A commoner named Ch’iu Yuan-chi married a girl from the Shao family who is called

Shao-shih, they loved each other for 6 years until Yuan-chi died, 23 years old Shao-shih was sad
and stayed a widow, Despite advices from Yuan-chi’s uncle, Ch’iu Ta-sheng, she remains single.
She stayed unwed while having a maidservant, Hsiu-ku, who sewed clothing all her life and
Te-kuei, a 10 year old serving boy who was tasked to fetch firewood, water and necessary
purchases. People around her who were skeptical with her plan of staying a widow are now
convinced that she is to stay true with her words. After 10 years of her husband’s death,
Shao-shih wants to make a Buddhist memorial service for Yuan-chi. She asked Te-kuei to invite
Ch’iu Ta-sheng to approach seven monks to recite the sutras for 3 days and nights. She gives the
entire responsibility to the serving boy. Later, Chih Chu, a troublemaker after knowing of
Shao-shih, always hangs around Ch’iu front gate. As Te-kuei always walks in and out of the
gate, Chih Chu approaches the boy and asks him regarding the beauty of the mistress. Te-kuei
answers truthfully and says that she is very beautiful. When asked whether she ever comes out to
watch the street, the boy says no. Another day passed when Chih Chu asked regarding the
abundance of vegetarian foods and Te-kuei answered that it was for tomorrow’s Buddhist
ceremony for the tenth anniversary of her husband’s death. As Shao-shih has to come out to the
central hall to offer incense, Chih-chu plans to sneak in to peek into Shao-shih’s face. After
failing to see her face, he asked the serving boy and he said that she only comes out during
lunchtime. Trying again as Te-kuei were busy attending to the monks, Chih-chu was able to get a
glimpse of the mistress and he was awestruck. As the ceremony has come to an end, the monks
take their leave. Knowing this, Chih-chu plans to use Te-kuei. He asked the serving boy to
accompany him to drink some orpiment wine of which the boy declined saying that the mistress
will get mad should she see his red face. After some persuasion, Te-kuei was tricked into
drinking three cups of wine. Seeing that Te-kuei was drunk, Chih-chu asks for the boy to lead
him to the widow and he will be rewarded handsomely. Te-kuei was angry at the suggestion and
Chih-chu asked whether Te-kuei himself would like to have his way with the widow. Te-kuei
was drunk enough to have interest in the matter and Chih-chu asked for him to leave his door
open and pretend to sleep naked. Surely, Shao-shih will pass through his room and be enticed
which will lead to both of them engaging in coitus. After learning of this plan, he sobered
himself up, gave his thanks to Chih-chu and left. The next day, as Shao-shih and Hsiu-ku patrols
to ensure all doors are locked, she notices Te-kuei naked body with the door left wide open.
Unhappy with the sight, Shao-shih asked Hsiu-ku to close the door hastily. Te-kuei keeps with
the act and on the third day, Chih-chu asks the boy and Te-kuei says that Shao-shih asks for the
maidservant to close the door each time. Chih-chu states that since it is not her that closes then
she has her interest with you. Te-kuei then continued to do it again and Shao-shih engaged with
him on the fourth night. After that, she told Te-kuei to keep it quiet and to ensure that the
maidservant hears no tale of this, he was tasked to seduce her and soon enough, all of them kept
up their nightly adventure. Chih-chu repeatedly asks for his thanks but as Te-kuei is afraid of
making the mistress mad, keeps deflecting the questions which makes Chih-chu more curious
regarding the matter. After 3-5 months, Shao-shih found that her belly was growing big. She then
gives the boy a silver for an abortion pill. As Chih-chu is unhappy with him not having his way
with the mistress, he was able to convince Te-kuei to give him the silver and he gave him 4 pills
that strengthen the womb without Te-kuei knowing. Seeing that the abortion failed, Chih-chu
said that the birth is inevitable. He then says that he is concocting a potion to strengthen himself
and ask Te-kuei to give the child to him as a gift. As the pregnancy continued, a male baby was
born. After Shao-shih drowned the child, she asked for Te-kuei to bury the child. Instead, he
gave it to Chih-chu which he intends to bring to the authority to expose the scandal between
Te-kuei and Shao-shih. After knowing of this, Te-kuei scuffles with Chih-chu regarding his
purpose and Chih-chu replies with him not getting his way with Shao-shih. He then says that
Te-kuei raped the widow and blackmails him into giving him 100 silvers, else he will bring this
matter to the authority. Te-kuei returns home and brings the bad news to Shao-shih, of which he
blames Te-kuei for bringing the dead baby to him. Te-kuei then says that it was his idea for
Te-kuei to entice and seduce the mistress and he only ask for the dead baby for him to strengthen
himself. After hearing that, Shao-shih took out 40 silvers and told Te-kuei to give it to Chih-chu
in exchange for the baby so that he would keep quiet about the entire affair. After the delivery,
Chih-chu said that the baby had already been buried and asked for him to stay at her place. If she
declines then the affair will be brought up to the authorities. Te-kuei then speaks to Shao-shih
regarding the proposition and she angrily says to not bring the matter up. Turns out, the baby was
preserved in a rush-bag and after 10 days, Chih-chu awaits at the gate for a response. Te-kuei
answers with Shao-shih saying no, which causes Chih-chu to enter the house and Te-kuei waits
on the outside. As he approached Shao-shih, she scolded him to get out of the house. After taking
a hold of Shao-shih, she says that she will send Te-kuei and they will continue the advance
during that night. After saying that, Chih-chu lets go of her and expects her to keep her promise.
She was so saddened by her actions that she was ready to slit her throats until Te-kuei entered her
room. As she was ready to blame Te-kuei for his seductions, she stabbed him in the head which
split his skull in two. Shao-shih then hung herself. Hsiu-ku later enters the room due to the
silence. She then see Te-kuei dead and the mistress hanging. Scared, she ran to Ta-sheng’s house
to report the news. Ta-sheng then reports to Shao-shih’s father and they all go to the house. As
the gate was closed, Hsiu-ku was interrogated regarding the cause of the death. As she has no
idea of Chih-chu, she brought up the affair between the two but no idea was brought up
regarding their death. Once the news was found out, both Shao’s father and mother returned
home while Ta-sheng brought Hsiu-ku to the authorities to report regarding the deaths of Te-kuei
and Shao-shih. After the reporting, Ta-sheng is responsible for providing for the funeral while
Hsiu-ku was caned and sold at the public auction due to her engaging with both of them. As
Chih-chu awaits the arrival of Te-kuei, he is surprised when the news of their deaths. While still
scared to get out of his house, he has to get rid of the child in the rush-bag. After throwing it in a
river, he was caught by Pao Chiu, the foreman of the I-chen Lock river. When asked about what
he threw, Chih-chu replies with pieces of slated beef that has gotten bad. Chih-chu then asks Pao
Chiu to join him for a few drinks of which he declines, saying that the Lord K’uang Chung will
arrive any time now through this river. After knowing that, Chih-chu returns to his home. As
Lord K’uang was approaching the I-chen Lock river, he heard the cries of a baby. After sending
his men to find the source of the cries, he looked outside to see a rush-bag floating in the river.
When Lord K’uang asked for the sailor to catch it, they found that a baby was inside. When
asked whether the baby was alive, the sailor said the baby was dead, though preserved with lime.
Lord K’uang then asks his men to find out regarding this baby and a reward will be given. Pao
Chiu recognized the rush-bag and reported to Lord K’uang, saying that the one who throwed the
rush-bag was Chih-chu, though he said that it was spoiled meat. Lord K’uang then asks for his
men to quietly apprehend Chih-chu for questioning while asking for a messenger to set up a joint
inquiry. After both tasks were done, the dead infant was presented at the court. As Lord K’uang
is unwilling to act on his own, he gives the power to the magistrate. However, as Lord K’uang is
known for his unpredictable nature, he started questioning Chih-chu after both parties were done.
When asked where he found the preserved infant, Chih-chu said he saw it on the side of the road,
thought it was unsanitary and threw it in the river. Lord K’uang then asks Pao Chiu if he saw him
pick it up on the side of the road. Pao Chiu then says he only sees him throwing the rush-bag and
he said that it was spoiled meat. Lord K’uang is angry that Chih-chu lied so he is subjected to 20
hits and having his ankles squeezed. After that, Chih-chu confessed that the dead infant was the
son of Shao-shih. He was tasked with burying the infant by Te-kuei but a dog dug it up so he had
to throw it in the river. Lord K’uang then asked for his relationship with Te-kuei of which he said
he is on good terms with him. Lord K’uang asked about the preservation of the child, of which
Chih-chu said that the fetus was a blackmail for Te-kuei and Shao-shih’s affair and he wanted a
few silver from both of them. When they both died, the baby was thrown to the river. When Lord
K’uang asked about the matter, he was told that both of them died and they suspect that Te-kuei
has used harsh language which causes his death by a strike to the head with a knife and
Shao-shih hanged herself out of fear. Lord K’uang is perplexed as to how a verbal argument
causes the murder. When he asked about witnesses, Hsiu-ku was brought up but she was sold.
Knowing that she must be living around here, she was to be brought to the court. When she
arrived at the court and after a few rounds of questioning, Lord K’uang asked about her
knowledge of Chih-chu. She said that while she does not know of his name, she knows his face.
When Lord K’uang asked her to inquire more, she said that she saw him rushing through the
house and later left unhappy. The mistress was crying in her room and when Te-kuei entered, she
later found that both were dead. Lord K’uang is angry that Chih-chu does not mention that he
and Te-kuei are in collusion, saying that he was the cause of the two deaths and has his ankles
squeezed again. After that, Chih-chu confessed that he was the one who taught Te-kuei on how
to seduce the mistress, asked him to hand over the dead infant, blackmailed him and her for the
money and a night with the mistress. Lord K’uang then releases Chih-chu from the ankle
squeezers and states that his statements are the truth. After his verdict was written down with
Chih-chu being sentenced to death, Chih-chu was so hurt from the punishment he was willing to
accept the verdict. As such, the joint inquiry came to an end and Lord K’uang was praised for his
actions.