The two brothers were not only handsome, but also of good character. Many matchmakers came to their home to propose marriage, and both brothers married wives as they wished and became their own family.

The story takes place in the Song Dynasty During the Zhidao period, there was a family named Ding in Sitong Town, Guozhou Prefecture. The head of the household, old man Ding, is over fifty years old. He has two sons. The eldest son is named Ding Wen and the second son is named Ding Wu. The two brothers were not only handsome, but also of good character. Many matchmakers came to their home to propose marriage, and both brothers married wives as they wished and became their own family.

In the second year of Zhidao, old man Ding was lying in bed and dying. He called his two sons to his side and wanted to separate their families. The Ding family has a total of four tile-roofed houses, two acres of land, and an old cow. Other than that, there are no other valuable things in the house.

Old Man Ding murmured: "After I die, you two brothers must love each other, so that others will not dare to look down on you. Each of you has two of these four tile-roofed houses. The eldest, you live in the two on the east, and the second, you live on the two on the west. If you are afraid of the sun, If there is a quarrel later, we will separate it with a wall in the middle of the yard and divide it into two yards. Each of you brothers will get one acre of our two acres of land. As for the old cow, the two families will take turns using it when the farming is busy. If the cow dies of old age in the future, the money from the meat will be divided equally between the two families." After the old man Ding finished explaining, he died, and the brothers Ding Wen and Ding Wu burst into tears.

After Old Man Ding was buried, Ding Wen found his brothers and planned to divide the family property into two parts according to his father's will. But at this moment, Ding Wen's wife Diao cursed loudly at her husband: "Have you ever seen anyone in the world divide family property like this? Your father is an old fool, are you also an old fool? As the eldest brother, you have worked hard for this family for so many years. He, Ding Wu, has food to open his mouth and clothes to stretch out his hands, and he has earned a few cents for this family. ? If you tell me, you shouldn't give him even a single copper from the family property, it would be better if you don't ask him for food money."

Ding Wen quickly said: "It was my father's last wish to divide the family property into two. I can't go against my late father's will. In that case, wouldn't I be a good man? A very unfilial person?

Mr. Diao, who was tall and tall, slapped Ding Wen to the ground and said viciously: "You are too poor to blame yourself, and you are still acting like a wolf here. If you want to be a filial son, go and follow your damn father." I tell you today, if you dare to give half of the family property to Ding Wu, not only will we be unable to live together, I will also turn your Ding family upside down. "

Ding Wen is honest and honest, and has been a bit cowardly since he was a child. He was so frightened by his wife's fuss that he did not dare to mention the matter of dividing the family property.

Ding Wu's wife Zhou was a virtuous person. She said to her husband: "My man has ambitions in all directions. If you follow my advice, let's not worry about this little family property, lest my brother and sister-in-law get into trouble because of this. I will sell the dowry jewelry and it will be enough for us." Rent a room outside, and then I will borrow some money from my parents' family, and we will do a small business. As long as we work hard, it will definitely be better than farming."

Ding Wu was very moved when he saw that his wife was so reasonable. He thought that he had been blessed for several lifetimes before he met such a good wife. A few days later, Ding Wu and his wife found their brother and sister-in-law and expressed their desire to go out and make a living, and they did not want any of the family property. After hearing this, Mrs. Diao was surprised and said: "Brother, what are you talking about? It's as if my brother and sister-in-law can't tolerate you. If word spreads, how can your brother and I gain a foothold in Sitong Town in the future?"

Ding Wu said: "My brother and sister-in-law have treated me with a great kindness, and I will never repay my brother for the rest of my life. We, the young couple, discussed it and wanted to go out and make a living while we were young. The reason why we chose not to own the family property was because we wanted to cut off our family background. Lu He Nian thought that only in this way could he try his best to fight. It was not that he was dissatisfied with his brother and sister-in-law, and he hoped that he and his sister-in-law would not worry too much. "

Mrs. Diao walked into the back room, took out a piece of white paper and a pen, and said with a smile: "Since my brother has such an ambition, my brother and sister-in-law should fulfill his ambition. My brother's words are unfounded, so please write down a written document. If my brother regrets one day, we will have a document when he sues us at the Yamen."

Ding Wu picked up the bamboo pen, wrote the note on it, handed it to Diao for safekeeping, and then ran away from home with his wife Zhou.

When the two of them walked out of the village, Ding Wen chased them. Ding Wen took out a few copper coins from his pocket, handed them to Ding Wu and said, "Brother, I can't help you, I can't be the master and I can't be the home, so I have to leave the house. The tigress is in charge of all the money at home. These few copper coins are my private money, which can be used to help you with your travel expenses.

Ding Wu returned the copper coin to his brother Ding Wen. He couldn't help but shed tears and said, "We'll see you again later. I don't know when you and I will see each other again. My sister-in-law is impatient. If anything happens in the future, please be more considerate to her. Don't have too many quarrels, which will make the family dog ​​restless. If my brother and I become rich one day, I will definitely take my brother and sister-in-law away to enjoy their happiness." "

After that, the two brothers said goodbye with tears.

Ding Wu and his wife Zhou discussed it and finally decided to go to Bianliang City to make a living. Bianliang City was the capital of the Song Dynasty. , with a population of one million, was known as the most prosperous city in the world at that time. After Ding and Wu arrived in Bianliang City, they saw that there were rows of shops in the city, and people walking from north to south were crowded.

It was really lively. The wife and I spent about seven or eight days wandering around the city and outside the city, and got a general understanding of Bianliang City. One day when they turned to the south gate of the city, they saw a shop listed for sale. Because something had happened to the original owner's family, the price had suddenly dropped to a low price. Ding Wu saw that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so he took over the store.

When Zhou was still in her boudoir, she liked to study cooking skills, and the pastries she made were particularly good. In the end, the two simply sold freshly made pastries, soup dumplings, and snacks such as tea eggs in the shop. The Zhou family has a beautiful mouth and a sweet mouth. Ding Wu was an honest person, and their pastry shop business was very prosperous, and they gradually became famous in the local area. In less than three years, Ding Wu expanded four stores and accumulated a hundred and ten taels of silver.

After Ding Wu became prosperous, he did not forget his brother and sister-in-law. He sent people to bring Ding Wen and Diao to Bianliang City, and gave his brother two storefronts so that they could make a living. In fact, since Ding Wu and his wife left, Ding Wen and Diao's life has not been easy. Ding Wen doesn't know any other crafts, so he usually does some hard work with the villagers. He can't earn a few copper coins after a hard day's work. Diao She loves to eat and is too lazy to cook, so she must have meat to eat every meal. The little wealth of Lao Ding's family is not even enough for her to waste by herself.

When Ding Wu sent someone to pick them up, Ding Wen and Diao were sleeping in the City God's Temple in the suburbs. Old Ding's tile-roofed house, fields, and the old cow had already been sold and squandered by Diao.

After Diao saw Ding Wu, he said with a smile: "If I hadn't let my brothers go out to work, would the brothers have achieved such great achievements? Speaking of which, you all have to thank my sister-in-law. Ding Wu didn't argue and kept saying, "It's all thanks to my sister-in-law." "

Not long after this, Ding Wu's wife Zhou became pregnant. Ding Wu was full of joy. At least the old Ding family finally had a child. However, unfortunately, when Zhou was seven months pregnant, the fetus was unexpectedly stillborn, and Wen Po was finally invited to induce labor. , gave birth to a dead baby, Ding Wu and Zhou were so distraught that they had to bury the dead baby.

Just as Ding Wu and Zhou were immersed in grief, good news came from their brother Ding Wen that sister-in-law Diao was also pregnant, and the doctor said it should be a boy. After hearing this, Wu felt somewhat comforted. As long as Lao Ding's family continues, the incense can be continued. A normal person would have given birth normally after ten months of pregnancy, but strangely, Diao showed no signs of labor even after twelve months of pregnancy.

Mr. Diao was already fat, but now he has a big belly and looks even more bulky. And since she became pregnant, she would feel distressed from time to time, often rolling on the floor in pain and staying up all night. Ding Wen was worried about the safety of the fetus in his wife's belly, so he went to another place to ask a doctor for diagnosis and treatment. As a result, Ding Wen accidentally fell into a dry well on his way to another place.

Ding Wen was dizzy after being thrown down. It took a long time before he slowly opened his eyes. At this time, he discovered an old bronze mirror at the bottom of the well, with a faint green light glowing inside. Ding Wen looked in the mirror and couldn't help but be shocked. The scene in the mirror was the same as the underworld that people usually described.

Ding Wen took a closer look and found that his wife was also in the underworld. She saw that Diao's body was transparent, and there was a baby boy inside her, eating her heart! Ding Wen quickly shouted to his wife: "Madam, how can you be eaten by this baby boy?"

Diao said reluctantly: "I had the intention to occupy Ding Wu's property in Bianliang City. After seeing that his wife was pregnant, I put hyssop in Zhou's tea, causing Zhou's to miscarry. The fetus in her belly was originally looking for her to repay her kindness, but I caused it to die prematurely. , the lingering ghost of the infant spirit penetrated into my body and formed a ghost fetus, gnawing at my internal organs day and night, making me taste the pain that life was worse than death. "

Ding Wen was shocked after hearing this. He did not expect that his wife would do such a shameful thing behind his back. Now he finally understood why his wife could not give birth even after twelve months of pregnancy, because the baby in her belly was not a normal baby at all.

Ding Wen shouted repeatedly at the bottom of the well, and was eventually rescued by passing merchants. However, when Ding Wen went up the well, the bronze mirror fell to the bottom of the well. Ding Wen wanted to go back to look for it, but the water suddenly rose at the bottom of the well, and Ding Wen was so scared that he climbed out of the well. After Ding Wen returned home, he told his wife what he saw at the bottom of the well. After hearing this, Ms. Diao was stunned. She thought that the bad things were done so meticulously that no one knew about it. Unexpectedly, there is a god three feet above his head, and retribution will befall him so soon.

At dawn the next day, Ding Wen and Diao came to Xiangguo Temple and asked the abbot for help in solving the problem. The abbot was the reincarnation of a tenth-generation bhikkhu, and he knew cause and effect for five hundred years. He glanced at Diao and said, "You can forgive God's sins, but you can't live if you do your own sins! That bronze mirror is a peep into the underworld, and you can peep into the underworld from the sun. You are deliberately plotting to harm others, and you have lost your virtue. For a person like you, it will be easy for you to be struck by lightning!"

Ding Wen said at the side He said: "Master, please be merciful. From now on, my wife will change."

The abbot sighed and said, "That's it. When will the grievances be repaid? Let me resolve them for you." The abbot grabbed a handful of incense ashes, muttered something in his mouth, and sprinkled the incense ashes on Diao. A black gas came out of Diao's belly. The black gas was more than half a foot long and looked about the same size as a baby. The abbot clasped his hands together and said: "If you kill Mr. Diao, you will have to undergo ten reincarnations. How about I save you now and let you be reincarnated in Ding Wu's family again. Then you can repay Ding Wu and his wife well. As for Mr. Diao, all good and evil will be rewarded. There will be her retribution."

After that, the black air disappeared. After Diao returned home, a lot of black water flowed out, and the fetus in her belly disappeared.

Sure enough, not long after that, Mrs. Zhou became pregnant again. This time Ms. Diao did not dare to do anything for fear of retribution. Ten months later, Mrs. Zhou gave birth to a baby boy. The baby boy was smart, well-behaved and cute, so Ding Wu named him Ding Yuan. At Ding Yuan's full moon banquet, Ding Wen and Mr. Diao also came to the banquet. During the banquet, Mr. Diao brought braised carp to him and wolfed it down. As a result, a fish bone got stuck in his throat. After returning home, he coughed for half the night. In the end, the fish bone pierced his throat and died of breathlessness in the middle of the night.

A few years after Diao's death, Ding Wen also passed away due to illness. Ding Wu and his wife carried the coffin back to their hometown and buried their brother and sister-in-law in their hometown of Sitong Town.

Many years later, Ding Yuan grew up. He was both wise and courageous in both civil and military affairs. He passed the martial arts examination at the age of twenty-three. The imperial court appointed him as a hussar general, commanding an army of 100,000 to defend the northwest frontier of the Song Dynasty. Later, he made great military exploits. Ding Wu and Zhou lived to be more than ninety years old before dying of illness. Ding Yuan asked the court for a posthumous title. Since then, the Ding family has become a famous family.

[Solemn statement]

This story is a folk tale, purely a literary creation. The plot and characters are fictitious. It is intended to enrich readers' spare time life. Please do not contradict feudal superstition.