Original Text
Marquis Xue Lu of Yangwu was a native of Xue Family Island in Jiaozhou. His father, Old Xue, was the poorest man on the island and worked as a cowherd for a local squire. The squire owned a piece of wasteland where Old Xue grazed his cattle, and he often saw snakes and rabbits fighting among the weeds there. Believing the place to be extraordinary, he begged the squire to grant him the land as a homestead, where he built a thatched hut and settled down. Several years later, when Old Madam Xue was about to give birth, a sudden heavy rainstorm arrived. By chance, two military commanders, dispatched to inspect coastal defenses, passed by and took shelter from the rain at the door. They saw crows descending from the roof, vying to cover the leaking spots with their wings, and found this most peculiar. Soon after, Old Xue came out of the house, and the commanders asked, "What was happening inside just now?" Old Xue told them that a child was being born. They inquired whether it was a boy or a girl, and Old Xue replied, "A boy." The commanders grew even more astonished and said, "This child must be of great nobility! Otherwise, why would two commanders be guarding his door?" They sighed, rose, and departed.
When Xue Lu grew up, his face was always grimy, his nose ran with clear mucus, and he was far from intelligent. The Xue family on Xue Island were registered under military service, and that year the Xue family head was required to send one male to garrison Liaoyang, which greatly worried his eldest brother. At that time, Xue Lu was eighteen years old, and everyone considered him too foolish to take a wife. Suddenly, Xue Lu spoke to his brother on his own initiative, saying, "Elder Brother, you are muttering to yourself—is it because there is no one to serve as a soldier?" The brother replied, "Yes." Xue Lu smiled and said, "If Elder Brother is willing to give me the maidservant as a wife, I will undertake this duty." The elder brother was overjoyed and immediately betrothed the maidservant to Xue Lu, who then set off with his wife for the garrison. They had traveled only a few dozen li when a sudden rainstorm broke out. By the roadside stood a steep cliff, and Xue Lu and his wife took shelter beneath it. Soon the rain ceased, and they resumed their journey. They had taken only a few steps when the cliff collapsed. The local villagers, watching from afar, saw two tigers leap out from the cliff, approach the couple, and vanish without a trace. From that moment, Xue Lu became extraordinarily brave and vigorous, suddenly acquiring an uncommon demeanor. Later, through military merit, he was granted the hereditary title of Marquis of Yangwu.
By the time of the Tianqi and Chongzhen reigns, a certain hereditary marquis passed away without a son, leaving only a posthumous child, so a collateral branch was temporarily allowed to inherit the title. According to the regulations of that time, whenever a concubine of a hereditary noble household became pregnant, it was to be immediately reported to the emperor, and the authorities would assign an elderly woman to accompany and guard the expectant mother until after the birth. Over a year later, the lady gave birth to a daughter, but her abdomen continued to tremble after delivery; after fifteen years, during which several elderly women were rotated to attend and guard her, she finally gave birth to a son. This son was entitled to inherit the title by direct lineage, but the collateral branch raised a clamorous objection, claiming that the boy was not of the Xue lineage. The authorities arrested several of the elderly women who had attended the lady, subjected them to all manner of brutal torture, yet they yielded no differing accounts. Thus the boy's title was finally confirmed.
Commentary
This tale recounts the birth, military service, and hereditary succession of the Marquis of Yangwu, all of which are absurd and unfounded, yet they possess a rather broad folk foundation. In ancient times, whenever a great official emerged from a family, it was often linked to the geomantic feng shui of their ancestral graves. The birth of such officials was also frequently accompanied by strange omens, as when the Marquis of Yangwu was born, "crows and magpies gathered on the roof, vying to cover the leaking spots with their wings," which clearly echoes the account in the "Book of Songs, 'Birth of the People'" where, at the birth of Hou Ji, "birds covered him with their wings."
The story of Marquis Yangwu Xue Lu is also briefly recorded in Wang Yuyang's "Chibei Outan, Tan Si": "Xue Lu, the Duke of Zhongwu of Yin State in the Ming Dynasty, was a native of Jiaozhou. His father lived on an island and herded sheep for others. He often heard the sounds of drums and music emerging from the ground at the grazing site, and he took note of it. He told his sons, including the future Duke of Zhongwu, 'When I die, bury me here.' Later, as he had instructed, he was buried there. Subsequently, when troops were conscripted for Beiping, his elder brother refused to go, but the young Duke of Zhongwu volunteered. He later joined the campaign to pacify the rebellion, accumulated merit to become a Grand General, was enfeoffed as Marquis Yangwu, and posthumously honored as Duke of Yin. The place is still called Xue Family Island to this day."
In comparison with Wang Yuyang's records, it is evident that Pu Songling's narrative possesses a more folkloric flavor and novelistic hue, focusing on the strange and romantic aspects of the tale, whereas Wang Yuyang's account bears the value of history and the essence of "discussing offerings."