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Story 84: Strange Marriage Folktales

Strange Marriage (奇婚记)

Author: Anonymous

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, there was a poor scholar named Jiang Wen in Shangyu County, Zhejiang Province. He was very talented and could write good articles. That day, Ma Xing, the son of a local silk shop owner, invited him to go boating on the East China Sea, but he hesitated and refused to agree. Because he will go to Beijing to participate in the competition next year, he will not have the time or thought to go sightseeing.

Besides, Ma Xing is a rich man who idles around all day instead of doing his job, so he doesn’t want to be with him. Seeing that he was not happy, Ma Xing said, “How about you play with me for a few days and I’ll give you five taels of silver to make money?”

Jiang Wensheng’s heart moved: his widowed mother has been bedridden for more than three months because she has no money for medical treatment. Coming heavier. With these five taels of silver, he could seek medical treatment for his mother, so he nodded and agreed.

The two of them took a small boat down the Cao’e River and entered Hangzhou Bay. When they arrived at the East China Sea, a big storm suddenly broke out. The boat bumped along with the waves and the wind, making the two of them dizzy and unable to distinguish between east, west, north and south.

Following the wind and waves, the boat drifted to an isolated island. The two of them landed on the island and saw the peach blossoms everywhere, the birds chirping and the fragrant wind blowing against their faces, making people feel like they were in a fairyland. As they walked through the peach grove, they suddenly saw dozens of sedan chairs flying in like colorful butterflies. In each sedan chair sat a young woman.

These women vary in beauty and ugliness, but they are all dressed up. The woman sitting in the sedan chair at the front was extremely ugly: she had a concave face, cross-eyed eyes, a lion nose, and gaping lips.

Her hair was as sparse as thatched with frost. In order to cover up her ugliness, the ugly girl deliberately waved her handkerchief and waved her sleeves to pretend to be charming. The ugly girl with bead rings and jade pendants all over her body must be a rich girl.

Behind a row of sedans were a group of poor women wearing no makeup and wearing coarse clothes. Although the woman walking at the end is wearing a coarse red dress, her appearance is as beautiful as a flower and as beautiful as a fairy.

Jiang Wensheng and Ma Xing couldn’t help but follow him with their eyes wide open. After a while, they came to a government office and all the women went inside.

Jiang Wensheng and Ma Xing were confused and asked the local people what happened. A middle-aged woman told them: This is called Taoyao Village. Every year in March, when the peach blossoms are in full bloom, the girls who are waiting for marriage have to go to the Yamen to let the local officials determine the grades according to their beauty and ugliness; and unmarried men are also allowed to pass the exam.

The rankings were based on literary talent; then the local officials made the decision to pair up men and women based on their beauty and ugliness. The couples of class A and class B will be paired up in order of ranking and get married on the isolated island on the same day.

The kind-hearted middle-aged woman also said: “If you two gentlemen are not married yet, why don’t you give it a try? Today is the registration of women and tomorrow the men’s exam will be taken.” She also encouraged Jiang Wensheng to stay at the inn and take the exam tomorrow.

Jiang Wensheng was secretly happy. He thought that he would definitely get the first place in the exam because of his outstanding literary talent and rich knowledge. That fairy-like girl will definitely ration him… Thinking of this, he agreed to take the exam.

At night, Ma Xing tossed and turned and couldn’t sleep. He thought that he would not be able to marry a beautiful woman because he was ignorant and could not pass the examination. He had to think of some tricks. But what should you do if you’re on an isolated island and you’re not familiar with the place? Jiang Wensheng was confident and soon fell asleep. The next day the two entered the examination room together.

Jiang Wensheng wrote a wonderful article in one breath. Ma Xing bit his pen, scratched his ears, and cheeks and picked his nose. When it was time to hand in the paper, Ma Xing had no choice but to scribble some crooked words and shamelessly hand in the paper.

As soon as the two returned to the inn, someone came to reveal the examiner’s hint: “Whoever gives out three hundred copper coins will definitely win the first place.” When Jiang Wensheng heard this, he was furious: “Bah, I didn’t expect that the marriage examination room would be like this.

Dirty, I would rather marry an ugly girl than take money.” The man walked out the door dejectedly, and Ma Xing hurriedly followed. The two of them muttered outside the door for a long time, and then Ma Xing looked happy when he returned to the house.

After the rankings were released, Ma Xing actually won the first place. Jiang Wensheng never dreamed that he would be ranked last. It’s time for that ugly girl to be given to him. Thinking of that ugly woman’s “honorable appearance” Jiang Wensheng felt as if she had swallowed a fly and was so sick that she felt like vomiting.

Jiang Wensheng discussed with Ma Xing to escape from the place of right and wrong as soon as possible. Ma Xing sneered together: “You fox who can’t eat the grapes wants me to give up that fairy beauty, which is impossible.” Ma Xing refused to unmoor the ship and set off, so Jiang Wensheng had to hide in the peach forest.

The yamen officers searched the whole island and caught Jiang Wensheng and warned him: “Since you signed up to take the exam, you must obey the marriage arranged by the yamen. If you dare to disobey, you will be imprisoned for life.” On the third day, the local officials matched up and married in turn: Ma Xing was the first A general is matched with the most beautiful woman; Jiang Wensheng is the last one and must marry the ugliest girl.

All the couples got married that night, but Jiang Wensheng had no choice but to enter the bridal chamber. When he saw the bride sitting on the bed, he closed his eyes and took off the hijab. But when he opened his eyes, he was shocked. It turned out that the bride was the beautiful woman wearing coarse cloth and red clothes that day. Under the flickering candlelight, the woman was even more charming. Jiang Wensheng suspected that he felt pain when biting his fingers in his dream.

But I thought it was impossible. Could it be that the officials were mismatched? The bride was filled with joy when she saw that her husband was so charming and elegant. Seeing the groom’s surprise, she revealed the truth: “I was originally ranked first, but because my family was poor, the examiner sent someone to ask for 300 yuan of congratulatory money, so I was kicked out. He had a grudge and ranked me last.” name.”

Jiang Wensheng looked up to the sky and smiled and said: “This is really a misfortune. Blessings depend on blessings. Misfortune lies behind. If I had paid for the first place, we would not be worthy of each other.” The bride also sighed: “Yes. Ah, many things in this world are reversed in black and white.

Even Taoyao Village, which is far away from the hustle and bustle of the world, is no exception, but people who are upright, kind and law-abiding will always be happy in the end.” The talented man and the beautiful woman on the wedding night. They talked affectionately all night.

The next day Jiang Wensheng went to Ma Xing to discuss returning home. When he arrived at the door of Ma Xing’s bridal chamber, he saw Ma Xing holding his chin in his hand and staring blankly at the peach blossoms in front of the door. Jiang Wensheng shouted Ma Xing three times in a row before he woke up from a dream. It turned out that Ma Xing’s bride walked into the bridal chamber last night surrounded by a group of maids. Ma Xing couldn’t wait to lift the bride’s hijab and was so frightened that he almost lost his breath.

It turns out that his bride is the ugly girl with a big mouth. He hurriedly went to the matchmaking official to ask if he had made a mistake. The official said that it was true that the ugly girl bought the first place with money just like Ma Xing. But she spent more money. She spent a thousand taels of silver to buy the first beauty ranking. It is only natural that the number one male will match the number one female.

When Ma Xing learned that Jiang Wensheng was marrying the commoner beauty he saw that day, he was so angry that he fainted and fell to the ground. When he woke up, he looked up to the sky and laughed loudly.

Then he threw the money he carried into the sea: “This stinky money can’t accomplish anything.” What’s the use of keeping things alive.” Ma Xing went crazy and ran around Taoyao Village barefoot, shouting: “You stinky money – you hurt me -” Later, Jiang Wensheng and his wife rowed a boat to send him away. Back to my hometown.

The following year, Jiang Wensheng won the first prize in the Beijing Competition and won the first prize. When the prime minister of the dynasty wanted to betroth his only daughter to him, Jiang Wensheng told him the truth: “It is difficult for a wife with a bad family to obey her orders.”

Soon after the emperor saw that he was talented and virtuous, he sent him to be the governor of eight provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.