01
During the period of the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a carpenter in Junshan, Dongting, who was known as the text carpenter. Carpenter Wen is good at carpentry, whether it is carving or carving, or agricultural tools.
Because Carpenter Wen was good at carpentry, he was very famous in the Junshan area of Dongting. As a result, Carpenter Wen also accumulated a lot of furniture.
But it is strange that Carpenter Wen, whose family is not poor but relatively wealthy, has not yet married a wife when he is forty-four or five years old. Everyone who came to talk to Carpenter Wen was rejected by Carpenter Wen.
Carpenter Wen refused to marry. On the one hand, it aroused the curiosity of the villagers, thinking that he was suffering from a disease that men should not have. On the other hand, many people were worried about Carpenter Wen. After all, he had accumulated a lot of furniture over the years. If he did not If you marry a wife and give birth, who will own the property when you get old? Who will take care of you if you are sick? Therefore, from time to time, people advise carpenters that if they are sick, they can be treated as soon as possible. If they are not sick, they should marry a housewife as soon as possible while they are young. They will have someone to rely on when they are old. Even if it is not possible, they should adopt a child or take on an apprentice.
Carpenter Wen followed the advice of the enthusiastic villagers and decided to accept apprentices. However, at that time, carpentry was a low-level profession and was ranked outside the "three religions and nine streams". Few families were willing to send their children to learn carpentry. Due to the low status of carpenters, Carpenter Wen was determined to recruit apprentices, but in his eagerness, it was difficult to find suitable candidates.
02
One winter, Carpenter Wen went to Ma Yuan's house next door to do carpentry. When he came back, he found a boy lying in front of the door of his house. He was about seventeen or eighteen years old. His clothes were ragged and he looked haggard. He was shaking there, obviously after a long journey. Trekking, starving.
Carpenter Wen was a kind-hearted man. Seeing the young man's appearance, he thought he was a man escaping from famine, so he brought the boy into the room, cooked a bowl of ginger soup, and took out a few steamed buns for the little boy to eat. It took a long time for the little boy to recover.
When the little boy saw Carpenter Wen, he bowed his head and asked Carpenter Wen to accept him as his apprentice.
Carpenter Wen asked about the details of the little boy. It turned out that the little boy’s surname was Liu and his given name was Ji Qiu. He was from Baling, which is separated from Junshan by a lake. His parents originally owned dozens of acres of paddy fields, but they were later taken away by a large local family through clever tricks. Occupying it, the little boy had nowhere to go, so he had to seek refuge with his uncle in Junshan, Dongting, across a lake from Baling. Unexpectedly, when he arrived at Junshan, he asked everywhere but could not find his uncle's whereabouts, so he wandered all the way here and came to Wen Mu's workshop. , I was cold and hungry, and couldn’t walk, so I collapsed.
Carpenter Wen asked Liu Jiqiu why he wanted to be his teacher. You must know that learning carpentry is a hard job, and you will be looked down upon by others after you finish the course.
Liu Jiqiu told Carpenter Wen that he had already inquired about Carpenter Wen clearly and knew that Carpenter Wen was a good person and he could endure hardships.
Wen Carpenter saw that Liu Jiqiu was sincere and his life experience was pitiful, so he felt compassion and accepted Liu Jiqiu as his disciple.
03
Under the guidance of Carpenter Wen, Liu Jiqiu learned carpentry very carefully. Within two or three years, he basically mastered Carpenter Wen's craftsmanship.
Carpenter Wen was very impressed when he saw how smart his apprentice was.
One day, the master and the apprentice were sitting in the courtyard talking about carpentry work, when they suddenly heard a knock on the door outside the house. Liu Jiechou went out to investigate. After a while, he saw Liu Jiechou bringing in a young woman who looked like a refugee.
Carpenter Wen, who was always charitable, did not blame Liu Jiqiu for bringing strangers in. Instead, he told Liu Jiqiu to quickly go to the kitchen to find something to eat for the woman.
After the woman had tea, she thanked Carpenter Wen and cried to Carpenter Wen: Her husband died, there was no man in the family, and there was a severe drought. She really had no way to make a living, so she had no choice but to go out and escape. As long as Carpenter Wen took her in, she would Give her a bite to eat and she can do the housework for Carpenter Wen.
Carpenter Wen was a little hesitant when he heard this. There were only two men in his family, he and Liu Jiqiu. It wouldn't be good to have a woman at home, right? Not only will it attract gossip from the villagers, but it will also damage his reputation.
Seeing his master's hesitation, Liu Jiqiu said to him: Master, look how pitiful this aunt is, you might as well accept her!
Wen Carpenter said: Admission is not a problem, but..., he expressed his doubts.
Liu Jiqiu said: Master, why not do this? This aunt has no husband, and the master has no master’s wife. Master, why not marry her, then it will be just and legitimate.
Wen Carpenter looked at the woman, who nodded in agreement.
04
The local villagers were excited when they heard that Carpenter Wen had married a woman who had fled from other places. There was even more discussion. Many people came to Carpenter Wen's house to watch and wanted to have a sneak peek.
Everyone came to Carpenter Wen's house, and the woman made tea to entertain them. When everyone saw that the woman behaved well, spoke well, and had an extraordinary appearance, they all praised Carpenter Wen for his vision. So some people made a fuss, and Carpenter Wen decided to hold a banquet to make it lively.
Wen Carpenter saw that he could not win over the villagers, so he had no choice but to agree. He ordered Liu Jiqiu to take out the money and go with the villagers to buy wine and meat and prepare for the banquet.
05
In a few days, the banquet was ready. Carpenter Wen wore a bright red groom's suit and prepared to marry the woman. Carpenter Wen, who had grown up and was wearing a groom's suit for the first time, did not look happy at all, but rather worried.
When everyone was sitting down, Carpenter Wen stood at the groom's table. What was he looking for at the banquet?
Among them, villagers came to toast Carpenter Wen from time to time, and Carpenter Wen drank it all in one gulp.
When the banquet came to an end, Carpenter Wen was very drunk and reluctantly paid homage to the banquet. Carpenter Wen was helped to the new house to rest by Liu Jiqiu.
When the guests saw that Carpenter Wen was drunk, they felt that drinking was not very interesting. After drinking for a while, they dispersed and went back to their homes. Carpenter Wen's family became quiet again, leaving only the drunken Carpenter Wen, the newlywed widow, and his apprentice Liu Jiqiu.
06
But Liu Jiqiu saw that there were only three masters and apprentices left in the house, and the master was very drunk, so he secretly took out an ax, hid it in his arms, and walked towards Wen Carpenter's room.
came to Carpenter Wen's downstairs and saw the lights in Carpenter Wen's house flickering. Liu Jiqiu licked open the window paper and saw Carpenter Wen lying drunk on the bed, making loud noises, and his wife was rummaging through boxes and cabinets as if looking for something.
I saw that the junior wife had been looking for a long time and found nothing. With an anxious look on her face, she shouted out the window of Liu Jiechou: Junior Brother, come in!
Liu Jiqiu jumped into the room and said: Senior sister, haven't you found it yet?
The woman said: I searched all over the house, but I still can't find where the old man hid the book?
Liu Jiqiu looked around the room, suddenly noticed something strange on the wooden pillow under the master's head, and pursed his lips towards the woman. The woman understood and signaled Liu Jiqiu to duck aside, then walked towards Carpenter Wen.
When the woman saw that Carpenter Wen was sleeping soundly, she was about to take out the wooden pillow that was placed under Carpenter Wen's head. She saw Carpenter Wen turned over, tilted his head, and his head was pressed heavily on the wooden pillow.
The woman had nothing to do, Liu Jiqiu looked on anxiously, and signaled the woman to "click" Carpenter Wen, and handed the ax she brought.
07
The woman took the ax and was about to chop it down at Carpenter Wen, when Carpenter Wen stood up. The woman trembled with fear. Carpenter Wen ignored him and shouted out the window: Junior brother, please bring yourself in! What kind of skill is it to send two children to die?
Before Carpenter Wen could finish his words, he saw a man running through the window. He had a fair complexion, Wen Wen was weak, and he held an ax in his hand, shining in the moonlight.
Someone came into the house and shouted to Carpenter Wen: Brother, how did you know I was coming?
Wen Carpenter said: When I rescued this woman, I knew you were coming, but I wasn't sure yet. Later, when the woman took advantage of my absence and rummaged through the courtyard to look for things, I became even more sure.
The weak scholar said: In that case, take out the book so that I can have an explanation.
It turns out that Wen Carpenter and this frail scholar were brothers. They were studying under Gui Guzi at that time. Gui Guzi got a copy of "Wu Mu's Legacy Book" from nowhere. After the frail scholar found out about it, he tried to steal it many times. Gui Guzi knew that this apprentice had evil intentions, so before he died, he gave "Wu Mu's Suicide Note" to Carpenter Wen for safekeeping, and asked him to find a suitable person on his behalf. At this time, the weak scholar had been expelled from the mountain by Gui Guzi and joined Yuan Bing.
When the frail scholar learned that Gui Guzi had passed away, he became bolder again. He guessed that the "Wu Mu's Suicide Note" must be at his senior brother Wen Carpenter's place, so he led two apprentices to follow him there. The frail scholar originally wanted to obtain the "Wu Mu's Suicide Note" without any bloodshed. He first asked his young disciple Liu Jiechou to pretend to be hungry to deceive Carpenter Wen's trust and take the opportunity to find the "Wu Mu's Suicide Note". However, things turned out to be inconsistent and Liu Jiechou could not find the "Wu Mu's Suicide Note". "Wu Mu's suicide note", he asked his second apprentice Cuihua to pretend to be married to Carpenter Wen, and the two worked together to find the book. Unexpectedly, just as he was about to succeed, Carpenter Wen saw through it.
Carpenter Wen said: Junior brother, "Wu Mu's Suicide Note" was indeed given to me by Master, but it cannot fall into the hands of foreigners.
The scholar said: This is wrong. Those who understand current affairs are heroes. Today's court is mediocre. The right way is to abandon darkness and turn to light.
Seeing that the scholar could not be persuaded, the carpenter picked up the wooden pillow and said: "Wu Mu's Suicide Notes" are among them. If you have the ability, come and get it!
When the scholar saw him, he stopped answering and just picked up his ax and struck. When Liu Jiqiu and his wife saw their master taking action, they surrounded Carpenter Wen.
Two fists are hard to beat with four hands. Poor Carpenter Wen is about to die at the hands of a weak scholar in order to save "Wu Mu's Suicide Note".
suddenly heard a loud noise outside the house, and countless villagers came with sticks. It turned out that after the villagers saw Carpenter Wen drunk, several villagers were worried and came to Carpenter Wen's house to watch. They happened to hear that the weak scholar wanted to serve the Tatars. At that time, the villagers He hated Yuan soldiers the most, burning, killing, and looting, so he sent people back to report the news. When the relatives learned about it, they came to help Carpenter Wen overnight.
When the three weak scholars saw them, they knew they could not resist them, so they ran away with their heads in their hands.
08
Later, Carpenter Wen led his fellow villagers to stop the Yuan soldiers by the Dongting Lake with the help of "Wu Mu's Suicide Note".
