During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a scholar, Wu Mengju, who was from Zhouquan, Shimen County, Zhejiang Province. His family was wealthy, with a thousand acres of fertile land, and he was an official in the cabinet. It can be said that he had both glory and wealth, but the only thing missing was the immortal art of immortality.
Wu Mengju heard that the people of Suzhou celebrate the eighth day of April as the "Fairy Festival." It is said that every year on this day, the gods in the sky go to the earth to visit the world to observe the history of the world. People want to see immortals with great power with their own eyes, so on the eighth day of April, the whole of Suzhou is always lively. But no one has ever really seen a fairy on this day, so they can only use the local saying: "If you see an immortal, you don't know an immortal, and you are rich for three thousand years." But Wu Mengju was not discouraged because of this. He wanted to go to Suzhou to try his luck.
On the eighth day of April this year, Wu Mengju arrived in Suzhou early, neither holding a red umbrella nor a blue palanquin, but only bringing four personal soldiers to the streets to join in the fun. The streets were filled with all kinds of stalls, as well as performers who sold plasters with fists and sang "Lotus Fall." There was an endless stream of noisy people, which was really a lively Immortal Festival. Wu Mengju was not in the mood to enjoy the lively scenery, but paid attention to the demeanor of pedestrians, trying to identify extraordinary people from them.
Wu Mengju crossed the street and came to the Bali Bridge without realizing it. He was about to step on the bridge when he saw a ragged beggar on the bridge, holding a broken bamboo cane in his hand, staggering down the bridge. The beggar held a copper tin in his mouth and made a sound of "shh, shh" as he breathed. Wu Mengju was attracted by the appearance and actions of the beggar. His eyes were fixed on it, and his brain and bones turned slowly. Suddenly his heart brightened, and he hurried forward and made a deep bow to the beggar. The beggar hurriedly returned the salute and said in surprise, "Weird! Weird! Who doesn't know that you are a gentleman in the dignified cabinet, how can you call me poor?" Wu Mengyu asked happily, "Excuse me, are you Lu Xian?" The beggar said, "Where did these words come from?" Wu Meng raised his finger to the copper tin in the beggar's mouth and said, "The copper tin in the mouth is stacked, and the two mouths are stacked, and the mouth is stacked!" The beggar said, "So that's the case, I read today's acquaintance, and send you a few poems." With that said, he wrote on the bridge railing with a broken bamboo cane:
I have been in Suzhou for decades, and no one knows I 'm a fairy.
Only Zhouquan Wu Mengju knows that I am immortal and not my fate,
Shenzhou Xianjie loves poverty, and must not covet officials and money.
After the beggar finished writing, Wu Mengju finished reading it, the words disappeared, and the person disappeared. At this time, Wu Mengju was sure that he had really met the immortal Lu Dongbin. He returned to the mansion and savoured the poems given by Lu Xian. He thought to himself: "Knowing that I am immortal is not my fate" means: "Although I know that I am immortal, I have no fate to become immortal." Why is there no fate? Because I am more rich and less poor.
Soon, Wu Mengju followed Lu Xian's advice, resigned from the cabinet, returned to Zhouquan's ancestral residence, distributed the fields and property to the villagers, and lived in the study himself. According to the book, he lived in a poor old age and was buried in the horse tomb west of Zhouquan after his death. It is said that someone later robbed Wu Mengju's tomb, but there were no valuables in the tomb to accompany the burial. It can be seen that Wu Mengju really abandoned wealth and nobility in his old age from poverty.