| | Eryi was the second wife of Zhu Yai Ling and the daughter of his first wife. The girl's name was Chu, and she was thirteen years old. Zhu Yai had many pearls; her stepmother tied a large pearl to her as an arm ornament. When the magistracy died, they should send off the funeral procession. According to law, anyone who brings pearls into the pass shall be executed. The stepmother discarded the pearl that was tied to her arm. Her son, a boy nine years old, liked it and took it, placing it in his mother's mirror casket; no one knew about it.
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| | They then accompanied the funeral and returned home, arriving at the seaport customs. The customs officers searched them and found ten pearls in the stepmother's mirror casket. The official said, "Ah!" "This case falls under the law; there is no way around it. Who should be held responsible?" Chu looked around and, fearing that her mother had placed the pearls in the mirror casket, said, "I should be held responsible." The official asked, "What is your situation like?" She replied, "My husband was unfortunate; the lady untied and discarded it from her arm. Chu cherished it at first, took it, and placed it in the lady's mirror casket; the lady did not know about it." The stepmother heard this and hurriedly ran to ask Chu, who said, "The pearl the lady discarded, I took back and placed it in your casket; I should be held responsible." The mother also believed that Chu was the one who had done it, but she pitied her and thus said to the official, "I hope you will wait a while; I beg you not to accuse my daughter. She truly did not know." "These pearls were tied on my arm. My husband was unfortunate, and I removed them and placed them in the casket." "Because of the urgency to send off the funeral, the journey was long, and I traveled with a child too young. Suddenly I forgot about them; it is I who should be held responsible." Chu insisted, "It was truly me who took them." The stepmother then said again, "My daughter is just being modest; it was actually I who took them." She wept bitterly and could not control herself. The girl also said, "Madam feels pity for Chu's orphaned condition and wants to spare her life; Madam truly did not know." They wept together, their tears falling on each other's necks. Those who accompanied the funeral all cried; their sorrow moved those nearby, and no one could help but feel heartbroken and shed tears. The customs official held the brush to write up the accusation, but could not bring himself to write a single character. The customs officer wept bitterly and all day long could not bear to make a decision. He finally said, "A mother and daughter show such righteousness like this; how can I possibly hold them responsible?" "I cannot bring myself to impose punishment on either of them. Moreover, they keep yielding to each other; how could I know who is truly at fault?" Thus he abandoned the pearls and let them go. After they had left, it was later discovered that only the boy had taken them. The gentlemen said that Eryi demonstrated kindness and filial piety. The Analects says: "A father conceals for his son, a son conceals for his father; uprightness is to be found in this." If the stepmother and her adopted daughter vied with each other for death, their sorrow moved those around them; they can truly be called upright.
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