Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Wang Zifu, a native of Luodian, Juxian County, lost his father when he was young, and was intelligent in temperament. He was admitted as a scholar at the age of 14, married his wife Xiao, and died before passing the family, so he has always been single.

On the Lantern Festival of this year, Wang Zifu and his cousin Wu Sheng went to the countryside to play, and a girl came in front of her, carrying a maid's money.When Wang Zifu saw it, he was stunned and stared at it for a long time, fascinated.

The girl walked over a few steps, and noticed that the prince was behaving badly, and said to the servant girl, "This kid has scorching eyes, like a thief." She threw the flower in her hand on the ground, giggled coquettishly and left.

The beauty went away, and the prince was unhappy, leaned over to pick up the plum blossoms, and returned disappointed.

After returning home, Wang Zifu was obsessed with the girl, became sick with lovesickness, kept silent and stared at the plum blossoms in a daze every day.The mother was in a hurry and asked for medical medicine, but the condition did not improve. Seeing that her son was getting thinner day by day, she was secretly worried.

Soon after Wu Sheng came to visit, the Queen Mother asked him to enlighten his son, Wu Sheng agreed, smiled and said to Wang Zifu, "Cousin, you are really infatuated for doing this for a woman. Don't worry, this matter is easy to do." , I will go find the whereabouts of the girl for you. Since she is walking in the wild, she must not be the daughter of a rich family. If you are not married, I will go matchmaking for you. If you are engaged, we will go out and spend more gifts. You don’t have to worry about it. Take care of your illness , wait for my news, everything is on me."

Upon hearing the words, Prince Fu smiled happily and was in a good mood, so he started to eat a little bit.

A few days later, when Wu Sheng came back, Wang Zifu asked, "Is everything settled?"

Wu Sheng lied and said: "I have found out the news. I thought it was someone's beauty, but it turned out to be my aunt's daughter. Speaking of which, she is your aunt's cousin. I will come to propose marriage with a dowry gift in a few days. Tell the truth, nothing is impossible.”

Wang Zifu asked, "Where does she live?"

Wu Sheng perfunctoryly said, "Thirty miles in the southwestern mountains." After saying a few words, he left in a hurry.

Since then, the prince's appetite has increased day by day, and his body is like a day by day. He touched the plum blossom under the pillow, although it withered, but fortunately it did not wither.But after Wu Sheng left, there was no further news. Wang Zifu was depressed and thought, "Thirty miles is not a long distance, so why rely on others? Why don't I pay a visit in person?" So Zangmei went to Nanshan in anger.

On the way, I came to a valley quickly, and I saw green mountains and quiet scenery. Looking at the bottom of the valley, there is a small village vaguely among red flowers and green trees.

Going down the mountain and entering the village, you pass a few thatched huts, a courtyard in the north, clear willow trees in front of the door, fragrant peaches and apricots in the wall, dense bamboo, Wang Zifu dared not rush in, and sat down on a nearby boulder to rest.

A woman called "Xiao Rong!" came from the Er'er wall, with a delicate voice, listening intently, a girl came out from east to west, holding an apricot flower in her hand, as if she wanted to wear it on her temples, she raised her eyes inadvertently, and suddenly found The prince was taken aback, he couldn't help being a little surprised, he didn't dare to put any flowers, he smiled slightly, and walked into the courtyard.

Wang Zifu took a closer look and found that it was the girl from the Lantern Festival.I was overjoyed, and wanted to chase the girl, but worried that I would be too abrupt, thinking, "If my cousin didn't lie to me, this should be my aunt's house. But I have never had any contact with my aunt, and I don't know what she looks like, so I just rashly Breaking in, if you admit the wrong person, wouldn't it be a big joke?"

He hesitated for a while, and was anxious to walk back and forth outside the house, standing for a while, sitting for a while, hesitating, and I don't know how long it took, the sun set and the sky gradually dimmed.During this period, the girl showed half of her face across the courtyard and peeped several times. She was quite surprised to see that the prince's clothes were still refusing to leave.

Suddenly, an old lady came out with a cane, looked at the prince's clothes, and asked, "Where did you come from, the scholar, who has been sitting since Chenshi until now, what exactly do you want to do? Are you hungry?"

The prince straightened his clothes and said, "I'm here to visit relatives."

The old lady asked, "What's your relative's last name?"

Wang Zifu shook his head: "I don't know either."

The old lady smiled, "What an anecdote, you don't even know your name, why are you visiting relatives? I think you must be a nerd. It's getting late, why don't you come in with the old woman and have a home-cooked meal. There is also a bed in the room, and Stay one night, go back and ask clearly, and it will not be too late to visit relatives again."

Wang Zifu happened to be hungry and wanted to get close to the beauty, so he couldn't stop nodding when he heard this, and happily followed the old lady into the yard.

I saw the white stone road inside the door, and there were colorful flower petals everywhere. I went forward in a zigzag way, and came to an outdoor, which was also a yard, and the yard was full of bean sheds and flower stands.

Walking into the room, I saw that the walls were white and smooth like a mirror, and a flower branch of Begonia protruded into the room from the window.Indoor tables, chairs and mattresses are very clean.

As soon as he sat down, Wang Zifu noticed two figures peeping outside the house. The old lady coughed and said, "Xiao Rong, hurry up and cook. Who told you to peep outside the house, haven't you seen a man?" A maid outside the house He agreed loudly, and went to prepare meals.

The old lady offered tea, the prince took a sip, and began to explain his family background in detail.The old lady listened intently, and asked in surprise, "Young man, is your ancestor's surname really Wu?"

Wang Zifu nodded, and the old lady smiled and said: "So you are my nephew. Your mother is my sister. In recent years, the old woman's family has declined, and she has no males, so she has never had any contact with relatives. The nephew has grown so big, I don't even know it."

Wang Zifu smiled and said: "This time, I came here to visit my aunt. By the way, I haven't asked my aunt's last name yet?"

The old lady said: "My surname is Qin. I have never had any children in my life. I only have one daughter, who was born to a concubine of my deceased husband. Her mother remarried and left the child to me to raise. The little girl is not stupid, but she lacks discipline and laughs all day long. I'll let her come out to meet guests later, your cousins ​​know each other."

Not long after, the servant girl set up a banquet, the dishes were rich, and there was even a fat chicken.After the meal, the maid cleaned up the tableware, and the old lady ordered: "Go and call Ning Gu." The maid agreed.

After a while, there was faint laughter from outside the door, and the old lady shouted: "Ying Ning, your cousin is here." Still laughing outside the door.The maid pushed her into the room, the girl was still laughing, the old lady frowned and said: "There are guests here, laughing and joking, what do you look like?" Pointing to the prince's clothes, she said: "This Wang Scholar is your aunt's son, Still not saluting to my cousin?"

Ying Ning held back her laughter, Wan Fu bowed, and the prince hurriedly returned the salute, and asked the old lady, "How old is my sister?"

The old lady had bad ears and couldn't hear clearly, so she asked, "What did you say?"

Wang Zifu had no choice but to ask again loudly, Ying Ning couldn't help laughing again.The old lady said: "I said that this girl lacks a tutor, and you have seen it too. A 16-year-old girl is stupid and idiotic, just like a child."

The prince said: "My sister is one year younger than me."

The old lady said: "My nephew is already 17 years old? Could it be that the year of Gengwu is a horse?"

Prince Fu nodded.

The old lady asked, "Do you have a daughter-in-law? Which girl is it?"

Prince Fu said: "I haven't married a wife yet."

The old lady said: "My nephew is talented and good-looking, why hasn't he married a wife at the age of 17? Is his vision too high? It just so happens that Yingning doesn't have a husband's family. You two are a good match, but it's a pity that you are a mother-in-law."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zifu remained silent, just staring at Yingning intently.

The servant girl remembered the scene of the Lantern Festival last time, and whispered to Ying Ning, "The eyes are burning, but the thief's face has not changed." Ying Ning just giggled coquettishly, and said to the maid, "Go and see if the green peach blossoms are in bloom?" While speaking, she covered it with her sleeve Mouth, footsteps are fine, go out.As soon as I got outside the door, I couldn't help it anymore, and laughed heartily.

The old lady also got up and stood up, and ordered the servant girl to make the bed for the prince, and said: "It is rare for my nephew to come and stay for three or five days, and then send you back. If you feel bored, there is a small garden behind the house, where you can spend your time casually. If you like reading, you can go to the study, where there are many books."

The next day, Wang Zifu came to the back of the house, and there was indeed a half-acre garden with flowers and green grass. He was walking leisurely, and suddenly heard a rustling sound from the tree. When he looked up, it turned out to be a baby. Ning was playing on the tree, and when he saw the prince's clothes, he couldn't stop giggling.

Worried about her safety, Wang Zifu shouted, "Don't move around, it will fall right away."

Ying Ning crawled down while laughing coquettishly, when she was about to reach the ground, she accidentally fell down and stopped laughing.Wang Zifu stepped forward to support her, took the opportunity to touch her palm twice, Ying Ning laughed loudly again, at the end of the laugh, his stomach hurts and he can't walk, so he has to rely on the tree to breathe.

Waiting for her to laugh enough, the prince took out the plum blossom from his sleeve and showed her. Ying Ning took it and held it in his hand, saying, "The flowers are all withered, why keep them?"

The prince said: "This is thrown away by the sister of the Lantern Festival, so I have been keeping it."

"What's the use of saving it?"

"I miss people when I see flowers, and I will never forget when I love each other. Since I saw my sister on the Lantern Festival, I have missed her every day, and I have become sick with love. I thought I would live soon. I didn't expect that you and I will meet again today. Please be sure to help me."

"It's not a big deal. You and I are relatives, so you don't need to be polite. You like flowers, don't you? There are plenty of them in the yard. When you go back, I will ask the old servant to fold a large bundle and give it to you."

Wang Zifu couldn't laugh or cry, "My sister is not stupid."

"Why am I so stupid?"

"I don't love flowers, but I love people who hold flowers."

"We are already relatives, and we are already very affectionate."

"The love I'm talking about is not the love of relatives, but the love of husband and wife."

"Is there a difference?"

"Of course there is a difference. Husband and wife can share the same bed."

Ying Ning lowered her head and thought for a long time, then said: "But I don't like to sleep with strangers." Before finishing speaking, the servant girl came over quietly, and Wang Zifu hurriedly escaped.

After a while, Wang Zifu and Ying Ning came to the old lady together, and the old lady asked, "Where have you been?"

Ying Ning said, "I'm talking to elder brother in the garden."

The old lady said: "The rice is almost burnt, what is there to talk about for so long?"

Ying Ning said: "Brother wants to sleep with me." Before he finished speaking, the prince was embarrassed and stared at her. Fortunately, the old lady was hard of hearing and couldn't hear clearly.

After eating, Wang Zifu scolded Ying Ning in a low voice, "There are certain things that should not be said indiscriminately."

Ying Ning asked, "Shouldn't you have said what you just said?"

"Of course it shouldn't be said. This kind of talk can only be known to you, and you must keep it from others."

"Help it from others? But my mother is not an outsider, how can you hide it from her? Besides, it's normal to sleep, what's the taboo?"

When Wang Zifu heard this, he could only smile wryly, this Ying Ning was so clueless, there was really nothing he could do about her.Suddenly I heard the sound of a donkey braying outside the door, but it was because I hadn't returned for a long time, my mother sent servants to look for it.

Wang Zifu also missed his family a little bit, so he went to say goodbye to the old lady and said, "I want to take Cousin Yingning home, please allow me."

The old lady smiled and said: "I have wanted to visit my sister for a long time, but I am too old to travel far. It would be great if you take your cousin back and get to know your aunt." Ying Ning was recruited, and she asked carefully: "Your cousin I want to take you back to your aunt's house, tidy up, and then leave. Your aunt's house has a lot of property, and I don't care if you have one more idler, so don't rush back. When you arrive at your aunt's house, you should learn more poetry and etiquette, so that you can serve me in the future In-laws. By the way, ask my aunt to arrange a marriage for you and find a good husband."

Ying Ning didn't speak, just laughed and laughed. The old lady glared at her and sighed: "What's the happy event, I can't laugh enough? If you don't smile, it will be perfect."

Ying Ning and Wang Zifu returned home, and the Queen Mother came out to greet her. Seeing Ying Ning's beautiful appearance, she was very surprised and asked, "Who is this girl?"

Prince Fu said: "Her name is Yingning, she is the daughter of my aunt's family."

The Queen Mother whispered to her son, "I don't have a younger sister. Where can I get a niece? What Wu Sheng told you before was all lies." Then she asked Yingning, "Son, who is your father?"

Ying Ning said: "My father's surname is Qin. When he died, I was still a baby and I don't remember many things."

The queen mother nodded and said: "I do have a sister who married a surnamed Qin, but she has been dead for a long time, how can she still be alive?" Asking about the appearance of Yingning's biological mother, Yingning said: "My mother has a black spot on her face. mole."

The Queen Mother nodded and said, "That's right, what you said is not bad at all."

While talking, Wu Sheng came to visit. Ying Ning didn't want to meet strangers, so she hurriedly hid in the inner room.Wu Sheng had never seen Ying Ning before, so he couldn't help asking questions. After some inquiries, he finally understood what had happened, and suddenly yelled, "Is this girl really called Ying Ning?"

Prince Fu nodded and said, "Yes."

Wu Sheng murmured: "What a coincidence. I had an aunt who married the Qin family and died soon after. My uncle was single and was fascinated by the vixen. She gave birth to a daughter, also named Ying Ning. When she was a child, she I have met before. Later, when my uncle died, the fox Jing missed the old love and often came to the house. The family was afraid, so they asked the celestial master to paste many charms on the wall, and the fox Jing took her daughter away. Could it be that the girl Yingning just now Was it born by the vixen?"

The three of them looked at each other, all hesitated to make a decision, at this moment, Ying Ning's laughter came from inside the room again, and they kept laughing endlessly.The Queen Mother smiled and said: "This little girl is too delicate and naive." While talking, she sent someone to invite her out to meet the guests. Ying Ning held back her smile, walked out of the room and gave a salute to Wu Sheng, and then returned to the room. House, and laughed out loud again.

Wang Zifu entrusted Wu Sheng to go to Nanshan to find out what happened. When he came to the valley, he found that the small mountain village had disappeared out of thin air, leaving only dry grass and flowers scattered. Wu Sheng thought of the place where his aunt was buried, which seemed not far away, and he couldn't help feeling suspicious: Could it be that Ying Ning is not a human, but a ghost?

After returning home, she told the Queen Mother about her experience. The Queen Mother also suspected that Ying Ning was a ghost. She went into the house and told Ying Ning what Wu Sheng had seen and heard. Ying Ning was not afraid. Sad, she just smiles foolishly all day long, and no one can guess her.

The Queen Mother asked the youngest daughter to live with Ying Ning, and Ying Ning went to pay her respects to the Queen Mother every morning, and her needlework was exquisite.I just like to laugh, and no one can stop it.Although Ying Ning smiled casually, she was very pretty. Everyone liked to see her smile, and the girls in the neighborhood were vying to get in touch with her.

The Queen Mother intends to choose Jiri to marry Yingning for her son, but she is always worried that Yingning is a ghost. Once she secretly observes under the sun and finds that Yingning's shadow is no different from that of a normal person, so she is relieved.

On the day of their wedding, Ying Ning put on a phoenix coronet and Xiapei, and kept laughing while praying to heaven and earth, which made the wedding ceremony impossible and had to end hastily.

Because Ying Ning is delicate and naive, Wang Zifu is afraid that she will reveal the private affairs in the house, but Ying Ning is not ignorant, the husband and wife have secrets and never mention them to outsiders.Whenever the Queen Mother was troubled and unhappy, as long as she heard Yingning's laughter, she immediately felt at ease.But when the servants made mistakes, they all knew to intercede with Yingning. The Queen Mother loved her very much, and whenever Yingning spoke, she would always be accommodating.

Ying Ning is addicted to flowers, and the yard is full of flowers, even pawning gold and silver jewelry to buy flower seedlings.There is a woody tree in the backyard, next to the west neighbor's house.Ying Ning often climbed up the tree to play. The boy from the Xi family saw Ying Ning's beauty from a distance, and couldn't help but stepped forward to tease her.The boy from the Xi family mistakenly thought that Ying Ning was interested in him, and his appearance became more and more wild.

Ying Ning pointed to the corner of the wall and left with a smile. The boy from the Xi family thought she was indicating the date.In the evening, he happily went to the appointment, and sure enough, he saw Ying Ning waiting in the corner, and immediately stepped forward to hug her, arching her lower body.Suddenly there was a piercing pain at the root of life, the pain pierced my heart, I couldn't help crying, rolling around on the ground, looking carefully, there was no baby, it was just an old tree stump.

Hearing the cry, the boy's father came to investigate and saw a hole in the tree stump with a poisonous scorpion hidden in it. The boy was injured probably because the scorpion bit him. He died soon after returning home.

The boy's father sued the government and exposed Ying Ning as a monster. Because the prince's reputation is very good, the county magistrate quickly closed the case: the old father of the Xi family falsely accused the good man, ignored him, and went back and forth wherever he went.

When the Queen Mother heard the news, she secretly persuaded Ying Ning, "You always laugh, so I knew it would cause trouble. Fortunately, the county magistrate is reasonable. If you encounter a stupid official, you will definitely summon my mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to confront each other in court. If that's the case , I have no face to face people."

Ying Ning swore: "From now on, I will never laugh again."

The Queen Mother said: "Is there anyone who doesn't laugh? It's just to distinguish the occasion and place."

But no matter how persuasive the queen mother was, since that time, Yingning never smiled again, and sometimes her family teased her intentionally, but she didn't laugh either, but she was still carefree and didn't know what troubles were.

This night, Ying Ning suddenly became serious and cried to her husband. Wang Zifu was very surprised and asked, "What's wrong?"

Ying Ning choked up and said: "In the past, I didn't get along with my husband for a long time, so I didn't dare to tell the origin of my background. Now my mother-in-law and my husband are very good to me, so I can no longer hide it. In fact, I am not a human being, I was born of a fox. My mother Before I left, I was entrusted to the ghost mother. I have been with each other for more than ten years. I have no brothers. I can only ask my husband to help me with one thing. The ghost mother lives alone in the ground and is very lonely. She entrusted me with a dream last night. I hope I can I will be buried with my father. If the husband does not dislike the trouble and expense, and fulfills the wish of the ghost mother, Ying Ning will be very grateful."

Wang Zifu agreed: "Okay, leave this matter to me. It's just that the ghost mother's grave is buried in weeds, so it's not easy to find it."

Ying Ning said, "Don't worry about this."

A few days later, Wang Zifu prepared the coffin and went to Nanshan with Ying Ning to dig out the old lady's body for burial. Afterwards, he found the grave of his uncle, Mr. Qin, and buried them together.

That night, the old lady gave Wang Zifu in a dream to thank him. After Wang Zifu woke up from the dream, he told his wife about it. Ying Ning said, "I also saw the ghost mother last night. She told me not to scare you."

Wang Zifu asked: "Why don't you ask the old lady to stay?"

Ying Ning explained: "She is a ghost, there are many people living here, and the yang energy is strong, how dare she live for a long time?"

Wang Zifu asked about Xiao Rong's recent situation. Ying Ning said: "She is also a fox demon, the most cunning. My biological mother left her to take care of me and often feed me with food, so I often miss her. Last night, the ghost mother told me that she Already married."

From then on, every year during the Cold Food Festival, Wang Zifu and his wife would go to the Qin family cemetery to pay their respects, without interruption.A year later, Ying Ning gave birth to a baby boy. When he was still in his infancy, he was not afraid of strangers at all, and smiled when he saw people, quite like a mother.