The cruel emperor or the faithful woman

The Meng family once planted a gourd along the wall of their garden. The flowering was magnificent and from one flower an exceptionally large fruit was born. When it reached maturity, a pretty golden yellow, the Meng family decided to pick it. But when they cut the fruit, the Mengs were surprised to find an adorable little girl in its heart. They decided to raise her and named herDjangog.

The Meng lived under the reign of Emperor Shihuang, famous for his injustice and cruelty. Fearing the Huns who did not give him respite and were tired of their incessant invasions, the emperor decided to build a wall along the northern border of China. Alas! The architects were not very brilliant and no sooner had one part of the wall been completed than another collapsed. Years passed and the wall was still not finished.
One day, a wise man from the kingdom came to the emperor and after bowing respectfully before him, he said: “Sire, we cannot build a wall to extend ten thousand leagues in length unless, in each block of a league, we lock up a man. The spirit of man will then watch over this block and the wall will become indestructible. »
The emperor, who cared little for his people, found the idea excellent and decided to implement it immediately. In every region, every town, every house, there was horror. Men, young girls, and boys were seized and walled up alive. Another wise man of the kingdom came to the emperor and after bowing respectfully before him, he said: “Sire, your way of using the people to build your wall terrifies the entire country. He might revolt before the wall is even finished. But maybe I have the solution. A man named Wan lives not far from the palace. Now, you are probably aware that Wan means “ten thousand”. If you take this man, he alone will be enough for the ten thousand leagues since Wan — ten thousand — is his name. »
The emperor rejoiced at this wise word and ordered this Wan to be fetched and taken to the wall. Warned by friends, the young man fled. After running for a long time, he finally took refuge in a garden where the large leaves of a banana tree seemed an ideal hiding place. Now, this garden was none other than that of the Meng. One evening, when the moon was full, the beautiful Djang, who had become a superb young woman, came down to the garden. Wan saw her and immediately fell madly in love with her. He came down from his hiding place and asked her to become his wife. Djang accepted and they got married the next day.
They were happily celebrating their wedding when the emperor's soldiers burst into the garden and seized Wan, whom they took near the wall. Left alone, Djang Meng was deeply unhappy. Even though her union had been very short-lived, she thought of her husband with nostalgia and felt deep in her heart a sincere, true, and immense love.
Desperate, she decided to go in search of her husband's body. She faced the elements: rain, snow, sunburn. She crossed the plains and the mountains, the rivers, and the lakes and arrived at the cost of great suffering and fatigue at the foot of the wall. In front of such an immense building, she wondered how to find the remains of her beloved. Discouraged, she sat down on a stone and began to cry. The wall, moved by so much grief, collapsed, revealing Wan's bones.
The emperor did not take long to learn the story of the woman who had searched high and low for her husband and the collapse of her wall. Intrigued, he came in person to see Django and overwhelmed with admiration at her beauty, he asked her to become empress.
Djang knew that she could not resist the emperor's will. She set various conditions for this union: a forty-nine-day feast of the dead was to be celebrated in memory of her husband; the emperor and all subjects of the court had to take part in the funeral, a terrace had to be built on the banks of the river, because Djang wanted to be able to offer sacrifices to the dead in memory of her deceased husband. The emperor granted all her requests as he was eager for her to become his wife.
When the terrace was ready, Djang climbed onto it and, to everyone's amazement, loudly cursed Emperor Shihuang for having been so cruel and unjust. The emperor contained his anger and said nothing. The subjects who heard these words were stunned, but deep down they approved of the young woman's words. When she finished her tirade, Djang dove from the top of the terrace into the river. The emperor then flew into terrible anger, ordering his soldiers to fish out his body and cut it into small pieces. The soldiers immediately complied but all the pieces turned into golden fish and it is through them that the soul of the faithful Djang continues to live forever.
The cruel emperor or the faithful woman - illustration 1

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