On the bustling street, Li Qingmei hurriedly walked home with her face covered.
endured people pointing at her along the way, Li Qingmei didn't even raise her head, and walked past the threshold of her house. Then Li Qingmei leaned on the desk and started crying.
Hearing Li Qingmei’s cry, the Li family’s father quickly put down the big pot for cooking and came over. Seeing that Li Qingmei was dirty and her hair that she had just combed became messy, the Li family’s father hurriedly asked: “My daughter, you went out fine, how come you are like this when you come back...”
Li Qingmei didn’t say anything, and just kept crying. Thinking of what his daughter had done today, the father of the Li family immediately changed his face and asked again: "Is it possible that the boy from the Zhang family bullied you? My daughter, although our Li family is poor, we can't swallow our anger. Let's go, daddy will take you to the Zhang family to find some solution!"
As he spoke, Old Man Li put his big oily hand on his apron and rubbed it, dragging Li Qingmei to go out.
Li Qingmei vigorously shook off her father's hand, lowered her head and cried: "Dad, don't you think I am embarrassed enough!"
Hearing Li Qingmei's words, Li's father immediately felt that there was something fishy, and asked what happened.
At first, Li Qingmei refused to tell her, and when she asked anxiously, she quickly told her father the truth.
It turns out that the wedding day for the Li and Zhang families is less than a few days away. Logically speaking, the Zhang family should have come over with gifts to propose marriage, but so many days have passed, and there is no movement at all from the Zhang family.
Li Qingmei was anxious, so she thought about going over to ask today.
Unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived at the Zhang family, I was rejected. When I inquired about it, I found out that not long ago, Zhang Youde, a boy from the Zhang family, met another girl. They met each other late, and it didn't take long for them to get married. No, the girl's parents didn't want to do it, so they came to visit her, and the marriage was completed.
Coincidentally, the Zhang family originally looked down on Li Qingmei, and they wanted Li Qingmei to marry her before they discussed the marriage. But now that Zhang Youde is in good health, they took this opportunity to push forward the marriage between Li Qingmei and Zhang Youde.
Li Qingmei liked Zhang Youde wholeheartedly. Seeing that Zhang Youde was getting married to someone else at this time, she felt sad and rushed to the Zhang family to ask for an explanation. However, she failed to ask and was humiliated by the Zhang family. In the end, she was carried and thrown out of the door.
The door of this house faces the street. Many people on the street saw this scene and couldn't help but point at Li Qingmei from behind.
Speaking of this, Li Qingmei burst into tears again, "They all said that Zhang Youde was born handsome. If he married me, it would be a flower stuck in cow dung. Dad, do you think it is Zhang Youde who is the cow dung or me... ."
Looking at the bitter-faced and buck-toothed Li Qingmei in front of him, the Li family's father immediately felt troubled. He knew that his daughter was not good-looking, but at this time, his daughter was sad. How could he tell the truth?
She could only comfort Li Qingmei and said: "How could the daughter born between me and your mother be cow dung? It must be flowers. It is a good thing if the marriage with the Zhang family does not work out. The Zhang family boy is so glib. Their family must know in their hearts that his son is not worthy of my daughter from the Li family."
Hearing his father's words, Li Qingmei smiled on her face.
When the father of the Li family saw his daughter smiling, he patted her shoulder cheerfully and said, "Sit down, daddy will cook for you..."
As he spoke, the father of the Li family turned around and went to the kitchen.
As soon as the kitchen door closed over there, the Li family's father couldn't stop crying.
Where has Li Mingyuan ever been so angry before? If it weren't for the decline of his Li family, he wouldn't be in the current situation. Thinking of his daughter being wronged, Li Mingyuan felt unhappy. His daughter was kind-hearted, just like this face...
Even if it was like this in the past, many people would come to propose marriage, but now it's no better than before. His daughter can't get married, and what should she do if she becomes an old daughter in the future.
What surprised Li Mingyuan was that the boy from the Zhang family liked his daughter in the past. Why did he change his mind now...
Li Mingyuan was cooking with a lot of thoughts. When the meal was ready, the day had gradually darkened. When he walked out of the kitchen, Li Mingyuan saw Li Qingmei. The light was on in the room, so he held his neck and shouted, "My daughter is ready to eat!"
But he shouted several times but did not hear Li Qingmei's response. Just when he was about to go to the kitchen to serve the food, he heard a "bang" sound. He looked back and saw a figure swaying on the window under the candlelight.
Seeing the man hanging in the air, Li Mingyuan's heart tightened, and the chopsticks in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter. Then he rushed forward and kicked open the door of Li Qingmei's room without hesitation.
At this moment, Li Qingmei was seen hanging from the beam, struggling to hold her breath.
Li Mingyuan didn't have time to think too much, so he hurriedly hugged Li Qingmei down. Seeing his daughter gasping for air, Li Mingyuan immediately cried with runny nose and tears: "Oh, my daughter, what are you doing?" What are you doing..."
Li Qingmei waited for a while before she broke down and cried: "Dad, what are you doing to save me? My daughter is ugly and was kicked out by the Zhang family today. Listening to people pointing fingers, my daughter has no face. If I go out again, I have no choice but to seek death and hope to have a good face in the next life..."
"Looking at his daughter's desperate state, Li Mingyuan patted his chest and promised: "Don't worry, my daughter, your father and I will make you look good even if we have to sell it..."
But Li Qingmei knew clearly in her heart that she would not look good no matter how she dressed up. At this time, she acted as a father and said comforting words.
Just now, looking at the rope hanging high on the beam, and remembering the feeling of being on the verge of death, Li Qingmei immediately became a little scared, and quickly said that she was tired and needed to rest.
Li Mingyuan felt relieved that his daughter no longer wanted to die.
There is indeed a way to "change faces".
In the past, when the Li family was powerful, I heard that the son of a large family in the city had committed a crime. In order to avoid his son's guilt, the master of this wealthy family asked someone to change his son's face and let another person go to the guillotine for his son.
This matter was widely circulated at the time, but the government did not believe this matter of strange power and chaos, so they never intervened, and in the end it was settled.
At that time, Li Mingyuan felt strange, so he asked someone to inquire about it. It was a Taoist priest who had lived in Dongshan for a long time who helped this family change their faces. He heard that the Taoist priest asked for a high price. The Li family, now in decline, could not afford the huge amount of silver.
But thinking of Li Qingmei's desperate look, Li Mingyuan felt uncomfortable. He thought that even if he gave away the last house deed in his hand, he still had to make his daughter happy, so he went to Dongshan early the next morning to find the Taoist priest.
The journey to the east mountain is long, so Li Mingyuan set off at dawn, and it was already dusk when he got there.
Standing at the foot of Dongshan Mountain, looking from a distance, you can see a towering Taoist temple on the top of the mountain.
Seeing that it was getting late, Li Mingyuan did not dare to delay and hurried towards the mountain. He did not reach the Taoist temple gate until late at night.
The lights in the Taoist temple were brightly lit, and Li Mingyuan stepped forward and knocked on the door. After a while, two little Taoist boys opened the door. Seeing Li Mingyuan's clothes outside the door, the little Taoist boy said in a bad tone: "Why do you come up the mountain so late?"
Li Mingyuan ignored the attitude of the two little Taoist boys, and instead straightforwardly explained the purpose of his visit.
The little Taoist boy looked at each other, and after a while he answered: "Our master is not here... But the second uncle is here today. Maybe he can help you too, but the second uncle's price is higher than the master's. I wonder if you have that much?"
Li Mingyuan was stunned when he heard this, and then he took out his house deed from his clothes and handed it to the little Taoist boy and said, "I wonder if this is possible? "
" The little Taoist boy took it and took a look. He was shocked at first, but then there was a look of embarrassment on his face, "If it were my master, I would accept this, but the second master uncle may have to pay double... You'd better go." "
Hearing this, Li Mingyuan couldn't help but have mixed feelings in his heart. Just when he sighed and was about to clasp his fists and leave, a burst of laughter came from the Taoist temple.
Li Mingyuan turned his head when he heard the sound and saw a young man walking out of the Taoist temple. The young man was dressed as a Taoist priest. He must be the second uncle that the Taoist said.
The young Taoist priest came out with a smile. When he saw Li Mingyuan, he raised his hands and said, "I heard what this master asked for just now in the house, but they didn't explain it clearly. I am a kind-hearted person and never charge for help. Don't worry, master. I will take care of my daughter's affairs..."
As he spoke, the young Taoist priest pulled Li Mingyuan into the house.
After entering the room, the young Taoist priest asked Li Mingyuan what he wanted, then he took something out of a brocade box and handed it to Li Mingyuan and said, "Take this painting back, and your daughter's face will be changed after one night, but you have to remember. , this painting can only be opened by her. If you accidentally look at this painting, the painting will malfunction..."
Once he heard that the Taoist priest really had a way, a smile appeared on Li Mingyuan's face, he responded to the Taoist priest's instructions, and went down the mountain with the painting.
When Li Mingyuan returned home early the next morning, he gave the painting to Li Qingmei and hurried out of the house.
Li Qingmei held the fantasy in her heart and quickly opened the painting carefully.
Seeing that the painting was a street market, there was no one on the street, except for a bustling crowd in a corner. Li Qingmei moved the painting closer, and then she could vaguely see a woman in a gorgeous dress dancing in the middle of the crowd in the corner.
The woman’s face was getting closer and closer to Li Qingmei, so close that Li Qingmei seemed to have seen that face.
With her beautiful face and exquisite figure, Li Qingmei could not help but blush on her face. The woman seemed to have seen Li Qingmei and winked at Li Qingmei.
Li Qingmei was stunned. This is a painting. How could the woman in it wink at her?
Immediately she rubbed her eyes in disbelief, and when she looked at the painting again, the painting had returned to its previous state. Not only that, she could not see clearly the face of the woman in the painting.
Li Qingmei thought she was dazzled and didn't think much about it. She just thought that she could become more beautiful, but she was afraid that she had failed again.
Looking at the painting on the table again, Li Qingmei became listless again.
For this matter, Li Mingyuan also observed his daughter for a day. Seeing that there was no change, Li Mingyuan's heart became cold and he planned to go to Dongshan Taoist Temple to inquire again the next morning.
Unexpectedly, Li Qingmei really became more beautiful the next morning. What happened overnight? Let me tell you in detail.
said that that night, Li Qingmei looked at the painting, then looked at herself in the bronze mirror without any change, and reluctantly lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
When she was sleeping, a cold female voice sounded from her ear: "You are so ugly, little girl. I almost vomited out the meal I just ate when I saw it."
This voice was slightly mocking, which made Li Qingmei wake up instantly.
She turned her head and looked in the direction of the sound, and saw a white light flashing on the painting. Under the moonlight, a woman's figure had her back to the painting and was walking towards her.
Seeing the appearance of the woman, Li Qingmei was shocked. Isn't this... the woman in the painting?
Li Qingmei was thinking wildly in her mind when the woman slowly walked up to her and said, "Do you want to become like me? I can help you..."
Looking at the woman's beautiful face, Li Qingmei nodded subconsciously.
The woman curled her lips and smiled, and lifted Li Qingmei's chin with her index finger, "I am the best prostitute in the world, and it will be really advantageous for you to look like me, okay...it depends on your desire, just do what you want..."
As she spoke, the woman blew on Li Qingmei, and Li Qingmei felt dizzy for a while, and then she fainted.
Early the next morning, when Li Mingyuan saw Li Qingmei again, he found that she had changed. It didn't take long for the people who came to the Li family to propose marriage passed the threshold, and Li Mingyuan chose a good family to marry Li Qingmei.
What Li Mingyuan never expected was that it was not his daughter who had changed her appearance, but someone else. However, he was still kept in the dark and didn't know anything.
After Li Qingmei woke up, she found that she had woken up from a strange place. However, Li Qingmei didn't care about this. She immediately wanted to look for a mirror to see her face.
However, just as she was about to get up, she found that there was a man lying next to her. As Li Qingmei exclaimed, the man turned his head. When she saw the man's face, Li Qingmei's voice became louder.
I saw that the person in front of me had a cow's face. At this moment, I saw Li Qingmei's frightened face. The cow's face actually laughed, and then said in human words: "Miss Qingmei is indeed the best prostitute in the world. She looks good no matter how you look. Come and make love with me..."
As he spoke, the cow's face came towards Li Qingmei.
When Li Qingmei saw this, she was horrified. She quickly slapped the cow in the face and rushed out of the house as if running away.
After leaving the house, Li Qingmei realized that she was in the "Hongxing Courtyard", surrounded by girls dressed in colorful clothes. And the people here, except for the women, the men all had the faces of animals, which looked really scary.
Seeing other people and recalling the bull-faced man just now, Li Qingmei suddenly felt that that man was so "fair and handsome"
But wasn't she at home yesterday... She remembered that the woman asked herself if she wanted to be like her, so she nodded, and then... looking at the huge Hongxingyuan, why did she suddenly appear here, and what did the man call her just now? The most beautiful prostitute in the world... isn't this the name of that woman?
Just as she was thinking about it, Li Qingmei's eyes widened a little. Could it be that...she didn't care about what she had become at this time, and hurriedly ran out of Hongxingyuan barefoot. Outside the courtyard was a street market. Looking around, it looked exactly like the scene in the painting.
As soon as Li Qingmei came out, the common people over there gathered in the direction of Li Qingmei with their mouths full of laughter, and all of them surrounded Li Qingmei and said words of coveting her beauty.
And Li Qingmei has long been accustomed to hearing those words that slander her. Now when she hears these compliments, instead of feeling happy, she feels even more uncomfortable.
It was just this familiar scene that made her think of that painting. Could it be that she had entered the world in this painting?
Just as she was thinking about it, there was a big hand behind her that pulled her back, and then the big hand closed the door of Hongxingyuan tightly. After a while, she said: "I mean, Qingmei, you are the number one prostitute, but you can't be seen in public. It's not easy for those men to see you on weekdays. It takes thousands of taels of silver to do so. Look at you, now you go out and let those men look at you, mom, I have suffered a heavy loss!"
Li Qingmei finally saw the appearance of the person in front of her, but she saw that the woman in front of her, although she was older, her temperament should not be underestimated. It can be seen between her eyebrows that she must have been a beauty when she was young.
Seeing that Li Qingmei didn't speak, the old madam spoke again: "I think you were confused by Mr. Liu's sweet words. You believed him when he said he could take you out of here? Let me tell you. Tell me, you are so good-looking, you will still be caught here as a monster if you leave..."
As he spoke, the madam ignored Li Qingmei's daze, pushed her back to the previous room, and locked her up.
Locked her up?
Li Qingmei was surprised and hurriedly patted the door. The madam's voice came over again. She only heard her say: "Why are you knocking on the door? An Sheng stays in the room and you can't come out until guests come!"
As she spoke, the madam turned and left. She seemed to be the only one left in the huge Hongxing Courtyard.
At this time, the bull-headed man was no longer here. Li Qingmei sat blankly in front of the bronze mirror, looking at her breakable skin and that beautiful face in the mirror, but there was no joy in her heart.
In the past, Li Qingmei wanted to be beautiful. She thought that if she could change her face, it would be okay to lose everything. She just didn’t want to listen to those people’s gossip anymore.
But now she got her wish and became the most beautiful prostitute in the world. She is also stunning in appearance, but except for this face, she has nothing, no freedom, no friends, and no father...
Li Qingmei shed tears again when she thought about this.
I don’t know how much time passed, but when I saw that it was getting dark outside, the door that had been silent until now started to make a sound.
Li Qingmei looked towards the door of the room alertly, and when she saw it was the madam, she turned away again.
Then she heard the old bustard say: "Qingmei, the Mr. Liu you have been thinking about is here."
Li Qingmei turned her head again when she heard the sound, and saw a handsome young man walking in from the door. However, this man was different from the one in the painting. He didn't have a bull's head and a horse's face. He looked like a real person.
Li Qingmei was slightly startled, but she was afraid that others would notice, so she quickly calmed her expression.
After the madam finished speaking, she exited the door, leaving her and the man alone in the room.
Mr. Liu looked around and saw that no one else was around, so he quickly strode towards Li Qingmei.
Li Qingmei looked panicked. Mr. Liu frowned slightly when he saw this, and then looked her up and down. Li Qingmei looked at him in front of him with a very strange look, and then asked: "Are you not her?"
Li Qingmei was about to defend something, but she saw the man collapsed on the ground and murmured. He murmured to himself: "I didn't expect that she would leave before me after all, so she doesn't trust me so much..." After hearing this, Li Qingmei felt that the so-called Mr. Liu in front of her seemed to know something, so she quickly asked: "Do you know where this is?"
Mr. Liu sighed, and then told everything about this place.
It turns out that this is indeed the world in the painting. The owner of this painting is jealous of beauty, so all the beautiful people in this painting are not allowed to see the world. They also have extremely low status in the world in this painting.
Not only that, the owner of the painting also captured the souls of beautiful women from the outside world into the painting and hid them in Hongxingyuan.
At this point, Mr. Liu couldn't help but sigh: "Once you enter here, it will be difficult to get out. The only way is to find a way to get in touch with the outside world, burn this painting, or capture someone with the same name from the outside world as your replacement..."
As he spoke, Mr. Liu looked up at Li Qingmei, and after a while he said again: "I guess the girl should." It should be the latter." After hearing this, Li Qingmei secretly regretted it. She nodded and said, "It's true that I have always felt inferior to my appearance, which is why my father took a wrong path and came here. Now that I have come here, I know how happy I was before... What about you, sir?" Mr. Liu nodded and said, "That's right. Yes, my surname is Zhang Youde, I am sick and my parents look down on the woman who wanted to marry me, but I wanted to have a good body, so I wanted to find a Taoist priest to show me, but I accidentally fell into the Taoist priest's trap. The Taoist priest secretly colluded with the person in the painting to separate me from the person in the painting. Exchange, now I have become Mr. Liu, and the real Mr. Liu has become me..."
After hearing Mr. Liu's words, Li Qingmei couldn't help but widen her eyes, and after a while she stammered: "You... are you Zhang Youde? Is it Li Qingmei who is happy for you? "
" The man nodded and said: "Exactly, girl, how did you know?" "
" "I...I am Li Qingmei" Li Qingmei said, remembering her past appearance, she couldn't help but move away.
Zhang Youde was surprised, "You are Li Qingmei, and the woman before was also called... It turns out we have the same name. I always thought she was you..."
As he spoke, Li Qingmei told everything about what happened to him in the Zhang family.
After saying that, Zhang Youde said angrily: "Young Master Liu is really a vicious person, to treat you like this... Miss Qingmei, it's my fault for this. If I hadn't wanted to get better quickly, this wouldn't have happened."
While the two were talking, a burst of thick smoke suddenly rose outside the house, and soon the fire started to burn.
Seeing the fire, Zhang Youde was surprised and happy. He quickly took Li Qingmei's hand and said, "Miss Qingmei, come with me quickly."
As soon as the words fell, the two of them hurried towards the fire, passing through the fire, they ran all the way to the end of the market, which was the end point in the painting and also their exit.
Zhang Youde held Li Qingmei's hand tightly and said: "If I am lucky enough to escape, I hope to marry Qingmei girl."
Li Qingmei looked at Zhang Youde in surprise, "Don't you dislike my appearance?"
Zhang Youde smiled and said: " How could it be? In my eyes, Qingmei girl is the most beautiful. No matter how beautiful a person's appearance is, she can't compare to the beauty of her soul, so Qingmei girl should not feel inferior."
As he spoke, just as the fire was burning and about to burn them, Zhang Youde took Li Qingmei's hand and jumped, falling into the cliff.
When Li Qingmei woke up again, she found herself back at home.
Later, Li Qingmei told her father the truth of the matter. A few days later, the real Zhang Youde came to the Li family to propose marriage, and the two became happy.
It’s just that Zhang Youde didn’t go back to his old home. After all, there was already a son there whose parents were satisfied.
And the appearance of Li Qingmei and Zhang Youde has always remained the same as in the painting, and has never changed back.
I think the real "prostitute" did this to bring Li Qingmei and Zhang Youde together. After all, she could have told Li Qingmei to ask her to burn the painting, and she could still escape, but she did not do so, which fulfilled Li Qingmei's wish and achieved another good thing.
It’s really killing two birds with one stone and bringing double happiness to your doorstep.
But who lit the fire?
(End of story)
Note: Folk stories teach and educate people, and persuade people to do good. Do not go against feudal superstition!
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