Original Text
Li Jiuchang was a native of Linqu. Once, while drinking alone in the wilds with his own wine vessels, he saw a whirlwind sweeping past and respectfully sprinkled wine on the ground as an offering. Later, when he went out on business, he noticed a grand mansion by the roadside, with magnificent halls and towering pavilions. A servant came out from the mansion and invited him inside. He repeatedly declined, but the servant blocked his way and insisted he enter. Li said, "We are strangers; perhaps you have mistaken me for someone else?" The servant replied, "I have made no mistake," and then spoke Li's name. Li asked, "Whose residence is this?" The servant answered, "You will know once you enter." Li passed through the main gate and a second gate, where he saw a woman with her hands and feet nailed to the door. Drawing closer, he recognized his own sister-in-law and was greatly terrified. Li had a sister-in-law who had suffered from a malignant sore on her arm for over a year and could not leave her bed. He wondered how she could be here, then suspected that the invitation might be malicious, so he halted, hesitating. Urged on by the servant, he finally entered. Before the main hall, he saw a figure seated like a king, with a stern and fierce demeanor. Li knelt prostrate, not daring to look up. The king ordered him to rise and comforted him, saying, "Do not be afraid. Because I once partook of your wine, I wished to meet you and thank you in person; there is no other reason." Only then did Li calm down, though he still did not understand the cause. The king continued, "Do you not recall offering wine in the fields?" Li suddenly realized this was the King of Hell, so he kowtowed and said, "Just now I saw my sister-in-law suffering such harsh punishment; out of family affection, my heart is truly distressed. I beg Your Majesty to have mercy and pardon her!" The king said, "This woman is extremely stubborn and jealous, deserving this punishment. Three years ago, when your brother's concubine gave birth and her rectum prolapsed, she secretly stuck a needle into it, causing the concubine to suffer constant abdominal pain to this day. Where is her humanity?" Li pleaded repeatedly, and the king finally said, "For your sake, I will pardon her. When you return, you must urge this shrew to reform." Li thanked the king and left the hall; the woman nailed to the door had vanished.
After Li Jiuchang returned home, he went to see his sister-in-law, who was lying in bed with a festering wound that bled, staining the mat red. At that moment, because the concubine had defied her will, the sister-in-law was cursing loudly. Li Jiuchang quickly tried to dissuade her, saying, "Sister-in-law, please stop! Your suffering today is all caused by your usual jealousy." The sister-in-law angrily retorted, "What a fine man you are, little brother! Your own wife is as virtuous as Meng Guang, letting you sleep wherever you please without a word of complaint. Naturally, you wield great authority as a husband, but that doesn't mean you can come here to subdue me on behalf of your brother!" Li Jiuchang smiled faintly and said, "Sister-in-law, don't be angry. If I tell you the truth, I fear you'll be too distressed even to weep." The sister-in-law replied, "I've never stolen a thread from the Queen Mother of the West's sewing basket, nor have I exchanged flirtatious glances with the Jade Emperor's incense-table clerk. My conscience is clear—what reason have I to weep?" Li Jiuchang lowered his voice and asked, "What crime is it to stick a needle into someone else's intestines?" The sister-in-law's face suddenly changed color, and she demanded to know the basis for his words. Li Jiuchang then explained the whole matter. The sister-in-law trembled uncontrollably with fear, wept profusely with tears and mucus streaming down, and wailed, "I dare not do such a thing again!" Before her tears had dried, she felt the pain vanish instantly, and after ten days, the wound healed. From then on, the sister-in-law thoroughly reformed her ways and came to be praised for her virtue. Later, when the concubine gave birth again, her intestines prolapsed once more, and the needle was clearly seen piercing them. After the needle was removed, the concubine's abdominal pain finally ceased completely.
The Chronicler of the Strange remarks: Some say that there are indeed not a few in the world who are as overbearing and jealous as Li Jiuchang's sister-in-law, but it is a pity that the net of justice in the underworld is too wide-meshed and often lets them slip through. I, however, hold that this is not the case. The punishments in the underworld are not necessarily lighter than being nailed to a door plank; it is merely that no one has been sent back to the world of the living to report them.
Commentary
As for the story itself, it is but a cliché that uses the karmic retribution of illness to admonish women against jealousy and shrewishness, yet its narration and description are quite exquisite. The shrewish and jealous behavior of Li Jiuchang's sister-in-law is something he hears about in the court of King Yanluo, making it difficult for him to verify in daily life, nor does the story pause to recount it separately. However, the tale chooses the moment when Li Jiuchang sees his sister-in-law, just as she is cursing her concubine, and through a few brief words of admonition, vividly paints her usual fierce and jealous nature. "If a young brother is such a fine man, and his wife at home is as virtuous as Lady Meng, letting him sleep east and west without a word, it must be that the young brother has great authority, but he cannot replace his elder brother in subduing the old hag!" "I have never stolen a thread from the Queen Mother's basket, nor blinked at the Jade Emperor's incense-bearer; my heart is open and clear, why should I weep!" Truly, one can hear her voice and see her person!