Luo Lun (courtesy name Yizheng) was a native of Yongfeng in Ji’an during the Ming Dynasty. From an early age, he resolved to follow the example of the ancient sages, and in his daily life, he steadily put that aspiration into practice.
When he was 5 years old, Luo Lun once accompanied his mother to an orchard. Whenever fruit fell to the ground, the people who had entered the orchard rushed to pick it up. Luo Lun alone remained unmoved. He would not take any fruit until the owner of the orchard offered it to him.
The prefect, Zhang Xuan, took pity on this diligent yet impoverished young man and sent officials with rice and other provisions to assist him. Luo Lun thanked the prefect for his kindness, but firmly declined the aid.
A journey to the capital
At the age of 30, Luo Lun passed the provincial examination and set out for the capital to sit for the metropolitan examination. While traveling through Shandong, he and his servant stayed at a small inn.
One day, Luo Lun’s servant found a gold bracelet in the inn’s courtyard. Instead of telling his master, he secretly kept it.
After leaving the inn, they traveled for another two days. As they continued along the road, Luo Lun grew increasingly worried. At last, he sighed and said: “The capital is still a long way off. What will we do if our travel money runs out?”
His servant replied: “There is no need to worry!”
He then produced the gold bracelet and told Luo Lun exactly how he had found it.
Luo Lun was furious. He immediately turned back, determined to return the bracelet himself.
His servant fell to his knees and pleaded: “Master, if we go all the way back and then continue to the capital, I’m afraid we may miss the examination!”
Luo Lun replied: “This must have been lost by one of the servants at the inn. If the owner demands to know where it went and the person who lost it cannot explain, what if someone is beaten to death because of it? Whose fault would that be?”
Then he said gravely: “I would rather miss the examination than allow someone to lose his life unjustly.”
So master and servant hurried back toward the little inn.
An act of kindness saves two lives in danger
Events there had unfolded almost exactly as Luo Lun had feared.
A maid dressed in green went to throw a basinful of water into the courtyard, unaware the gold bracelet was in the water. The bracelet was flung onto the ground, and the maid had no idea that she had lost it.
The innkeeper’s wife repeatedly demanded that the maid explain what had happened to the bracelet. But the terrified girl could not tell her what she did not know. She was whipped several times, yet still could give no answer. Bleeding heavily and driven to despair, she began thinking of taking her own life.
Meanwhile, the innkeeper kept cursing and berating his wife for losing the bracelet. Overcome with anger and despair, she too began thinking of hanging herself.
The entire household was thrown into turmoil.
Then Luo Lun arrived.
He took out the gold bracelet and returned it to its rightful owner, thereby saving two lives.
The innkeeper’s family was overwhelmed with gratitude. After hearing what had happened, neighbors crowded around the inn until they formed a wall of people, and they all praised the young scholar for his upright character.
Heaven’s recompense
By the time Luo Lun and his servant finally reached the capital, it was already the fourth day of the second lunar month. They hurried to the examination hall, and Luo Lun managed to arrive in time to sit for the examination after all.
That year was the second year of the Chenghua era, corresponding to the Bingxu examination year of the Ming Dynasty. When the results were announced, the scholar at the top of the list as Zhuangyuan, or First Scholar, was none other than Luo Lun.
Luo Lun had been willing to sacrifice his own prospects rather than risk allowing innocent people to die because of a lost bracelet. Yet in the end, he not only reached the examination in time, but also attained the highest honor a scholar could achieve.
As the old saying goes: Heaven’s Way repays both good and evil. In Luo Lun’s case, the recompense for an act of kindness that saved two lives came almost at once.
Translated by Katy Liu
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