| This was an adaptation of a Beijing opera by one of the four greatest leading female roles Cheng Yanqiu. |
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Xue Xiangling came from a rich family in Dengzhou, Shandong province.
She was engaged to a scholar Zhou Tingxun since childhood. Zhou had not
sat for the civil service examination to get a position in the government
and thus he dared not marry Xue.
Mayor Liu's son Liu Jinhu had been fond of Xue's beauty for quite some time. Xue's mother then urged Zhou to marry Xue to fend off Liu's proposal. On the eve of Xue's wedding, her mother gave her a lucky purse filled with expensive jewellery, which signified her good wishes for the newly-weds. Xue came across a rainstorm on her way to Zhou's house and waited in a deserted temple with her maids and servants. There she met a poor girl Zhao Shouzhen who was also on her way to her groom's house. Zhao wept with sorrow, thinking of her gloomy life and the heavy rain, which she believed was a bad omen for her marriage. Xue comforted her and gave her the lucky purse. When the rain stopped, they parted and took their own way. Meanwhile, Zhou was accused of collaboration with bandits and sentenced to death by Mayor Liu. Xue and her mother then bribed Mayor Liu to change his verdict. Mayor Liu promised and sent Zhou into exile. But he ordered the escort team to kill Zhou on their way. Soon the news ran that Zhou had fallen from a cliff and was missing. Liu then proposed to Xue but was resisted. In their struggle, Liu fell from the balcony and died. Xue was arrested and accused of murder. Her maid Mei Xiang went into jail for her and urged her to look for Zhou. Xue was robbed and had to beg her way to the capital. A few days later, Xue arrived in Laizhou where she was recruited as a maid in Mayor Lu's residence. Soon the news ran that the imperial ambassador to Shandong was looking for Xue. Xue thought she must be on the wanted list and tried to escape. She hid herself in a tower where there was a purse on an altar. It was the purse she gave to the poor girl a few years ago. Seeing the purse, Xue missed her mother and husband very much and wept with sorrow. |
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Mayor Lu's wife tried to comfort Xue and asked why she cried. When Xue
told her everything, Mayor Lu's wife thanked her with respect and gratitude.
It was Zhao. She sold the jewellery in the purse to fund her husband's
studies. Then her husband became the mayor of Laizhou. They pledged to
help Xue find her husband and overthrow Mayor Liu's verdict.
Xue complained to the magistrate and found that her husband had become the imperial ambassador to Shandong. Zhou reviewed the case and reverted the verdict for his beloved wife.
Starring: |
