Original Text
Yao An was a man from Lintao, blessed with handsome features and an elegant demeanor. In the same village lived a man named Gong, who had a daughter called Lü'e, a woman of great beauty who was literate and well-read, and who had long been seeking a suitable husband without yet marrying. Her mother once said to others, "Only if a man's family standing and appearance match those of Yao An will I give my daughter to him in marriage." Upon hearing this, Yao An tricked his wife into looking into a well to see what was there, then pushed her in and drowned her, after which he married Lü'e. The two were deeply in love, but because Lü'e was so exceedingly beautiful, Yao An grew distrustful; he kept the doors locked and guarded her constantly, never leaving her side. When Lü'e wished to visit her parents' home, Yao An would spread his robe wide with both hands, covering her as she went out, and after she entered the sedan chair, he would draw the curtain and mark it, then follow behind the sedan all the way to her family's house. There he would stay for one night before urging her to return with him. Lü'e was greatly displeased and said angrily, "If I were to have an assignation with another man, how could these petty tricks of yours restrain me?" Whenever Yao An had to go out on business, he would lock Lü'e inside the house. This made her even more resentful, and after he left, she deliberately placed a key outside the door to arouse his suspicion. When Yao An saw the key, he flew into a rage and demanded to know where it had come from. Lü'e replied indignantly, "I do not know!" This only deepened his suspicion, and he guarded her even more strictly.
One day, Yao An returned from outside and eavesdropped at the door for a long time before unlocking it and pushing it open, then, fearing any noise, he crept inside. There he saw a man wearing a sable cap lying on the bed; in a fury, he seized a knife, rushed to the bedside, and struck him dead. Drawing closer, he realized it was Green E, who, fearing the cold while napping in the daytime, had covered her face with the sable cap. Yao An was seized with panic, stamped his feet in bitter regret. Green E's father, enraged, brought a lawsuit against Yao An to the authorities. The officials arrested Yao An, stripped him, and subjected him to severe torture. The Yao family was utterly ruined, spending a fortune to bribe every official from top to bottom, barely escaping with his life. From then on, his spirit was unsettled, as if he had lost something. One day, while sitting alone, he saw Green E and a bearded man embracing intimately on the bed; filled with disgust, he grabbed a knife and rushed over, but the figures on the bed vanished. He sat down again, only to see the two embracing once more; in a rage, he slashed at the bed with his knife, cutting through the mat and the mattress. Then, in fury, he stood by the bed with his knife, waiting, and saw Green E standing before him, smiling at him; he struck at once, severing her head. After he sat down, Green E still stood by the bed, still smiling at him. When the lamp was extinguished at night, he heard the sounds of Green E and a man engaged in lewd play, their words too filthy to utter. This happened every day, until Yao An could bear it no longer; he sold his fields and house, planning to move elsewhere. That very night, a thief burrowed through the wall, entered the room, and stole all of Yao An's money. From then on, Yao An was left without even a foothold of land, and died of rage. The villagers gave him a hasty burial.
The Chronicler of the Strange remarks: To delight in the new and slay the old is indeed too cruel! People only know that the new ghost is causing mischief, yet they do not realize it is the old ghost who has snatched away his soul. Alas! To cut down one's toes to fit the shoes—if not death, what else awaits!
Commentary
Yao An killed his wife and remarried, but subsequently developed groundless suspicions toward his new wife, Green E, and murdered her as well. Afterward, he inexplicably kept seeing the slain Green E engaging in intimate acts with others on the bed, until he finally died of rage and resentment. In this process, Dan Minglun offered a penetrating analysis, saying: "The old ghost (referring to Yao An's original wife) avenged herself by deceiving him, causing him to kill his own wife and ruin his estate. The new ghost (referring to the remarried Green E) further exploited his suspicions to deceive him, making him daily witness lewd scenes and nightly hear sounds of debauchery, until he could no longer bear it and died of fury—truly a case of 'inviting someone into one's own trap.'" Pu Songling regarded it as retribution, remarking, "How could he not perish!" While Yao An's murder of his wife and remarriage was indeed despicable, from a modern perspective, everything that followed resembles a psychopathological phenomenon—namely, groundless obsessive-compulsive disorder and auditory-visual hallucinations.