WÁNG Xiáng 王祥, also known as Xiūzhēng 休征, lived in the Jìn 晋 dynasty (period 08) (or some say the Western Hàn 西汉 dynasty (period 06b). He lost his mother early. His stepmother, Madame ZHŪ 朱, was unloving toward him and unceasingly spoke ill of him before his father. Because of this he lost the love of his father also, but he continued to work without complaining regardless of the tasks assigned him.
His stepmother often liked to eat fresh fish, but one winter the cold froze the river to ice. Wáng Xiáng loosened his clothes and lay on the ice to melt it so he could procure them. Suddenly the ice opened of itself and a pair of carp leapt out. He took them and returned to serve them to his stepmother.
Some say that she had taken sick and needed the fish to recover. But all agree that after that she treated him better ever after.