法苑珠林 75.54

75.54

齊琅邪王奐。仕齊至尚書左僕射。甚信釋典。而妬忌之深。便忘弘恕。甞在齋內使愛妾治髭。忽有烏銜黃梅過庭而墜。奐謂妾有密期擲果為戲。使奴出外覘視。遇見一士向籬私游。奴即往捦捉。而此人言瞋洿媟。便邇迸走。奴還白之。奐謂儞用有實。苦加覈問。妾備自陳。終不見察。即遣下階笞殺之。妾解衣誓曰。今日之死。實為枉橫。若有人天道。當令官知。爾後數見妾來訴怨。俄而出為雍州刺史。性漸狂異。如有憑焉。無故打殺小府。長史劉興祖誣其欲反。為御史中丞孔稚珪所奏。世祖遣中書舍人呂文顯直閤將軍曹道剛。領齊仗兵收奐。奐子彪素稱凶剽。及女婿殷叡。遂勸奐曰。曹呂今來。不見真勅。恐為姦變。政宜錄取馳以奏聞。奐納之。便配千餘人。仗閉門拒守。彪遂輒與官軍戰。彪敗而走。寧蠻長史裴叔業。於城內舉兵。攻奐斬之。時人以為妾之報也（右二驗出冥祥記）。

Wang Huan of Langye in the Qi served the Qi court, reaching the post of Left Servant of the Directorate of the Department of State Affairs. He had great faith in the Buddhist scriptures, yet his jealousy was profound, so that he forgot vast forgiveness. He was once in his studio having his beloved concubine groom his whiskers. Suddenly, a crow carrying a yellow plum flew over the courtyard and dropped it. Huan believed that the concubine had an illicit rendezvous and threw the fruit as a flirtation. He had a male slave go outside to spy. The slave happened to see a gentleman strolling in secret toward the fence. The slave immediately went to seize him, but this man cursed angrily and spoke foul obscenities, then quickly ran off. The slave returned and reported it. Huan believed there was real evidence and severely interrogated her. The concubine set forth her plea in full, but in the end was not believed. He immediately sent her down the steps and had her beaten to death. Undoing her clothes, the concubine swore, saying, 'My death today is truly an unjust wrong. If the way of men and gods exists, I shall cause the official to know!' Thereafter, she was seen several times coming to voice her grievance. Shortly afterward, Huan was sent out to serve as Regional Inspector of Yongzhou. His nature gradually grew mad and strange, as though he were possessed. For no reason, he beat to death an officer of his minor staff. His Chief Clerk, Liu Xingzu, falsely accused him of intending to rebel, and he was impeached by the Palace Attendant and Imperial Censor Kong Zhiwei. Emperor Shizu dispatched Palace Drafting Aide Lü Wenxian and General of the Imperial Bodyguard Cao Daogang to lead Qi guardsmen to arrest Huan. Huan's son Biao was known for being fierce and violent; he and Huan's son-in-law Yin Rui then urged Huan, saying, 'Cao and Lü have come today without showing an authentic imperial decree. We fear it is treason. The proper course is to seize them and gallop to report it to the throne.' Huan adopted their advice, assembled over a thousand men, and closed the gates to hold the defense with weapons. Biao then directly engaged the government army in battle. Biao was defeated and fled. Pei Shuye, Chief Clerk of Pacifying the Barbarians, raised troops within the city, attacked Huan, and decapitated him. People at the time considered this the retribution of the concubine. (These two verifications are from the Mingxiang ji.)