Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Shang Shiyu, a literati in Zhuge City, was beaten to death by his slaves because he was drunk and made fun of a rich man.Yu had two sons, the eldest son Shang Chen, the second son Shang Li, and another female Shang Sanguan, who was sixteen years old and was about to get married, but her father's death delayed the marriage.The two elder brothers went to the government to lodge a complaint, but nothing came of it.The son-in-law's family sent someone to propose a marriage, but the Shang officials refused, saying, "How can a daughter run off to marry someone whose father's body is not yet cold? Doesn't he have parents?" The man walked away ashamed.

The father was wronged, and the whole family was sad and angry.The two brothers intend to keep their father's body and wait for an opportunity to appeal.Shang Sanguan said: "Father was killed and the yamen didn't know right from wrong. The world is so dark. It is conceivable that there will be no more upright officials like Iron Bread. Let the father's bones be exposed. I can't bear it." The second brother nodded and said Yes, bury the father.

After finishing the funeral, Shang Sanguan fled away at night and disappeared.The old mother was anxious and worried, lest her husband and son-in-law knew about it, she dared not tell relatives and friends of the tribe, but secretly asked her two sons to search for her daughter's whereabouts, and searched for half a year, in vain.

Not long after, the rich man had a birthday party and hired actors to sing opera. Sun Chun, the leader of the troupe, took two disciples to perform. One disciple, Wang Cheng, was equal in appearance, but his singing skills were first-class, and everyone praised him.Another disciple, Li Yu, was beautiful like a woman. The rich man ordered him to sing a song, but Li Yu refused. The room was full of laughter, and Sun Chun felt ashamed, and pleaded: "Li Yu's life with me is short, and he is not good at learning. Please don't blame me, sir. It's better to let her pour wine, she is good at it."

The rich man nodded, and immediately ordered Li Yu to pour wine. Li Yu shuttled through the crowd, observing words and demeanor, behaving properly, and everyone was happy.The rich man was very happy, and the wine was gone, and the people dispersed, so they asked Li Yu to sleep together.Li Yu cleaned the couch and took off his shoes for him, and served him attentively.The rich man took advantage of the wine and spoke frivolously, but Li Yu was not angry, and greeted him with a smile, which made the man dizzy.

The rich man dismissed him, leaving Li Yu alone in the room. Li Yu locked the doors and windows when he saw everyone leaving. The servants did not doubt it, and went to another room to drink.

After a while, there was a rattling sound in the bedroom. A servant came up to check and saw that the room was dark and silent.Just as he was about to leave, suddenly there was another sound, as if a heavy object was hanging from the beam, and the rope broke. He shouted and asked why, but there was no response from the house.The servants were shocked and kicked open the door with all their strength, and saw that the master was dead in two. Li Yu also hanged himself to death, and his body fell to the ground because the rope was torn off, with a bruise on his neck.

Everyone was horrified and ran around, all confused, "Who is the murderer?" Moving Li Yu's body to the courtyard, they noticed that his shoes and socks were light and empty, and when they unwrapped them, they saw that Li Yu's feet were like hooks. It turned out to be a woman.Everyone was even more surprised. They summoned Sun Chun and questioned him sharply. Sun Chun was terrified and didn't know how to respond. He just repeated: "Li Yu came to my family last month and asked for his birthday. I really don't know the origin."

Seeing that Li Yu was wearing mourning attire, they suspected that he was an assassin from a merchant, and temporarily ordered them to guard the corpse. Although Li Yu was dead, his appearance was lifelike, and his limbs were warm and soft when he touched them with his hands. Just as she was about to undress her, suddenly the back of her head was hit hard, bleeding profusely, and she died instantly.Another person shouted in shock, and all the servants came to hear the news, and when they learned what had happened, they all speculated, "This is the work of Li Yu's dead soul." They respected her like a god, and reported the murder to the authorities.

The county magistrate summoned Shang Chen and Shang Li brothers for interrogation. Both of them said: "I don't know. My sister has been away from home for half a year, and there is still no news." The county magistrate ordered the two to go to identify the body. It turned out that Li Yu was Shang Three officials.The county magistrate was secretly amazed, and made a verdict: the matter ends here and will not be pursued.The business brothers took back the body of their sister for burial, and the wealthy family members were not allowed to seek revenge.