There are two versions of the legend of Xiao Hulei.

one

In the 1960s, playwrights Ma Shaobo and Lu Jingyan wrote "Little Hulei", which narrated a story in the Tang Dynasty: Xiao Hulei was a precious musical instrument. According to legend, it has always been hidden in the emperor's palace. It was lost to the people, and later passed on, and it fell into the hands of a talented young man named Liang Houben. Liang Houben is going to give it as a wedding gift to Zheng Yingying, a girl who is proficient in rhythm. At this time, Emperor Wenzong of Tang was collecting beautiful women from the people, and Zheng Yingying was forced to enter the palace. Zheng is a virtuous girl, not only did she not submit, but she also beat the lewd and lewd emperor. Tang Wenzong was furious and ordered Zheng Yingying to be strangled to death, put into a wooden box, and thrown into the royal river. The maids were very sympathetic to her, so they lightly buckled the white silk and left a vent on the wooden box, so that Zheng Yingying was saved from death. The wooden box floated out of the palace wall along the water and was rescued by Liang Houben, and they went to the peasant uprising team together.

Second

According to legend, in 781 AD, Han Huan, a great calligrapher and painter who once served as Zuo Pu She Tongzhong Shumen Xia Pingzhangshi (equivalent to the prime minister) in the Tang Dynasty, found a strange tree in Luogu, Sichuan, and ordered the magistrate to send craftsmen. cut down. The tree is hard, and when you knock it on, it makes a sound of gold and stone. You can see that the tree grains are intertwined with gold. So, he asked skilled violin craftsmen to make two guqins, named Da Hulei and Xiao Hulei. Han Huang did not dare to keep such a precious qin privately, but dedicated it to Tang Dezong. In AD 835, the "Nan Dew Change" occurred in the court, and the eunuch Qiu Shiliang took over the power and banned the soldiers and bloodshed the court. From then on, the big and small sudden thunders were scattered to the people.
At this time, there was a female musician surnamed Zheng in the palace. Because she was an artist in the palace maid, she was called Zheng Zhongcheng. She is well educated, well versed in scriptures and history, able to write poetry and painting, and can play a variety of musical instruments, especially the pipa. She once played Xiaohulei, but because Xiaohulei's key was broken, she was sent to Zhao's house in Chongrenfang to be repaired. One day, when Tang Wenzong listened to Zheng Zhongcheng playing the piano, he disliked the tune and Longyan was displeased, so he ordered the eunuch to strangle her to death. thrown into the river. At that time, a palace official named Liang Houben was fishing by the river, and suddenly he saw a thing floating on the river, about six feet long. Liang Houben hurriedly ordered someone to bring it ashore, and it turned out to be a coffin inside. When he opened it, he saw a female corpse inside with a lifelike appearance. After undoing the silk on his neck, he seemed to have gas in his mouth. He poured rice porridge and he came back to life. She was Zheng Zhongcheng, and later became Liang Houben's concubine.
Liang Houben heard from Zheng Zhongcheng that Xiao Hulei was in the Zhao family in Chongrenfang and spent a lot of money, and finally redeemed Xiao Hulei. Zheng Zhongcheng was very happy when he saw the musical instrument he had played. But she did not dare to play during the day, and could only play the pluck lightly at night. Sometimes I hold Xiao Hulei in my arms and say to myself: "Qin! Qin! People say 'to give birth to a son is afraid of others', I have the same fate as you!"

One day, the weather was fine, Liang Houben and his wife were drinking under the flowers, and Zheng Zhongcheng bounced a small thunder next to him. Liang Houben was very happy. Unexpectedly, the servant of the Huangmen in the palace let the Harrier pass by outside the wall, and when he heard the sound of the pipa, he secretly said: "I have heard this song in the palace, isn't this Zheng Zhongcheng playing Xiaohu Lei? Zheng Zhongcheng was dead and was thrown to the ground. In the royal river, could it be said that this is her ghost crying? Huangmen Shilang told the emperor about this strange thing. When Wenzong learned that Zheng Zhongcheng was still alive, he was surprised and regretful, regretting that the death of Zheng Zhongcheng was too much. When I heard that she has now given Liang Houben as a concubine, not only did she not blame, but instead gave them a lot of rewards."