Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Dou Xu from Jiaozhou, whose name is Xiaohui, was taking a nap at home this day, when he suddenly saw a man in brown clothes standing in front of the bed, pacing and looking around, but stopped talking.Dou Xu asked, "Is there anything wrong?" The brown-clothed man said, "Master, please come to the banquet." Dou Xu asked, "Who is Mr. Xiang?" He replied, "It's nearby."

Dou Xu followed him to go out, turned around the corner, and came to a place where there are many buildings and houses, and the houses are continuous. Walking in twists and turns, I feel that there are thousands of households, which are very different from the world.I also saw the maids and eunuchs, shuttling back and forth, saying hello to the brown-clothed man, "Has Mr. Dou come?" The brown-clothed man said, "Here you are."

In Er, a senior official came out to greet Dou Xu. He was courteous and came to the hall. Dou Xu asked: "I have never met you all, and I have never been in touch with you. I am flattered to be honored by your master for hosting a banquet. But there is still a little bit in my heart." Can you relieve me of my doubts?" The official said: "Young master's ancestors are of noble character and belong to a great family. My king has admired him for a long time, and he is very much looking forward to meeting you."

Dou Xu asked: "Who is the king?" He replied: "I will know later."

Not long after, two palace maids stepped forward, welcomed Dou Xu to the table, passed through many doors, and came to a large hall.A king in the hall saw Dou Xu coming and got up to greet him. The guests and hosts went through the etiquette and sat down at the table.During the banquet, there was a lot of food and wine, and Dou Xu looked up occasionally, only to see a pair of plaques hanging on the hall, with the words "Guifu" written on it.Seeing this scene, Dou Xu was embarrassed and could not speak.

The king smiled and said: "Young Master and I are neighbors, so we have a good relationship. It's pure kindness to invite you here this time. You can drink to your heart's content, so there is no need to be suspicious." Dou Xu Nuo Nuo agreed.

After a few rounds of drinking, the sound of Shengge sounded in the hall, the voice was faint, the king looked around and said: "I just remembered a couplet of the upper couplet 'The Talented Man Denggui Mansion', who can match the second couplet?" The ministers thought hard, and Dou Xu said: "There is a second couplet, 'Gentlemen love lotus'." The king was overjoyed, and said with a smile, "It's a coincidence. Lotus is the name of the little girl. The second couplet is so neat. Isn't it fate? Go and ask the princess to come out and meet the great talent. .”

After a while, the ring wears a ding-dong, the fragrance is tangy, and the princess comes out gracefully.I saw that she was sixteen or seventeen years old, and her appearance was unparalleled.The king ordered the princess to salute Dou Xu and said, "This is the little girl Lianhua." Princess Lianhua saluted and then left.

Seeing the beauty, Dou Xu was dazed and sat in meditation.The king raised his glass to persuade him to drink, but Dou Xu ignored it.The king seemed to be aware of it, and said: "The young lady and the young master are indeed talented and beautiful, but they are not of the same kind. What can we do?"The minister next to him kindly reminded: "Your Majesty just bowed to you, but the young master didn't see it, and now I'm talking to you, why didn't I hear it?"

Confused and ashamed, Dou Xu got up from the table and said, "I drank too much and behaved badly, please forgive me. Your Majesty is busy with business, so I will leave first." Why did you leave in a hurry? Ai Qing has no intention of staying, so she can't force it. If you are interested in the future, you are welcome to come again at any time." He ordered the man in brown to "send Mr. Dou back."

On the way, the man in brown clothes said: "I heard what the king said just now, and it seems that he intends to betroth the princess to the son. Why didn't he say a word?" Hearing this, Dou Xu regretted it.When he returned home in a blink of an eye, he woke up with a start, but it was Nan Keyimeng.As the sun sets outside the window, Dou Xu meditates, and the scene in his dream is vivid in his mind.At night, I take a rest by lighting candles, hoping to enter the dreamland again, but the road in Handan is far away, and there is nowhere to be found, only sighing.

That night, Dou Xu was sharing the same couch with his friends, when a man in brown clothes suddenly visited and said, "By the king's order, please come to the meeting." Dou Xu was overjoyed and followed him to the palace. When he paid homage to the ground, the king stretched out his hand to help him up, and said: "Since we parted, I was very disturbed to learn that the son misses the little girl. If you don't dislike it, how about giving the son a lotus as his wife?" Dou Xu was overjoyed and thanked again and again.

The king ordered his ministers and bachelors to accompany Dou Xu to a banquet. The banquet was about to end, and a court lady played: "The princess has finished her dressing." Not long after, dozens of servant girls came out surrounded by the princess.Wearing a red scarf, the princess came to the red carpet with light steps and bowed to Dou Xu.Er Er Licheng, everyone sent the couple into the bridal chamber. <, fragrant, Dou Xu said: "The beautiful woman is right in front of you, making you happy and forget your worries. But I am a little worried that what happened today will not be a dream again." The princess smiled and said: "Bitch The concubine is clearly right in front of my eyes, how could it be a dream?"

Waking up early the next day, Dou Xu drew and made up the princess's eyebrows, measured her waist with a belt, and measured her feet with her fingers. The princess smiled and said, "Is your husband crazy?" The princess took the measurements and memorized them one by one. Even if it’s a dream, it’s better to keep some thoughts in mind.” Just making fun of herself, a court lady galloped in and said: “The goblin broke into the palace gate, and the king took refuge in the side hall. Misfortune is not far away.”

Dou Xu was shocked, and hurried to the side hall. When the monarch and his ministers met, the king held Dou Xu's palm and cried, "Thanks to your son for not giving up, I wanted to be a relative with you. Who would have thought that disasters would fall from the sky, and the country would not be the country? But what should I do?" Dou Xu asked, "What's going on?"

The king picked up a memorial from the desk, and said, "Look for yourself." Dou Xu opened the memorial, and saw that it read: "The minister Hei Yi, the great scholar of the Hanxiang Palace, has a book to play. , Your Majesty, please move the capital early to preserve the foundation. According to the officials of Huangmen: Since the sixth day of May, a thousand-foot python has appeared for no reason, entrenched outside the palace, and devoured more than [-] residents inside and outside; The palace was completely in ruins. I searched desperately, and saw a giant python with a head as big as a mountain and eyes like a river. When you raise your head, the palace will be swallowed up. If you stretch your waist, the buildings will be completely destroyed. It is really a monster that has never been seen in ancient times. , a catastrophe that will never happen in all generations. The ancestral temple of Sheji is in danger. I implore the emperor to lead his family and move quickly."

After reading the memorial, Dou Xu's face was ashen, and another eunuch came to report: "The monster has arrived." Only the mourning in the hall was heard, and the sky was miserable.The king was in a hurry and didn't know what to do. He just cried and begged Dou Xu, "Please take care of my little girl." Dou Xu returned angrily. "Will my husband leave me alone?"

Dou Xu said solemnly: "No. It's just that I have been poor since I was a child, and I only have three or four thatched huts. I want to invite the princess to take refuge at home. I don't know what you like?" The princess said with tears: "The situation is critical, how dare you pick and choose, Let's go." The two went out hand in hand, not long after, the house was far away, and the princess praised: "This is a mansion, much better than our country. It's just that the concubine follows the son, and her life is safe, so what should the parents do? Please build another house, and the whole country will come and join us."

Dou Xu thought to himself: "There are tens of thousands of family members in the palace, where can they live?" With a look of embarrassment on her face, the princess burst into tears and said, "My husband can't be in a hurry. What use do you need?" Listen, I just lie on the bed and cry, and I don't listen to any persuasion.

Dou Xu was at a loss for what to do, and was anxious and worried, when he suddenly woke up, it was a dream again.But the crying is still in my ears, sobbing and sobbing, and it will never stop.Listen intently, the crying is not a human voice, but two or three wild bees, hovering above the pillow, buzzing.

Dou Xu shouted in amazement: "Strange thing, strange thing." His friend woke him up and asked him what happened. Dou Xu briefly described the dream, and his friend was greatly surprised.They put on their clothes and got up, and saw the wild bee sitting between the sleeves of their clothes, reluctant to part with it, wiped it with their hands, and did not leave.

The friend pondered for a while, and said: "For the current plan, it is better to build a beehive." Dou Xu nodded his approval, and invited craftsmen to build the nest quickly.Just after the hive was built, swarms of bees gathered and flew in from outside the wall one after another. There was a large black area, as many as a bushel, no less than tens of thousands.

Dou Xu searched for the origin of the wild bees according to the map, and gradually found the vegetable garden next door.

An old man in the neighborhood has a beehive in the vegetable garden. For more than 30 years, the bees have been multiplying and working endlessly.Someone told the old man about Dou Xu building a hive.The old man went to the vegetable garden to check, and saw that the beehive was silent. When he opened it, he saw a big snake in the beehive, more than ten feet long.The old man caught the big snake and stoned it to death, and suddenly thought, "The giant python in Dou Shusheng's dream must be the thing in front of him."

The wild bees moved into Dou Xu's house, multiplied and multiplied, and the race became more prosperous. Since then, nothing strange has happened.