Cai insists that her husband Zhang try the soup first. Shortly after Zhang falls to the floor dead. Donkey accuses Dou E of murdering his father and offers her a private escape. Donkey proposes that if Dou E will marry him he can make this all go away. When Dou E refuses he takes her to court. The judge asked who has committed the crime and all three, Donkey, Dou E, and Mrs. Cai refuse. The judge orders for Dou E to be beaten, when this still does not break her the judge orders for Mrs. Cai to be beaten. Dou E knows her elderly ill step-mother will never last through the beating so she confesses to the crime. The executioner leads Dou E into town and has her executed. Just before Dou E was killed she prophesized that if she was indeed innocent like she claims there will be three feet of snow and three years of drought. At the end of the play Dou E appears to her father who has since become a counsellor. Dou E tells her father of the wrong that has been committed against her and that she is the reason for the drought; her father promises to look after Mrs. Cai and to seek revenge for his daughter. When the play closes Dou is telling Mrs. Cai that both donkey and the doctor will be hung for their wrong
Cai insists that her husband Zhang try the soup first. Shortly after Zhang falls to the floor dead. Donkey accuses Dou E of murdering his father and offers her a private escape. Donkey proposes that if Dou E will marry him he can make this all go away. When Dou E refuses he takes her to court. The judge asked who has committed the crime and all three, Donkey, Dou E, and Mrs. Cai refuse. The judge orders for Dou E to be beaten, when this still does not break her the judge orders for Mrs. Cai to be beaten. Dou E knows her elderly ill step-mother will never last through the beating so she confesses to the crime. The executioner leads Dou E into town and has her executed. Just before Dou E was killed she prophesized that if she was indeed innocent like she claims there will be three feet of snow and three years of drought. At the end of the play Dou E appears to her father who has since become a counsellor. Dou E tells her father of the wrong that has been committed against her and that she is the reason for the drought; her father promises to look after Mrs. Cai and to seek revenge for his daughter. When the play closes Dou is telling Mrs. Cai that both donkey and the doctor will be hung for their wrong