Wang Taichang was a native of Zhejiang. Once in his childhood, when he was lying in bed during the day, clouds suddenly rose and thunderbolts shook his ears. An animal bigger than a cat came in and hid under him, turning around and not leaving. A moment later, when the rain had passed, the thing went straight out of the house. He took a closer look and realized that it was not a cat, then he felt scared and hurriedly called out to his brother who lived in the next room. When his brother heard about this, he said happily, "My brother will be a great man in the future, this is a fox to avoid the thunderbolt ah." Later, he really was young and got a bachelor's degree, from the outer county magistrate transferred to the court as a royal historian.
Wang Taichang has a son named Yuan Feng, stupid, sixteen years old still can not distinguish between male and female, so relatives and neighbors are not willing to marry him. So no one in the neighborhood was willing to marry him, and Wang Taichang was very worried about this. One day, a woman led a girl to the Wang family, volunteering to be the Wang family's daughter-in-law. Look at the girl, she had a beautiful smile on her face, just like a fairy. Wang Taichang was very happy and asked her what her name was. The woman replied, "My surname is Yu, and my daughter's name is Xiao Cui, and she is sixteen years old." Wang Taichang wanted to discuss the bride price with the woman. The woman said, "She can't even eat enough coarse chaff after me, once she lives in this high-rise building of yours, with maids and servants at her beck and call, and eats fine food and fish and meat, and she is satisfied, my heart will be comforted, which can't be bargained for like selling vegetables!" Mrs. Wang was overjoyed, and entertained them attentively. The woman let Xiao Cui pay her respects to Mrs. Wang and her wife, and instructed her, "These are your in-laws, and should be served with care. I am very busy, so I will go back first, and come to see you again in a few days." Wang Taichang told his servant to prepare a horse to send her back. The woman said, "My home is not far from here, so there is no need to bother." The woman said, "My home is not far from here, so don't bother." After saying this, she went out and left. When Xiao Cui saw her mother leave, she did not feel sad or attached at all, and then she rummaged in her dressing box for embroidery patterns. Mrs. Wang also quite like Xiao Cui.
After a few days, the woman did not come. Asked Xiao Cui where she lived, Xiao Cui also stupidly could not say how to go home. So they packed up another courtyard for their wedding. Relatives heard that Wang Taichang picked up a poor girl as a daughter-in-law, they ridiculed him; but when they saw Xiao Cui, they all marveled, and everyone's comments then subsided. Xiao Cui is not only beautiful, but also very smart, can understand the joys and sorrows of the in-laws. Wang Taichang couple to Xiao Cui's favor beyond common sense, but their hearts are very worried, afraid of Xiao Cui dislike son too stupid; and Xiao Cui all day happy, not at all dislike. Only she was fond of teasing and joking. She sewed a round ball with cloth, kicked it horizontally and vertically for fun, wearing small leather boots, kicked the cloth ball out dozens of paces away, coaxed Yuanfeng to run to pick up the ball for her; Yuanfeng and the maids often chased after the ball to pick up the ball, sweating with exhaustion. One day, Wang Taichang happened to pass by, and suddenly a round thing flew with a bang and hit him right in the face. Xiao Cui and the maids all hid, while Yuan Feng still jumped and ran after the cloth ball. Wang Taichang was so angry that he picked up a stone and threw it at his son, and Yuanfeng then crouched on the ground and cried. Mrs. Wang told Mrs. Wang about the incident, and Mrs. Wang scolded Xiao Cui, who smiled with her head down and scratched the edge of the bed with her fingers. After Mrs. Wang left, Xiao Cui as usual crazy, running and jumping, she used rouge powder to paint Yuan Feng into a big flower face, made into a ghostly appearance. Mrs. Wang saw, very angry, called Xiao Cui scolded. Xiao Cui leaned against the table, fiddling with the sash, neither fear, nor speak. Mrs. Wang could do nothing, so she picked up a stick and beat Yuan Feng. Yuanfeng cried and screamed, then Xiao Cui changed her face, kneeling on the ground to ask for forgiveness. Mrs. Wang's anger subsided and she put down her stick and left. Xiao Cui smilingly pulled Yuan Feng into the house, for him to flutter the dust on the clothes, wipe his tears, with his hand to caress him where it hurts, but also took out the red dates and chestnuts to coax him to eat. Only then did Yuanfeng break into tears and smile. Xiao Cui closed the door, and then dressed Yuan Feng as the king of Chu, or as the king of Xiong Nu; they put on colorful clothes, tightly girded the waist, pretending to be Yu Ji dancing under the tent; or put a pheasant tail in the bun, pretending to be Wang Zhaojun, and played the pipa to the sound of ding dong, filling the room with the sound of playful laughter, and every day it was like this. Because of his son's stupidity, Wang Taichang could not bear to blame his daughter-in-law too much; even if he heard it, he had to ignore it.
With them living in the same alley, a surname of Wang's give advice, and Wang Taichang's family is only separated by more than ten households, but the two have always been tense relations. It was the time of the triennial performance appraisal of the officials, Wang to Jian jealous of Wang Taichang held the Henan Road supervision of the royal historian power, they wanted to assassinate him. Wang Taichang knew the plot of Wang Zaijian, and was very worried, but could not think of a way to deal with it. One night, Wang Taichang went to bed early, Xiao Cui dressed in official clothes, waist girded with jade belt, dressed up as the appearance of the Ministry of Justice, cut some white velvet made into a thick beard, and let the two maids dressed in green clothes pretending to be a retainer, secretly rode out the door, joked to the attendants, "I'm going to pay a visit to Mr. Wang." When they rode up to the gate of Wang Zijian, Xiao Cui lifted her whip to beat the attendant and said loudly, "I'm going to visit Mr. Wang, the royal historian, and I'm not visiting Mr. Wang Zijian!" After saying this, she turned her horse around and went back. When he returned to the door of his house, the gatekeeper mistook that it was really the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue who had come, and ran in to report to Mr. Wang Taichang. Wang Taichang scrambled to get up, put on his clothes and went out to meet him, only to realize that it was his daughter-in-law who was fooling around. Wang Taichang was very angry, said to the lady: "people are about to find my fault, we instead of the scandal in the boudoir to the door, let him know, I'm going to be in big trouble!" Mrs. Wang was also very angry, went into Xiao Cui's room, scolded Xiao Cui. Xiao Cui just naive smile, not a word of defense. Beat her, I can't bear to do so; repudiate her, she has no home to go back to. Mr. and Mrs. Wang Taichang and their chagrin and resentment, the whole night did not sleep.
At that time, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was very powerful, and his appearance, style, clothes and attendants were not different from Xiao Cui's costume, so Wang Zi Jian also mistook it for the real thing. That night he sent three times to Wang Taichang gate to spy, until midnight, did not see the guests out, so he suspected that the Minister of the Ministry of Justice and Wang Taichang in the conspiracy what. The next morning at the court, Wang Zaijian saw Wang Taichang asked: "Evening evening Minister of the Ministry of Justice to your residence?" Wang Taichang suspected that he ridiculed his own, so red-faced vaguely responded, the answer is not crisp. Wang to Jian more suspicion, will dispel the idea of framing Wang Taichang, from now on also take the initiative and Wang Taichang pull friendship, flattering to please him. Wang Taichang learned the original story, heart secretly happy, but also behind the back of the lady, told her to advise Xiao Cui not to do so again; Xiao Cui smiled and agreed.
After a year, the Ministry of Ministers was just an official, it happens to be someone to send a private letter to Wang Taichang, but the letter sent by mistake to the house of Wang ZiJian. Wang Zaijian was very happy, he first asked a person who had friendship with Wang Taichang to borrow 10,000 taels of silver with Wang Taichang, Wang Taichang refused. Wang Zi Jian then came to Wang Ta Chang's house in person. Wang Taichang hurriedly searched for his official clothes and prepared to go out to meet him, but the official clothes could not be found: Wang Zaijian waited for a long time in the living room, but did not see Wang Taichang come out, thinking that it was an intention to neglect him, and with a grunt he was about to leave, when suddenly he saw Yuanfeng in a dragon's robe, with a crown on his head, and pushed out from the door by a woman. Wang gave Jian a big shock; but then with a smile on his face, he caressed Yuanfeng, took off his dragon robe, removed his crown, and took it away. By the time Wang Taichang came out in a hurry, Wang ZiJian had already gone far away. When he heard of the incident, Wang Taichang was so frightened that he cried out, "This daughter-in-law is really a scourge! Soon we will have the calamity of extinction!" So he and Mrs. Wang took the wooden stick and went to find Xiao Cui. Xiao Cui knew it already, and she closed the door of her room, allowing her in-laws to scold her loudly. Mrs. Wang was so angry that she picked up an axe and chopped the door. Xiao Cui said to him with a smile from her room, "Don't be angry, father-in-law. With my daughter-in-law here, even if the knife and axe are chopped, I will take the blame alone, and I will not involve my parents-in-law. If you are doing this now, do you want to kill your daughter-in-law to silence her?" Only then did Wang Taichang stop.
After the king gave admonition to go back, really on the疏直陈, uncovered the king too often do not abide by the king's law, plotting to rebel, and said that there is a dragon robe crown as evidence. The emperor ate a shock, hastened to check the evidence, a look, the crown was made of sorghum straw heart, the dragon robe is just a piece of tattered yellow wrapping skin. The emperor thought that the king gave advice is framed Wang Taichang, very angry. He summoned Yuanfeng again, and seeing his silly look, he laughed and said, "Can such a person be the Son of Heaven?" So he ordered Wang Zi Jian to be sent to the Three Judicial Departments to be tried and punished. Wang Zi Jian then denounced Wang Ta Chang's family as having a demon. The servants and maids of Wang Taishang's family were severely interrogated by the three judges, and all of them said that there was no such thing as a demon, but only a crazy daughter-in-law and a silly son, who were playing around in the house every day; and the neighbors didn't have a different story either. The case was then finalized, and Wang Zi Jian was enlisted to Yunnan. Wang Taichang thus felt that Xiao Cui was unusual. And because her mother has not been here since she left, she suspected that she is not human. Called Mrs. Wang to ask Xiao Cui, Xiao Cui just smiled, and did not speak. Mrs. Wang repeatedly asked, Xiao Cui covered her mouth and said: "I am the daughter of the Jade Emperor, mother-in-law do not know?"
Soon afterward, Wang Taichang was promoted from royal historian to Jingtang. He was in his fifties and often fretted because he had no grandchildren. Xiao Cui had been married for three years, and every night she and Yuan Feng slept in separate beds, and never seemed to share the same pillow. Mrs. Wang asked someone to carry away a bed and instructed Yuan Feng and Xiao Cui to sleep together. After a few days, Yuan Feng said to his mother, "You borrowed the bed and always refused to send it back! Xiao Cui puts her leg on my stomach every night and presses me so hard that I can't breathe; and she often pinches my thighs." When the maids and servants heard this, they could not help but laugh. Mrs. Wang hated him for his lack of understanding, reprimanded him, and told him to go away.
One day, Xiao Cui was taking a bath in her room, Yuan Feng saw her and wanted to wash with her; Xiao Cui stopped him with a smile and told him to wait for a while. Xiao Cui finished her bath, changed a large urn of hot water, took off Yuan Feng's clothes, and helped him into the urn with the maid. Yuan Feng felt hot and stuffy and yelled to get out. Xiao Cui did not listen, but instead took a bed quilt to cover the urn tightly. After a while, can not hear the sound, snap open the quilt to see, Yuan Feng has died. Xiao Cui still look frank smile, not panic, she pulled Yuan Feng up, put on the bed, help him wipe his body, and covered with a bed quilt. When Mrs. Wang heard the news, she burst in crying and cursing Xiao Cui: "You crazy girl, how did you kill my son!" Xiao Cui smiled and said, "A stupid son like this, it's better not to have one." Mrs. Wang even more angry, with the head to hit Xiao Cui; maids rushed forward to pull the ground, persuade her. While they were arguing, one of the maids suddenly shouted, "The Prince has woken up!" Mrs. Wang hurriedly put away her tears and reached out to touch her son, only to see Yuan Feng panting and sweating profusely, his bedding was soaked through. After about a meal time, Yuan Feng finished sweating, suddenly opened his eyes and looked around the room, looked at his family one by one, as if he didn't recognize them, and said: "I now think back to the past, all like a dream, what is going on?" Mrs. Wang was very surprised to hear Yuanfeng say something not as silly as he did. So she helped him to see his father, and after trying several times, her son was really not stupid anymore. Mr. and Mrs. Wang Taichang were overjoyed, as if they had received a strange treasure. At night, they returned the bed they had carried away to its original place, and spread out the bedding and pillows, wanting to observe what change there was. Yuan Feng returned to his room and sent the maids away. In the morning they quietly went to see, the bed was in vain. From then on, Yuan Feng is no longer stupid, Xiao Cui is no longer crazy, the two are very good, inseparable.
After a year or so, Wang Taichang was impeached for some minor faults by Wang's cohorts and was dismissed from office. At his home, he had a jade vase given by the governor of Guangxi, which was worth thousands of pieces of gold, and Wang Taichang was going to use it to bribe the big officials in power. Xiao Cui loved the jade bottle, so she held it in her hands and enjoyed it, but accidentally, she dropped it on the ground and broke it. Xiao Cui was so ashamed that she took the initiative to admit her mistake to her parents-in-law. Mr. and Mrs. Wang Taichang are being dismissed from the government and harboring fire in their hearts, and when they heard that the jade vase had broken, they could not help but be furious, and scolded Xiao Cui together. Xiao Cui was also very angry, turned around and walked out, saying to Yuan Feng: "I'm in your house, to protect you down more than a bottle, why do not you give me a little face? To tell you the truth: I am not a human being. Because my mother suffered a thunderbolt that year and was sheltered by your father, and because the two of us had a five-year destiny, I was betrothed to you, first to repay your father's kindness, and second to fulfill our long-cherished wish. The scoldings I have suffered in your house are innumerable. The reason why I did not leave immediately before was because the five years of favor had not yet expired. But how can I possibly stay any longer today? Can't stay even for a moment!" After saying this, he angrily walked out of the gate, Yuan Feng hurriedly chased after him, but Xiao Cui was already nowhere to be found. Once Xiao Cui left, Wang Taichang felt deeply guilty and regretted too late. Yuan Feng went into the room, looking at Xiao Cui leftover powder and worn embroidered shoes, crying to death; he could not sleep well, could not eat, more and more thin day by day. Wang Taichang was very worried, anxious to marry for Yuan Feng, want to comfort him, but Yuan Feng is not willing. Just beg a good painter, painted a portrait of Xiao Cui, his own day and night in front of the image of wine and pray, so almost two years.
One day, Yuan Feng happened to have something to go out, when he came back, it was already a bright moon in the sky, there is a pavilion garden outside of his village, Yuan Feng rode his horse through the pavilion garden, he heard a burst of laughter and laughter coming from inside the wall, so he strangled the reins, told the horseman to grab the head of the horse complex, and he stood on the saddle himself and looked inside the wall, and he only saw two girls chasing and playing in the pavilion garden. At this time the moon was covered with clouds, and could not be seen very clearly in the darkness; but he only heard one girl in green say, "You should be driven out of the house, you girl!" The other girl in red said, "You are in the garden of my pavilion, but who should you come to drive out!" The girl in green said, "You girl are so shameless! You can't be a good daughter-in-law, and you've been driven out, and you want to impersonate the family property?" The girl in red said, "That's still better than the oldest girl who can't get married!" Yuan Feng listened to that voice which sounded like Xiao Cui and hurriedly shouted. The girl in green walked away while saying, "I won't argue with you for now, your man is here." A moment later, the girl in red came over and it was indeed Xiao Cui. Yuan Feng was overjoyed. Xiao Cui told Yuan Feng to climb up the wall, and then took him into the pavilion garden, said: "Two years have not seen, see you thin only a bone!" Yuan Feng held Xiao Cui's hand, could not stop the tears, kept talking about the pain of longing after parting. Xiao Cui said, "I know this too, it's just that I don't have the face to see your family again. Today, my big sister and I are playing here, who would have thought that I met you again, so I can see that the destiny of my past life is really inescapable." Yuan Feng asked Xiao Cui to go back with him, Xiao Cui refused; he asked her to stay in the Pavilion Garden, Xiao Cui agreed. Yuan Feng then sent his servant to run back to report to Mrs. Wang. Mrs. Wang was very surprised, got up in a hurry, got on the sedan chair and went straight to the pavilion garden, opened the lock, into the pavilion garden. Xiao Cui came over to meet and greet; Mrs. Wang grabbed Xiao Cui's arm, tears in her eyes, and admitted her previous faults, almost unable to forgive herself, and said: "If you do not care about the past, please return home, which is also a comfort to my old age." But Xiao Cui tone resolute, said what also refused to go back. Mrs. Wang was worried that the pavilion garden is too desolate and lonely, intends to send a few more servants to serve them. Xiao Cui said: "those family members, I do not want to see, only the original two maids and I used to spend time with, I can not help but miss them; in addition to just an old servant to look at the door, the rest do not want anything." Mrs. Wang followed Xiao Cui's words. To the outside world, she only said that Yuanfeng was recuperating in the Pavilion Garden, and that she sent some food here every day.
Xiao Cui often advised Yuan Feng to marry another wife, Yuan Feng did not listen. More than a year later, Xiao Cui's face and voice, gradually different from before, out of Xiao Cui's portrait of a comparison, simply like two people. Yuan Feng felt very strange. Xiao Cui said: "Do you see that I am still as beautiful today as I was in the past?" Yuan Feng said, "I'm only in my twenties, how could I have aged so quickly." Xiao Cui laughed and put the portrait on the fire, Yuan Feng rushed to grab it, but it had already burned to ashes. One day, Xiao Cui said to Yuan Feng, "When I used to live at home, my father-in-law said that I wouldn't have children until I died of old age. Now my parents-in-law are old, and they only have one son, and I really can't have children, so I'm afraid I'll miss your family's succession. Please marry another, and serve your in-laws morning and evening, while you come and go between your home and the Pavilion Garden, which is no inconvenience." Yuanfeng heeded her advice and became engaged to Zhong Taishi's daughter. When the wedding day was near, Xiao Cui sewed clothes and made shoes for the bride and sent them to her mother-in-law's house. After the bride passed through the door, Yuanfeng was surprised to find that her speech, demeanor, and appearance did not differ in the slightest from Xiao Cui's. He came to Pavilion Garden to look for Xiao Cui. He came to the Pavilion Garden to look for Xiao Cui, who was nowhere to be found. When he asked the maid, she took out a red scarf and said, "My wife has gone back to her mother's home for the time being and left this for you." Yuan Feng opens the scarf and sees a piece of jade tied to it. Knowing that Xiao Cui will never come back, Yuan Feng takes the maid and servant back home. Yuan Feng misses Xiao Cui all the time, fortunately, seeing his bride is like seeing Xiao Cui. He then realized that Xiao Cui had anticipated his marriage to the Zhong family's daughter, so she had pre-emptively turned into the same appearance as the Zhong family's daughter as a means of comforting herself from thinking of her in the future.