During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, Wei Fangjin, an imperial official, had a fifteen-year-old brother who could not speak and was always covered with snot and spittle; his brothers and relatives regarded him as a fool and did not raise him. Only one of his sisters took pity on him and provided him with food and clothing, and had his servants wash and bathe him without any weariness.
One morning, as he was scratching his itch in the sun outside his door, his neighbors saw a messenger in red, who came with dozens of men on horses, and asked, “Where is the immortal master?” The red-clad messenger then went to the tickler and bowed before him, bending down and thanking him. After a while, the tickler suddenly reprimanded in a loud voice: “Why are you late? Have you finished your business?” The messenger in red said, “There is still some unfinished business.” He added, “Why don’t you go and finish it quickly? Go on!” I saw that he was very bright and clear, and his voice was clear and clear, and he did not look like he was sick. When the red-robed messengers had gone, he returned to his previous state, with his nose running to his mouth and scratching constantly.
He died that night. Although Wei Fangjin and other family members were surprised by this, they did not treat him as a foreigner and only hastily coffined him. Only the sister, who was in mourning, secretly held a funeral for him, and on the day of the coffin, she secretly put a yellow embroidered jacket that she usually cherished most in the coffin.
Later, Wei Fangjin went with the emperor to Mawei Po, and the sister also went with him. Later, when the forbidden soldiers rebelled, they killed Yang Guozhong. Because Wei Fangjin was a relative of Yang Guozhong, Wei Fangjin and his family were all implicated and suffered a great disaster. At that time, his sister happened to come out of the inn and fled when she heard of the disaster, leaving her three children aged five or six in the inn, presumably with their lives intact. When the army withdrew the next morning, she tried to go back to the store to look for her three sons and daughters, and saw the corpses all over the store, and in the northeast corner of a bed, there seemed to be clothes. She was overwhelmed with grief and joy and cried out. The four of them fled into the mountains together and were all spared.
(Source: Taiping Guangji)
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