燕子啣來燕子箋

武蕊卿為照顧貧弱的兄妹，下嫁年老多病的賈洪駒。賈氏尚有二弟均已成婚，蕊卿因身世常受妯娌白眼和虐待。新任巡按南宮正和赴任開封途中，暫居賈府隔鄰的驛館。他偶見樓外婦人投井自盡，忙加阻攔。婦人正是蕊卿。正和同情她的遭遇，賦詩于燕子箋上，不料詩箋被燕子啣入蕊卿房中。賈氏三弟赴京捐官之前，將庫房鑰匙交與蕊卿，二弟夫婦覬覦財產，暗中謀害大哥，並以燕子箋為證嫁禍蕊卿。此案主審正是南宮正和，他見燕子箋即百詞莫辯。蕊卿不惜自盡以表清白，她臨死前將金鑰匙轉交妹二蠻。正和父親剛正清廉，命兒子十日內查出真相，否則大義滅親。正和幸得二蠻相助，她偶見信箋被燕子啣去，靈機一動，揭露凶案的來龍去脈。蕊卿沉冤得雪，正和亦得以脫罪，全劇團圓結局。

The Swallow’s Message

To take care of her poor and weak siblings, Wu marries Jia Hongju, who is old and often sick. Jia has two married younger brothers, and their wives often scorn and abuse Wu because of her humble origin. Nan, a newly appointed governor, stays in the post house next to Jia’s house. He happens to see a woman who intends to drown herself in a well and hastens to stop her; the woman turns out to be Wu. Full of sympathy for her, Nan writes a poem on a piece of paper, which is unexpectedly snatched by a swallow and taken into Wu’s room.

Before he goes to the capital to buy himself an official rank, Jia’s third younger brother entrusts Wu with the key to the storehouse. Coveting the property, Jia’s second younger brother and his wife murder the old man and blame the crime on Wu, offering the piece of paper as evidence of her treachery. The case is tried by none other than Nan, who is confounded by the sham evidence. Wu commits suicide to show her innocence. Before she dies, she hands over the golden key to her sister Erman. Nan’s father has such a strong sense of justice that he orders his son to find out the truth in ten days or he will suffer punishment. Fortunately, Nan is helped by Erman, who, seeing a swallow taking the paper away, solves the mystery.Wu’s innocence is proven and Nan is exempted from punishment. The opera comes to a happy ending.