Tears in Suzhou-泪洒姑苏

Wang Lianjuan, the daughter of the magistrate of Wuxi County in the Ming Dynasty, was a smart and beautiful girl. She was depressed all day long because her biological mother died early and her stepmother was vicious. Xiaoling, her personal maid, was considerate to her and they were like sisters. One night, Lianjuan burned incense and played the piano in the back garden to express her sorrow. Zhang Qingyun, a playboy and son of the Suzhou prefect, passed by the wall and overheard Miss Wang playing the piano inside. He climbed over the wall and sneaked into the garden. Seeing that Lianjuan was so beautiful, he fell in love with her. After Lianjuan met Mr. Zhang, her heart that lacked warmth was comforted. So they often met in the back garden at night. In order to get close to the first rank official of the dynasty, the Suzhou prefect did everything he could to arrange a lifelong engagement for his son and Jiang Suqin, the daughter of the official. He wrote a letter to his son Zhang Qingyun, who was studying in Wuxi, falsely claiming that he was seriously ill and asked him to return quickly. After Qingyun received the letter, he came to the back garden again that night to say goodbye to Lianjuan. Facing the reluctant Miss Wang, he vowed to inform his parents after returning to Suzhou and come to marry her as soon as possible. The kind hearted Lian Juan promised herself to him that night out of her true love for him. Unexpectedly, Mr. Zhang had been gone for several months without a reply, and unfortunately Lian Juan was already pregnant. When his parents learned about this, they first took their anger out on the maid Xiao Ling and drove her out of the house. The stepmother also instigated the county magistrate to force her daughter to commit suicide by jumping into the lake. In desperation, Lian Juan obeyed her father is order and jumped into the lake. She was rescued by an old fisherman. The old man sympathized with the girl is tragic experience and decided to accompany the girl to Suzhou to look for Mr. Zhang. On the way, they met the maid Xiao Ling again. The master and servant begged along the way and finally arrived in Suzhou City. They lived in a small shop and spent their days like years, but what awaited them was not a reunion with Mr. Zhang as before, but a conspiracy set by their lover who had changed his mind. Zhang Qingyun not only did not cherish their old friendship, but also in order to conceal the truth, he first ordered someone to cut off Xiaoling is tongue, and then bribed the pharmacy to poison Lianjuan. Zhang Qingyun is virtuous and sensible wife Jiang Suqin had long been dissatisfied with her husband is debauchery. After learning about this, she tried her best to dissuade him. Although Lianjuan was spared, she had lost the courage to live under the huge blow. In the lonely and hopeless situation, she gave birth to a son and became even more sick. The Tianguan, who enforced the law impartially, did not follow personal feelings and sentenced his son in law Zhang Qingyun to death. At the same time that Master Zhang was taken to the execution ground, Wang Lianjuan also passed away in poverty and illness. The kind hearted Jiang Suqin took in her orphan.