According to legend, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, the Yellow River burst its banks and flooded Caozhou. Thousands of hectares of fertile fields were flooded with yellow water, houses collapsed, and countless soldiers and civilians drowned. There was a young man named Guyu who was very good at swimming. He pushed a large wooden box and swam to send his elderly mother to the city wall. He then swam back and forth to rescue more than a dozen villagers from the flood. At this time, Guyu was exhausted because he had not eaten for a whole day. His stomach was rumbling. He squatted on the city wall and stared at the rolling flood in a daze. Suddenly, he saw a peony in the flood, sinking and floating. The crimson flower was like a girl's face, and the green leaves were swaying on the water, as if waving for help. Guyu stood up suddenly. He forgot about hunger and fatigue, took off his clothes and threw them to his mother, jumped into the water with a "plop", and swam towards the peony. The water was fast and the waves were high. Guyu struggled to get close to the peony, and was about to grab its petals when a wave suddenly hit and swept the peony ten feet away. Guyu pressed on and on, and the peony sank into the water for a while, and then floated up again. Guyu swam and swam for two hours in the Yellow River. Excessive fatigue made him feel dizzy, and his cheeks felt as heavy as if two big stones were weighing on them. His arms that were paddling the water were no longer under his control. The mother standing on the city wall wiped the sweat off her son's face. The villagers shouted loudly for Guyu to come back, but Guyu ignored them and desperately chased after the peony in the waves.
Another hour passed, and Guyu finally caught up with the peony, which was hanging on a large branch that was washed down by the flood. He held the peony in his hands, and tears of joy flowed down his cheeks. Guyu swam back with difficulty, and he was unstable and fell on the city wall, pale and out of breath. He handed the peony to an old man beside him. The old man was called Zhao Lao Da. He was an expert in planting flowers. Zhao Lao Da took the peony with trembling hands and said, "Don't worry, kid! When the yellow water recedes, plant this peony in my flower garden, and I will take good care of it!" Guyu smiled, so sweetly!
Two years passed in a blink of an eye. In the spring of that year, Guyu's mother fell seriously ill. She was bedridden, her eyes were closed, she was so thin that her bones were just skin and bones, and she had no strength to speak. Guyu was anxious and sought medical treatment everywhere. He sold everything in the house to buy medicine, but her condition did not improve. That day, Guyu borrowed two taels of silver from Zhao Lao Da. Just as he was about to get medicine for his mother, a young girl floated into the thatched house. The girl was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, with a red dress, red cheeks and red lips, a crimson flower in her temples, and a pair of big eyes under her curved eyebrows staring at Guyu. She smiled and asked, "Are you Guyu?" Guyu nodded hurriedly. The girl said, "My name is Danfeng, and I live in Dongcun. My family has been practicing medicine for generations and treating the people. I heard that my mother was not in good health, so I came to give her medicine." As she spoke, she unfolded the red scarf in her hand and placed a dose of herbal medicine on the table. The thatched house was suddenly filled with fragrance. Guyu didn't know what to do, so he took out the silver and handed it over. Danfeng said, "I don't charge money for treating poor people." Then he walked to the bed. Guyu's mother opened her eyes when she heard the voice, looked at Miss Danfeng gratefully, and motioned her to sit down. Danfeng leaned over to look at the old lady and said sweetly, "Auntie, I'll go and boil some medicine for you. After you take this medicine, your illness will be relieved!" Guyu heard that Danfeng was boiling medicine, so he hurried to fetch water and firewood, while Danfeng was busy making fire and boiling medicine. After a while, the two of them boiled the medicine, and Danfeng waited for the old lady to take the medicine. Strangely enough, after taking the medicine, the old lady suddenly became energetic, relaxed, and most of her illness was gone. She just wanted to get out of bed and walk around. Guyu looked at Danfeng, grateful in her heart, but couldn't say a word. Miss Danfeng looked at the honest Guyu and smiled, and said, "I'll come again tomorrow," and floated away like a ball of fire.
For three days in a row, Miss Danfeng came to bring medicine to the aunt. When Guyu saw Danfeng, he was no longer as reserved as he was the day before. The two talked and laughed, just like brothers. Soon, Guyu's mother's body became stronger than before she was sick. The wrinkles on her face were less, the white hair on her head turned black, and she felt that she had endless energy. She was so happy to see Guyu and Danfeng so close. She thought to herself, how nice it would be if I had such a daughter-in-law! She wanted to ask someone to be a matchmaker, but she was afraid that Danfeng would not want to marry into this poor family. After thinking it over, she decided to ask Danfeng secretly and listen to her tone! Maybe the girl likes Guyu and doesn't mind my poor family! Who knew that since Guyu's mother recovered from her illness, Miss Danfeng never came again. The aunt waited every day, and Guyu looked forward to it every day. Before dawn, the mother and mother looked east at the gate.
"Miss Danfeng will definitely come today!" said the mother.
"She will definitely come!" said Guyu.
The sun set! It was dusk! But there was still no sign of Miss Danfeng. Mother said, "Dongcun is not far from our home. You can buy some gifts and go to Dongcun to see Miss Danfeng!"
Guyu left with a basket of gifts. He went to Dongcun to ask around, but there was no doctor in the village, let alone a girl named Danfeng. Guyu went to several villages to the east. He still couldn't find Danfeng's home. Guyu walked back in a gloomy mood. When he passed by Zhao Lao Da's Hundred Flowers Garden, he suddenly heard the sound of a woman laughing in the garden. The voice was so familiar! "It's Danfeng!" Guyu pulled aside the mulberry fence and looked into the garden. He saw Danfeng and several other women playing in the moonlight. He couldn't help but shout, "Danfeng!" Suddenly, there was a gust of wind, and the women disappeared. Guyu felt strange and rushed into the garden to look around, saying, "Don't hide. If you break the peony flowers, Uncle Zhao will be angry!" After searching for a long time, he still couldn't find Danfeng. Guyu thought, am I dreaming? No! I saw Dan Feng clearly: red clothes, red skirt, red cheeks, red lips, and a row of red flowers in the corners of his mane.
Guyu squatted in the flowers, puzzled, watching a red peony swaying in front of him. He suddenly thought: "Could that Miss Danfeng be the peony fairy?" He circled around the red peony. Under the moonlight, the bowl-sized flower seemed to be smiling at him mischievously. Guyu bowed deeply and said, "Thanks to Miss Danfeng for curing my mother's illness! The old lady has been missing you these days. Please show up and go home with me!" After Guyu finished speaking, he looked at the peony with joy and saw a piece of red paper falling to the ground. He hurriedly picked it up and saw two lines of words written on it: "Wait until April 8 next year, I will settle down in Gumen." Guyu jumped up happily with the red paper in his hand, bowed three times to the peony, and ran home like a fly.
When Guyu saw his mother, he told her about his search for Danfeng and what he saw in the Hundred Flowers Garden. His mother was so happy that tears welled up in her eyes and praised her son for his good luck. From then on, Guyu often went to the Hundred Flowers Garden to help Zhao Lao Da manage the peonies.
One night, Guyu was getting married to Danfeng in his dream, but was suddenly awakened by a knock on the door. He turned over and got out of bed. When he opened the door, he saw that it was Miss Danfeng standing in front of him! She had disheveled hair, disheveled clothes, scars on her face, and was panting. Guyu's mother hurriedly pulled Danfeng into the thatched house and asked repeatedly: "Who bullied the child?" Miss Danfeng held her mother's hand. Looking at Guyu, tears fell like pearls from a broken string: "I am the Peony Fairy, and the vulture on the mountain is my family's enemy. It bullies the weak and kills the poor, hurts living things, and is a demon that does all kinds of evil. Recently, it has fallen seriously ill and forced us sisters to go up the mountain to brew flower stamen wine to cure it. We sisters are unwilling to take our own blood to brew stamen wine for the evil thief to drink! The vulture then sent troops
Come to rob; we sisters can't resist. Danfeng went today, I'm afraid it would be difficult to turn back the ghost mother in the mountain grave . Even if I don't die. After taking blood to make wine, I can't become an immortal! Before leaving, I came to bid farewell to my aunt, brother-". As he said this, he knelt on the ground and cried. Guyu hurriedly helped Danfeng up, and the four of them looked at each other, their hearts burning. At this time, there was a thunderous roar in the night sky, and several demons surrounded the straw house. The red-haired demon in the lead shouted loudly: "Quickly release the peony flower demon! If you say no, I will turn the straw house into ashes!" Guyu hurriedly closed the door, and Guyu's mother held Danfeng tightly in her arms. The roar outside was deafening, and the flames were dazzling and bright. Danfeng broke free and bowed twice, saying: "Auntie, brother, Danfeng is not good and has implicated you: I'm going!" After that, he ran out of the door. Guyu cried and rushed out the door, falling to the ground. The red-haired demon laughed loudly, tied Danfeng with ropes, and flew straight to the top of the mountain.
After Danfeng and the fairies were snatched away by the vulture, the peonies in the Hundred Flowers Garden withered and died! Biyu's mother cried herself blind! Zhao Lao Da was sick and couldn't get up from his bed. Guyu spent the whole day quietly sharpening his axe on a big rock! His mother knew her son's heart and said to him, "Go, sharpen the axe, kill the vulture, and release Miss Danfeng!" She took out a packet of medicine from under her pillow, put it in her son's hand, and said, "Take it; it will be useful!"
Guyu walked away. He walked for twenty-eight and a half days and came to the top of a big mountain. The mountain was bare, not even a sapling grew. Where was the vulture hiding? Where was Danfeng brewing wine? Guyu circled the mountain again and again, but couldn't find even a cave. He really wanted to shout at Danfeng, but he was afraid of alarming the demon, which would make it even harder to take action. So he sat on a graveyard far from the mountain to observe the movements on the mountain. One day passed, but there was no trace of the demon; two days passed, and there was no trace of Danfeng. Guyu waited on the graveyard for three days and three nights, feeling as uncomfortable as boiling oil pouring on his heart! At dawn on the fourth day, Guyu picked up his axe and was going to chop the mountain to look for it. Suddenly, a puff of white smoke came out from a big grave on the right, and Guyu hurriedly lay down beside a grave. After a while, two little demons came out from where the white smoke came out, picked up a big basket, and ran to the top of the mountain while talking and chirping. When the two little demons walked away, Guyu ran to see that the entrance of the vulture's cave was right under his feet. He jumped into the cave with a hatchet in his hand. He stood firmly at the bottom of the cave. It was so dark! It was so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of you! It was so cold! He was shivering with cold. Guyu walked in by feeling the wall of the cave. He walked two miles before he saw the light. The cave was getting bigger and bigger. Three more roads appeared in front of him. Which way should he go? Guyu was hesitating when he heard crying in the side cave. Guyu quietly entered the side cave and saw Danfeng and the three flower fairies tied to a stone pillar. They were all white! Biyu shouted sadly: "Danfeng!" and pounced on him. When Danfeng saw Guyu, her heart seemed to be torn in two. She didn't expect Guyu to have such courage to break into the magic cave and come to save her! She looked at Guyu and tears fell like rain: "With your hatchet, how can you save us from the cave! Go away! "Guyu said, "I will cut the rope, and the five of us will go and kill the vulture!" Danfeng said anxiously, "Don't be reckless! There are so many of them, and they are all guarding the vulture, making it difficult to kill it! Besides, because we sisters didn't make wine for the vulture, it ordered the two little demons to go to the top of the mountain to fetch lime, and roasted and boiled us every day. Now our vitality is seriously injured, it is even more difficult for us to fight it!" Guyu was so sad and angry that he swung the axe to cut the rope. Just as he picked up his arm, a packet of medicine fell out of the cup. He remembered his mother's words and suddenly had an idea. He persuaded Danfeng to agree to make wine for the vulture and secretly put the medicine in the wine. Guyu and the fairies were discussing how to get rid of the monsters when the two little demons who went to fetch lime came back. Guyu hurriedly hid behind a stone.
Danfeng and the fairies asked the little demon to tell the old eagle that they were willing to make wine for the vulture in order to relieve him from suffering as soon as possible. They also said that this wine could not only cure diseases, but if one drank more cups, he would live forever. The vulture was very uncomfortable with the disease and ordered Danfeng and the flower fairies to make wine quickly.
Danfeng and the flower fairies brewed two jars of wine, one for the vulture and one for the little demons. The demons had heard that drinking this wine could make them immortal, and they had already been drooling. The vulture had just finished half of the jar when the other jar was eaten up by the demons. The wine tasted very sweet, but soon he felt dizzy and his limbs were numb. Guyu saw that the time had come and rushed out with an axe in his hand. The vulture shouted, "No!" and started fighting with Guyu; the flower fairies and the little demons also fought with each other. The vulture had been ill for a long time and had drunk the medicinal wine, so it was difficult for him to use his magic. After less than two rounds of fighting, he was chopped down by Guyu with an axe. The little demons were blurred and their hands and feet were not working. They only saw human figures swaying in front of them. Some mistook stones for people and grabbed and hit them randomly. Some mistook their own kind for fairies and killed each other, pushing and shoving each other, and making strange noises. Guyu swung his axe, slashing left and right like a wheel. In an instant, all the monsters were killed.
Danfeng was about to leave the cave with Guyu and the other flower fairies when a flying sword came and pierced Guyu's heart. He screamed and fell in a pool of blood! It turned out that although the vulture was seriously injured, it was not dead. Seeing Guyu was about to leave, it attacked from behind. Danfeng was extremely angry and picked up Guyu's axe and chopped the dying vulture into meat paste! Turning back, he hugged Guyu's body and cried.
Guyu died. He was born in Guyu and died in Guyu. He was only 21 years old when he died. Guyu was buried in Zhao Lao Da's Hundred Flowers Garden. From then on, the peony and other flower fairies settled in Caozhou. Every Guyu season, the peony would bloom to express their remembrance of Guyu.