Wang Daxia's surveillance efforts were not going smoothly, for it was already late autumn in the capital, the tenth month, when even padded jackets could not withstand the cold wind, and people had to wear cotton-padded clothes. The wealthy, who feared the cold, had even donned heavy fur garments early on, causing everyone to become bulkier in appearance.
What was more troublesome was that every autumn and winter, as plants withered and all things decayed, the weather turned dry. When the northwest wind blew, the entire city was filled with sandstorms!
Amid the swirling dust and sand, to protect their eyes from grit when going out, the people of the capital—men and women alike—popularized covering their eyes with an eye veil.
The eye veil, also known as eye clothing, was similar to modern windproof sunglasses. It was made of extremely lightweight silk, mostly in black or dark blue, with two straps tied at the back of the head to secure it against the wind.
This item did not originate in the Central Plains; it was passed down from the Yuan Dynasty. The Mongol Golden Family rose to power on the grasslands and deserts. As a horse-riding clan, they needed to shield their eyes from the blazing sun and sand while riding. During heavy sandstorms, they even covered their horses' eyes with eye veils.
When the Yuan Dynasty established its capital in Beijing and unified the empire, although their rule lasted only ninety-eight years before the Ming Dynasty overthrew them, the Yuan people's eye veils remained in Beijing due to their practicality. Every autumn and winter during sandstorms, almost everyone wore an eye veil, much like masks during the pandemic in later times—an essential item for going out.
Even Ming Dynasty officials demoted from the capital to local posts were required to wear eye veils when leaving Beijing, regardless of the season or the presence of sandstorms, forming an unwritten rule in official circles.
But with everyone wearing eye veils, even if Wang Daxia and the surveilling Embroidered Uniform Guards had eyes like torches, they could hardly discern the faces of those coming and going.
As a poem says: "A short foot of silk obscures the colors of Chang'an. How can those before our eyes remain strangers face-to-face?" (Note 1)
Once donning an eye veil, even a husband and wife who shared a bed at night might struggle to recognize each other standing opposite, let alone identify the carriage driver who kidnapped Wei Caiwei from among countless veiled passersby.
Thus, Wang Daxia had almost no chance to wear women's clothing or his beloved pearl-adorned silk flowers, for in such weather, dressed in male attire and veiled, even the people of the Prince of Jin's residence did not recognize him as Wang Daxia.
Naturally, Wang Daxia could not recognize the culprit either. Everyone had become blind in plain sight, viewing the blurred world daily through the hazy eye veils.
After enduring days of sandstorms at various stakeout points, Wang Daxia dejectedly sought out Lu Ying. "Boss, this job is impossible in this sandy weather. The brothers are out there monitoring, exposed to wind, sun, cold, and dust, coughing one after another. Wu Xiaoqi even developed a fever last night—I heard he nearly coughed his lungs out."
"Besides, with the heavy sandstorms these days, everyone is wearing eye veils or even face coverings (essentially masks). Even if the culprit walked right in front of us, we wouldn't recognize him. If we encounter someone with a similar silhouette, we can't just forcibly remove the suspect's eye veil to see his face—that would alert the enemy."
This was indeed a problem.
Lu Ying gazed out the window at the gray haze. By late autumn, the dust and sand blotted out the sky, obscuring the sun. Without the watchmen striking their clappers to announce the time, one would have no idea of the hour, as if only dusk and night existed.
"Heaven isn't cooperating this time. It seems we'll have to wait until winter snows, when ice and snow cover the dust, preventing the wind from stirring up sandstorms."In the bitter cold of winter, the air became clean and clear, with only occasional sandstorms blowing in from the northern deserts on windy days—a significant improvement over the constant dust storms of late autumn.
Wang Daxia remarked, "Based on previous years, it might take another month for snow to fall. Are we supposed to wait that long?"
Lu Ying decisively ordered, "Then we'll wait another month. Doctor Wei is staying at my place and is safe for now. Having the brothers drink the gritty northwest wind every day is futile and will only wear them down. Except for the undercover agents using shops as fronts, recall all the others stationed outside."
Lu Ying was protective of her subordinates, valuing their well-being over chasing achievements.
Wang Daxia complied, calling back his men for rest. However, he didn't withdraw himself. Instead, he went to a street outside Zhengyang Gate, stocked up on eye veils from a wholesale and retail shop, disguised himself as a peddler, rented a wheelbarrow, and set up a banner for selling eye veils. Every day, he pushed his wheelbarrow around the Jin Prince's estate properties and fields, lying in wait like a fool hoping for a hare to bump into a tree.
The reason was simple: passersby would only remove their old eye veils to try on new ones when purchasing, allowing peddler Wang Daxia to clearly see their faces.
It was a clumsy method, almost entirely reliant on luck. But Wang Daxia, worried about Wei Caiwei's safety, was determined to find her kidnapper quickly. Passively waiting for snowfall wasn't his style.
With the harsh winds and sand outside, he wore an eye veil and covered his nose with a face cloth, nearly concealing his entire face. His hair was wrapped in a black headscarf, which started black in the morning but turned gray-white by evening, accumulating at least two liang of dust that could be shaken off.
Moreover, Wang Daxia sneaked in daily through the servants' entrance at the Wang residence and made Lu Ying promise not to tell Wei Caiwei, fearing she would worry and stop him from using his hare-waiting tactic.
He always cleaned himself thoroughly before meeting Wei Caiwei and the others.
This changed Lu Ying's opinion of Wang Daxia significantly. She told Lu Bing, "I always thought he was just clever and smooth-tongued, but I didn't expect him to put in such hard work. I underestimated him."
Lu Bing, however, had a contrary view. "This task could easily be delegated to subordinates, yet he insists on doing it himself. As the saying goes, 'Kindness doesn't command troops.' He might become an excellent scout, but he's not fit to be a decisive official or general. He's been in the Embroidered Uniform Guard for almost half a year, but his heart has grown softer than when I first met him."
"Our Embroidered Uniform Guard's reputation in the capital is enough to silence crying children. He joined with the notorious reputation of one of the Four Pests of the North City, but now he's become compassionate and caring. The Guard has actually whitened a charcoal-like scoundrel."
Lu Bing, who achieved his current status through no small measure of ruthlessness, navigated gray areas with wisdom and tactics, doing both good and evil. He initially thought Wang Daxia was a kindred spirit and nurtured him carefully, but it seemed he was mistaken. Perhaps influenced by Lu Ying, Wang Daxia was growing increasingly kind-hearted.Lu Bing had not been mistaken. In his previous life, Wang Daxia, tempered by hardships, had indeed become another Lu Bing—decisive in judgment and execution, serving as the fearsome Chief of the Eastern Depot. Navigating gray areas, he ultimately managed to retire unscathed with his wife, Wei Caiwei, and lived out his days in peace.
In this life, Wei Caiwei not only preserved Wang Daxia's foundational nature but also transformed his character, allowing him to remain a clear-eyed youth even after the age of fourteen.
Lu Ying stood firm in her belief. "Compassion is not a weakness. Sayings like 'kindness cannot command troops' are outdated. A person picks up weapons and hones their skills not to kill, but to protect what they cherish—whether it's a single individual or an entire nation. What's wrong with being compassionate to one's own? I think Wang Daxia is better than before."
Lu Bing sighed. "I had hoped to nurture him carefully, smooth the path for him, so he could one day take my place. With him as a protector, you and the entire Lu family would have an easier life. But the current Wang Daxia is no longer the ideal candidate."
Lu Ying retorted, "If sitting in that position requires becoming cold and indifferent, disregarding the lives of subordinates, then it's better not to take it at all."
Lu Bing said, "Behind glory lies loneliness. You may appear cold on the outside but are warm-hearted inside. Even if you were a boy, you couldn't inherit my position."
"Hmph, stubborn. I don't care for it anyway." Lu Ying swept her sleeves and left.
After curfew, Wang Daxia returned to the Wang residence. It took five buckets of hot water to wash off the dust from his body. As he dried his hair, Lu Ying arrived.
Still upset from her argument with her father, Lu Ying heard Wang Daxia coughing through the door and knocked. "I brought you lung-cleansing herbal soup."
Wang Daxia opened the door, and Lu Ying entered along with a gust of sandy wind, triggering another fit of coughing from him.
Lu Ying quickly closed the door, placed the food box on the table, and took out a pot of medicine. "You've been breathing dust all day—drink this now."
Wang Daxia gulped the medicine directly from the spout, feeling a cool sensation from his throat to his lungs. His coughing subsided. "It wasn't all for nothing," he said. "Business was good today—I sold over fifty eye veils. If I ever leave the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I could still support my family as a peddler."
Trying to stay positive amid hardship, Wang Daxia asked Lu Ying, "How is Doctor Wei today? Tell her not to go outside—the sandstorm is choking."
Lu Ying replied, "The palace sent for her today. Noble Consort Shang summoned her and hasn't returned yet. It seems she's been detained."
"Noble Consort Shang?" Wang Daxia exclaimed in surprise. "That girl I set off fireworks with has been promoted to noble consort so quickly?"
Lu Ying warned him, "Noble Consort Shang is currently favored. The Emperor is already unpredictable—if he finds out you were alone with her playing with fireworks, you could be demoted at best, executed at worst."
Wang Daxia said, "I know my limits. I only mention it privately to you, Commander Lu."
The next day, Wang Daxia again disguised himself as a peddler and braved the sandstorm to sell eye veils. Noble Consort Shang sent Wei Caiwei back to the Wang residence. Just as Caiwei entered, removed her eye veil, a steward from Prince Yu's residence arrived to invite her, saying Princess Yu requested her for a consultation.
Though it was Princess Yu who summoned her, Wei Caiwei's first thought was of Li Jiubao, how she was faring as a concubine in Prince Yu's household.During this visit to the palace, Wei Caiwei met with Chen Jingji and introduced him to the new favorite in the inner court, Noble Consort Shang. As the saying goes, "When a man attains the Dao, even his pets ascend to heaven." As long as Shang Qinglan remained favored by the emperor, Chen Jingji would rise faster than other students in the Inner Study Hall, with a future as bright as brocade.
Just as she had once promoted Wang Daxia—lifting him from obscurity to immediate prominence in the imperial court—she now did the same for Chen.
Only by becoming powerful early could Chen Jingji and Li Jiubao support each other. Otherwise, they would be like rootless duckweed, drifting helplessly with the current, unable to control their own fate.
Caiwei changed into a clean eye veil and covered her nose and mouth with a face veil to guard against dust before boarding Prince Yu's carriage.
Author's Note: "A short foot of silk captures the beauty of Chang'an. How can those before my eyes remain strangers though we meet?" was written by Wang Shizhen, one of the Later Seven Masters of the Ming Dynasty.
Eye veil, eye cover, and eye garment all refer to the same item with different names. In The Plum in the Golden Vase, Ximen Qing almost always wore an eye veil when going out for illicit affairs—not only to protect against dust while riding but also to conceal his face.
Face veil and face garment both mean face mask. In Ming dynasty woodblock prints, servants serving tea and water at banquets often wore face veils to cover their noses and mouths, maintaining food hygiene.
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