A military graduate named Shi set out for the capital with his savings, hoping to secure an official post. When he reached Dezhou he was struck by a sudden illness, coughing blood and unable to rise, and lay day after day in his boat. His servant stole his money and ran off. Shi was furious, his illness grew worse, and his money and provisions ran out. The boatmen began plotting to abandon him. It happened that a woman traveling by boat moored alongside one night, heard of his plight, and offered to carry him in her own boat. The boatmen were glad and helped Shi aboard her vessel. He looked at her: she was in her forties, richly dressed, and still graceful and handsome. He groaned out his thanks. She came close, examined him, and said, "You have long had the root of consumption in you, and now your soul is already wandering among the graves." At this Shi burst into loud weeping. The woman said, "I have a pill that can raise the dead. If you recover, do not forget me." In tears Shi swore an oath. She gave him the medicine, and after half a day he felt a little better. She brought delicacies to his bedside and tended him more devotedly than a wife. Shi was all the more grateful. After a month or so he was fully cured. He shuffled to her on his knees and honored her like a mother. The woman said, "I am alone with no one to rely on. If you won't despise me for my faded looks, I would like to keep your house." Shi was then in his thirties and had lost his wife a year before; hearing this, he was happier than he had dared hope, and they became husband and wife. She then brought out gold she had put away and had him go to the capital to make his arrangements, agreeing that he would come back for her and they would go home together.
In the capital Shi pulled strings and was appointed to a garrison command in his home province. With the money left over he bought saddles and horses, and his official cap and carriage made a dazzling show. Then he reflected that the woman was getting on in years and was hardly a proper match, so he spent a hundred taels to betroth a daughter of the Wang family as his second wife. Uneasy and afraid that the woman would hear of it, he avoided the Dezhou road and took a roundabout way to his post. For more than a year he sent her no word. A cousin of Shi's happened to go to Dezhou and became her neighbor. Learning of this, she went to ask him how Shi was doing. He told her the truth. She cursed Shi furiously and told the cousin the whole story. He too was indignant on her behalf and tried to soothe her: "Perhaps he's been busy with official duties and hasn't had a moment yet. Please write a letter, and I'll take it to him for you, sister-in-law." She did as he said. The cousin respectfully delivered it to Shi, but Shi paid it no attention at all.
After another year or so, the woman went to find Shi herself. She stayed at an inn and asked the officer who received guests at the yamen to announce her name. Shi had her turned away. One day, as he sat feasting, he heard a commotion of shouting and cursing; he put down his cup to listen, and the woman had already lifted the curtain and walked in. Shi was aghast, his face the color of earth. She pointed at him and cursed: "Heartless man! Living in comfort, are you? Think where your wealth and rank came from! The bond between us is no slight one. Even if you wanted a concubine, what harm would it have done to talk it over with me?" Shi stood with his feet pressed together, holding his breath, unable to make a sound. After a long while he went down on his knees and threw himself on her mercy, making up excuses to beg her pardon. Her anger cooled a little. Shi consulted with Lady Wang and asked her to greet the woman with the courtesy due to an elder sister. Lady Wang was most unwilling, but Shi pleaded with her persistently, and so she went. Lady Wang bowed, and the woman bowed in return, saying, "Don't be afraid, little sister. I'm not a jealous shrew. What happened before was more than anyone could bear; even you would not want such a husband." And she told Lady Wang the whole story from beginning to end. Lady Wang was indignant too, and joined her in berating Shi. Shi had nowhere to hide his face and only begged to make amends, and so peace was restored.
Earlier, before the woman had burst in, Shi had ordered the gatekeeper not to admit her. Now, angry with the gatekeeper, he questioned him privately. The gatekeeper insisted that the lock had never been opened and no one had come in, and would not admit any fault. Shi was suspicious but did not dare ask the woman. Though the two of them talked and laughed, it was never truly from the heart. Luckily she was gentle and graceful and never competed for his nights. After the evening meal she closed her door and went to bed early, never asking where her husband slept. Lady Wang had at first felt uneasy, but seeing her behave like this, she respected her all the more, and every morning at daybreak went to pay her respects as if to a mother-in-law. The woman managed the servants kindly and with propriety, yet saw through everything like a spirit. One day Shi lost his official seal. The whole yamen was in an uproar, people rushing to and fro with no idea what to do. The woman said with a smile, "Don't worry. Drain the well and you'll find it." Shi did so, and found it. When he asked how she knew, she only smiled and said nothing. She seemed to know the thief's name, but she never would reveal it.
After living with her a full year, Shi noticed many strange things about her conduct. He suspected she was not human, and often after bedtime had someone spy and listen at her door, but all they heard was the sound of clothes being shaken out on the bed all night long, and no one knew what she was doing. The woman and Lady Wang grew very fond of each other. One evening, while Shi had gone to the provincial judge's office and had not yet returned, the woman sat drinking with Lady Wang, grew drunk before she knew it, lay down on the mat, and turned into a fox. Lady Wang pitied her and covered her with an embroidered quilt. Soon Shi came in, and Lady Wang told him of the marvel. Shi wanted to kill her. Lady Wang said, "Even if she's a fox, what wrong has she ever done you?" Shi would not listen and hurried to find his sword. But the woman had already woken, and she cursed him: "You act like a viper and have the heart of a wolf. I cannot live with you a day longer! The pill you swallowed back then, kindly give it back!" And she spat in his face. Shi felt a chill as if ice water had been poured over him, and his throat began to tickle. He retched, and up came the pill, exactly as it had been. The woman picked it up and walked straight out in a rage; when they ran after her, she was gone. That very night Shi's old illness returned. He coughed blood without stopping, and within half a year he was dead.
