Original Text
A certain Yang of Teng County joined the White Lotus Sect and learned some heretical sorcery. After the sect leader Xu Hongru was executed, Yang narrowly escaped and wandered about relying on his magical arts. He possessed fields, gardens, and towers, living in considerable wealth. Once, Yang visited a gentleman's home in Sishang to perform magic tricks, and the women of the household came out to watch. Seeing the gentleman's daughter was very beautiful, he returned home and plotted to abduct her using his sorcery. Yang's second wife, Zhu, was also somewhat attractive, so he dressed her in splendid garments, made her up as a fairy, gave her a wooden bird, taught her the technique of operating it, and then pushed her off the rooftop. Zhu felt as light as a leaf, drifting and floating on clouds. Soon she arrived at a place where the clouds stopped, and she knew she had reached her destination. That night, the moonlight was bright and the air clear; looking down, everything was visible. Zhu cast the wooden bird downward; it flapped its wings and flew straight into the young lady's boudoir. The lady, seeing a colorful bird enter, called for her maid to catch it, but the bird had already darted past the curtain. As she pursued it, the bird landed on the ground, fluttering its wings; when she approached, it leaped under her skirt, and in a trice, the bird carried her aloft, soaring into the sky. The maid screamed, and Zhu called out from the clouds, "Mortals below, fear not! I am the Moon Goddess Chang'e. Your young lady is the Ninth Daughter of the Queen Mother of the West, accidentally banished to the mortal realm. The Queen Mother yearns for her day and night and has now summoned her back for a reunion; she will soon be returned." With these words, she flew side by side with the lady. As they reached the Sishui border, they chanced upon someone setting off firecrackers; a spark shot up from below, striking the bird's wing. The bird startled and fell, dragging Zhu down with it, and they landed in the courtyard of a scholar.
Scholar Xing Ziyi, though destitute, was a man of upright character. A neighbor's wife once came to his house at night, seeking to seduce him, but he refused her. She left in resentment and slandered him to her husband, falsely claiming that Xing had made advances toward her. Her husband, a scoundrel by nature, began to curse and revile Xing at his door morning and evening. Unable to bear it, Xing sold his land and moved to another village. There was a fortune-teller named Gu who was skilled in discerning a person's fortune and lifespan. Xing visited him. Gu laughed upon seeing him and said, "You possess a fortune of ten thousand strings of cash, yet you come before me in a tattered cotton coat? Do you take me for a man without eyes?" Xing dismissed his words as nonsense. Gu examined him more closely and said, "Indeed. Though you are still poor now, you are not far from wealth." Xing still thought he was speaking idly. Gu added, "Not only will you gain great wealth, but you will also obtain a beautiful woman." Xing remained unconvinced. Gu pushed him out, saying, "Go, go. When it comes to pass, come back and thank me with a reward." That night, as Xing sat alone under the moonlight, two women suddenly descended from the sky. They were both beauties. Suspecting they were spirits, he questioned them. At first, they refused to speak. Xing threatened to tell the entire village. One of them, named Zhu, grew fearful and confessed the truth, begging him not to reveal it and offering to stay with him. Xing considered that the daughter of a wealthy family was different from the wife of a sorcerer, so he sent word to her family. The girl's parents, who had been weeping and distraught day and night since her disappearance, were overjoyed to receive the letter bearing news of their daughter. They immediately ordered a carriage and traveled through the night to fetch her. They rewarded Xing with a hundred taels of silver and took their daughter home.
Xing Ziyi, having obtained a beautiful wife, was troubled by his family's poverty, but upon receiving a hundred taels of silver, he felt greatly relieved. He went to thank Gu, who examined him closely again and said, "Your good fortune has not yet fully arrived. Since it has already come upon you, what are a hundred taels of silver worth?" Thus, he refused the reward. Previously, the gentleman had returned home and reported the matter to the authorities, requesting the arrest of Yang. Yang had already fled to an unknown place, so his home was confiscated, and a warrant was issued for the capture of Zhu. Zhu, terrified, clung to Xing Ziyi and wept. Xing Ziyi could think of no good plan, so he temporarily bribed the officers holding the warrant, then hired a carriage to take Zhu to see the gentleman, begging him for help to escape the predicament. The gentleman, moved by Xing Ziyi's righteousness, exerted himself to intercede and plan, and ultimately managed to redeem the offense with money. The gentleman then kept Xing Ziyi and his wife in a separate residence, and the two families became as close as relatives. The gentleman's daughter had been betrothed in childhood to the Liu family, who were high officials; hearing that the young lady had stayed two nights at Xing's home, they considered it a disgrace, returned the betrothal contract, and severed the engagement. The gentleman prepared to find another match for his daughter, but the young lady told her parents she vowed to marry Xing Ziyi. Xing Ziyi, hearing this, was overjoyed, and Zhu was also pleased, willingly offering to be a concubine. The gentleman worried that Xing Ziyi had no home; at that time, Yang's house was being auctioned by the authorities, so he bought it for him. Xing Ziyi and Zhu returned together to the newly purchased home, took out the silver previously obtained, hastily procured daily necessities, and bought maids and servants; within ten days, the money was spent. They only hoped that when the young lady arrived, they would receive further assistance from the gentleman. One evening, Zhu said to Xing Ziyi, "That wicked husband of mine, Yang, once buried a thousand taels of silver beneath the building; only I know of it. Just now I looked at the spot where the silver was buried; the bricks and stones were untouched, so perhaps the buried silver is still there." The two went together to dig, and indeed found the silver. Xing Ziyi then believed in the miraculous nature of Gu's fortune-telling and gave him a generous reward. Later, the gentleman's daughter also married him, bringing a rich dowry, and within a few years, Xing Ziyi became the wealthiest man in the city.
The Chronicler of the Strange remarks: When the White Lotus Sect was suppressed, only a certain Yang managed to escape death, and he continued his wicked deeds, almost making one believe that Heaven's net, though vast, had let a fish slip through. Who would have thought that Heaven spared him for the sake of Xing Ziyi? Otherwise, even if Xing Ziyi had turned misfortune into fortune and encountered good luck, how could he have built towers and amassed great wealth in such a short time? Because he rejected one beautiful woman, Heaven rewarded him with two. Alas! Though the Creator speaks not, His intentions can be known.
Commentary
This story uses the illusions of the White Lotus Sect as a prelude to recount how the scholar Xing Ziyi, who was "utterly destitute yet upright by nature," received Heaven's reward, not only gaining immense wealth but also, as it was said, "because he coveted not one beauty, Heaven repaid him with two." In Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, the White Lotus Sect is often linked with sorcery, reflecting the contemporary understanding of the sect. The plot in which a White Lotus follower named Yang conspires with his second wife, Zhu, to disguise her as a celestial maiden and abduct a young lady from a gentry family in the Si River region is detailed, romantic, and beautiful, showcasing Pu Songling's extraordinary imagination and masterful literary skill.
Fortune-telling by physiognomy is a customary device used in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio to link plots, and it seems Pu Songling himself placed considerable faith in it. Beyond this tale, such practice also appears in stories like Green Plum, Tian Qilang, Third Madam Feng, Ninth Madam Shao, Slender Willow, Fierce Cui, and Chen Yunqi.