Chapter 7 The Sixth Story of Fishermen on the Qiang River: The Story of Shenhe
In front of you are all Longmen arrays of large wharves like Chongqing, or at least the Dragon gate arrays of county government offices.Now it's my turn to play. I'm a country guy, and I can only play a little bit of Longmen Formation in the village.I'm afraid it's not as impressive as you put on.However, what I saw and heard in Xiangba is probably something that you people in the city have never seen or heard.One by one, staff member Wu, oh, according to the rules, he should also be called "Qiangjiang Fisherman".The Qiang River fisherman is casting lots tonight, and it's up to him to set up the Longmen array.So he began.
To be honest, we have never placed much hope on this "fisherman".Because of his poor health, he was weak in speaking, and often in the middle of his speech, there were many problems, either coughing or sputum, or he had to pick up his antique pottery tea cup and take two sips of tea, and then panted for a while. Tone, do enough chest blows and deep breaths before continuing.Usually he speaks like this, if he is allowed to set up a dragon gate formation, it will be full of failures and unsustainable.It's strange that playing Longmen and listening to Longmen on the cold bench seems to be a panacea. Many old guys who have been plagued by old illnesses have become energetic and have never been absent. There is no excuse for not complaining.And when he put it up, he didn't cough and spit, and there were a lot of troubles when he talked like usual, but he kept talking, and the more he talked, the more energetic he became.Today's Qiangjiang fisherman is exactly like this, don't look at him who is usually sick and listless, but when it's his turn to set up a dragon's gate, he is so energetic and full of eloquence.So everyone was very moved and listened to his Longmen array in awe.He starts to pose.
The Longmen Pi I put up is a real story that I have seen and heard with my own ears.I am not as good at fiction as Zen Master Yehu, good at "breaking the shell", as he said, good at "artistic processing", and making up stories that are about to go wrong and can't be justified by themselves, so that they are perfect, and the hearsay of Yehu Zen , put on a layer of bright oil paint, you know you will be fooled, and you will spend your time listening to it, and even pay for it with sighs and tears.I don't have that kind of art.I can only lay out some facts in a down-to-earth manner. If it is not round, let it be incomplete, and if you can’t remember it, let it be temporarily absent.
As I said at the beginning, what I set up was the Longmen Formation in Batou Township. First, I would like to introduce you to the environment in the countryside. I don’t want to explain the background clearly. When you talk about these stories, you will say that in the civilized 20th century Republic of China How could such a ridiculous thing happen?
Our Jue is a small county in the mountains, and our village is a small village buried deep in the mountains. Although there is a big river that is big enough for the countrymen, the traffic is still very blocked and the society is not big. opened.When I came out from there, I heard people put some things forward, which really made me feel like "I don't know Han, regardless of Wei and Jin".Other places have entered the twentieth century of civilization, while our place is still under the domination of the Qing Dynasty by the emperor and old man, and all customs and habits still retain the legacy of the previous dynasty. No one dares to doubt or even dream to break it.Because we have a spiritual emperor there who really rules us.This person's surname is Wu Mingchen.He is Wu Juren who won the exam in the last provincial capital examination of the Qing Empire, and the old man Wu who was later promoted to the political, economic and cultural leader of our mountain village, and he is the one who maintains the customs and ethics of our village The patriarch of Wu's Taizong Temple is also the central figure in the Longmen formation I am playing with.Wu Tingchen, we'd better call him the symbol of power, Mr. Yu Wu, he is not tall, no more than five feet.Due to the concentrating effect of opium smoke, it becomes a skinny and skinny appearance.Yellow skin on the face, several blue veins under the neck, and a pair of bone-packed dry claws can only be seen when the hands are stretched out.But the pair of witnesses still maintained their enthusiasm, and their legs and feet were still flexible.Although we don't know the state of his mind, judging from the agility of his words and actions, the machines there are running normally at a fast speed.Some people say that his brain is a piece of hard granite, which refers to the rigidity and solidification of his thoughts, but he himself believes that he is insisting on creating a "to the king, Yao and Shun, and then make the customs simple". "The Wujia Dawan.He is working hard to save this decadent world.He believes that under the rule of the emperor and the old man, all the rules, regulations and customs created and followed by the ancestors are the best.The Confucian ethics and morals, the norms of thought and behavior passed down from the lineage of Confucius are also the best.Although these have already infiltrated the Taoist concepts of emptiness and tranquility, as well as some Buddhist concepts of karma between good and evil.All of this is reflected in the fact that Beijing has an emperor and an imperial examination system with a three-year ratio.When the "Tong Emperor" in Beijing stepped down (Mr. Wu called it "Mengchen"), the second imperial examination system was abolished (Mr. Wu said it destroyed the Grand Ceremony), and everything was in chaos. So he often shook his head and preached: There is only one way to save people's hearts in this world: "Establish orthodoxy:" But Emperor Xuantong has undoubtedly stepped down. Zhang Xun was restored, and he was very happy for a while. It was the emperor Yuan Shikai who He thought it was only a "fake", and he also felt that it was better than no emperor, and he was going to pay homage to him. But he didn't get what he wanted. And he wanted to use the power of the Wu family to raise the King Qin's flag of righteousness is obviously futile. He can only shake his head and sigh. But he has established a defense of feudal orthodoxy in Wujia Dawan. The moral norms and customs of the country are handled. Whoever violates it will raise the whip of etiquette and severely punish it.
He insisted on enshrining the "God of Heaven, Earth, Monarch, Parent and Teacher" on the shrine in his main room, and in front of the shrine, there was also a "Long Live, Long Live, Long Live, Today's Dili", although he did not know this for a long time. Who is this Long Live Lord? As long as you have a Long Live Spleen, you will be comforted.Every few days, he was afraid that the long live card would be left in the dust, so after fasting and taking a bath, he would take down the card and scrub it to make it look brand new.Because this is his only spiritual pillar, he hated the "Republic of China" deeply, and he objected to some people changing the sign of "Heaven, Earth, Monarch, Parents and Teachers" on the altar of the hall to "Heaven, Earth, Country, Parents and Teachers". ", replacing "Ziao" with "Guo", he hated even the reign title of the Republic of China.On the documents and contracts between people, because the official recognition of the Republic of China is required to have legal effect, he cannot object to writing "XX Year of the Republic of China". In all formal sacrificial ceremonies, such as the paper wallets burnt when Lao Zong made offerings, he insisted on writing the year XX of Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty.He has his explanation: "In the ancestors of Yincao, how did they know that the world has turned upside down (this is what he said about the '1911 Revolution'), and if they didn't write the Xuantong year name, they were afraid that the money would be sent to the kingdom of the underworld, and the ancestors would receive it. Not Zhao."
In the back room of his main room, he still retains his temperament of "quietness" and "avoidance" handed down by the emperor who was an official under the rule of the emperor, especially the crown covered with red beard and inlaid on the top. The sapphire, and the official hat of the Zhen Dynasty with Hualing on it, is even more worshiped like a jade.Even the four-person official sedan chair that has long been broken is still on the ground.I heard that in the recent few years, he would take out these two brands and a hat every year, bask in the sun, wash and clean them, and even carry out the official sedan chair for repairs, as if he was ready to wait for the emperor at any time The call to use these things alike.Later, it seemed that there was no hope for the emperor to ascend the dragon throne again. He refused to hold a cleansing ceremony every year, but he still reluctantly went to that room alone, stroked those sacred things, stared blankly for a while, and finally sighed. Come out.
He is against all new gadgets.Foreign cloth, foreign paper, foreign books, foreign smoke, kerosene, foreign lamp..."'He never uses them. He still uses his coarse cloth and local silks and satins to make clothes, uses his local yellow soil paper to write documents, reads antique thread-bound books, and absorbs The local leaf tobacco, and the local tung oil lamp. There is only one thing he made a compromise, and that is "matches, because it is much more convenient to start a fire with this kind of match than with a stone sickle and flint. There is one more thing, yes He @ its hobby, that is opium, opium was originally brought in from abroad, but he never admitted that opium came from abroad, because he said that his generation had already smoked this kind of smoke, clearly 1 Ming is the quintessence of the country handed down from generation to generation, so how can it be a foreign product?
As for the establishment of foreign schools and the teaching of new learning, he even believed that this was a serious danger of subjugation and extinction, and it was a trick to make the dignified descendants of the Yan and Huang Dynasties submit to the land of barbarians and emperors.Although he was powerless to respect the government primary school established by the Xianggan Mansion, he could not prevent the children of his Wu family from going to the primary school to study "people, hands, feet, knives, rulers, mountains, waters, fields, Dogs, cows, sheep" and "big dogs bark, little dogs jump" are boring Chinese textbooks.However, he has the right to limit that even though he has status and education, the sons and daughters of the Wu family must pay for the righteous school he established in the Wu family's ancestral hall in the name of the patriarch with the public property of the ancestral hall.In addition to inviting two "Mr. Dong Hong" to give lectures, he also personally lectured on "University" and "The Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean" to children dressed as little old men: The ethic of monarch, minister, minister, father, father and son" is strong.As a descendant of the Mei clan, I was lucky or unfortunate to be selected into this private mat to learn the ways of Confucius and Mencius. I am very stupid by nature, and I really don’t understand those who say that "the son says to learn and learn from time to time, so it’s not easy to say". "Guanguan Juhong, in the continent of the river", "The feeling of qi, the floating one is the sky, the turbidity of the qi, and the sinking one is the earth", "Children's Learning Qionglin", and "The husband and the earth are mysterious and yellow, the universe is prehistoric and desolate". "Thousand-Character Essay" and "Zhao Qian Sun Li, Zhou Wu Nai Wang", and wholeheartedly yearn for the new learning of "a big dog barks, a little dog".In particular, he was daunted by the knotted pointer made of redbud bamboo in the hands of the private school teacher.Of course, I am even less interested in being forced to stretch out my hand automatically, to have my husband slap my palm, to move a stool automatically, or to take off my pants automatically to be spanked by my husband.At first I tried my best to play truant, but later I simply asked to be expelled, which was my escape from bad luck.But there is one thing that I can't forget so far is that the private school teacher asked us to write ten big characters and one small character every day, so I learned the kung fu of being able to earn a living in this county yamen, and after I was able to follow the princes, I could eat some masters The leftovers left by them will not starve to death.I'm afraid this is what I want to thank our patriarch Dade for.I don't know how the clan's private school is doing, but I peeked at the gate of the ancestral hall later, and it seems that there are fewer and fewer students, and there are only three or five little old men left there, dozing off there while not listening. He was reciting "Zi Yue" and "Shi Yun" vigorously.And this is exactly the proof that Mrs. Wu believes that the people's hearts are not ancient and the world is declining.
For some reason, Mrs. Wu is particularly interested in the three obediences and four virtues education of Po girl.Like holding on to the last unsubmerged rock in a raging torrent, he clings to the last position of women's morality.He adhered to the belief that "women are virtuous without talent", and he did not advocate that women go to school, let alone new schools.Because once a woman goes to school, she will be sensible and think wildly.Especially after going to a new school, girls will know "female love", and they will be excited at a young age. When they talk about "free love", what's wrong?That is simply the incest of the Western beast kingdom, and Sike can't bear it!However, he also advocated that women should know a few characters so that they can read the ancient teaching of "The Daughter's Book X" to cherish the three obediences and four virtues, especially the ancient teaching that women should "obey one and die" and abide by chastity.The husband is dead, so he can only keep the chastity for the rest of his life, and he must not have any unreasonable thoughts of remarrying.Those women who remained chaste until death were extremely respected by him, and he tried every means to erect chastity memorial archways for such women.Our Wu family has the most chastity archways in Dawan. After walking for a mile or two, we saw chastity archways built with bluestone one after another on the main road, majestic and majestic.This can be regarded as a scene of our Wujia Dawan.As for those widows who are chaste and chaste, they must be punished according to the punishment method handed down by their clan; that method is also the Dafa handed down by the Wu family.Take adulterers and adulterers to the ancestral hall, tie them up naked, and carry them around the countryside in a mandarin bag, where they are humiliated, and then tie a millstone to their backs and sink them in a big river.And Dan declared that when he arrived at Yincao, he would be sent to the mountain of swords by the king of Hades and sent to the sea of fire, and he would be sentenced to death by two husbands who cut off the female body in half.It seemed that he had already sent a note to Yan Yi and notified the woman's former husband.
That's why I was able to see with my own eyes the two dragon formations I'm going to show you below.One is the archway of chastity, and the other is Shenhe.The two Longmen formations are actually a tragedy in which Mrs. Wu became the protagonist, but it was later turned into a comedy by the common people.
Let’s say that there is a widow named Wang Fugui in Dawan of our Wu family, but in our place, according to the family rules and the official documents of Baojia, she can only be called the Wang family, which means that she is married to a woman whose surname is Wang. He took a man surnamed Wu as his wife.So let's also let her be Wu Wang's.Wu Wangshi was a beautiful and lively girl since she was a child. She was smart and smart. She could kick shuttlecock, sing mountain dreams, and embroider purses and sweat towels.There are quite a few young people with the surname of Wu in this township, all wanting to get the purse and sweat towel embroidered by her, that is to say, they want to ask her to be his wife.Among them, the most active one was buying a person, and this person was none other than our old Mrs. Wu. Mrs. Wu was very young at that time, he was a suave and handsome young man, and he was also a scholar.The family also has some property, so compared with other young masters surnamed Wu, his conditions are the most superior.It's a pity that there is a big disadvantage. This stele is the old master Wu—let's call him Yu Wu Tingchen, who was the young master at that time. He has already married a wife, and Wu Tingchen wants to divorce. Unless the woman has violated the "seven outs", she should divorce her wife.And Wu Tingchen's wife happened to be filial to her parents-in-law and respectful to her husband, which is really flawless.If you want to ask Wang Fugui to be your concubine, according to Wu's family rules, unless your wife has no children and no one to carry on the family line, you can't pick up your concubine.However, Wu Tingchen's wife was born with two sons.This made Wu Tingchen covet Wang Fugui, but he couldn't get it.There is no unparalleled road, and Wu Tingchen finally figured out a way.It's not okay to marry in the open, so you can communicate secretly.So Wu Tingchen used all kinds of methods of the son, and in the end he got Wang Fugui into his hands, and started to steal chickens and dogs.But the good times don't last long, Wang Fugui can't be an old girl in her natal family, and when she gets old, she always wants to marry.After marrying a man, the kindness between the courtier and Wang Fugui will be unsustainable.If the man Wang Weijuan married was a strong and strong man, if they caught their meddling, could Wu Tingchen be killed? ?; Beating to death is not considered a crime.Wu Gongzihan had already figured this out in his head, so he colluded with Wang Fugui. In order to be a long-term "slutty couple", Wu Tingchen strongly encouraged him - a seriously ill young master from the Wu family's Dawan, The king's forehead'gui came to celebrate, and then the matchmaker took Wang Fugui's "horoscope" to the sick young master's house to confront the "eight Yu", and then a blind man who counted the eight characters came out to prove that the two "horoscopes" complement each other. It was a young couple who brought the girl from the Wang family home and were overjoyed. It was guaranteed that the young master would recover from his illness.All of this was done so smoothly, and Wang Fugui was willing to take risks to rejoice, and it was done as soon as he said it.The Yi family carried Wang Fuzhu through the door.But instead of joy, it turned into mourning. The sick young master died within a few months.This is all predestined, and the matchmaker is not responsible, and the blind man who counts horoscopes will always be in debt, and there is nothing he can do about it.What's more, 11: Fugui is willing to be a widow.In this way, the kindness between Wu Tingchen and Wang Fugui continued unexplainably, and Wang Fugui was respected by the village as a chaste widow who never married again. The moralist is well-known in the village.All these things I heard in the village when I was young.Later, Wu Tingchen had developed into an old man with many children and grandchildren, and Wang Fugui had long been an old woman, a famous chaste widow named Wu Wangshi who had kept her chastity for decades.Mrs. Wu is more honest about etiquette, and he respects chastity women more.Therefore, setting up chastity spleen workshops for chastity-keeping martyrs became the glorious career of Mrs. Wu in his later years.He not only used most of the public property of the ancestral hall he dug as the patriarch to engage in this kind of business, but even used part of his own property as a fund for the construction of archways. Standing here and there with large stone pillars, stone arches, bucket arches, stone ridges, and stone eaves, this kind of huge monster with a height of several feet and three gates is the strongest fence to maintain the orthodoxy.Er Shining erected a huge stone tablet on the top of the forehead of the middle gate, and when engraving the names of chaste women, they had to be without titles.It is too disrespectful to lithographically engrave "the archway of chastity of a certain family".It was not difficult to ask Huai for such a title when Emperor Laoxin was still sitting on the dragon throne, because the imperial court always advocated keeping chastity.As long as an old scholar with "fame and fame" who has entered school and served as an official jointly sends some tribute to the Ministry of Rites in Beijing, he can "get the approval of the Ministry of Rites and engrave the gold-plated "Holy Father" on the archway. 『The two buildings are guarded by engraved coiled dragons, under which is a line of big characters: "The Chastity Archway of XX's Chastity Ordered by the Emperor".This is an extremely honorable thing, not only for the widows who are chaste, the entire township and clan consider it their greatest honor.If you don't have such a big face, the descendants of chastity-abiding women don't have more prominent official positions. Please don't allow the title of Mrs. Gao Ming, you can always get the title of "Master of Life".If you can't get the "fate" of the emperor's old man, you can still be honored in a county and a township for a while if you invite the title of child approved by the governor of the province with high power.
But even though the emperor retired from the dragon position, Wu Tingchen has no chance to be admitted to the Jinshi and become a real court minister. He can only be an old man in Wujia Dawan at the price of 0. Not only the "Holy & Imperial Order" could not be invited, but even the "Special Order" at the provincial and prefectural levels could not be invited, and he did not recognize this "Minning" and disdain to ask the provincial government of the Republic of China for orders. So he He came up with a workaround and engraved on the stone tablet "Daifeng Ruren, that is to say, waiting for the emperor's imperial order. As for waiting for not waiting, don't worry about it.Anyway, "children" is done.The set of tricks played by Mrs. Wu has indeed played a role in maintaining ethics in Dawan of the Wu family. There are really some widows who have suffered a lot in order to win the vanity of setting up a chastity memorial archway.Therefore, there are many widows in our village who are determined to keep the festival.Whether it is true chastity at the bottom is a very complicated and inconvenient question to check. As long as Mr. Wu confirms it, he will be qualified to set up a chastity archway during his lifetime or after his death.For example, the Wu Wang family I mentioned earlier, although he had secretly communicated with Wu Tingchen, who was called Young Master Wu at that time and is now called Old Master Wu, for some years when he was young, he finally became a widow all his life, so Old Master Wu Still trying to build a chastity archway for the Wu Wang family.At this time, due to the elimination of the laws of nature, there are very few old people who know the ambiguous relationship between them, so Mrs. Wu can create many moving deeds for this old woman.So she set an example for widows in the countryside.In order to restore his reputation, Mrs. Wu mobilized some widows to ask this model widow for advice to strengthen their integrity.Among the widows who were mobilized to seek education, one was Mrs. Qian's daughter Zhang Wushi.Zhang Wu's original name was Wu Yongjie, and she grew up in the mansion of Mr. Wu, a family of Confucianism. She married Mrs. Wu's family friend, Mr. Zhang's house at a young age, and her husband died of illness in just over a year.Needless to say, Mrs. Wu insisted that Wu Yongjie be a widow all his life and not allow remarriage for the sake of his family style.But Ji is only eighteen years old, so young. Thinking that she still has decades to live in this kind of loneliness, she feels really terrible, and she always feels uneasy.When I returned to Mrs. Wu's house, it was inevitable that I would complain, throw pots and bowls, or cry secretly.Mrs. Wu felt that her daughter would not listen to his etiquette and did not have the determination to be steadfast and chaste, so he was very worried.So he went to talk to the well-known Wu Wang family in this township, asking her to help him teach his daughter, talk to her about the benefits of keeping chastity, and set up the supreme glory of chastity memorial archway.Wu Wangshi, that is, Wang Fugui who had a fierce fight with Mrs. Wu Tingchen when he was young, feels very strange.This old Mrs. Wu seems to have completely forgotten his behavior in Yulang in his youth, but he wants her to help teach his daughter, the young widow Wu Yongjie, what a joke!What made her feel even more ridiculous was that this old Mrs. Wu, when she was young, ruthlessly destroyed her virginity, but now that she is old, he has come to set her up as a model of chastity, running around for her in such a serious manner, playing for her. She set up a big chastity archway.
"Okay, call Wu Yongjie to come." Mrs. Wu still happily agreed to Mrs. Wu's request.She thought to herself: "I want to teach her a lesson."
Wu Yongjie finally arrived at Wu Wang's home under the repeated urging of Mrs. Wu.As soon as Wu Yongjie entered the door, she saw that Mrs. Wu lived alone in such a big house, which was empty. This kind of emptiness and loneliness had already scared her.Then look at Mrs. Wu sitting in the house bored all day long. People don’t look like people, and ghosts don’t look like ghosts. With the company of Bodhisattva, you can always knock on the wooden fish and read scriptures and count beads to pass the day. Wu Yongjie would like to hear what this model widow who observes festivals thinks.
When Wu Wang saw Wu Yongjie so young, so lively, so well-proportioned, and so watery eyes, he immediately recalled his youth.She could only think about the mistake of her own fate. She was seduced by Wu Tingchen at a young age, and later misunderstood his instigation, married to Wu's family to celebrate a sick ghost, and ended up a widow.In the beginning, Wu Tingchen and her were a box water couple, and they had a happy life for a few days.Later, Wu Tingchen had another new love, so he ignored her and told her to be a widow.Just like this for more than 30 years, endured the pain of loneliness, and finally survived.My body has become like a piece of wood and has become numb, and my heart has become like a pool of stagnant water, motionless.In his later years, his highest value was to be a tool for Mr. Wu to maintain ethics, and to set up an idol in the chastity archway.She felt so ridiculous.She thought, "Since life has teased me so much, I will also mock life mercilessly." Of course, this is not what she said, and she couldn't say such civilized words, but her actions prove that she really meant it. So later, he made a mockery of life, making people laugh and laugh, and embarrassing Mrs. Wu.
Wu Yongjie went to ask her for advice, she didn't say much to Wu Yongzhen, she only said a few words, but these few words were enough to make Wu Yongjie understand.She said to Wu Yongjie,
"You come to see me, what's so good about me? I'm just a piece of rotten wood, a heap of dead ashes, an unburied dead person. All I want to tell you is one sentence: It is the most painful thing for a woman to keep the festival. It's better to die than live. You are so young, where can't you find someone who is lazy, why do you want to be a widow and suffer for your father?"
The final conclusion she drew from dozens of years of experience opened Wu Yongjie's mind and strengthened her willingness to live a human life.She was very happy, touched Wu Wang's hand, and said with tears, "You are so kind, thank you so much for showing me the way."
Wu Yongjie returned to Mrs. Wu's house with a happy spirit and a smile on her face.Mrs. Wu really believed that Wu Wang's lessons to Lu Ji's daughter had played a role.He wants to step up the erection of Wu Wang's chastity archway.
Soon, the chastity spleen archway set up by Mrs. Wu for Master Wu's family was almost completed, and the stone tablet engraved with "the chastity archway of Wu Wang's family to be sealed" has been erected.As soon as the sweeping project is completed, a grand unveiling ceremony will be held. This is a grand ceremony of the Yi clan, which is extraordinary.
But at this time, the Pifang project had an accident, and a eaves stone suddenly fell from the top.This is no small matter.According to the etiquette and customs of our side, the chastity archway cannot be repaired and collapsed, not even a single stone is allowed.Because it is said that this is God's condemnation, which proves that this woman is not chaste, so she cannot be chaste.But it is very difficult, almost impossible, for mortals to prove whether this woman is chaste or not.
But when things have come to this point, how can we deal with the aftermath?How to deal with such a complex problem?I don't know what kind of clever ancestor Xiao Shina was, but he came up with a few ways to deal with it.One way is, the widow who built the chastity archway for it, as long as she heard that there was an accident in the process of building her chastity archway, she committed suicide immediately to show her heart and prove that she was indeed a chaste woman.This is considered a martyr who died for the martyrdom, which is good.In this way, the archway can stand upright.
In fact, thanks to the efforts of the craftsmen, it really stood up.This widow is even more honorable, although she no longer enjoys this honor.
It is said that there is another way to deal with it, that is, after an engineering accident, if someone decides, or the chaste widow herself admits, that she did have unruly behavior or evil thoughts when she was young, and she had a relationship with a certain man or treated him I had hopes, but after decades of chastity, these were corrected.This is still qualified to establish a chastity spleen workshop, but there is a procedure to go through.The widow will use paper to make men. If there are a few men who are good friends, they will prick a few men. They will look like the lovers they have had. She will pick up the mouth with her back and send it to the spleen square. Burning it means that you have given up evil thoughts, so you can get Zhang's understanding.Now that God has forgiven, what else can man say?If the Chastity Archway continues to be built and there is no accident, it will be regarded as the will of God and the slander of human beings, and this spleen archway should be established.
But it is said that such an approach is completely foolproof.Usually, widows commit suicide immediately when someone raises doubts, or when there is an accident in Xiupifang, and the widow feels ashamed.So the archway was erected as a matter of fact, but I have never heard of any widow who dared to carry a paper man to the construction site to embarrass people. Now the chastity archway erected for the Wu Wang family had an accident, and a piece of the eaves was thrown off Shi Lai, what: what should I do?When Mrs. Wu heard the news, he was shocked and disturbed.He secretly prayed to God silently, asking for atonement.He said that the sky really had the eyes to see his Meng Lang behavior with the Qian Wang family when he was young, and made a memorandum of money, and now he is looking for him to cash it.But he can't admit such a thing. He is the leader of the gods of the village and the guardian of Taoism and ethics. 53. No, he couldn't believe that these Yulang behaviors were the fault of his old master Wu. It's best to forget about it. He did this in the past. But it's strange that stones fell off the chastity archway this time. The truth seems to be that there is a great god in the dark: a huge boulder has been pressed on his head. Retribution, retribution, it is not at all happy. Now he is pinning on the awakening of Wu Wang's conscience, and can fall off her chastity archway. The most ideal solution is to confess the crime in front of the condemned person of God, Dan Shi, and quickly cover it up with suicide, or to redeem one's sins.
But Mrs. Wu never got the news of Wu Wang's suicide and atonement.Instead, he heard whispers about Wu Wang's infidelity that he hadn't heard for many years, and it was said that Wu's infidelity was also related to a young master at that time.Therefore, the only solution is for Wu Wang to atone for his crime by burning a man with paper.Mrs. Wu became terrified, not knowing when God's unrelenting punishment would fall on him. This kind of chattering gossip also reached Jiong Wang's ears, but She took it easy.She never thought of accepting the glory circle woven for her by old master Wu, nor did she think of resolutely killing her in order to make up for the natural defects of this glory garden, so as to gain the reputation of a martyr.However, she honestly accepted the traditional method that no virtuous woman would dare to accept. The paper figurine of a lover was sent to the archway on the construction site to be burned.
She really made one, and carefully made it according to the appearance of the handsome young man Wu Tingchen. After she was done, she put it there and looked at it for a long time. As well as the majestic chastity archway and her circle of honor, appearing in front of her eyes, she felt very ridiculous.She felt no disgrace.
She resolutely carried the paper man on her back and walked to the construction site of the Chastity Archway.Xiaonian with many good deeds along the way.But the older generation avoided her and kept chanting "Amitabha", begging God's forgiveness.She was not ashamed, and walked in a dull, expressionless manner.She carried the paper man back to the construction site, unloaded it, struck a match silently, and set the paper man on fire, instantly turning it into ashes.When she put down the paper figurine, she was surrounded by many young people, pointing fingers, and some people said: "Ah, this young master is really beautiful." "How many times have you slept with this wild old man?" Some even Yu questioned her, asking her to tell who the paper figurine was.
She didn't have an answer, she only had the obligation to burn the paper, but she didn't have the obligation to answer who the paper burner was.Without saying a word, she stood up like a melted person and walked home.Some people said her actions were extremely shameless, while others said she was astonishingly daring.People laughed at her all the time at the construction site, but she laughed at life itself as much as she wanted, and she was very happy that once the farce was over, let others do the rest, and she went home.
Afterwards, Mrs. Wu learned that the Wu Wang family burned a paper figurine under the archway in full view.But he was relieved not to say who the paper figure was.But now thinking about it, I still feel a little scared.Later, although he heard that someone pointed out that the paper man looked a bit like Mr. Wu, but no one dared to come forward to prove that the younger generation could not know what Mrs. Wu looked like at that time, and the old people did not want to do such immoral things as being killed by God. .After the Wu Wang family burned the paper figurine, the archway was erected, and a circle of honor for a chaste woman was placed on her head, and the old man Wu was very proud again, and became a guardian deity of etiquette. Not long ago, I went back to Wu I have been to Dawan, Mr. Wu and Mrs. Wu are long gone, but the chastity archway is still standing there firmly.- This is something later.
Let's say that after Mrs. Wu set up a chastity archway for the Wu Wang family, he became even more energetic.He made up his mind to launch a resolute attack on all acts of apostasy and apostasy in the Wu Family Dawan and in the Wu family.Now he is deeply saddened that the old sayings that "the great defense between men and women" has been violated, that "men and women cannot kiss each other", and that women should "do not walk in skirts, but do not smile" have almost disappeared.He especially dislikes men and women being together, laughing and laughing, even pushing and hugging, hating it deeply.As for unmarried women or widowed women who dare to sneak around with men, that is something that cannot be tolerated by the family rules, and must be severely punished.So it happened that he caught a couple of adulterers and threw them into the river.
Mrs. Wu has a distant niece named Wu Yongfang who doesn't follow boudoir precepts. She is eighteen or nineteen years old and often goes out to catch market or street.Those two eyes look east and west even more, attracting attention.Before she could speak, she laughed and chattered, fearing that people would not know that she was in front of her eyes.Old Master Wu saw it, and thought of the master Fu Gui decades ago, just like this, attracting bees and butterflies, causing a group of young masters to chase wildly, driving him into a state of despair, and doing something that violated ethics.This Wu Yongfang is this kind of guy again, sooner or later he will do something that insults the Wu family's rules.He told his two helpers, Qiu Er, to pay attention.This kind of second brother Qiu, idles around in the village, earns his living by being a "helping craftsman" and earns a living by cheating.果然过不儿天，就兴冲冲地跑来向昊老太爷逗耳朵，说悄悄话，绘影绘声地说这个吴永芳和一个叫王三拐的青年眉来眼去，拉拉扯扯，说不定皁就有了“那个”了々吴老太爷对于“那个”最敏感，是过来人嘛。It's worth it!我吴家的闺女,彼人“那个”了，非把这一对奸夫淫妇捉拿到不可，他叫这两个秋二留心着，捉奸要捉双嘛。
这两个秋二更是得窓了，当了吴老太爷维持风化的耳目，现在进一步当了牛头马面了。伹是他两个人下来一对口，其实不过是这一双男女青年在搞时新的“自由”，"那个”了没有，并没有：确实证据,不过他两个知道：水不搅浑,是摸不到鱼的，他们想望欺头，不制造点事端，吃不到嘴于是去鼓动那个王三拐，叫他大胆些，不要怕事，有他两个“贴起”呢。只要估倒她干了头一回，有一必有二，有二必有三，这一枝花才可以到手。这个王三拐，本来也只是一个浮浪子弟,也不懂得“自由”怎么个搞法，果然天天去沾花惹草，去撩拨那个吴永芳,不久果然到了手。两个秋二得了准信，赶忙去向吴老太爷报信。吴老太爷早就想在这吴家大湾整顿一下风纪，捉两个人来开刀，杀一儆百。他就叫这两个秋二去捉奸，趁这一双狗男女干苟且的勾当时,成双捉来。
这两个秋二耍了一点把戏,硬是混进王三拐的房里,把王三拐和旲永芳两1在床上按倒，赤条条地捆了起来。派人报信给吴老太爷，听候发落。吴老太爷听到把这两个狗男女在床上捉到了，狞笑一下说:“好，照规矩办。”
我们吴氏家族从祖辈人传下来一千规矩，女人凡犯了族规,和人通奸，被双双捉住，照规矩就是沉河。不过沉河之前还要经过种种手续，然后明正典刑。吴老太爷叫两个秋二把这对男女赤条条地嘴对晡捆了起来，用被单包了身子，叠放在一大鸳兜里，抬到吴氏宗祠里去，丢在石坝上。然后由族长吴老太爷召集吴家各户家长到祠堂里当着祖先的神主脾的商前开会。宣布吴永芳犯了族规。要她家和王三拐家拿岀钱来，置办三牲八品，抬到祠堂，合族人向袓宗上供1由族长宣读了告袓宗的祭文。祭文里无非是说吴门不幸，甾了妖孽，乱了族规，理当严惩6大家在族长带领下，祝告了夭地和袓宗神灵后，吴老太爷庄严宣告,“把奸夫淫妇拿去沉河!”
对怜这一对男女青年，不懂得怎么“搞自由”，糊里糊涂犯了族规，招来杀身之祸。他两个面对面赤条条捆在一起，虽是裹了被单，巳是羞得无地0容，哪里还敢哭一声哼一声，只有听侯发落。大家用脚去踢一顾，吐一顿口水，羞辱一钡，才到了举行最后的大典沉河的时候。他们两个被抬到河边的船上纟在他们的背上绑一个石失磨墩。等到半夜子时，甶族长验明正身，把两个人连同磨墩,抛进河里，连泡泡都没有冒一个,便沉入河底了。于是沉河的传统典礼告成，吴老太爷高高兴兴地回家去了。
但是不是所有吴家大湾的人都高兴的，也不是旲氏宗族所有的人都高兴的。大家感觉到这到底太残酷了。何况时代的确变了，外面的自由之风，不管吴老太爷怎么封锁，还是传了进来。男女之间搞自由恋爱，为什么就是死罪？即使是婚前同居了也不至于犯了死罪呢！但是谁也不敢说，吴老太爷是这一湾的铕神领袖；而这精神领袖又是建立在这一湾在经济上由他统管政治上由他统领的基础上的,谁也把他莫奈何。
不过在这吴家大湾里，不信邪的人也有。头数几个“天不怕，地不怕，穿起草鞋就搬家”的当长工的青年。佛们感到这个吴老太爷太专横，太顽固，总之，太可恶了。非得要整治他一下不可。他们并没有费很大的力气，就找到了一个“以其人之道，还治其人之身”的办法。
前面说过，想必你们还记得，吴老太爷有一个女儿名叫吴永洁的。吴永洁年纪轻轻,才十八岁就守了寡。吴老太爷耍保持清白门风，坚决要他女儿守节，不准再嫁，给她许了一个贞节牌坊,扬名久远。但是这个女子太年轻，实在守不住。对于遥远的名声，没有兴趣，对于眼前身受的痛苦，却有切肤之痛。她想要出去到省城上学，重新找一个男人。可是吴老太爷坚决不准出去，这便断绝了她的出路了。
吴老太爷为了加强对于这个女儿的礼教教育，叫她去找正在为之立贞节牌坊的吴王氏，他以为吴王氏要保持立贞节牌坊的荣誉，会好好教训他的女儿。谁知道，前面已经说过，吴王氏不埤没有教育吴永洁坚守贞节，反倒告诉她年轻女子守节是最痛苦的事，劝她不要为了立贞节牌坊的虚名，一生受孤寂之苦。吴王氏的这一堂现身说法的教育，对吳永洁影响最大。她下定决心不再守节，她想远走高飞既然不可能，她就要在本地物色一个如意郎君,不顾她的老太爷的反对，造成旣成事实再说。是吴老太爷叫两个秋二去把王三拐和吴永芳一对男女青年捉起来的时候，吴永洁已经在本地物色到一个如意人，一个姓吴的远房本家青年。他是一个破落了的书番之家的后代。他们在一次偁然的机会认识后，便一见如故，很快就打得火热，暗地里已经有了一些往来。本地有些青年是看出来了的，都替他们打掩护，觉得他们两个是理想的一对。在吴老太爷家里当长工的几个靑年也知道这件事。他们对于这位寡妇小姐，敢于冒犯她家的家规,不怕族规的严厉惩罚，坚决不再守节，要自由地找一个如意男人，是表示同情的。对于她不顾一切的勇敢劲儿，甚至还有几分慨服。所以有时侯那个远房姓吴的来这里找吴永沽,就是以到这里来找长工青年耍的名义，和吴永洁在长工房里幽会的。上上下下，可说就是瞒着旲老太爷和他的那两个包打听秋吴永洁估量了形势，她要向她的父亲提出来和这个姓吴的远房青年结婚，必然要遭到最严厉的反对,特别是和本湾本族姓吴的青年结婚，那更是乱伦的事，大逆不道。本来出了五服的同姓是可以结婚的，但是吴老太爷决不能容忍同姓结婚。这样一来，吴老太爷虽然为了掩盖自己的家丑不外扬，不会把女儿怎么样，但肯定会千方百计地撵走这个远房青年，甚至于会摘死他。吴老太爷心黑手狠，是千得出来的，不然他怎么能在这吴家大湾成为太上皇？这样一来，摆在这一对青年男女面前的只有一条辂，逃出去。不过也不简单，一来那个青年腰无分文，吴永洁不可能弄到很多钱，没有钱，他们的腿不长，飞不到好远，这样吴老太爷的腿长耳目灵，很容易把他们两个追回来。追回来后，估计吴老太爷倒不敢公开把他们两个绑起来，拿去祭担宗,然后沉河。但可能把这个男青年害死，强迫吴永洁削犮为尼，到尼姑庵去守一辈子的青灯，丄当他们两个谋划他们自己的事情的时候，发生了吴老太爷把王三拐和旲永芳捉来沉河的事。他们俩听到这个消息后，恨透了这个礼教的杀人恶魔，同时又害怕灾祸要落到他们两个人的头上来。
正在锋徨无计的时候，吴老太爷家里两三个长工青年来找那个远房青年商量来了。：他们叽叽咕帖商量了半天，到底找到了一个很“绝”的办法。一方面达到了长工青年们想要狠狠地矂一下炅老太爷的皮，破一破他的礼教，一方面让这一对青年从此远走高飞，过好日子去。
这个远房姓吳的青年，很犹豫了一阵子，而且没有和吴永洁一商贵，不知道她肯不肯干。他说，“你们倒是狠狠地取了吴老太爷的皮，但是我们两个被绑起来，弄到祠棠去，丢人现眼，也太难堪了。”
—个叫吴二的长工青年说，“那有什么？你们两个情投意合，自由恋爱，仑惜合理，大家都同愔你们，赞助你们。我们都恨透了吴老太爷的那一套野蛮的族规，想打破它。你就是被绑在一起，也不算耻辱，却老实羞了吴老太爷，叫他当头挨了自己一
另一个长工青年说，“你们被我们绑起来，是蒙住脑売和身子的，准也看不到你们，怕什么。我们不准哪一个来走近你们，欺侮你们。“
但是这个远房姓吴的青年还有顾虑，要是他们两个被绑着磨墩拿去沉河，绳了的活扣没有弄好，一下子真的两个都沉到河底去了呢，岂不淹死了？另外一个叫王三的长工青年说：“决不会的。我们拴的活扣万无一失，一下水，麽墩就分家，掉进河底，你们两个就漂到船后去，我们有两个人在水里等你们，把你们送上一条等在后面的小船。”
看来青年们想的办法十分妥帖，远房姓吴的那个青年没有什么可说的了。但是他不知道吴永洁肯不肯照这个计策行事：他说他要去和吴永洁好好商量一下。
出乎这个青年的意外，吴永沽没有迟疑地同怠这个逃走的计谋。甚至丁她最后说，“就是他们真的把我和你拿去仗了河,我也乐意和尔一起去死。”这就说到极点了，那个男青年还有什么话好说呢。
这一场有趣的金蝉脱壳的好戏，就在那几个聪明的青年长工的精心策划和导演之下,一蒂一幕地演出来了。
头一幕是那个叫吴二的长工青年紧紧张张的样子，跑到吴老太爷的上房去，对旲老太爷说"老太爷,有件事向你报告。”他卖关子似的不肯说了。
“你惊风扯火地跑来，有啥子事？”吳老太爷闷。“我不好说。”吴二故作神秘的样子，又纠正自己的话，“我不敢说/
“有啥子不奵说，不敢说？你说，我给你兜起。”吴老太爷还以为是什么扯皮的事。
“我说了，老太爷莫在意，是幺小姐的事。”“幺小姐咋了？”老太爷不知道这个守寡的小女儿怎么样了。“她犯了老太爷的律条了。”吴二终于说出口，“她跟远房那个老屋院子的吴……吴少爷……勾……勾起……”他用两个指头互相勾在一起。
“咹?”吴老太爷万没有想到吴二来时他报告的是这么一件事，关于小女儿的丑事。
“你胡说。”他怎么能相信自己这诗礼人家出这样有伤风化的丑事。
“都已经被捉双的捉到了，绑在一起，外面都已经闹喝了，呵呵连天的。”吴二客观地报道了情况。 "Where?"
“在那个吴少爷的屋里头。大家在吼，耍严办，要沉河，说这是吴良家族祖传的老规矩，是老太爷不久前还实行过的老规矩。”吴二好似老实反映大家的意见，其实都是他自已编的话。
“这还得了！你先去，我就来。”吴老太爷简直象被五雷轰顶，晕头转向。这个小毐妇怎么这样不要脸，背着他干这样丢人的事，又给人家捉住了呢？
“大家说，等你老人家来，不来不散。”吴二又威胁老太爷一句,才走开了。
How to do it?去，不好，不去，又不行。咋的偏偏在他才惩办了一对，自己的女儿竟敢来冒犯？他只好去看个究竟，叫两个秋二扶住，到老屋陴了'里。
他才跨进大门，果然围了一群人，在看稀奇，果然地上用被单捆住两个人。他不敢走拢去，示怠一个秋二走拢去看个究竟。这个秋二挨大家靠近，从被単缝看进去，不错，是么小姐,还有那个老屋院子的吴少爷。秋二回转来在老太爷耳边嘀咕两句，老太爷的脸色就变丫。
―个青年对吴老太爷说：“成双成对捉住了，老太爷看咋办?”
“要严办，沉河”几个宵年在嚷嚷，其中就有长工王三。跟着还有起哄的幸灾乐祸的声调。”照老太爷的规矩办”形势是这样的逼人，老太爷连气都快喘不过来了。大家等着他发出他的权威命令，然而这是多么难出口哟。他在琢磨，幺女儿的丑事显然是真的，如果是被人无理捆绑，她在被单里听到她老太爷来了，岂有不叫喊的道理？现在这两个贱人一句话都不哼，是羞得无话可说了。真是两个该死的下流胚子,这个女儿哪里还能容得？他要不严办，以后的事，他还能说得起话吗？他的礼教的大防，不是要从他的小女儿这里打开缺口，一浪千里吗？他的权威和偁像岂不是都要垮塌下来，成为不值半文的一堆烂泥吗？……他的脑子以最高速度转了几个圏圏，接着他的眼睛向一周围转了一圈，最后落到中间那个捆着的被单上去，闪出凶光来,傳声音却小得几乎只有自己才听得到，“照老规矩办!”
“照老规矩办1照荖规矩办!”一片欢叫声。吴老太爷被那两个秋二扶着回去,几乎连步子都踩不稳了，偏偏倒倒的。
第二幕戏的演出在下午。照上一次的老规矩，三牲八品抬到吴氏祠堂里去，捆着一对“奸夫淫妇”（靑年们却不这么叫，是真正情投意合的好一对呀）抬到祠堂石坝上。合族的家长都来了，行礼如仪，念了告祖宗的祭文，宣告了惩办这一对男女的办法:沉河！
仪式完成，只等昊老太爷宣布，抬这对男女到大河边的船上去,等候半夜子时，绑上磨墩沉河了。但是吴老太爷颤巍巍地站在那里不动，他忽然宣布：
“抬回我家的堂屋去，我先要拿他们来家祭，晚上再抬到大河船上来。”
大家为这个意外的宣布吃惊，但是道理却是光明正大的,先抬回他家去，拿他们去办家祭嘛。于是第三幕戏的演出以前，插进了一幕过场戏。这对男女被抬进旲大老爷公馆里的堂屋去了，除了吴老太爷，两个秋二和长工青年，自然谁也无权跟着去肴热闹。炅老太爷叫关起门来搞家祭。
一等大门关了，吴老太爷麽蹭到天黑都没有搞什么家祭。除开家里人，连长工也无权踏进他的堂屋了。
到底要捣什么鬼？长工宵年们在议论，谁也猜不透。的确，吴老太爷的脑子的运转速度不是一般人能够踉得上的，脑子里转一圈便是一个主意，何况他今天在祠堂里脑子已经转了好几个阁阇了。
他偷偷把两个秋二叫来，如此这般吩咐一阵，叫他们轻手轻脚地从后门出去了。临出门时他再嘱咐：“就说我有急事请她来。”接着他又悄悄说：“把贱人关在黑屋里。装进袋子去的吋候把两个人的嘴巴都塞上棉花。”
到了晚上二更过后，吴老太爷宣布家祭已经祭完，叫把两个捆在被单里的贱人抬到人河船上去，准备沉河。愿意来看热闹的人们都只能站在毋上，不准上船。今天吴老太爷却说他要亲自去船上坐镇，看来比上“次还要严重些，上一次他站在岸上，听到扑通一声，把人丢进大河，便回家了。
―切准备停当，只等半夜子时一刻，这最后一幕压轴戏就要演出了。船上的和岸上看热闹的人都耐心地等着。长工吴二王三几个人是执行沉河的人，却并没裔消停，把磨墩捆在被单包上，偷偷地把被单包上捆的绳子松开来，打成活扣，对磨墩也是一样。他们已经有两个人从舵后边下了水，吊在舵上，只等球沉河的人一下水，游到他们身边，便托着游走，到下边不远等着的小船边去托上小船,便万事大吉，但是今晚上可怪，吴老太爷不仅上了大船，而迀叫那两个秋二也在左右抉着他。吴二很担心，如果他要亲自来检查那被包绳，一提就会散包，磨墩也会分家了。这样就会现了相，一切计谋都会破灭了。What to do?虽然他们还可以等吴老太爷检查了，重新捆好，在放下水时，拉住活扣，叫磨墩不致于吊住被单包沉底。伹是就怕吴老太爷叫那两个秋二来掉包和捆磨墩，他们就做不了手脚了。这就坏了。吴二失悔没有把这个关节考虑好，现在很被动了。
吴二王三他们不希望出现的事情,偏偏出现了。吴老太爷很当一回事地走到船板边，对吴二说,“时辰快到了，把捆的绳子都弄好。”然后对那一对捆着的男女说：
“你们记着，明年今天，是你们的周年祭日，我到河边来给你们烧纸，给你们做逍场，莫要怨我。”
吴老太爷忽然对一个秋二说：“你去看看,捆好投有?”吴二的脑子里嗡的一声，坏了,这是经不起检查的呀。他迅速控住活扣，准备只让秋二检查其它的绳子捆得怎样。那个秋二正走到船板上来，还没有低下头去看,忽然“莫忙，莫忙，等到我……”一个女人的声咅。尬呼夭抢地地向河岸奔来，后面跟了一大路人。站在岸边看热阔的，都回过头去,看发生了什么审情。一看，叫大家都惊呆了，米的女人不是别人，正是吴老太爷的幺女吴永洁呀。这是怎么一凹事？她不是已经被捆在船上的那个被单包里准备沉河了吗？怎么忽然又从岸上喊叫着扑到船边来了呢？莫非是她的冤魂出了壳，显灵来了。在这半夜三更里，听起来也实在怕人得很呀。大家都恐惧地给这女人让开一条路。
这个女人奔到船边，还在大喊：“莫忙，莫忙沉河，等我上来。”现在看得比较清楚了，正是吴老太爷的幺小姐吴永洁。这是怎么摘的?吴二和王三几个青年都看傻了。
吴永洁十分敏捷地跑过大船的跳板，到船板上来，一下扑到被单包上，对吴老太爷跪了下来，哭着哀告：“爸爸呀，你放我跟着他一块去吧，我愿意和他一起去死！爸笆呀。”她人哭了起
这件事真是出乎大家的意外，都在岸边喧嚷了起来，连吴老太爷也感到意外了，虽然他的意外和别人的意外是不相同的。他的惫外蛊他想。”这个傻女子，我用掉包办法救了你，你不在家里待着,早不来，迟不来，偏偏在这个节骨眼上胞来,往鬼门关里挤干啥,
吴老太爷的确没有想到,这女子是这样的痴情。夭黑以后，把她从被单包里拖出来，关进黑屋里，吴老太爷满心以为她的命被爸爸救了出来，会偷偷地藏在黑屋里不动，等他在河边办完了沉河的仪式，回来放她出来，连夜连晚送出吴家大湾，上省城去过日子，谁知道这个女子偏不领情，却在黑屋里又打又闹，终于把门撞开，跌跌撞撞地跑到大河边来，就是要和她的情人一块去死。你说这还有什么办法？
“践骨头，你硬是要找死呀？”吴老太爷气得不得了。“我愿意死，我愿意跟他去死……爸爸……”吴永洁死死哀求，又哭又闹,并且用手去撕那被单布，想钻进去的样子。
吴二和王三明白了，原来是吴老太爷在家里掉了包了。那么，这包里边是啥子人呢？为什么一点也不出声音？他们还一直以为里面包的是那位吴少爷和吴永洁这一对呢。他们两个知道一下水就会得救，从此远走高飞，过快活0子去，所以现在包在里边一直不出声音。现在包的是什么人？为什么就要拿去沉河了，还一声也不叫？吴二把活扣一拉，被单包就散开了。哬，那两个人都满嘴塞着棉花，根本叫不出声来。吴二把他们嘴里的棉花扯了出来,那位旲少爷一下就把吴永洁拉住了：永洁。 "
“啊，我们一起死去吧。”吴永洁一把搂住自己的情人，再也不放手，呜呜地哭了起来。
从包里出来的另一个人，吴二王三一看,哬，原来是才给她立了贞节牌坊的吴王氏这个老太婆。这是谁也想不到的事。
这个吴王氏并不显得激动，倒是十分冷淡的样子。吴金太爷见吴王氏被放出包来，扯去了口里的棉花，他下意识地把身子往后一缩，怕吴王氏来抓扯他。这老太笼却没有上前去抓扯，反倒很随便的样子，冷冷地说，“你叫人来叫我去，说有要紧事要商量，我来了，你却不见，倒叫人把我抓起来，嘴里塞满棉花，不分青红皂白，估倒把我和这男人捆在一起，捆进被单包里。原来你是要我来给你的么小姐当替死鬼呀。我一直在盘算，我就是死了，变成鬼了，也要來找你，算清今天这一笔帐以后，还要算清过去的那笔帐。没有想到，我活着就能和你算帐，哈咍哈哈!”
这个老太婆开心地笑了起來，笑得那样的可怕，叫人听起来感到毛骨悚然。
吴老太爷简直吓得发了昏，簌簌地直见发抖。他没有想到今晚上在这么多人的面前，在女儿的面前，受到公众的审判，法官便是他的年轻时代的相好女人，不久前还为她立了贞节脾坊的女人吴王氏。他一句话也说不出来，跌坐在船板上。
吴王氏还是那么冷静，象检察官在读起诉书一般。她说：“你满口的仁义道德，一肚子的男盗女娼。你不久前才把一对相好的青年沉了河。你现在又想把这个青年，你的女儿的情人，还搭上我，拿来沉河。你想一箭双雕，又救了你的女儿，又害死我，灭了我的口。谁晓得青夭开了眼，硬是不饶你这种恶人，鬼使祌差，叫你的女儿跑出来救了我。”
这个老太婆停下，喘了一口气，向禺暗的天空望了一眼，用手合掌祷告的样子，又继续她的控诉：“你现在还想照你的老规矩，把这一对相好的青年沉河吗？那好呀。不过，你没有沉他们以前，先把你自己沉了河，把我和你捆在一起沉了河再说吧。哼,你以为给我修了贞节牌坊，你就把你的罪孽冼刷干净了？老天有眼,牌坊修不起来，掉了石头。我只好做一个象你的纸人拿去烧了。”
她用手趵大家一扬3愤慨地说：“你们都听到，都来作证，我背去烧的纸人就是他，吴廷臣大少爷。诙沉河的是他和我，你们把我们两个捆起来沉河吧，我甘心陪他去见阎王，到那里打官司去1你们来呀,来捆呀。”
她的这一席话,把大家都听得呆了。一个人也没有出声音，只听到夜风在呼呼地吹，大河的水在咆哮着滚滚流去。还有吴永洁抱住她的情人的饮泣声。
吴王氏突然竭尽她的力气呼喊一“你们来把我们捆起来吧，沉河！哈哈哈哈,沉河！”大家没有动静，担心着，天是不是要塌下来，地会不会陷下去，大河会不会倒流。
吴王氏站起来动手去扯吴老太爷，叫，“我们一起去死吧。在这阳世间打官司我打不蠃你，到阎王那里和你打官司去吧。”吴老太爷木然不动，似乎也不害怕吴王氏来扯他去跳水了。钽足他忽然感到血往汄顶上一涌，一下昏倒了，再也不醒人事。
故事摆到这里算完了，下面的事无须多说了。What?你们问那个吴老太爷怎么样了？我后来听说他被人抬回家里去，就犯了癲症，一天胡言乱语，总说那一对青年男女，王三拐和吴永芳来找他来了，他到处乱藏乱躲，碰得头破血流。过不多久，他一病不起，鸣呼哀哉了。
你们还要问旲永洁后来怎么样了吗？还要问那个吴王氏后来怎么样了吗？
我先说吴王氏。她回去以后，要求推倒她的贞节牌坊，可凫谁也不愿意把一个好好的工程推倒，她亲自拿棍子去打，拿刀去砍，也只砍出几道小口子，贞节牌坊还是岿然不动。她在那里向大家宜传，再不要守节了，寡妇的日子是最痛苦不过的日子。后来听说她吃斋念佛去了,说退要赎取自己的罪孽。
说到吴永洁和她的情人，那一对靑年，就没有什么好说的了，他们在大家同意之下，结了婚了，不久他们都上费城去了。以后在哪里千什么，我也说不清了