The two of them walked out to the plum tree by the rockery in the garden. The young man bowed to the tree and then started digging. Before long he dug out the coffin but the rusty coffin nails lining it made him question everything all over again. Could someone really come back to life? What if the coffin is opened and only a skeleton is seen? He was having second thoughts, afraid that a skeleton would greet him upon opening the lid.
A tiny groan came from inside the coffin, interrupting his thoughts. The young man was shocked but delightfully so. Hurriedly, he pulled back the lid and saw a neatly dressed beauty lying inside with her cheeks rosy as if she was sleeping. That was the girl he had been visiting nightly for months now. Her body was warm to the touch. When he hurriedly helped her sit up, the young lady opened her eyes. The nun jumped back in utter disbelief at the scene happening before her eyes. Soon, the nun recovered her senses enough to help. Working together the two of them escorted the lady inside the nunnery.
Liniang grew stronger with each passing day. But every time the young man brought up the subject of marriage she found a way to avoid talking about it. One day, as they were talking about it again in the nun’s room, someone knocked on the door. The girl jumped up and hid before the young man had even opened the door. It was Mr. Chen, the old tutor who came to see if the young man would accompany him to the girl’s grave the following day in order to pay respect. Liu agreed quickly just to get Chen to leave. When the door was securely shut Liniang reappeared, but her face had lost all color.
“He wants to visit my grave tomorrow! When he gets there, he will find out it has been dug up. At that moment, the girl will be damned as a demon of some sort and you, will be charged with grave digging! What can we do? They thought in silence for what seemed like hours before Liu finally spoke.
“I have an idea. I was en route to Lin’an to take the imperial examination. Why don’t we get married tonight and then we leave tomorrow. That way even if the old man discovers the open grave there will be nothing he can do about it.”
Left with no other option, the young lady agreed. A few hours later they held a tiny ceremony, with the nun acting as the chief witness. After the ceremony, the newlyweds and the nun fled from the nunnery under the moonlight on the very night on their way to the Lin’an city.
They arrived safe and sound after two days of travel and quickly found an inn to stay in. But the innkeeper informed Liu that the examination had already started. Astonished, the young man rushed to the exam center only to find the doors were closed. He was beside himself, realizing that he had missed his chance to take the exam for another three years.
Luckily for Liu, The Claims Examiner was Miao -the very same envoy of the emperor who had given him money to travel here many months before. Miao, who was overseeing the test, heard someone wailing outside and sent someone out to bring him the noisemaker. He was shocked to see Liu in here. He broke the rules and allowed him to come in and take the exam. Liu thanked Miao and began the test. When the time was up, Miao read Liu’s paper several times and found that Liu was indeed very talented and incredibly smart. He hoped that he would take the first place as he arranged the papers and left to report back to the emperor the results.
The day after the trio left the nunnery, the Old Chen discovered the place was empty and deserted. Confused, he walked out to the girl’s grave alone only to find it dug up and the coffin completely uncovered. Chen decided that it had to be Liu, who, obsessed with money, must have lost his mind and robbed the grave. The old man was so angry that his goatee trembled.
“How dare you,” he yelled to the empty garden. “I saved your life and this is how you repay my kindness? You are a heartless and ungrateful bastard.”
The old man was heartbroken for the poor girl who couldn’t find peace even in her death. Her father entrusted him and the nun with protecting her grave, and he had failed the simplest of tasks. He stood weeping next to the empty grave before realizing that he needed to inform the Lord about what had happened. He hurried inside, packed his bag and left for Huaian where the girl’s parents now lived.
