Hidden in the mountains and rivers of southern Anhui is a past event that has been submerged by the Wuxi River for three hundred years.
I have heard this story told by the elders in the village since I was a child. In the 23rd year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, the young emperor was on a tour of the south incognito. He walked along the Qiupu River and rested at Sanmen Pavilion. A girl making tea noticed at a glance that his ribs were swollen and stuffy, and said that he couldn't let go of what was on his mind and that no matter how much medicine he took, it would be useless. Her name is Xiang Niang, and she is the daughter of the Hu family. She has been married to the Fang family since she was a child.
Later, the imperial edict came to make her a noble person. She knelt down and listened, saying that she was already engaged and refused to obey the edict. Later, when her husband's family fell into decline and she was forced to marry by evil relatives, she wore a red wedding dress and threw herself into the Shibitan Pool under the Sanmen Pavilion.
The story should have ended here. But the people refused to let it end. When she was alive, she did not charge for medical treatment. After she died, the villagers built a temple to call her empress. Her master, Xia Yuzhu, built another Medicine King Temple next to her temple. He hung hundreds of prescriptions that had been verified throughout his life on the wall, and asked people who came to seek medicine to copy them back. A temple seeks the heart, and a temple seeks the body.
I traveled all over the mountains and rivers in the story - Qiupu River, Yangtiantang, Sanmenting, Wuxi River, Shibitan, and the ruins of the Niangniang Temple. The few words in the county annals, the mottled words on the inscriptions, and the few words spoken by the elders are like fragments scattered among the mountains and rivers of southern Anhui. I picked them up and put them together into "The Legend of Xiang Niang".
The book is about the life of a mountain village girl, her stubbornness, her benevolence, and her unyielding backbone in desperate situations. Zhenlie is a posthumous title given by future generations, and benevolence is something she lived out herself.
Now I hand over this book to readers, I hope this scent of Wuxi can spread further through paper and ink.
Concept: Hidden in the mountains and rivers of southern Anhui is a past event that has been submerged by the Wuxi River for three hundred years. I only hope that this lingering fragrance of Wuxi can spread further through paper and ink.