Golden and Stone Fate

Author: Anonymous
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-05-01
Features: The book tells the story of Jin Gui from the Jinling Prefecture of Suzhou who goes to the capital for the imperial examination and becomes the top scholar. She is appointed as the magistrate of Pucheng County in Shaanxi and takes her family to assume the post. Jin Gui has a son named Jin Yu, who is both talented and handsome. The wealthy Lin Wang proposes his eldest daughter, Ai Zhu, to marry Jin Yu.
Dr. Shi Daquan, a physician outside Suzhou's Xumen, has a son named Youguang and a daughter named Wuxian. Dr. Daquan treats the wife of the prefect, but is unjustly accused and arrested. His daughter Wuxian is sold to Ai Zhu as a maid. An astrologer gives Dr. Daquan and his son face readings, predicting great wealth and status for them. When the astrologer reads Wuxian's face, he says she will not be wealthy, while Ai Zhu has a poor fate.
On her way to assume the post, Jin Gui is kidnapped by the mountain bandit Xiao Huailong. Jin Yu escapes and returns home after a long journey, suffering from leprosy and unable to find a cure. Lin Wang regrets the marriage and arranges for Wuxian to marry Jin Yu in place of Ai Zhu. Dr. Daquan diligently treats Jin Yu, who eventually recovers. He then dedicates himself to studying and becomes a top scholar, leading an army to suppress Xiao Huailong. Jin Yu, along with Wuxian's brother Shi Youguang and the son of the Xian Prefect, Tie Chungen, Tie Chungen, work together to eliminate the bandits and reunite with their families.
After their victory, Jin Yu and his party are rewarded, and Wuxian is granted the title of a first-class concubine. Ai Zhu becomes promiscuous and kills her father, is banished from the country, and later ends up in Hangzhou as a courtesan. She is then expelled again and lives by begging. At the time, Jin Yu and Youguang are fighting pirates and achieve a great victory. On their return to the capital, they pass through Hangzhou. Ai Zhu sees Jin Yu's rise to fame and feels remorse and shame, leading her to die by smashing her head against a wall.
Jin Yu and his companions meet their former saviors and the face-reading astrologer, Tie Zidao, and learn that Jin Yu and his wife are actually immortals and celestial beings. Jin Yu returns to the capital and is granted another imperial decree.