The coachman passed by the river and let one hand grasp his ankle, and the father stood still and did not breathe
During the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a coachman named Li Haorui. His mother died in childbirth when she gave birth to him, and he was raised by his father alone for many years. Today, Li Haorui is over 20 years old and is at the age of filial piety. However, my father broke his leg on a trip up the mountain to collect medicine.
Li Haorui has always been a filial son, so he is naturally willing to take care of his father. However, originally their family relied on the two of them working together to make money. Now that his father is unable to work because he broke his leg, if Li Haorui also leaves his job in the carriage and goes home to take care of his father, then the family's financial situation will be even more difficult.
After careful consideration, Li Haorui decided to add another seat in the carriage and reserved it for his father. So, he walked with his father, and took his father with him wherever he went. Sometimes, well-meaning guests will understand his situation, and Li Haorui will take them for a ride by the wayAnd sometimes, when he encounters a customer with a bad attitude, he doesn't do that business. Although it doesn't make much money, it's enough to make ends meet.
One day, Li Haorui stopped the carriage to rest, ready to set off again. Suddenly, a guy quietly walked up to him and asked mysteriously, "Are you Li Haorui?"”
Li Haorui was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Yes, I am Li Haorui." What do you want me to do?”
The guy looked around, then took out a cloth bag and handed it to Li Haorui. Li Haorui pinched it and found that it was a bag of broken silver. This surprised him, because he had never seen so much money in all his years as a coachman. He hurriedly returned his wallet to the man and said, "I can't take so much money, you have to go to **, I only need three copper plates to send you over." ”
However, the guy shook his head and said, "It's not that I'm going to **, it's my wife who has something to ask for." ”
Li Haorui asked curiously: "Who is your wife?"”
The guy replied, "You don't need to care about that, the money is just a deposit." You only need to deliver one thing to the designated location, and we will pay you extra. ”
The young man led Li Haorui through the bustling streets and alleys, and finally came to a secluded alley. In the alley is parked a well-made coffin, made of fine golden silk nanmu. Li Haorui was surprised when he looked at this thing, and before he could ask, the young man took the initiative to speak: "Don't ask too much, just send this item to the designated place, and you will get the benefits you deserve at that time." ”
After the young man finished speaking, he stuffed the previous cloth bag back into Li Haorui's arms and left in a hurry. Li Haorui looked at the remuneration in his hand, then looked at the coffin on the ground, and shook his head helplessly. If you accept someone else's money, you have to do something for someone else. Li Haorui had no choice but to try his best to carry the coffin into the carriage and drive towards the place designated by the young man.
The destination is a ruined temple at the foot of the mountain, a long way and surrounded by water. If you are not careful, you may trip over rocks and even fall off a cliff. Therefore, Li Haorui walked cautiously, especially when night fell. There was no wind on this day, the moon was covered by dark clouds, and the night sky was pitch black, which made Li Haorui feel a chill.
I don't know how long I walked, Li Haorui finally saw the ruined temple in front of him. The ruined temple appears to be inhabited, and the lights flicker inside. The whip of his hand quickened a little, and the horse felt the pain and hurried to speed up.
The father, who was sitting in the carriage, did not speak, but as the carriage picked up, he suddenly poked his head out to observe and saw the horses rushing towards a boulder on a hill. The father shouted, "Haorui!".Pull the reins, stop!There are rocks in front!”
Li Haorui heard his father's shout, looked at it, and sure enough. He hurriedly pulled the reins hard, but the horse was uncontrollable and still rushed forward. After a while, the horse tripped over a rock, and the man led the horse into the river.
Li Haorui didn't care about anything else, and hurriedly rescued his father ashore. At the same time, another horse also struggled in the water for a while before coming ashore. Father and son lay on the shore with the horse, catching their breath for a moment. Li Haorui then remembered the coffin on the carriage, and hurriedly went to check, but found that the coffin was missing. He anxiously went to the water to find it, and then there was a "whooshing" sound in the river, and then a pair of cold hands grabbed Li Haorui's ankles.
Li Haorui was shocked, looked at his father and said, "Dad!."What to do, someone in the river grabbed my ankle!”
When my father heard this, his face changed dramatically, "What?!."Haorui, don't move, don't pant when you stand there, this mountain road is rugged, there is another river here, I'm afraid I met a water demon, dad will go down to save you, remember not to move and don't gasp. ”
As he spoke, my father limped into the river despite the inconvenience of his legs and feet, groping with his hands. The father tried to find the hands on Li Haorui's ankles, and with a hard pull, a white figure appeared in the water.
The two glanced at each other and looked towards the shore, where what they thought was a water demon was actually a woman with weak breathing. Seeing this, Li Haorui hurriedly bent down to save people.
After a while, the woman on the ground squirted out a large mouthful of water, slowly woke up and said, "The little woman is gentle and kind, thank you for the grace of the son for saving her life." ”
Li Haorui and his son didn't know why a woman who was supposed to be quiet suddenly appeared in the river, so they asked curiously. It turned out that this woman was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Liu family in the house, but because of her low status, her mother-in-law has always been dissatisfied with her. After her husband died, her in-laws forced her to die to win a so-called "chastity archway" for her husband.
Wen Shan's dissatisfaction with her in-laws made her want to escape, but her in-laws' surveillance of her was very tight, so she could not find a chance to escape. One day, her in-laws suddenly showed her an attitude of eating and drinking, and Wen Shan was confused and didn't dare to accept it easily. But the in-laws apologized again and again, saying that they were not considerate to her before, and now they want to treat her as a daughter.
Wen Shan was moved by these words, and he actually forgave his in-laws' mistakes. However, after eating, she suddenly felt dizzy and soon fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up again, she found herself trapped in an airtight place, feeling helpless.
It wasn't until a carriage fell into the water and the lid of the coffin was opened that she was able to escape. Wen Shan told Li Haorui with emotion what happened to him: "For many years, I have done my best for my in-laws, but now that my husband has passed away, they have taken such vicious measures to treat me. He abused me on weekdays, and today he tried to suffocate me to death in a coffin, this son, please help me expose the crimes of my in-laws!”
Li Haorui listened to Wen Shan's experience, was filled with righteous indignation, and decided to report to the official to expose the crimes of his in-laws. However, his father reminded him to be calm, believing that his in-laws were powerful and that his life could be in danger if he rashly exposed them. He suggested that the prefect be led to the ruined temple first, and then inform the truth on the way, so that things could go more smoothly.
Li Haorui agreed to his father's suggestion and decided to report the situation to the prefect first. The next day, the prefect led a group of officials to the ruined temple. On the way, Li Haorui confessed the truth to the prefect: "My lord, in fact, the destruction of the temple did not happen**, I took this method to attract you out of helplessness." ”
He then recounted Wen Shan's experience in detail, and the prefect was shocked when he heard it: "The Liu family is a big family in the house, and they actually did such a hurtful thing. If what you say is true, this official will go with you to the broken temple for a ** event!”
The group soon arrived near the broken temple, and the prefect decided to put on Li Haorui's father's clothes, and his partner Li Haorui carried the coffin into the broken temple together. Sure enough, there was a group of black-clothed people wearing black cloths in the ruined temple, and when they saw the two coming, they showed displeasure: "You two are here, and you almost ruined the good things of my wife!."”
Li Haorui hurriedly apologized, and several people in black stepped forward to inspect the coffin, and after confirming that Wen Shan was still in it, they breathed a sigh of relief. They handed Li Haorui a bag of silver, and just as the two were about to leave, the man in black suddenly looked at each other, pulled out his short knife and shouted, ready to attack.
Time flies, and just at the urgent moment when the man in black is about to make a move, the surrounding doors and windows are suddenly broken open by the official officials hidden outside. Before a few men in black could react, they were attacked by a group of well-trained officials**. Under the prefect's interrogation, the man in black had no choice but to truthfully explain what happened.
Although the Liu family is a wealthy family, in front of the Son of Heaven, they cannot escape the punishment of the law. The prefect did not hesitate to arrest the mother of the Liu family to the government, and at first, the people of the Liu family firmly denied the crime. However, when they saw Wen Shan standing in front of them alive, they had no choice but to confess everything.
Because Liu's family's behavior did not reach the point of death, the trial ended not with beheading, but with some flogging, and after a period of time in a cell, he was released unharmed. Despite this, the evil deeds of the Liu family are notorious, and people who were good friends with the Liu family in the past have become estranged, and in order to avoid suspicion, they cut off contact with them. Gradually, the Liu family lost their friends, their business was ruined, and they eventually became street rats spurned by everyone.
However, Wen Shan saw the warmth and coldness of the world clearly after all this happened, so he got acquainted with Li Haorui and entrusted his fate to him again. Gentle, kind, and chaste, she did not dislike Li Haorui's father, and took good care of his daily life at home. Li Haorui has also reduced some of his burdens, and although his life is poor, he has an enviable happiness.
In the story, the author Dafuzi's perception is profound. The selfish behavior of the Liu family almost endangered Wen Shan, but in the end it reaped the consequences. This is reminiscent of "karma", where all actions have their consequences, and one should distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil. And the reason why Wen Shan was able to survive was luck, and second, he met the kind driver Li Haorui. This also echoes the truth of "good deeds are rewarded".
In general, people should choose carefully before marriage, not only for two people, but also for two families. If there is a problem in one family, then it is difficult for two people to be happy in their marriage. In the author's opinion, the first consideration to measure whether a person is worthy of friendship is whether there is filial piety. People with filial piety, although they may not be perfect to some extent, people without filial piety are worth being wary of. How can a person who does not value his biological parents care about friends who are not related by blood?
The above is a re-creation of this story, and I hope it meets your requirements.