Pei Shien said that it is not easy to pursue the case after the person dies. He also asked Patriarch Wu to help Wu Beiping handle his funeral affairs, and then led the accompanying officials to leave.
Half a month later, Pei Shien and his party returned and stayed again at the Xinghua Village Posthouse. When Wu Yougui saw Pei Shi'en's official sedan, he ran to his rich brother Wu You's house and told him that Governor Pei passed by our village and solved the case for your son who was unfortunately murdered. You should also thank him.
Wu Youfu said in embarrassment, how should I thank him for such a big official? If the gift is light, others will look down upon it, but if the gift is heavy, our family cannot afford it.
Wu Yougui said, alas, brother, you should treat Governor Pei and his party to a meal! Wu Youfu nodded and said okay! I please, I please. But Wu Youfu still had troubles in his heart. When inviting an official as big as a governor to dinner, he had to put on some decent dishes! It is impossible to put several bowls of vegetables such as radish and cabbage on the table, so it would be better not to invite them. But the family really didn't have the money to buy big fish and meat to make more polite dishes to entertain others, so he was in trouble again.
As soon as Wu Yougui walked away, he discussed it with his wife Fenxiang. Unexpectedly, Fenxiang moved her eyes and found a solution. She said, are you in a hurry? If we kill the cow at home, won’t we have beef? Wu Youfu said, how about just a bowl of beef?
Fenxiang smiled calmly and told him that it was impossible to use all the beef after killing the cow. Wouldn't more beef be sold for money? Once you have money, if you buy pork, fresh fish, etc., wouldn’t everything be solved? Wu Youfu praised that his wife was still smart.
On this day, Pei Shi'en and an accompanying official were walking on the mountainside at the north end of Xinghua Village. Wu Youfu stepped forward and said, "Sir Governor, my son was killed. As soon as you investigate, you will make the case known to the world." This makes me owe you a large favor, and it's hard to repay it. You don't care what favor I haven't repaid, but I do care. Of course I can't afford the repayment, but I can pick you and your men up for a meal!
Pei Shien waved his hand and said, "No, no, this case was not handled smoothly enough. I am very ashamed. Unexpectedly, the suspect committed suicide before I went to court for trial."
Wu Youfu said politely, "If we don't talk about other topics at the moment, our family will take you to the banquet tonight. I have prepared it." Pei Shien repeated again, no need, no need, why bother bothering your family? The official then interrupted, "Master Governor, this is what the people want, you should agree to it!" It's not easy for your subordinates to come out with you, so they just want to take advantage of you and go to the people's homes tonight to perform tooth sacrifices.
Pei Shien finally nodded. Wu Youfu bowed to Pei Shi'en, turned around and went into the forest. After a while, he led an ox out of the woods, and a calf also jumped out of the woods.
When Wu Youfu saw Pei Shi'en walking on the mountainside and an accompanying official who had not yet left, he raised his voice and said flatteringly, "Sir Governor, I will go to the threshing field to kill the cattle, just this yellow cattle. The yellow beef is delicious!"
Pei Shi'en was stunned and didn't answer. He only glanced at the fat and strong ox. But the official who followed him said to him, "Sir Governor, that common man killed the cow specifically to entertain us, let's go and watch the fun together!" Pei Shien said, don't look at it, it's too cruel. If you want to go and see it, go and see it! The accompanying official said, "If the governor doesn't look at it, I won't look at it either."
After a while, they found a calf walking to the edge of the mountain. There were blood stains on the road. Where did this bloodstain come from? Pei Shi'en was alerted. He followed the blood stains and finally observed that the calf's mouth was bleeding. It turned out that it had a sharp knife in its mouth. Why was it doing this?
Before Pei Shien could react, he saw a butcher with bulging eyes chasing after him. The calf ran into the woods, and he chased it anxiously. Pei Shi'en understood what was going on, and stopped the butcher not to chase.
The butcher didn't want to pay attention, but when he looked back, he saw that the speaker was wearing an official uniform. He didn't dare to make any mistakes, so he told the truth: Official, it's like this. Wu Youfu from Xinghua Village asked me to kill a female ox. I'll sharpen my knife. He put it aside, and when he and a few guys put down the ox, he reached for the knife again, but it was gone. I asked a few guys to hold down the ox while I went to look for the knife, but found blood on the field. The blood came from the calf's mouth. I understood that the knife had been taken away by the calf. It was not Let me kill its mother, the cow.
Pei Shi'en said sternly, "Then don't kill that cow. A calf is a beast and knows how to protect its mother. It would rather bleed from its mouth than hide the knife. This filial piety is so moving." Earth, we are human beings and should be moved by its filial piety. I advise you not to chase the calf or snatch the sharp knife from the calf's mouth. You should learn from that calf and obey its filial piety of hiding its knife to save its mother.
The butcher said unhappily, "Master, I was invited to slaughter the cow. Now you ask me not to slaughter the cow. You have to make an agreement with the owner. The owner's name is Wu Youfu. He is waiting for me to take the knife on the threshing floor." , and started killing the scalper. Besides, Wu Youfu gave me the wages for slaughtering the cow in advance, and I don’t want to refund it to him. And you stopped me from killing that scalper. What do you think I should do?
Pei Shien sneered and said, easy to handle. I will give you whatever salary Wu Youfu pays you, okay?
The butcher slapped the gauze belt tied around his waist, and there was a metallic sound inside. He said, OK! Wu Youfu gave him 10 wages. Pei Shi'en motioned to the official who was standing aside to take out 10 coins and give them to him. The butcher put the copper coins into the sack, walked a few steps, and then turned around and said, "It's not enough." My knife that was taken away by the calf is worth 8 copper coins, so it should be given to me.
The attendant official replied, "That is not a new sword. I wonder how long you have used it. Is it still worth 8 copper coins?" The butcher said, although it is not a new knife, it gets faster and faster with use. It is said to be worth more than 8 coins. I haven't shouted a high price yet? Pei Shien said generously, give him 8 coins!
The butcher got the money and returned to the threshing floor happily. The downed ox was still being held down by several of the men. Wu Youfu was also among them. Seeing that the butcher didn't have a knife in his hand, he asked, "Hey, what's going on? You're not going to kill the scalpers anymore?" The butcher said he wouldn't kill him anymore. He took out 10 copper coins from the belt tied around his waist and scattered them on the field and said, Youfu, give the money back to you. So he patted his butt and left.
At this time, Pei Shi'en came over. When he saw that several guys were still holding down the scalper, which was making mooing sounds but could not move, he said to Wu Youfu, please let this scalper live! I don’t need you to kill a cow and entertain me, I can’t afford it. Wu Youfu then signaled everyone to let go and loosen their ties.
The scalper turned over and was about to run away in fear. Wu Youfu grabbed the rope strung in his nostrils. He roared at the scalper, "Beast, if I don't kill you, how can you escape?"
At this moment, the door gods and household gods who rushed to the field to watch the excitement were discussing the matter. The door god said that the calf is more filial than humans. In order to save its mother, he quietly took away the sharply sharpened knife that the butcher had put aside. He did not care that he was cut by the tip of the knife and the tip of his tongue was bleeding. So touching!
The family god smiled and said, more than touching? It also moved God, you see. He raised his hand and pointed toward the mountain path on the side of the house, and saw a mountain god in ancient costume holding his hand in the direction of the calf's escape. The door god asked, what does it mean for the mountain god to hand over his hand? The family god said, you will know when you listen to the mountain god. The door god remained silent, and as expected he heard the mountain god speaking:
Although a calf is small, it has a great filial heart, which can move the world and make people praise it;
If you accumulate merit as an animal in this life, you will no longer be an ox or horse in the next life.
Suddenly, a hairy monster with a face like a human came out, raised his thumb and said, "You said it well. With this good deed, this calf can be reincarnated as a human next time, no longer a cow or horse." I will write a book of good deeds for him and give it to the Wheel-turning King. After saying that, he disappeared. The door god stared at the family god and asked, who is that monster?
Oops, you don’t even know the famous Animal God? What a frog in the well!
I guard the door and communicate with the outside world every day. How can you be the manager of this family and know everything.
The house god laughed when he saw the door god say this. He said that it is certainly commendable for a calf to have such filial piety, but there are actually reasons for it. The door god asked, what’s the reason? The house god took out a magic mirror from his pocket and pressed the button on it, and a group of pictures appeared like a comic strip. He said, Door God, you see, this happened many lives ago.
