Long ago, there lived in Cen tral China a scholar named Chen Shimei. Liv ing with him were his in valid, el derly par ents; his lov ing, car ing wife Qin Xianglian; and their two young chil dren, a boy and a girl. While Chen Shimei de voted him self to study ing for the com ing im pe rial ex am i na tion, Xianglian took care of the fam ily. Life was hard, but she looked for ward to the day when her hus band would have passed the examination and re turned home with fame and for tune.

When the ex am i na tion sea son came, Chen Shimei bade fare well to his par ents, wife, and chil -dren. He prom ised to come back to them as soon as he ob tained a lu crative govern ment po sition upon his suc cess in the exam. In tears, Xianglian told him, “Don’t worry about us. I will take care of your parents and our chil dren. Come back to us no mat ter whether you suc ceed or not. We all wish you good luck!”

Three years passed, but not a sin gle word came from Chen Shimei. Qin Xianglian and his par -ents were wor ried, wonder ing if he had en coun tered some mis for tune. Xianglian wished to go to the cap i tal, where she knew the ex am ina tion took place ev ery year, to find out what had happened to him. But in ad di tion to the long dis tance and cost of such a trip, she had to look af ter her young chil -dren and her aged par ents-in-law, whose health was de te ri o rat ing with each pass ing day.

As if Qin Xianglian’s mis ery were not enough, a se rious drought hit her re gion and soon re -sulted in a fam ine. Xianglian had to sell her be longings to pur chase med i cine for her par ents-in-law. She could not pre vent worry, hunger, and sick ness from ru in ing their lives. When her par ents-in-law died, like a duti ful daugh ter, Xianglian man aged to give the el derly cou ple a de cent burial be fore she be came pen ni less. Hav ing no idea what would be come of her and her chil dren, she placed all her hope on find ing her miss ing husband. On many oc casions, she in dulged in the wish ful think ing that her husband had suc ceeded in the im pe rial exam ina tion and be come a high-rank ing offi cial. He must have been too busy to come home for a visit. If he had known that di saster had dev as tated his home -town and took the lives of his par ents; if he had known his wife and their chil dren were at the brink of star va tion, surely he would have re turned?

One day, while she was out beg ging, a neighbor came up to her and told her some thing that gave her a glimmer of hope. He said that he had been to the cap i tal lately and seen her hus band there.

“My hus band is still alive?” asked Qin Xianglian, both happy and in cred u lous. The neigh bor suspected that the new fuma (em peror’s son-in-law) must be her husband, Chen Shimei.

“Are you sure? Mis iden ti fy ing an em peror’s rel a tive is no joke!” Xianglian warned.

“I don’t think I can mis take him, be cause I grew up with him and know him too well, don’t I? I know how he looks, talks, and moves. I can rec og nize him even though he is in an of fi cial’s robe.”

“Did you talk to him?” Xianglian asked im pa tiently.

“Who am I to speak to an em peror’s son-in-law?” re torted the neigh bor. “I could not even come close to him while he was sur rounded by his guards men.”

Qin Xianglian de cided to pay the fuma a visit at any cost, par tic u larly when she had noth ing to lose. The next day she set out for the cap i tal, tak ing along her two chil dren. Assum ing that what the neigh bor had said was true, Xianglian was go ing to have a talk with her husband and try to con vince him to help his fam ily.

’s son-in-law was in deed Chen Shimei. He had not only passed, but ex celled at the exami na tion. His per formance caught the at tention of the em peror, who wanted to marry his daugh