1. Wu Da was thrilled about seeing his brother again, and took him home to meet his wife, Pan Jinlian, a housemaid for a wealthy family. Pan was overwhelmed by Wu Song-a hulk of a man in contrast to her scrawny, pint-sized husband-and she warmly invited him to move in with them.
2. Unable to decline his sister-in-law's offer, Wu went to live with them. From the start, Pan lavished attention on Wu, keeping him liberally supplied with food and drink while furtively casting flirty looks and making suggestive remarks. Wu Song was disgusted by this performance, and angrily said to her: "Have you no shame? I've got principles, you know. I'm not some farmyard animal!" After a few days of this, Wu Song was ordered to the Eastern Capital on business. Before setting out he urged his brother to keep busy and take extra care of himself.
3. There was, in Guyang County, a wealthy businessman named Ximen Qing, who owned several pharmacies and also held an official post. Ximen had several wives, but was always on the lookout for new conquests. One day he was passing along the street outside Wu Da's house, when he was struck by a clothes-hanging stick which Pan Jinlian had inadvertently dropped from a window. Looking up he saw the young coquette and promptly made up his mind to seduce her. First he bribed the woman who owned the teashop next door, Mrs Wang, to act as go-between.
4. Mrs Wang invited Pan over one day to sew funerary garments. She welcomed Pan into a room set with food and drink, then in came Ximen Qing. Pretending she had to pop out for something, Mrs Wang left them alone, locking the door as she went. Pan was smitten with Ximen, and he had his way with her there and then. From then on, the two met for daily trysts at Mrs Wang's.
5. Within a couple of weeks the whole neighborhood knew about the affair. With the help of a friend, a pear-vendor named Yun, Wu Da caught the lovers in the act. Mortified and enraged, Ximen Qing gave Wu Da a violent kick in the ribs. Coughing blood, Wu collapsed to the floor.
6. While Wu lay bed-bound, Pan and Ximen carried on consorting as before. After about two months, with Wu Song due back from the capital, Pan, Ximen and Wang hatched a wicked plan.
7. Sobbing her eyes out, Pan knelt at her husband's bedside with a packet of medicinal herbs. "It's all my fault!" she bawled. "I let Ximen Qing trick me. Who could imagine that he would kick you like that? Here, I've brought some special medicine to make up for everything!" Wu Da, barely able to breathe, croaked: "If you can save my life, I'll let bygones be bygones."
8. Once she had cooked the medicine, Pan Jinlian propped Wu Da up in bed and poured the concoction down his throat. "So bitter!" he winced. And then: "My stomach hurts!" Pan jumped onto the bed and tightly forced the quilt down over Wu's head. With his guts splitting inside him, the poor fellow screamed in agony.
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