At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was a bricklayer named Li Cheng in Feng County, Tongzhou. He married a wife and had children by relying on his superb craftsmanship, and lived an ordinary and happy life. However, an unexpected appearance completely changed his fate.
In the autumn of that year, Li Cheng took his wife and children out to play. He accidentally let the child fall into the water. The child was not able to swim and was submerged into the water as soon as he fell.
The wife first noticed that she jumped into the water before she could call for help. However, she forgot that she did not know how to swim and she only wanted to save her child.
After his wife and children all fell into the water, Li Cheng finally reacted and plunged into the water. The river was mixed with mud and sand, and Li Cheng could not find his direction at all, let alone save his wife and children. .
At this time, the villagers on the shore also discovered the danger here and stepped forward to rescue them. With the help of the villagers, it took nearly an hour to rescue Li Cheng and the others. "Come up."
At this time, Li Cheng was exhausted and rushed to the rescue as soon as possible. He had fainted, but his wife and children were not so lucky, and they all drowned.
When Li Cheng woke up and learned of the death of his wife and children, he almost collapsed. During that time, Li Cheng didn't even know he was there. How to survive.
But life still had to go on, so Li Cheng devoted himself to work and did not dare to touch this sad past.
On this day, Li Cheng came to work in a neighboring county. A grain store was busy repairing the house until the evening. Seeing that Li Cheng worked hard, the owner of the grain store not only paid him wages, but also asked him to carry a lot of grain back.
Li Cheng was not greedy and picked a few. After planting a little food, he left. He looked up at the gloomy sky and couldn't help but speed up his pace. It looked like it was going to rain soon.
When he passed by a mountain forest. , drizzle began to fall from the sky, and Li Cheng was very anxious as he held the food in his arms. The food would be easily spoiled if it got wet in the rain. It seemed that he had to find a shelter from the rain quickly.
But there was nowhere to find it in this barren mountain. Taking shelter from the rain, Li Cheng had no choice but to speed up and run towards his home. At this time, the light rain had gradually become heavier, and Li Cheng's whole body was already soaked by the rain.
Suddenly, he found a broken house not far away. Temple, couldn't help but feel extremely excited, so he hurriedly ran to the ruined temple to take shelter from the rain.
But as soon as he opened the door, he saw a young woman hiding inside. Li Cheng couldn't help being slightly stunned, and then asked: " I wonder if Miss can allow me to take shelter here for a while. "
The woman smiled and said: "Young Master, you don't have to be polite. This ruined temple does not belong to me. You can naturally come in." "
After hearing this, Li Cheng couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. He came to the temple, found a corner and sat down. In order to avoid suspicion, he deliberately stayed far away from the woman. He was not afraid. If it affected other girls, it would be bad.
Seeing Li Cheng sitting in the corner without saying a word, the woman actually walked over and said, "Master, you are so far away from me, are you afraid that I will eat you? "
Hearing this, Li Cheng said: "Young lady misunderstood, I'm just afraid of affecting the young lady. "
With the woman's initiative, the two started talking to each other. Li Cheng saw that the woman was dressed luxuriously, and she was definitely not an ordinary woman, so he asked why she was sheltering from the rain alone.
Unexpectedly, the woman burst into tears when she heard this. Li Cheng's eyes were full of anxiety but he didn't know how to persuade her.
After a long time, the woman slowly said: "The little woman was plotted against her and came here. My father must have been worried about this unfamiliar mountain forest. "
Hearing this, Li Cheng also sympathized with his heart and said: "Don't worry, girl. I will definitely protect you. I will take you home personally tomorrow. "
The woman couldn't help but be startled when she heard Li Cheng's words. Then she stood up and approached slowly and said, "Young Master is so kind, and I have no way of repaying it. I voluntarily pledge myself to you, and please fulfill my promise.""
When Li Cheng saw that the woman had unbuttoned his clothes, he was so frightened that he couldn't help but back away. He quickly refused and said, "Girl, please don't do this. I am not a greedy and lustful person. Please take back your kindness." "
But Li Cheng's refusal seemed to have no effect. Just as the woman was about to walk in front of Li Cheng, an accidental discovery scared Li Cheng into a cold sweat.
He suddenly saw the woman's body. There was no shadow. Looking at the figure under his feet, he had a conclusion in his heart.
Just when Li Cheng was panicking, he suddenly remembered that there was a bag of soybeans in his arms when he was a child. I heard from the old people that soybeans can exorcise evil spirits, but now I can only try it as a doctor.
So Li Cheng grabbed a handful of soybeans and threw them towards the woman, only to see that the soybeans touched the woman. When the body hit the ground, there was a crackling explosion sound, and the woman was also knocked away.
After landing, Li Cheng found that the woman's body seemed to be a little dim. He did not expect that the soybeans had such a miraculous effect. He felt confident in his heart, grabbed a handful of soybeans in his hand, and walked towards the woman.
Upon seeing this, the woman quickly begged for mercy: "Master, please show mercy, although the little girl is a ghost. , but I didn’t mean to hurt you. "
Hearing this, Li Cheng couldn't help but stop and said: "If you don't give me a suitable reason, I will definitely not let you go today.
The woman stood up slowly and said: "The little girl's name is Wang Xiu'e. She is the daughter of a member of the Wang family in Tian'an County. She was suddenly caught in this ruined temple a month ago. In order to protect her innocence, she was killed in the temple." Upon seeing this, the thief buried my body here and left in a hurry. "
Hearing this, Li Cheng couldn't help but feel sympathy. This woman is indeed a pitiful person.
Hear the woman continue to say: "The reason why the young lady confuses the young master is that she hopes that the young master can send the news of my death to the Wang family, or she can Let the little girl return to her ancestral land after her death. "
Hearing this, Li Cheng said: "Don't worry, Miss, this matter will be taken care of by me. I will set off tomorrow. "
Xiu'e was extremely grateful when she saw Li Cheng's promise. She pointed to the outside and said, "Young Master, please follow me out. There is a token of the Wang family on my body. Master, give the token to my father." He will come with you. "
So Li Cheng dug up Xiu'e's body, took off the jade pendant and buried it. When he saw that the rain had stopped, he said, "Don't worry, miss, I will set off early tomorrow morning. Just wait here with peace of mind. "
The next day came in the blink of an eye. Li Cheng kept his promise and went out early. Tian'an County was a long way from here. He didn't arrive until noon. After asking around, he finally arrived outside the Wang family.
Li Cheng Waiting outside the door for the servant to report, not long after, he saw an old man in luxurious clothes walking out. He looked at Li Cheng with excitement and said, "Do you really know the whereabouts of my daughter? "
Seeing the excited look on Wang Yuanwai's face, Li Cheng couldn't help but feel nervous. Although he couldn't bear it, he still told what happened before. When Wang Yuanwai learned about his daughter's death, he didn't believe it at first, but when he saw the Wang family After receiving the token, he collapsed on the ground and cried like a child.
After a long time, Wang Yuanwai recovered, and hurriedly followed Li Cheng to the ruined temple, where he saw his daughter's soul, father and daughter. The two of them talked until late at night before walking out of the ruined temple. Now Xiu'e's wish was fulfilled, which was to go to the underworld to be reincarnated, and Wang Yuanwai also took her body home and buried it in the ancestral land
out of gratitude. Li Cheng, Yuan Wai Wang gave him a box of silver. Li Cheng originally refused, but Yuan Wai Wang was firm, and Li Cheng finally accepted it.
The Wang family had already issued a notice, so if anyone found it. Xiu'e was rewarded with five hundred taels of silver. Now that the notice was taken back by the Wang family, everyone found out through inquiring that Li Cheng was the lucky guy.
After Li Cheng returned home, friends would come to visit him every day. When he was down and out, these people had stayed away from him before, but now they changed their attitude after hearing that he had five hundred taels.
Li Cheng knew what they meant, so he dealt with them casually with an indifferent expression. Over time, no one came here anymore.
As soon as Li Cheng arrived at the door that day, he saw a woman knocking on the door. When he got closer, he found out that it was Widow Zhang from the same village. This widow was so beautiful that she was still in her thirties and maintained as well as seventeen or eighteen. Like a little girl, anyone who sees it can't help but admire it.
Li Cheng couldn't help but wonder what the widow Zhang was doing here, so he said, "Sister, I wonder if you have something to do with me?"
When the widow Zhang saw Li Cheng just coming back, she held the plate in her hand and said, "Brother Li, I didn't bring you some peaches. I didn't expect you to be at home, so I waited at the door for a long time."
Hearing this, Li Cheng couldn't help but smile and said, "You're welcome, sister. Come and sit down inside. I'll do it right away." I'll make you some tea."
Although Li Cheng didn't know why Widow Zhang suddenly cared about him so much, he must not lose etiquette when someone took the initiative to show her kindness.
After this exchange, Li Cheng understood what Widow Zhang meant. Now that she had been alone for so many years, she had long wanted to find someone to rely on, but she could not find a suitable one, so everyone persuaded her to come to her. Li Cheng, Li Cheng is a kind-hearted person and must be a person who can be trusted.
After Li Cheng knew what she meant, he was also entangled in his heart. It would be a lie to say that he didn't like Widow Zhang, but he didn't want to start a family, so he temporarily rejected Widow Zhang.
But Widow Zhang was not discouraged and would come here almost every day to give him things. As time went by, the relationship between the two became closer and closer. In the end, Li Cheng felt soft and agreed.
So the two simply held a wedding ceremony and invited the neighbors to serve as witnesses.
But after the wedding, Li Cheng inadvertently discovered something was wrong with his wife, because she would always rummage through the cabinets when he was not at home, not knowing what she was looking for. However, Li Cheng did not reveal the matter. Secretly buried in my heart.
Later, Li Cheng also heard rumors about his wife, saying that his wife took a strange man home while he was away working. Many people had seen this.
The villagers kindly told Li Cheng about this, but Li Cheng said he believed in his wife, so he never mentioned it to his wife.
On this day, Li Cheng was going to work in a nearby town. He was afraid that he would be away for a few days, so he asked his wife to take care of himself at home. When the wife heard that her husband was going to be away for a few days, her eyes revealed a bit of reluctance, so she took care of him. He bowed and sent him to the city before he was willing to go home.
In the blink of an eye, Li Cheng had been out for two days. Due to working overtime, he finally completed the task ahead of schedule, so he hurried back home.
When he was passing by the market, he thought about buying something for his wife, so he wandered around the market and soon bought a lot of large and small bags.
So Li Cheng hurried towards his home, but suddenly an old beggar stopped him. The old beggar said, "Young man, please do me a favor. Old man, I haven't eaten in several days. Please give me something to eat." "
Hearing this, Li Cheng didn't hesitate at all, so he bought a few meat buns and handed them to the old beggar. The old beggar devoured them in a few bites.
Then the old beggar said again: "I haven't eaten roast chicken for a long time, and I have forgotten what it tastes like."
Hearing this, Li Cheng couldn't help but smile, and then bought the roast chicken for the old beggar. The people around him looked at Li Cheng like a fool and didn't understand why he listened to the old beggar so much.
But Li Cheng didn't take it seriously. Seeing the old beggar's satisfied expression, he left with satisfaction. At this moment, the old beggar suddenly said: "Boy, be careful about your wife when you get home."
Li Cheng was stunned when he heard this, and then asked in confusion: "Why did the old man say that? "
But the old beggar said with a mysterious face: "The secret must not be leaked. "
In this case, Li Cheng had no choice but to turn around and leave. When he returned home, it was already dark. Li Cheng was worried about disturbing his wife's rest, so he tiptoed into the yard.
Unexpectedly, someone walked out of the house at this time. Li Cheng couldn't help being startled by the other man's voice, and hurriedly came to the window to eavesdrop.
He only heard the man say: "I didn't expect that Li Cheng hid the silver so secretly. When he comes back this time, you and I will do it." Then we will kill him, and when we find the money, we will fly away. "
Li Cheng was shocked when he heard this. He didn't expect that his wife would have an affair with someone else. It seemed that she married him just for the five hundred taels of silver. Fortunately, he had already been buried under the tree.
So Li Cheng quietly After walking out of the door, he didn't come back until noon the next day.
His wife was very happy to see Li Cheng back and cooked a large table of delicious meals for him. However, Li Cheng refused to eat. Move the chopsticks.
The wife couldn't help but feel anxious when she saw this, so she took the initiative to pick up the food and put it to Li Cheng's mouth, but Li Cheng said: "There must be poison in this food." "
Hearing this, his wife was shocked and accidentally dropped the chopsticks in her hand. When Li Cheng saw this, he knew that he had guessed correctly.
At this moment, a strange man suddenly came out of the cabinet in the house and saw He looked like the man from yesterday. He was holding a big knife in his hand and slashed at Li Cheng without saying a word.
Li Cheng had been on guard for a long time. After dodging the knife, he kicked the door open and ran away. After going out, the man hurriedly chased him into the yard, but the scene outside shocked him. He saw several county police officers standing here. Now that they were caught, the adulterers committed adultery. The woman was imprisoned.
From then on, Li Cheng never married again. He only kept a small part of the money in his hands, and donated all the rest to the poor. Perhaps because of his charity, Li Cheng Cheng lived until he was ninety-nine and then passed away peacefully
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