In the land of Linqing, Shandong, there is a scholar named Cui whose family is extremely poor, and even repairing damaged walls has become a luxury. Every morning, Cui Sheng often sees a horse with black fur mixed with white, but with a slightly messy tail, like a horse caught in a fire, lying leisurely in the nearby grass. This horse’s origin is unknown and it has been repeatedly driven away. It returned on its own at night and became an unsolved mystery in Cui Sheng’s life.
One day, Cui Sheng had the idea of using this unclaimed horse because he wanted to visit his friend who was far away in Shanxi and was struggling with the long journey and the lack of good horses to travel. He carefully dressed up the horse, equipped it with a saddle and reins, and before leaving, he reminded his family, “If anyone finds a horse here, please tell me its whereabouts in detail.” Then, Cui Sheng rode his horse and set off, and the horse was as fast as flying. It was a hundred miles away in an instant, and there was no need for too much grass at night, which surprised Cui Sheng secretly. The next day, Cui Sheng tried to slow down his pace, but unexpectedly the horse was restless and neighing incessantly. Cui Sheng had no choice but to let it gallop. Not long after, they arrived in Taiyuan city, and the people in the city all praised this divine horse. The news reached the ears of the King of Jin, who was willing to pay a large sum of money to purchase it. However, Cui Sheng, concerned about the loss or future search, politely declined the offer. Half a year later, without seeing anyone looking for a horse, Cui Sheng finally sold the horse to the Jin Wang Mansion for 800 taels of silver and instead purchased a majestic mule to return home.
Not long after, the King of Jin had an urgent matter to send a school captain on a long journey, so he sent him to ride this horse. Unexpectedly, halfway through, the horse broke free from the reins and headed straight for Cui Sheng’s neighbor’s house, disappearing without a trace at the entrance. The school captain chased after him and asked the neighboring owner Zeng for a horse. Zeng was at a loss and insisted that he had not seen any horses. The school captain searched the house and only saw a picture of a galloping horse painted by Zhao Ziang hanging on the wall. One of the horses had a similar appearance to the one sold to the King of Jin, especially the damaged tail, which further confirmed that the horse was actually transformed by an elf in the painting.
The Colonel faced criticism from the King of Jin and wanted to appeal to the government. Upon hearing the news, Cui Sheng remembered that the profits from selling horses had helped him set sail in the sea of commerce and accumulate a fortune. He stepped forward and voluntarily repaid the Colonel 800 taels of silver on behalf of Zeng to relieve his difficulties. Zeng was deeply grateful, but he didn’t know that this generous benefactor was the original owner of that magical horse back then.
