Folklore and Stories - The Mystery of the Flood (Part 2)

(This story is compiled based on early folk oral legends)

(Introduction to the previous story: Sha Er rescued ants, bees and an eagle respectively during the escape. Suddenly Hearing someone calling for help, Sha Er hurriedly pulled the boat over, but suddenly remembered something and made him hesitate. )

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I shouted anxiously: What are you doing standing still? The silly second Taoist mother didn't know something. The Taoist priest once warned me not to save people during the escape. Once I rescued people, even greater disaster would befall me.

My mother said, it’s unreasonable! Human beings are the most important thing in life. As a human being, there is no reason not to save others!

Unable to disobey his mother’s fate, Sha Er threw a rope into the water. The man in the water held on to the rope. Sha Er pulled the rope and the man who fell into the water was saved.

The man who fell into the water got on the boat, and it was only then that Silly Er recognized him. He turned out to be the eldest son of the rich man's family.

The flood raged for seventy-seven forty-nine days before it gradually stabilized. Within a hundred miles, land and houses were flooded. The crowds of people fleeing are also like a surging torrent. People support the old and the young, complaining endlessly. No one knows the real cause of the flood.

The eldest son of a wealthy family was saved by Sha Er when his life was in danger. However, he was ungrateful and took Sha Er to court with a complaint. The charge was that he caused such trouble by spreading rumors. The government immediately arrested the stupid mother and son. In court, Sha Er argued that Xiao Er was not spreading rumors to cause trouble, but that Xiao Er accidentally met an expert and gave him advice, just to save everyone's lives. The lord of the government ordered Sha Er to find the Taoist priest. Where can I find it in the vast sea of ??people? Since there was no circumstantial evidence, the government officials immediately sentenced the mother and son to death and threw them into the dungeon.

Seeing that my mother was implicated in this, I was so stupid that I made a request to the governor, saying that my mother is old, how can she endure the darkness and dampness of the dungeon? I would like to have the water prison to myself in exchange for half a soft room for my mother. The Lord was horrified, so he spared the old man from being imprisoned, and asked the government officials to free up a side room with a bed for the old man.

When the lord of the government left the yamen, he saw countless men and women kneeling on the street to block the way. All the people tried their best to plead for the mother and son. People said that Sha Er had no evil intentions, but was actually thinking about the survival of his neighbors and worked day and night to build dozens of boats so that the people could survive. The government officials visited the case and felt that the case was very difficult, so they decided to escort the criminal to Beijing and hand it over to the emperor for disposal.

The yamen officer took the criminal out of prison. According to the criminal law, both mother and son had shackles on their necks and shackles on their feet. The idiot said that the mother was weak, how could she withstand the shackles? I am willing to wear two yoke and two locks on my own, so that my wife can feel relaxed. The governor was greatly surprised when he heard this, and agreed to reserve a carriage for the old man to ride on.

There is a flood in Jizhou. The emperor has received the report and is about to send people to investigate. Local officials have taken the perpetrators of the flood to the capital. The emperor decided to interrogate the case personally.

The interrogation site was located in the Babao Golden Palace. The emperor sat majestically on the royal throne, with civil and military personnel standing on both sides. The emperor's favorite princess in the harem, Nian Fang, was twenty-nine years old. After hearing about this, she came to watch the fun and hid among the civil and military officials.

In the golden palace, Sha Er1510 told the truth. Before the emperor expressed his position, the princess said: "Father, in my daughter's opinion, this person can only be pardoned but not killed." The poor man's brows are pure and kind, and he doesn't look like a liar. And he behaves upright, neither arrogant nor humble, although he is poor but not humble, although he is weak but not yielding, he is a gentleman. It is unheard of to be willing to wear double yoke and double locks for Gaotang!

The emperor is in a dilemma, how should we deal with this person? A minister in the court suggested: Your Majesty, why not let the poor man take a gamble? Let him decide whether to live or die. The minister whispered a few words to the emperor, and the emperor repeatedly praised it!

The king and his ministers decided to make a plan, asking the mother and son to pass three levels of gambling, guessing and gambling. If they pass all three levels, they will be pardoned. If you can't pass one level, kill!

First level, do it. The mother and son were locked in an empty room, with a pile of mixed beans and chestnuts consisting of soybeans, black beans, red beans and mung beans poured in the middle. The mother and son are asked to pick out the four kinds of beans before dawn, and then divide them into four piles. Four candles are provided. If these four candles are lit at the same time, they can burn for an hour. If one is burned out and another is lit, it can be used for dawn. Choose for yourself.

Someone will come to check at dawn. If you can't pass the next level after picking up, you will be killed!

Silly Er lights a candle and picks it up when he sits down. My mother stopped me and said, "Son, don't pick it up." There is a pile of miscellaneous beans, let alone one night, the two of them would not be able to pick it up in a month. Your Majesty is killing us! Why don't you and I take advantage of the last moment to talk for a while.

When disaster strikes, what can the two mothers say? As the candlelight flickered on and off, the mother and son were silent.

It was already midnight, and suddenly an ant crawled through the crack of the door. The ant circled around the bean pile. After a while, a large group of ants swarmed in, so densely packed that they could not count how many, maybe thousands. Ten thousand, maybe more than 100 million...

The ants are here to repay their favor. No matter how small or tight the house is, they cannot stop the ants. The little things have their own division of labor. Those who pick up soybeans pick up soybeans, and those who pick up black beans pick up black beans. The ants' petite bodies are good at holding bean pellets. Many ants are powerful. At half past four o'clock in the morning, there are four piles of red, yellow, green and black. Various bean grains are piled on the four sides in a conical shape, and there is no stray grain.

Before the fifth watch, the ants disappeared without a trace.

At dawn, the guards came to check. Seeing this, they hurriedly reported it to the emperor. The emperor was shocked: What a miracle! The princess said happily that her father kept his word. The mother and son had passed the first level. It was time for the second level, right?

The second level is gambling. Two candles are lit on the left and right corners of the eaves respectively. They are lit at dawn. When it gets dark, one of the two candles is burned and the other is blown out naturally. If the bet is successful, then proceed to the next level. If both candles burn, kill! Both teams are destroyed, kill!

This is a big joke! Candles were lit on the eaves during the day. There was a slight breeze and all the candles were extinguished. It was really lucky that there was no wind or rain on that day. Two candles could only burn at the same time. When it got dark, one would burn and the other would go out. How unreasonable! I cursed the emperor in my heart, just cut my mother and I into pieces to save trouble!

Next to the Yao Pond in the Tiangong Palace, an eagle paid homage to the Queen Mother. The eagle told the story of the human world and asked the Queen Mother for help. The Queen Mother immediately instructed Granny Feng not to go out today and to be extremely careful even when venting her anger.

In front of the palace in the lower realm, candles have been lit. Strange to say, there was not a breath of wind today. It was a sunny day and the sun was scorching hot. The branches did not move, the leaves did not move, and the candlelight remained motionless. The emperor and the civil and military officials of the court stuck out their tongues, hey! What luck! There is not a breath of wind today. On second thought, the emperor snickered secretly in his heart: Don't be busy, wait until it gets dark. If there is no wind for a day, you won't be able to survive even if both candles are burning!

Seeing that the end of the day is approaching, my face is covered with clouds again. God opens my eyes. There is no wind or rain today. The candles are bright all day long. How can I make one of them go out naturally? Looking at the tight guards all around, who dares to step forward and extinguish the candlelight?

The sun turned red, and suddenly an eagle fell from the sky. The eagle did a somersault in the air, turned to the right corner of the eaves, and swept over. When approaching the candle in the right corner, the eagle flapped its single wing. The wind from this wing was small and strong, and the candle in the right corner was immediately extinguished. The guard was shocked and overwhelmed by this sudden scene. When he came to his senses, the eagle had already fluttered its wings high in the sky and disappeared.

It was dark, and there were two candles on the eaves. The left corner was on and the right corner was off.

The princess danced excitedly.

The third level, guess. There are twenty boxes in the circular hall. Each box is covered with a bouquet of flowers, and each box is covered with a piece of red cloth. Only one of the bouquets is real flowers, the rest are fake flowers. The courtier led Silly Er to the center of the hall and instructed him to guess the real flower in the box. He stood in the hall and was not allowed to move. He was only allowed to look. He only had one chance. If he guessed correctly, he would be pardoned. If he guessed wrong, he would be killed!

Silly Er hated that his eyes had no piercing function. The hall was surrounded by red cloth and he couldn’t even see the box. How could he guess whether the flowers in the box were real or fake? When he was confused, a swarm of bees flew into the hall, and the bees were shuttled in the hall. After a while, all the bees were concentrated on a box, some hovering on the box, and some landed on the red cloth. The silly two-flowered grass suddenly bloomed. The real flowers had fragrance, but the fake flowers did not. And this faint floral fragrance can only be smelled by bees. Silly Er guessed right right away.

The civil and military officials in the court looked at each other in astonishment, and the emperor was even more surprised: Is this person very capable or just lucky?

The princess was overjoyed: Father, this person is neither very capable nor lucky. This is God's arrangement.

A poor man is commendable for his loyalty. Kindness can be said to avoid ten disasters, and great filial piety can offset a hundred sins. Father, my daughter will not marry anyone other than this young man!

Long live the civil and military forces, congratulations to Your Majesty! The emperor had no choice but to go with the flow. Not only did he pardon the mother and son, but he also recruited the stupid second son as his consort to marry the princess. But Sha Er said that he would control the flood first and then marry the princess after success. Sha Er went to the disaster area to take office and immediately ordered notices to be posted to look for unknown persons. As soon as the notice was posted, the Taoist priest showed up where Sha Er was staying that night. The Taoist priest first congratulated Sha Er, and then told the truth:

The dry well of the rich man's house is close to a Dragon King Road, which is connected to the sea. As time goes by, sea water seeps through the well walls. However, there is a treasure blocking the way. This treasure is the treasure of the Dragon Palace. The treasure blocks the bottom of the well and the sea water cannot exert its power. Baoruo mentions that the flood is connected to the wellhead and is raging unstoppably. And everyone is confused about this. But the young master is not the rich man's biological son. He has been planning for a long time to steal the treasure and establish a new family. Unfortunately, the family rules are strict and there is no chance to take action. The rebellious son then became murderous and attempted violent robbery. Although the plan failed, the flood flooded it. The poor man had heard for a long time that the young boy was famous for his good deeds in the countryside, so he used the boy's mouth to spread the flood sentiments. When the traitor heard that he had really given up violence, he used flooding as an excuse to try to move his treasure and flee. But the rich man was not moved by the rumors, so the matter was delayed again and again. This gave the boy a deadline to build the ship. After months of no water, the guy returned to his old tricks and resumed violence. Seeing that a flood is inevitable, the poor Taoist sent a child to dye the lion's eyes red in the middle of the night in order to attract a flood. Although there was a serious disaster, all the people were able to escape and a bloody disaster was avoided. It was really the merit of the young man!

After hearing this, Sha Er was shocked and speechless. The Taoist priest continued: The ancient saying is that rumors should not be spread. If you believe it, you will not believe it. The person who caused the trouble should suffer disaster; but you are loyal and benevolent, so you survived the disaster. However, the disaster-stricken waters are connected to the sea, and the water will never retreat.

Silly Er said: Since you know the truth, why not expose the evil desires of that guy, tell the people about it in advance, and then use a plan to fill it with soil, won't you avoid future troubles? Why did you let my mother and son go to the Palace of Hell? The Taoist laughed and said: The mysteries of heaven and earth are endless. The world deserves this disaster, and no one can stop it! After saying that, he disappeared.

Silly Er cursed in an evil voice! Your ancestor! On second thought, I patted my forehead and said, go to hell! The mystery of the flood was finally solved, and the fool brought the rich man to justice. Later, manpower and material resources were used to build wharves and docks in the surrounding areas, and called on the people to go to the sea to fish in order to live and work in peace and contentment. He also used ships to salvage the treasure ashore, and then returned to Beijing with the treasure to return the order. The emperor's heart was filled with joy after receiving the treasure, and he chose an auspicious day to marry the princess' consort.

Silly Er married a beautiful princess and took his mother to the palace to enjoy happiness. (End)