Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Jin Dayong, a native of Zhongzhou, is a son of an official.He married Gengniang, the daughter of the prefect, virtuous and beautiful, and the husband and wife had a deep affection.At that time, the bandits were in chaos and the people were in dire straits. Jin Dayong and his family moved to the south for refuge.

On the way, I met a young man who fled with his wife. He claimed to be from Guangling, his surname was Wang Shiba, and he was willing to be the guide of the pioneers.Jin Dayong was very happy, so the two families lived together.When she came to the river this day, Geng Niang said to her husband, "Don't be in the same boat with the young man. He often peeps at me, his eyes are flickering, his sex is overflowing, and he has ulterior motives." Jin Dayong agreed.

Wang Shiba was diligent in hiring a boat and carrying luggage for Jin Dayong. He was very considerate in his busy schedule.Jin Dayong couldn't bear to reject his good intentions, and thought that it would be fine for him to bring a young woman with him.The young woman lives with Gengniang, with a gentle temperament.

Wang Shiba sat on the bow of the boat, chatted with the boatman, and speculated with each other.

After a few days, the waterway was far away, and it was impossible to distinguish the north from the south.Jin Dayong raised his eyes and looked around, the water surface was treacherous, and he was puzzled.In a few days, the moon is rising, and when I look at it by the moonlight, there are reeds on the left and right.Soon after the ship docked, Wang Shiba invited Jin Dayong and his son out of the cabin to get together and took the opportunity to push him into the water.Seeing this, Jin's father yelled and shouted loudly. The boatman's eyes were quick and his hands were quick, and the penny swept across, and the old man was thrown into the water and drowned.

The golden mother heard the sound and came out to check, but was also concocted by the boatman in the same way, and was easily killed.Wang Shiba pretended to call for help, Geng Niang was behind, she had already witnessed the whole process, she saw that the whole family drowned, but she didn't panic, she just cried: "The old woman is gone, what should I do?" Wang Shiba persuaded: "Don't worry, my lady, go to Jinling with me. The farm at home is quite self-sufficient, and life is safe." Geng Niang said with tears: "If that's the case, my wish is enough."

Wang Yuyue, wholeheartedly pleases Geng Niang.At dusk, Wang Shiba dragged his daughter to court her, but Geng Niang excused her feeling unwell, Wang Shiba returned dejectedly, and went to find a young woman to sleep with her.

At the end of the first watch, Wang Shiba and his wife quarreled endlessly for no reason.I only heard the young woman say, "My son's actions have greatly violated the laws of nature. Are you not afraid of God's punishment and thunderstorms?"The young woman went all out and shouted: "Just kill me, so I don't have to be married to the murderer." Wang Shiba roared like a maniac, and kicked the young woman out with a kick. There was an uproar, and they all said, "People are drowning."

Not long after, the group arrived in Jinling. Wang Shiba led Gengniang to her home and went to the hall to meet her mother.The old lady looked surprised, and said: "Why has the daughter-in-law changed?" Wang Shiba said: "The old wife fell into the water and died, and she married a new one." When they returned to the room, Wang Shiba wanted to violate her again. Girl, Gengniang laughed and said, "My lord, a man in his 30s, why is he so unreasonable? Ordinary people marry a wife, but still need a glass of thin wine; your family is rich, don't you even have wine? Sober, how decent is it?"

Wang Shiba nodded again and again, preparing wine for a drink, Geng Niang held the cup, and persuaded him attentively.When Wang Shiba's glass was dry, he gradually became intoxicated and refused to drink. Gengniang held a huge bowl and acted coquettishly. Wang Shiba couldn't bear to refuse, and drank another three or four bowls of wine.

Geng Niang extinguished the candles, went out of the house with a little helper, found a steel knife, and secretly put her hand on Wang Shiba's neck, Wang Shiba smiled in a daze and went to grab her wrist, whispering softly.Gengniang slashed vigorously, but Wang Shiba survived for a while, and got up screaming, Gengniang swung the knife again, and slashed several times, Wang Shiba was killed.

The old lady heard the noise and came out to inquire, Geng Niang killed her again, disturbed Wang Shiba's younger brother Wang Shijiu during the fight, Geng Niang knew it was unavoidable, and committed suicide with a knife.The edge of the knife was dull, unable to cut through the meat in a hurry, she opened the door and ran out, Wang Shijiu followed after her, and Geng Niang had already jumped into the pool.

Wang Shijiu called his family to pick up Geng Niang, but she was dead for a long time, her body was as beautiful as life.The family inspected Wang Shiba's body and saw a letter on the window. They opened it and read it. It turned out that it was written by Gengniang during her lifetime.Everyone praised Gengniang as a strong daughter, and raised funds for her funeral.At dawn, thousands of onlookers, seeing Gengniang's remains, worshiped one after another.Within a day, a hundred taels of gold were raised, and Gengniang was buried in the southern suburbs.Those who have good deeds among the crowd present pearl crowns and robes to Gengniang, and the funerary objects are very rich.

At the beginning, after Jin Dayong fell into the water, he grabbed a piece of wood and floated, so he survived.At dawn, he entered the Huai River with the waves and was rescued by a small boat.The small boat was built by the wealthy businessman Yin Weng, and it was specially used to rescue drowning people.After Jin Dayong woke up, he went to Yin's residence to express his thanks in person. Mr. Yin received him warmly and generously, and persuaded him to stay and teach his son.Jin Dayong is hesitant because his family's life and death are unknown, and he will visit him.

After a while, the servants came to report: two corpses were picked up from the river, one was an old man and the other was an old woman.Jin Dayong suspected that they were his parents, so he rushed to check and found out that it was indeed the case.

Mr. Yin bought a coffin on his behalf. Jin Dayong was mourning when another servant came to report that he had rescued a drowning woman who claimed to be the wife of Mr. Jin.

Jin Dayong cried out in shock, the woman had arrived, it was not Gengniang, but the young woman next to Wang Shiba.The young woman cried and asked him to take her in.Jin Dayong said: "I am in a mess, how can I have time to think about you?" The young woman became more and more sad.

Knowing the reason, Mr. Yin said with a smile: "It's God's will, and the daughter-in-law who comes to the door is also polite? Hurry up and get married." Jin Dayong said: "Parents are mourning for the first time, and it is time to observe filial piety. Besides, the big revenge has not been reported, and there is a family around him. A weak woman is always a drag." The young woman said: "As the young master said, if Geng Niang is still alive, is it because of revenge and mourning that she should be abandoned?" Mr. Yin nodded and said: "This is reasonable, so, Adopt her first, as to whether we will get married or not, we will talk about it later." Jin Dayong hummed, which was a tacit consent.

Mr. Yin paid for Jin Dayong's funeral for his parents. On the day of the funeral, the young woman wore plain clothes and filial piety, mourning and weeping, as if mourning a concubine.Now that his parents were buried in peace, Jin Dayong was about to go to Guangling with a sharp knife in his pocket. The young woman stopped him and said, "The concubine's surname is Tang, her ancestral home is in Jinling, and she lives in the same town as Wang Shiba. He used to say that he was from Guangling, which was all a lie." .And most of the bandits in the rivers and lakes are his accomplices. If they go to Guangling, instead of taking revenge, they will bring their own disaster." Jin Dayong lingered, not knowing what to do.Suddenly it was reported that the fierce woman killed the enemy, everyone in the Huaihe River area knew, who was the strong woman's surname, and how to punish the murderer, they all spoke vividly.

Jin Dayong was very happy when he heard the words, but when he heard that Geng Niang committed suicide, he felt sad in an instant, and said to Ms. Tang, "Fortunately, I didn't insult you. There is a strong woman in the family, so why bear to marry again?" There has been an agreement between the two, I will not leave you no matter what, as long as I can stay with you, I am willing to be your concubine."

At that time, there was a deputy general, Yuan Gong, who was an old friend with Mr. Yin.General Yuan planned to march west, and when he passed by Yin's mansion, he saw Jin Dayong by chance, greatly appreciated him, and hired him as his secretary.Soon, the bandits invaded the border, General Yuan made great contributions in hunting down the bandits, and all his subordinates were rewarded. Jin Dayong was also awarded guerrilla warfare by the official because of his decent handling of documents and letters.

After staying at home for several days, Jin Dayong and his wife went to Jinling to pay homage to Gengniang's tomb.Passing through Zhenjiang, wanting to climb Jinshan Mountain, the boat was traveling mid-stream, and a small boat approached. There were two people in the boat, one was an old woman and the other was a young woman. The young woman had a beautiful face, resembling Geng Niang.The boat was going fast, the young woman was peeping at Jin Dayong from the window, her facial expressions and movements all resembled Gengniang's.

Jin Dayong was astonished and did not dare to ask further questions, he was anxious and wise, and shouted: "Look at the ducks flying up to the sky!" The young woman heard the words, and also shouted: "Greedy dogs want to steal cat fish!" So these two sentences are Back then, the two had a secret conversation in their boudoir.

Jin Dayong was shocked, he paddled towards the small boat, and took a closer look, the young woman was indeed Gengniang.The little maidservant in Tsing Yi helped Geng Niang to cross the boat, and the husband and wife hugged each other and wept, feeling sad about the journey.

Miss Tang meets Gengniang as a legitimate wife.Geng Niang asked the reason in amazement, and Jin Dayong briefly explained the process.Gengniang took Miss Tang's hand and said, "I will never forget what I said in the same boat. I never thought about Wuyue's family. Miss Meng buried Weng Po on her behalf. She deserves thanks. How can I let you salute me?" Miss Tang and Xiao Gengniang are one year old, so the two are called sisters.

Before that, after Gengniang was buried, and the time was unknown in the tomb, she suddenly heard someone calling, "Gengniang, your husband will not die, so we will be reunited." It was like waking up from a dream.Stretch out your hand to feel, there are walls on all sides, only to realize that you are dead and buried.I just feel stuffy, and there is no pain.There are evil young men who covet the rich burial objects, and when the graves are broken and the coffins are broken, they will be searched. Seeing Geng Niang's resurrection, they are all horrified.Gengniang was worried that all the evils would harm each other, and said: "It's fortunate that you came to make me see the sun again. You can take the hairpin jewelry on your head. Just sell me into a temple to become a nun. I can make a profit, and I can't help it." It will not be revealed."

All the evil people said: "My lady is chaste and strong, and men and gods respect each other. We only do such inhumane actions because we are poor and have nothing to do. As long as the girl promises not to expose it, how can I have the heart to sell you into the nunnery?"

Gengniang said: "I volunteer to be a nun, so I don't blame you." An evil young man said: "Madam Geng of Zhenjiang, a widow without children, if she sees her, she will be overjoyed." Gengniang thanked her.Pull out the jewels and give them all to the thieves.The robbers didn't dare to take it, but Gengniang insisted again and again, and everyone was willing to accept it.

A group of people set off with the girl and arrived at Mrs. Geng's house. They made up a random excuse, saying that they got lost in the wind on a boat, and begged the old lady to take Geng Niang in.

Mrs. Geng, a wealthy family, is a widow living alone.Seeing Gengniang was overjoyed, she treated her as her own.On this day, the mother and daughter returned from Jinshan, God has eyes, and they had to reunite with Jin Dayong.Geng Niang recounted the whole story, Jin Dayong was inexplicably moved, and immediately boarded the boat to pay homage to his mother, Mrs. Geng paid him like a son-in-law, invited him to her home, and persuaded him to stay for several days before letting him go.

Since then, the two families have continued to communicate.