During the years of the Ming Dynasty, there was a scholar named Sun Dian in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. When his parents were still alive, he hired a daughter of the Li family as his wife. However, after his parents died, due to the decline of his family, never married. Later, when the Li family saw Wang Jun in decline, they always felt regretful about the marriage, so the marriage was temporarily shelved.
Next door to Sun Dian's house is an antique shop. The owner is Wang Jun, a mean and vulgar person.
Wang Jun has two major hobbies. One is to show off, bragging about how rich his family is every day, but whoever wants to lend him a share, he is like an iron rooster;
Because of these two things, everyone in the neighborhood hated him and were waiting to see his jokes.
(1)
When Wang Jun was in his forties, his wife gave birth to a son, named Wang Kun. I don’t know if it was God’s retribution or something else. This Wang Kun was not only ugly in appearance, but also had a difficult brain. A young man of almost seventeen or eighteen years old, his IQ was still like that of a child.
In his early years, Wang Jun hired a daughter-in-law for his son. She was Yulan, the daughter of the tofu seller Lao He.
Later, Lao He and his wife died early, leaving Yulan alone. Although she was not old enough to get married, Wang Jun was afraid that something would happen if she was left alone as a woman, so he took Yulan home early, thinking that when the two of them grew up, they could consummate their son's marriage.
Wang Jun took Magnolia home. The couple saw their daughter-in-law being so outstanding and they liked her very much. They were afraid that she would dislike their son, so they held her up to the sky every day and followed her in everything. After Yulan knew that Wang Kun was such a thing, she didn't have much disgust, but accepted her fate and did whatever she had to do.
Wang Jun had two jade pendants that he had used for more than ten years and hung on his pipe every day. He used one today and the other tomorrow. Because he was in the antique business, Wang Jun boasted that the two jade pendants were worth a hundred taels of silver, but in fact they were not worth ten taels of silver.
In order to make his daughter-in-law happy, Wang Jun asked his wife to give the jade pendant to her daughter-in-law. Magnolia was a child at heart and liked both of them very much. Wang Jun gritted his teeth and gave them both to her.
After the jade pendant was taken away by the daughter-in-law, the pipe became empty. One day, when Wang Jun was enjoying the cool air outside, a neighbor asked: Where did your one hundred taels of treasure go?
Wang Jun said: has always been kept by my wife. Later, my daughter-in-law saw it and my wife gave it to her.
Everyone just smiled after hearing this. Some people suspected that he had ill intentions towards his daughter-in-law and wanted to clear up the ashes. Some people said that he was trying to make up for it because his son was a coward and felt guilty about his daughter-in-law. Wang Jun also knew that he had said too much, and he regretted it after saying it.
It was said that Sun Dian's study room happened to be next to Yulan's bedroom, and he would read there all day long. Yulan asked her mother-in-law: Who is next door?
The mother-in-law said angrily: He is an old scholar!
Yulan said: Seeing how hard he works, he will definitely be successful in the future! Yulan originally said such words unintentionally, but her mother-in-law became uneasy after hearing this, because she knew that Sun Dian was a hundred times stronger than her son, and she was afraid that Yulan would have thoughts about Sun Dian.
After the mother-in-law told Wang Jun about the incident, the two felt that they needed to take precautions early, so they changed the bedrooms between themselves and their daughter-in-law.
But things in the world are just coincidences. Sun Dian heard that there was a young lady living next door and felt a little inappropriate, so he took the initiative to change rooms. The two of them moved together by accident. They originally wanted to avoid suspicion, but the more they changed, the more it turned into a misunderstanding.
Yulan is a smart person. When she saw her parents-in-law changing rooms with her, she understood what was going on. But this old scholar moved next door to her, which was a bit annoying. Even Yulan thought it was Sun Dian who was interested in her, so she felt very uncomfortable.
When Wang Jun and his wife saw that Sun Dian had also changed rooms, and then saw that their daughter-in-law was a little unnatural, they even more suspected that there was an affair between the two of them. It was difficult to show off on the surface, but in fact they were extra cautious.
On this day, Sun Dian was preparing to study when he suddenly found a jade pendant on the book. He was shocked and thought:
Where did this thing come from? Could it be that God saw that my family was poor and deliberately gave me benefits? But why not just send money!
Sun Dian didn't pay much attention. He thought about selling it to get some money, so he hung it on the fan so that if someone saw it, he could estimate the price.
(2)
On this day, the weather was hot. Sun Dian took a fan to the street to enjoy the cool air. The neighbors saw the pendant on his fan and asked: Where did you get such a good jade pendant?
Sun Dian said casually: A friend gave it to me. I want to sell it. I don’t know how much it is worth? You can help me estimate the price!
Everyone took it and took a look. You looked at me, I looked at you, but they remained silent. Sun Dian saw that it was boring, so he went back.
After Sun Dian left, one of the neighbors said: I think this jade pendant looks like Wang Jun's. He said he gave it to his daughter-in-law a few days ago, why is it here with Sun Dian now? Did Sun Dian have an affair with Wang Jun's daughter-in-law?
Another person said: Sun Dian is so poor, how could any friend give him such a valuable thing! Magnolia must have seen her husband being ugly and secretly had an affair with Sun Dian. This was probably a token of love!
Another person said: Wang Jun laughs at others outside every day, but he didn’t expect that his daughter-in-law would steal a man. Where can he put his old face?
A mature person said: There are many similar things in the world, so don’t jump to conclusions easily! When Wang Jun comes out tomorrow, he happens to be selling antiques, so ask him to estimate the price for Sun Dian. As soon as he sees the jade pendant, everything will become clear.
The next day, Wang Jun came out to rant again, and everyone told everyone about the jade pendant yesterday. Wang Jun wanted to show off, saying that there was no price he could not estimate, so he asked Sun Dian to bring it out.
Sun Dian showed the jade pendant to Wang Jun. As soon as Wang Jun took hold of it, his face turned red and his eyes seemed to burst into flames. Everyone looked at the change in his expression, but Sun Dian didn't care. said: "Do you think I am shabby? Don't I deserve such a valuable thing?" Let me tell you, this thing was also given to me by someone else!
When Wang Jun heard these two sentences, he undoubtedly added fuel to the fire. He thought Sun Dian had slept with his daughter-in-law, and he provoked him on the spot!
Wang Jungang was about to get angry, but he was afraid of losing face in front of everyone, so he quickly said: I happen to have such a jade pendant at home, why don't you sell this to me, and we can make a perfect pair!
Everyone heard Wang Jun's words and knew that it was most likely the case. They were afraid that it would be difficult for him to make fun of him when he took the things back, so they deliberately shouted:
Wang Jun's two jade pendants are worth a hundred taels, and now this one is worth fifty taels, but in order to make the transaction fair, Wang Jun can take out his own and compare it with it. If it is worse than this one, then reduce it by a few taels. If it is not as good as this one, you can add a few taels. This is fair to both parties!
When Wang Jun heard this, he thought: He is trying to make me look ugly on purpose! So he said: I gave that to my daughter-in-law, what else should I take?
Everyone said: belongs to my family. If you go to her to ask for it, can she still give it to you? Unless her jade pendant is not at home, if it is, there is no reason not to give it to her!
Wang Jun was forced by everyone to have no choice but to say that he would go home to get it. Then he returned home angrily and told his wife everything about it.
My wife said: There are many things that are the same, or they are really the same! I went to see her to see it.
The mother-in-law went to Magnolia for a jade pendant. Magnolia opened the box and saw that not only was this one gone, but the other one was also missing.
When her mother-in-law saw that Yulan couldn't get the jade pendant, she thought she had really given it away, so she started scolding her on the spot, saying: You slut, we have treated you so well, yet you did such a scandal, taking the jade pendant we gave you and giving it to a wild man!
Yulan didn’t know the whole story and couldn’t understand what her mother-in-law meant, so she retorted: I haven’t even left the door, why did I do something scandalous?
The mother-in-law said: Men who have always had affairs and women who support men can all fly. There is no need to go through the door. Is there anything on the wall or the beam that cannot be passed?
Only then did Yulan understand what was going on, and cried: Do you suspect that I stole a man and gave the jade pendant to someone else? After finished speaking, he burst into tears!
The mother-in-law said: You are a whore, the evidence is already in someone else’s hands, yet you still dare to mess around here!
So he told her what happened to Sun Dian. Yulan didn't believe it and was so angry that she wanted to die. When Wang Jun saw that his wife and daughter-in-law were having a quarrel, he was afraid of being laughed at by outsiders, so he quickly persuaded his wife and Yulan.
The next day, when Wang Jun went out, everyone mentioned the jade pendant again. Wang Jun lied that his daughter-in-law had taken it back to her parents' home. Everyone didn't believe it and made fun of him.
Originally Wang Jun was afraid of losing face, so he wanted to make the matter a trivial matter, because if the matter got too big, his daughter-in-law would no longer be able to keep her. Even if she did do something, she would endure it for the sake of her stupid son, but he didn't expect that the neighbors would not let him go. In fact, it was all because of his unscrupulous words.
Wang Jun was forced to have no choice but to sigh and said:
Family scandals should not be made public! Now that I see you all taking this matter so seriously, I can no longer bear it. I had long suspected that the prostitute at home was having some secret affair with Sun Dian, but I couldn't make a move because there was no evidence at the moment. Now that I have evidence, I have no choice but to file a lawsuit with the government and ask you to be witnesses.
Everyone heard this and cheered in unison: This is a real man! Hurry up and write a complaint!
(3)
Speaking of the county magistrate who took the case, is a well-known upright official and a strict official. He takes things that violate ethical principles very seriously, and especially hates immoral things. As long as it is an adultery case, no defendant will be unlucky.
Sun Dian heard Magnolia's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law making noisy noises across the wall in the past few days, and didn't understand why. It wasn't until the official came to arrest him that he realized that this jade pendant belonged to the Wang family. He thought to himself: Anyway, I have no lustful intentions, and I have never done anything scandalous, so I am afraid of what he will do! Maybe Magnolia peeked at me from the beam, and then accidentally dropped the jade pendant on my book!
When they got to the court, the county magistrate first asked Wang Jun: Since it was Sun Dian who raped your daughter-in-law, why didn't his son come to complain and ask you, the father-in-law, to come forward? Could it be that you also had an affair with your daughter-in-law, bumped into the adulterer in the room, and complained because you were jealous?
Wang Jun said: Master, how could I do such a thing that is worse than a beast! It's just because my son is still young and his wife is married but not yet married, and my son is stupid, so I came here.
The county magistrate asked again: You said that Sun Dian had an affair with your daughter-in-law, what evidence is there?
Wang Jun reported to the county magistrate one by one about the house change between himself and his daughter-in-law, and the fact that the jade fell into the hands of Sun Dian. After hearing this, the county magistrate asked the neighbors again, and they all agreed with Wang Jun.
The county magistrate asked Sun Dian again: Why did you seduce a good woman and commit adultery wantonly? What's the purpose of defrauding people and property?
Sun Dian said: Although I am poor, I am from a scholarly family. I am busy studying every day, so how can I think of doing this kind of thing like male stealing and female prostitution! I just picked up a jade pendant the day before yesterday and hung it on a fan. They said the jade pendant belonged to Wang Jun. I really didn’t know, let alone having an affair with his daughter-in-law!
The magistrate said: If you had no affair with her, could it be that the jade pendant flew here? Come on, torture me!
Sun Dian persisted for a while at first, but the magistrate was too cruel, so Sun Dian had no choice but to take action. He said: His daughter-in-law threw this jade pendant to me to seduce me, but I did not dare to rape her. If you don’t believe me, you can put that woman to trial!
At that time, there was an unwritten rule when the government tried adultery cases. First look at the woman's appearance. If she was ugly, then she would be dubious. If she was beautiful, it would basically be self-explanatory.
At that time, Yulan was brought to the hall, looking weak and frail. The magistrate asked her to raise her head, only to find that Yulan was a beautiful and charming woman, and said angrily:
Looking at your appearance, I know you are a whore. When I came to stand trial today, I actually put on makeup and pretended to be pretentious in front of this government. It seems that this adultery is true.
Why did the magistrate say this?
It turns out that he himself is a strict wife, and his wife is ugly and jealous. In his life, he has never dared to look at a beautiful woman. Of course, he is a little uncomfortable seeing beautiful women.
Yulan cried: I have never even met him once, where did the adultery come from?
When the magistrate saw that she was not telling the truth, he asked someone to pinch her fingers. Yulan couldn't help but said: When will I throw the jade pendant to him? It was he who became lustful towards me and followed me around my bedroom, which made my parents-in-law suspicious of me. Why are they still relying on me now?
The magistrate thought: It’s interesting! There is a handsome young man and a charming woman, separated by a single wall. It is just dry wood encountering a fierce fire. It would be abnormal if nothing happens! Now let me see what her husband looks like. If he looks as handsome as Sun Dian, this matter will not be easy to handle, but if he does not look very good, then you can be sure.
The county magistrate had Sun Dian imprisoned, and the jailer asked him for a reward.
Sun Dian had no choice but to ask his future father-in-law for help. The Li family had long regretted the engagement. Now that they saw him causing a scandal, they thought it was just right and said: If he is willing to cancel the engagement, we are willing to return the betrothal gift. Sun Dian was concerned about saving his life at this time, so he agreed without even thinking about it.
Two days later, the county magistrate re-examined the case and specially brought Wang Jun's son Wang Kun over to take a look. Seeing his dirty look, he became more convinced that Sun Dian and Yulan were having an affair.
This time the magistrate didn't even ask, and wanted to beat Sun Dian when he came up. Sun Dian couldn't bear the pain, so he had to admit: Master, don't hit me, I will do it! It is true that I committed adultery with Yulan. She gave me this jade pendant. My poor family wanted to sell it for money, so it was recognized.
The county magistrate was satisfied after hearing this, and then said to Wang Jun: The adultery has been proven, do you still want Yulan to be your daughter-in-law?
Wang Jun said: A villain is also a decent person, how can he keep an unruly wife? Divorce her!
The county magistrate made the final decision and ordered Sun Dian to be beaten thirty times and sent Yulan back to her parents' home.
Although Wang Jun won the lawsuit, he was still very angry. When he heard that Sun Dian had broken off the engagement, he thought: Since he raped my daughter-in-law, I want my son to marry his fiancée now, so that I can feel better.
Although I heard that the daughter of the Li family was not very good-looking, Wang Jun was bitten by a snake once and was afraid of ropes for ten years. Because he was frightened by a beautiful wife, he was willing to marry an ugly wife for his son! So he asked someone to propose marriage overnight.
The Li family heard that Wang Jun’s family had money and immediately agreed.
In order to anger Sun Dian, Wang Jun deliberately boasted about it when he got married. When Sun Dian heard that his fiancée had been married by his son, he was so angry that he sighed and beat his chest.
(4)
But after the county magistrate finished hearing the case, he thought he had solved another public case and was very proud of himself, but he did not expect that he would cause trouble!
The county magistrate's son died early, leaving only a widowed daughter-in-law at home, who was a chaste and strong person.
The magistrate sometimes shares the same room with his wife, and sometimes sleeps alone in the study.
One day, the magistrate went out, and his wife went to his study to pack things, and unexpectedly found an embroidered shoe wedged in the crack of the wall next to the bed.
Mrs. pulled out the shoes and looked at them carefully for a long time. They were the same as her daughter-in-law's. Mrs. secretly hid the shoes on her body, then went to her daughter-in-law's room and counted the shoes under the bed. There was indeed an odd number. She compared the two shoes and found that they were exactly one pair.
I have long said that the county magistrate’s wife is ugly and jealous, how can I hold back now?
started scolding her at home as "thousands of whores, ten thousand prostitutes". The daughter-in-law was originally innocent, but she was not willing to suffer such injustice, so the two of them started to quarrel.
When the two were having a serious quarrel, the magistrate happened to come back from outside. He heard the quarrel between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and hurried over to stop it. As a result, the wife kept scolding her for being "old and shameless".
When the magistrate asked the slave, he found out what was going on. He was stunned with anger and didn't know where to start.
Just when the magistrate was thinking about how to explain to his wife, suddenly the maid came to report: The eldest lady has hanged herself!
The magistrate was so frightened after hearing this that he kept complaining to his wife. As a result, his wife pulled off his beard. The magistrate was afraid of ruining his official position, so he had no choice but to swallow his anger and bury his daughter-in-law quietly.
The magistrate was lying at home. Firstly, he felt depressed and had no intention of becoming an official. Secondly, half of his beard was torn off and he could not go out, so he had to take a month off to recuperate at home.
The county magistrate felt helpless and thought: I have solved countless cases for the people in my life, how come I can’t figure out my own family affairs? Why did my daughter-in-law's shoes end up in my study?
After thinking about it for more than half a month, the magistrate suddenly had an idea and asked his wife to come over while asking the domestic slave to get the hoe. When the wife came over, the magistrate asked her where she saw the shoes. The wife pointed to the bedside and said: You can hide them well, and I can find them well too!
The magistrate asked his slave to dig in along the lines of his wife's fingers and pry open a few bricks. Many mice jumped out from inside.
The magistrate said: That’s it, hurry up and see what’s inside?
The slave put his hand in, and then pulled out many things, including socks, cloth, food and drink, and there was also a piece of adultery paper that had been lost before.
The county magistrate sighed and said: Where can people go to redress such injustice?
The wife also suddenly realized: It seems that that embroidered shoe a few days ago must have been picked up by a mouse. Only because it was pointed at the front and thick at the back, it was not completely pulled into the hole. I happened to see the part exposed at the entrance of the hole! well! It's a pity that I sacrificed my daughter-in-law's life. What a sin! After saying that, I beat my chest and regretted it endlessly.
The magistrate persuaded his wife and went back to rest. At night, he suddenly thought: Since there are mice in my house, then there are no mice in the common people's homes? Could it be that the jade pendant in the case the day before yesterday was also picked up by a mouse like the embroidered shoes?
The more the county magistrate thought about it, the more something was wrong. At dawn, he called Wang Jun, Sun Dian and others to the Yamen to review the previous case.
The county magistrate asked Wang Jun and Sun Dian: Do your two families have cats?
The two were confused when asked, and both said: No.
The magistrate asked again: Do you two have many rats?
two people answered: So many!
The magistrate ordered Sun Dian to be escorted home. Wherever there were mouse holes in the house, they had to dig them in and bring all the contents back to the court.
The yamen servant took Sun Dian back. After a while, he came back with a bag of things. When he poured it out in front of the hall, he saw that there was a mess of everything in it.
There is also a jade pendant among them. Wang Jun said: This jade pendant was the one I gave to my daughter-in-law together with the jade pendant.
The magistrate said: That's right. It must have been two knots tied together and dragged into the hole by the mouse. The jade pendant was bitten by the mouse before it fell on the paper.
The county magistrate said to Sun Dian with some guilt: This is because the county is not clear about it, so you have suffered a lot, and Yulan has also been called unclean. How ashamed!
So someone called Yulan to the hall and said to Wang Jun: Your daughter-in-law has not lost her integrity. Please take her back!
Wang Jun kowtowed and said: My son has already married a daughter-in-law, so he cannot have both, let Yulan marry again!
The magistrate said angrily: Whose daughter did you marry, and you got married so quickly?
Sun Dian cried and said: If the master didn't ask here, the villain would not dare to complain. The daughter-in-law he married is the villain's fiancée.
The county magistrate asked what was the reason, and Sun Dian reported one by one that the Li family disliked the poor and loved the rich, and Wang Jun took advantage of force to get married.
The magistrate was furious and said: He never raped your daughter-in-law, but your son raped his first wife. How abominable!
The county magistrate asked Wang Jun to be dragged down to hit the board. Wang Jun shouted: Although Mr. Li has already married, he has not married his son. I will send him here to return him!
(5)
The county magistrate immediately brought Li to see the official, thinking of returning her to Sun Dian.
But after Li was brought to the hall, the magistrate asked her to look up and saw that she had a yellow face, black face, big feet and a slim body, which matched Wang Jun's son very well.
The magistrate pointed at Mrs. Li and said to Sun Dian: Look at her appearance, is she your type?
Then he pointed at Magnolia and said: Look at her appearance, is Wang Kun blessed to endure it? Let me see, it is clear that God thinks you are a mismatched marriage and deliberately let the mice come out to cause trouble, just to correct you! Today I will act as a matchmaker and betroth the magnolia to you.
Then someone took out one hundred taels of silver from the treasury as Magnolia's dowry, and the two got married in person.
Later, Sun Dian and Yulan fell in love with each other. Sun Dian concentrated on studying, and after taking the exam, he won the Jinshi and was promoted from the county magistrate to a third-rank official. Yulan received the Five Flowers title and lived to the age of eighty.
But it was said that the magistrate knew that he had tried a wrong case, so he pleaded guilty and asked for a fine. At the same time, the county magistrate began to reflect on his own way of handling cases. He no longer made it easy for people to deal with serious crimes. Everything was based on facts, and there was no unjust, false or wrong case ever again!
This story, , is a warning to law enforcement officers that they must enforce the law impartially and not use torture to extract confessions, so as to avoid unjust, false and wrong cases to the greatest extent.
The second is to warn ordinary people not to be as light-tongued as Wang Jun. Those who speak ill of others behind their backs will definitely be reviled by others.
The third is to encourage people in the world to keep themselves clean, just like Sun Dian and Yulan. As long as you are upright, you will not be afraid of others' comments, and you will definitely be rewarded in the end.
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