There was a rich household on the western outskirts of Yidu. Shandong Province. The master had recently acquired a concubine, who was very pretty. The master’s wife treated the concubine badly, often flogging her for no reason at all.
The concubine, however, waited on the master’s wife carefully and respectfully. The master loved and pitied the concubine, often soothing her with comforting words privately. The concubine had apparently no complaints.
One night, a few dozen robbers broke into the compound of this wealthy household. The master and his wife were horrified and stood dumbfounded, shivering all over and at a total loss as to what to do. The concubine, however, got up and, without making a sound, groped in the darkness for anything that could be used as a weapon. She eventually got hold of a carrying pole and rushed out of her room toward the robbers. The robbers were caught by surprise and panicked. The concubine brandished the pole like a torpedo, whose two iron hooks made a scary whistling sound. Presently, four of the robbers were knocked down. With their will to fight blunted, the robbers started fleeing in all direction. Some, in total confusion, could not climb over the wall and collapsed on the ground, crying desperately. The concubine, propping the carrying pole on the ground, said laughingly to the robbers:”You wretched beings are not worth a beating. How can you bungling oafs expect to be robbers? I’m not going to kill you because it would be an insult to me.” She let them go.
The master was very much surprised and asked her:”How can you be so wonderful?” The concubine’s father had been a martial arts teacher, it seems. She had learned all the arts from her father. It was believed that she was more than a match for a hundred people. The master’s wife was scared, regretting that she had underestimated the concubine. From that time on, the wife began to treat the concubine with respect. But the latter never overstepped the limits of manners and etiquette as a concubine.
Some women in the neighborhood said to the concubine:”You beat back the robbers as though you were driving away pigs and dogs. Why did you take all those floggings and lashes so meekly?” The concubine answered:”It was my fate. What else could you have expected of me?” People respected her for her virtue all the more.
This writer says: the concubine was well versed in martial arts but, this remained unknown to people in the household and the neighborhood for quite a few years. She eventually beat back disaster and turned the shrew into a kind woman. Well! A man in ancient times could not make his wife happy until he had shot her a wild duck when out hunting; his prince’s wife was reluctant to go home with him in the same carriage until he had won a saber from his opponent in gambling. The importance of skills should therefore never be overlooked.
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