Ghost Husband is the second installment in Qiong Yao's "Plum Blossom Trilogy." Set in a border town in early Republican-era Hunan, it tells the story of Yuan Lemei and Ke Qixuan, a couple betrothed to each other in infancy, and of a love that transcends life and death. Eighteen years earlier, while fleeing hardship, the Ke and Yuan families were set upon by bandits; Lemei's father was killed in the chaos, and Lemei's mother, Yingxue, held the Ke family responsible, planting a feud between the two households that could never be untangled. Grown up, Lemei happens upon Qixuan dancing in a mask at a heaven-thanking ceremony in Wushan Village; recognizing her by the plum-blossom birthmark on her wrist as the fiancée fate had chosen for him, Qixuan falls quietly in love with her, and she with him. Yingxue vehemently opposes the match, and Lemei vows to die rather than give in, until her mother finally softens and consents. Just as the wedding approaches, a mysterious fire breaks out at the Ke household; Qixuan is left terribly disfigured and crippled in both legs. Unwilling to burden Lemei, he has his family spread word that he is dead—yet the stubborn Lemei carries his spirit tablet into the Ke house as his bride, keeping vigil alone night after night, and in her dazed grief she becomes convinced that Qixuan is still beside her. Concealing his identity, Qixuan disguises himself as an old gardener and haunts the grounds of Luoyue Pavilion, where Lemei mistakes him for her dead husband's ghost—hence the title "Ghost Husband." With delicate strokes the novel portrays the barrier between life and death and the tug-of-war between love and dignity, until at last the lovers' sincerity dissolves a feud spanning two generations. This edition is a volume in the Writers Publishing House "Complete Works of Qiong Yao," set from the definitive text the author rewrote in her later years.
在琼瑶的众多作品中，《鬼丈夫》常被读者认为是“三观最正”的一部：没有反复摇摆的三角恋，也没有借误会推动的狗血桥段，只有两个普通人在接连的厄运里彼此守护。小说最动人的地方，在于它把“鬼”写成了一个活人自我幽禁的方式——起轩不是不能相认，而是不敢以毁损的容貌面对心爱之人；乐梅也不是不知真相，而是宁愿相信亡魂仍在自己身边。两人的僵持，本质上是爱情与自尊、成全与占有之间的拉锯。 这一版收入作家出版社“琼瑶作品大合集”，据琼瑶晚年亲自重写的定稿排印，与早年由彭树君据剧本改写、未收入全集的版本相比，情节与人物更为完整，也让这部原本因电视剧而广为人知的故事以小说应有的面貌重新站稳。对于曾经在荧屏前为“捧灵牌成亲”落泪的读者，这是一次郑重的回望；对于第一次读到故事的年轻人，它提供的是一个关于承诺与承担的老派爱情样本。
Writers Publishing House is a Chinese publisher focused mainly on literary publishing. Its output covers classical literature, foreign literature, folk literature and Eastern philosophy, with some extension into popular reading such as social fiction and parenting books. Its catalogue contains more than 900 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber and its edited editions, Shakespeare's Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and foreign literary classics such as The Brothers Karamazov and Lost Illusions. In terms of authors, it includes classical writers such as Cao Xueqin and Gao E, foreign masters such as William Shakespeare, Dostoevsky and Balzac, and translations by translators such as Zhu Shenghao, Geng Jizhi and Fu Lei. Overall, its publishing profile balances Chinese and foreign literary classics, emphasizes quality translations, and serves both academic and general readers; publicly available information on its specific publishing plans is limited.
《鬼丈夫》和电视剧《梅花三弄》是什么关系？
《鬼丈夫》是“梅花三弄”系列的第二部，与《梅花烙》《水云间》并列。1993年由中视播出同名电视剧，岳翎饰袁乐梅、李志希饰柯起轩，共22集，主题曲为《鸳鸯锦》。
这本小说最初的来源是什么？
故事最早取材于琼瑶短篇集《白狐》中的《禁门》一篇。早年出版的单行本由彭树君依据剧本改写，因此未收入《琼瑶全集》；2019年琼瑶为全集亲自重写增补，才正式收进全集。
作家出版社2024年版有什么特别？
该版属于作家出版社“琼瑶作品大合集”，依据琼瑶晚年重写的定稿排印，ISBN 为 9787521228250，平装，404页，约28.1万字，定价56元。
没有读过《梅花烙》能直接读这本吗？
可以。三部作品人物与情节彼此独立，只是共处同一系列、共享相近的时代氛围与情感基调，单独阅读不会影响理解。
书中有没有收录作者后记或创作谈？
目前公开的图书信息只显示正文内容，暂未见到收录后记或创作谈的记载，具体请以拿到手的实体书目录为准。
