Li Qi was a horse trader taking residence in Bao County. His first wife died and left him a daughter Guizhi and a son Baotong. Li Qi’s second wife Yang Shi was a blackhearted wench carrying on an affair with a local official Tian Wang. She threw her step-children out of the house while Li Qi was once away on business. When Li Qi returned and found his children gone, he questioned the maid Chunhua, who, in fright, hanged herself. Yang Shi and Tian Wang reported to the authority that Li Qi had murdered the maid. They further bribed Magistrate Hu into sentencing Li to death. Li Qi was thus imprisoned until execution.

         After being forced out of her home, Guizhi, Li Qi’s daughter, was adopted by a family, who later married her off to Zhao Chong, the new magistrate of Bao County. Her brother Baotong struggled his way to the capital, passed the imperial examination and became a high-ranking official.

         Our scene starts one day after Zhao Chong has gone on an official trip to the rural areas to boost the morale of the farmers. Guizhi sits alone in her quarters when she hears Li Qi’s pitiful wailing in the prison behind her mansion. Curious and moved, she sends for him and questions at length about his affliction. She is soon shocked to realize that the wrongfully accused prisoner is none other than her dear, long parted father. The scene ends with Guizhi eagerly and tearfully awaiting her husband’s return, so she can ask him for help. 
 
 

Ben Wang
11/97