Tailless Fox Fairy

Ah, Cheng and Ah Mei have been married for some time. Ah Cheng is hardworking, and Ah Mei is also thrifty, but their small life is still not prosperous, Ah Cheng is very distressed.

This day, Ah Mei said to Ah Cheng, "You go to the market to buy the oldest plow cow and bring it back, this cow better be thin and lame."

Ah, Cheng loved his wife very much and always listened to her, so this time he just hesitated and took the money and went to the market to buy a cow. He looked at all the cows and picked the oldest and thinnest one according to his wife's advice, paid the money, and took the old cow home, thinking: Ah Mei is really smart, I only have enough money to buy the cheapest cow.

Ah, Mei was very happy to see that Ah Cheng bought a thin and lame old cow, and urged him: "Don't let this old cow plow the fields, it has worked hard all its life, and now it can't do it anymore. From now on, you go to cut grass for the old cow every day, help it comb its hair, talk to it, and let it live happily in our house."

Ah, Cheng said yes, listen to his wife Ah Mei can not be wrong. The neighbors all laughed at Ah Cheng for becoming stupid just after he got married, and for raising an "old waste" for nothing. Ah Cheng "hey" a smile as a reply, continue to take care of the old cow.

Soon after, the emperor made a private visit and passed by Singh's village. He saw Ah Cheng with a comb for an old cow carefully combing hair, and the old cow is thin and lame, has been unable to plow the field, the emperor was greatly touched. In ancient times, cattle are very important labor helpers, the emperor on a private visit, the people how to raise cattle is one of his concerns.

The emperor walked up to Ah Cheng and asked bluntly, "I heard from the village people that you became a fool soon after you got married and kept an old cow for nothing, why is that?"

Ah, Cheng said, "My wife said that the old cow had worked hard all her life and should not be killed for meat, but should be allowed to live happily until old age. I am not stupid, but those people do not understand the reason!"

The emperor was pleased to hear about the dragon, and also want to meet his family's "female Bodhisattva", and let Ah Cheng take him to see his family. Once he saw Ah Mei, the emperor could not help but be stunned, he had never seen such a beautiful woman, look carefully, she is even more beautiful than his concubines a hundred times. The emperor held down his excitement and asked Ah Mei: "Are you Ah Cheng's wife? But you took care of a dying old cow without asking for anything in return, despite the hardship of your family and the comments of your neighbors?"

Ah, Mei bowed and replied that without Ah Cheng's hard work and kindness, her wish could not have been realized.

The emperor praised Ah Mei for her smart and clever answer, and immediately ordered a reward of a healthy calf, preferably a female cow, to Ah Cheng.

After the emperor left, Ah Cheng still couldn't understand how good luck had suddenly come to him. Not long after, only to see a few officials leading a strong heifer into the dilapidated courtyard of Ah Cheng's house, the heifer's horns hanging flowers, back cloaked in red. The official ordered the onlookers to be quiet, and then read aloud the emperor's holy decree. Ah, Cheng received the decree with trembling hands, and the villagers could not help but feel that it was a silly man with a silly fortune.

The good fortune continued, and within a few days, the emperor issued a second decree, ordering the local government to allocate money to build a new house for Ah Cheng's family.

One day after the new compound was built, Ah Cheng went to feed the old cow as usual, but the old cow could not stand up, it neither ate nor drank, with tears in his eyes, he spoke: "Ah Cheng, thank you for taking care of me these days. I can't, before I die, I tell you a secret - your wife Mei is a tail-less fox fairy, to repay you for saving your life, she married you to help you live a good life."

Cheng was surprised and asked, "A saving grace? When have I ever saved a tailed fox fairy?"

The old cow said, "When you were little, you saved her twice. The first time, you saved her from an evil dog, when she was a white fox, the evil dog bit off her tail, you drove away the evil dog in time, after she left, and helped her bury the broken tail; the second time, you rescued her from the trap and saw this white fox without a tail, and you asked her how she looked so familiar, she did not dare to speak, just nodded with tears. Ah, Cheng, you recall now, right?"

"Yes, I remember." Ah, Cheng said, "No wonder she knew in advance that the emperor would pass through our village and asked me to buy you back at the market and take good care of you."

Old Ox asked, "Ah Cheng, do you mind if Ah Mei is a tailless fox fairy?"

A,h Cheng hurriedly said, "No, no, no, I don't care about anything, Ah Mei is the best wife, I can't repay her enough."

"That's good, Ah Mei is indeed a good woman. I just saw that you saved her, and when I was too old to be useful, she let you buy me back from the cattle dealer to retire for me." The old cow continued, "But let me warn you that the emperor has no good intentions for you; he rewarded you with a heifer, a new house, and next will reward you with a palace maid to replace Ah Mei, for the emperor took a fancy to Ah Mei the first time he saw you."

Upon hearing this, Ah Cheng was ashamed and angry and said he would go to the emperor to settle the score. The old bull stood up with his last bit of strength, advised him not to be restless, and so on, Ah Cheng finally put down his heart. At this time, the old cow again lying on the ground, smiling and closed his eyes. Ah, Cheng caressed the old cow and wailed.

Soon after the burial of the old cow, the emperor decreed that he gave Ah Cheng a young and beautiful palace maid, saying that the maid should serve his diet and help him with household chores. He was about to refuse the emperor's "beautiful offer" when Ah Mei pulled his cuffs and winked at him, so he accepted the decree with a sigh of relief.

Since the palace maid came to Ah Cheng's house, Ah Cheng became even less talkative, he did not want to talk to the palace maid more and did not let her serve himself. Once, the court lady drank some wine and took the opportunity to walk into Ah Cheng's room. Ah, Cheng held back his anger and politely sent the person out of the room and asked Ah Mei to take good care of her for the night. Ah, Mei knew that Ah Cheng was sincere and loyal to herself, so she made up her mind to help Ah Cheng to get through the difficult time.

One day, the emperor wore a dragon robe, rode in the emperor's carriage, led a group of attendants, and came to Ah Cheng's house in a hurry, but saw Ah Cheng alone out to welcome the emperor. The emperor stepped out of the emperor's carriage and asked Ah Cheng: "Is the court lady I gave you diligent?"

Aching replied, "Yes."

The emperor also asked, "Are you satisfied with her?"

Ah, Cheng had to answer: "Yes."

The emperor "ha ha" laughed, said: "then, today I want to borrow a person from you, I want to let Ah Mei to the palace to train the court maids, those court maids than she does not know how much dumber, this is a piece of my heart!"

The emperor's intention is finally revealed, Ah Cheng forced to suppress the anger in his heart, asked the emperor: "Your Majesty want to borrow my wife Ah Mei?"

The emperor smiled and replied, "A gentleman has no words, and you are not at a disadvantage."

Ah, Cheng had to tell the emperor the truth: "Ah Mei is a fox fairy, does the emperor want to borrow her too?"

The emperor did not believe it, thinking: this is most likely Cheng's excuse, even if Ah Mei is a fox fairy, even the countryside farmer Ah Cheng is not afraid, I have what to fear? Moreover, I have not yet tasted the wonders of the fox fairy, this time more can not be spared. So the emperor replied: "Ah Mei is a fox fairy, isn't it even better? She can teach many tricks to the court maids so that the Empress Dowager can be entertained and I can do my filial duty."

Ah, Cheng sighed, "I can only ask Ah Mei to come out, and Your Majesty will personally ask her if she is willing to go to the palace."

Ah, Mei finally came out of the house, and to the Emperor's astonishment, she was followed by another Ah Mei, who looked the same, was dressed the same, and had the same voice in greeting the Emperor. The emperor was dumbfounded and understood that the fox fairy Ah Mei changed the appearance of the court lady. The emperor vowed to take away the real Ah Mei, then asked the ministers accompanying him, if there is a way to identify who is the fox fairy, who is the court lady.

A minister thought for a moment and said, "I heard that the fox fairy will show their tails when they drink Xiong Huang wine, why not ask them both to drink a cup of Xiong Huang wine, who shows the tail of the fox, who is the fox fairy."

The emperor thought this plan was very good. Ah, Cheng sweat, watching the two "Ah Mei" drink the wine. After a while, the emperor let a palace maid accompanying gently lift the two long skirts, only to see one of them reveal the fox tail, the other is no different from normal people.

Everyone was stunned, and the emperor's heart finally dropped as he ordered his guards to take the tailless Ah Mei away.

When the emperor and his party left the village far away, Ah Cheng grabbed Ah Mei's hands and said with tears and laughter: "The old cow has helped us a lot, and you are good at it, making the court lady really look like you, and the tail you found for her is also a real fox tail, so that the bastard emperor did not get his way. I'm so happy to be able to return the palace maid!"

"I'm happy too." Ah, Mei held Ah Cheng's hand tightly and said, "I miss the old cow now, let's go see the old cow."

The two held hands and silently walked toward the old cow's grave.