranged for the servants to carry them into the room with a soft bed. She was resurrected overnight, and she could not speak, but just clasped the hand of her mother Wang Shi and shed tears. Wang's five bodies fell to the ground, prayed to the beggar monk, and his forehead was swollen. The beggar monk smiled and left, momentarily disappearing, and everyone knew that he was a strange person in the world.
Qian'er went home and was bedridden for more than a month before she recovered as before, except for her feet to her heels, often cold as ice. If the beggar monk says that he is two inches dead, it is not false to think about it. Wang Shi felt that his nephew Jiang Cheng was very affectionate and righteous, so he betrothed his daughter Xu to him, and the two were harmonious after marriage. Mr. Shangguan Zhou and Jiang Weng had a lot of friendship, and they knew jiang cheng and Qian'er very well, and they once told me (the author).
Lan Yan's message: The good things in the world can be naturally achieved, but often there are many magic obstacles, resulting in the burial of the best beauties in the yellow soil, and the talented young people are heartbroken and eventually become hateful. But among them there must be a woman who does not understand the world, who is obsessed with pedantic views and rashly and arbitrarily intervenes. Fortunately, Heaven could not bear to let these two lovers die because of love, so it was very happy that a strange monk appeared to complete them. alas! How in the world can there always be such a monk to resurrect those lovers who died of martyrdom?
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Translated from "Night Tan Suilu" [Qian'er] an article