Wang Daxia had wanted to slip away from the very beginning. Wei Caiwei felt that her husband should have overcome his doting affection for their daughter over the past six months, so the couple reached an agreement without hesitation. Without waiting for Lu Ying to speak, they tacitly made their escape.
Ding Wu observed every move of the couple, but knowing they aspired to a life far from political affairs and had no interest in state matters, he did not alert Lu Ying and silently watched them leave.
When Lu Ying and Ding Wu arrived at Bansheng Land, the war between Butashili and Chelike over Bansheng City had already ended. The fourteen-year-old Butashili, no match for the well-armed and powerful Chelike, suffered a crushing defeat and retreated to Hohhot to seek reinforcements from San Niangzi.
On the grasslands, the strong prey on the weak. To maintain peace in Bansheng, the widow Hastuya married the victorious Chelike but forbade him from touching Bansheng City. Nominally, Bansheng belonged to Chelike, but in reality, it remained under Hastuya’s control.
Ados of the Ordos tribe also came to compete for Hastuya’s hand in marriage. However, witnessing the brutal war, Ados once again backed down and unsurprisingly withdrew. He sighed to Ding Wu, saying:
“This is my fate. Chelike’s grandfather, Anda Khan, stole my betrothed. Chelike’s father, Huang Ji Tai, married her. Now Hastuya has been taken by Chelike. I have nothing.”
Butashili sought refuge with his mother, San Niangzi. She immediately led her personal troops to battle Chelike, soundly defeating him to vent her son’s anger.
The second-generation Shunyi King, Huang Ji Tai, watched silently as his wife led troops to attack his son Chelike. He neither spoke nor sent troops to aid Chelike, quietly remaining a puppet.
San Niangzi triumphed over Chelike, but Hastuya had already married Chelike, a fact that could not be changed.
Butashili remained unconvinced. San Niangzi said, “I can help you vent your anger, but I cannot break the rules to make Hastuya remarry you. You must become strong yourself to obtain what you desire. What others give you, even if you acquire it, you cannot protect for long. In the end, it will be snatched away from you. Do you expect me, your mother, to fight for women on your behalf every time?”
Once again, the storm subsided.
Three years later, Huang Ji Tai passed away from illness. To become the third-generation Shunyi King, his eldest son Chelike voluntarily divorced Hastuya and married San Niangzi—because the Ming dynasty trusted only San Niangzi. Truly, it was an unshakable San Niangzi and a revolving door of Shunyi Kings.
With Hastuya single again, Butashili swiftly married the seventeen-years-older Hastuya. The two held a joint tent ceremony, and this time, it was not merely a political marriage—they truly became husband and wife. Hastuya gave birth to a son, Sunang Taiji, who inherited Bansheng City after their deaths.
Of course, these were events yet to come. For now, Wang Daxia and Wei Caiwei hurried back to the capital to fetch their daughter. The streets were filled with altars for a grand funeral, and they learned that Grand Secretariat Chief Minister Zhang Juzheng had passed away from illness.
A renowned minister of his generation had died of hemorrhoids.
Empress Dowager Li summoned the couple to the palace. Chen Jingji, now a Powerful eunuch in the Directorate of Ceremonial responsible for endorsing memorials with red ink, held a high position and great authority. Yet he remained humble and courteous, without the airs of a Powerful eunuch.
Chen Jingji briefed them on the current situation in the Forbidden City: “…After the Emperor’s wedding, Empress Dowager Li moved to Cining Palace and no longer involves herself in state affairs.”It truly is a cycle through generations. San Niangzi continued to govern through remarriage, while Li Jiubao had already withdrawn completely, showing no attachment to power.
Due to Zhang Juzheng's death, Li Jiubao was in low spirits. However, as someone long accustomed to high positions, her inner thoughts could no longer be discerned from her expression or gaze.
Li Jiubao remained as calm as still water, revealing neither sorrow nor joy. She dismissed everyone, including Wang Daxia, and asked Wei Caiwei to examine the pulse of a tea-serving palace maid.
After a careful examination, Wei Caiwei said, "Congratulations, Your Highness. It is a pregnancy pulse."
Since the Chenghua Emperor's marriage, there had been no heirs. This palace maid, though plain in appearance, was about to "take the lead."
Upon hearing this, Li Jiubao closed her eyes briefly before opening them. She dismissed the palace maid and said to Wei Caiwei, "There will be major turmoil in the court soon. Go visit Consort Shang—we spoke of you recently—and then leave the capital immediately. Do not return here for the next few years."
Heeding Li Jiubao's warning, Wei Caiwei boarded a ship from Tongzhou back to Nanjing that very day, accompanied by Wang Daxia and Xia Qiwu.
Sure enough, after Zhang Juzheng's death, the young emperor, eager to consolidate power, launched a purge of the Zhang family. Zhang Juzheng's eldest son was even driven to suicide. The former Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, Supervising Eunuch Feng Bao had his property confiscated and was sent to Nanjing to grow vegetables at the Xiaoling Mausoleum. The court was swept by a storm of bloodshed.
Upon hearing of Feng Bao's demotion to Nanjing, Wang Daxia sighed with shared sorrow at the Rouge and Powder Shop by the Qinhuai River, "I told you we should leave the capital early. Feng Bao, with his formidable tactics before the late emperor's death, helped Empress Dowager Li defeat Chief Grand Secretary Gao Gong and seize power. Yet, ten years later, the emperor grew suspicious of him and sent him to grow vegetables at the Xiaoling Mausoleum. Fortunately, we left early. If we had stayed in the capital, we might have faced the young emperor's purge as well."
In their previous life, they avoided disaster because Wang Daxia's poor health forced them to retire at the height of their power. In this life, the couple proactively withdrew from the world, thus avoiding the tragic fate that befell Zhang Juzheng, Feng Bao, and others.
Under the crushing weight of imperial power, nothing survives. No matter how formidable a person may be, they cannot resist the cycles of fate.
Spending their days surrounded by rouge and cosmetics—such a life was truly fine.
Forbidden City, Cining Palace.
Li Jiubao summoned the Wanli Emperor. Thinking his mother intended to plead for the Zhang family, the emperor said, "...Do not bring this up, Mother. Over the past decade, Senior Grand Secretary Zhang and you have been close, leading to unsavory rumors both in and out of the court. If you plead for the Zhang family now, would that not confirm these rumors?"
Li Jiubao looked at her young son. The grasp of imperial power could distort a person beyond recognition, filling them with suspicion and distrust, even toward their own mother. Since assuming power, the Wanli Emperor had become like a different person—transforming from an obedient child into a rebellious and irritable ruler. Having been strictly controlled in his youth, he now compensated for his lost childhood mischiefs by wielding his supreme authority with excess.
Li Jiubao clapped her hands. "Come out."
The palace maid, Wang Shi, stepped forward timidly, her belly slightly rounded.
Li Jiubao said, "The emperor has impregnated my maid. Her condition can no longer be concealed, and she cannot remain in the Cining Palace indefinitely. You must grant her a title. Regardless of the child's gender, it will be your firstborn. Treat her well."
How could this be? The Wanli Emperor had already forgotten the plain-looking Wang Shi. Impossible! How could I have slept with such an unattractive girl!
The Wanli Emperor flatly denied it. "Mother, I did no such thing."Lady Wang fell to her knees with a thud, terrified. "Your Majesty, that night, after you had some wine and went to rest in the side hall, this humble maid was ordered to attend to you. Then Your Majesty... I swear every word is true."
According to the rules of imperial consort service, the emperor should bestow gifts afterward as proof of the encounter, which would be recorded in the Court Ladies' Register. However, the Wanli Emperor, intoxicated and impulsive, had been heartless afterward—forgetting about Lady Wang as soon as he dressed, leaving nothing behind except his seed.
Li Jiubao produced the "Court Ladies' Register" recorded by the Recorder of Court Ladies. "Whether it happened or not is clearly documented here. Three months ago, you did indeed favor Lady Wang in the Cining Palace. This matter concerns the imperial bloodline—how could I stand by and do nothing?"
Li Jiubao had risen to power through the imperial heir and understood the difficulties of royal succession. The Wanli Emperor, at twenty years old and still young, believed he would have many children in the future and cared little about the womb of an ordinary palace maid.
With the Court Ladies' Register as evidence, the Wanli Emperor had no choice but to grudgingly acknowledge it. He sent Lady Wang to the empress for arrangements, then put the matter out of his mind and went to rest with his favored consort, Lady Zheng.
Seven months later, Lady Wang gave birth to the Wanli Emperor's eldest son, Zhu Changluo.
Four years later, Consort Zheng bore the imperial son Zhu Changxun. The Wanli Emperor favored Consort Zheng and Zhu Changxun, developing intentions to set aside the eldest and establish the younger as heir.
Ten years later, the agreed-upon meeting time for the group of four arrived again. Xia Qiwu was now eighteen years old.
Xia Qiwu bore a striking resemblance to her father Wang Daxia in his youth when he cross-dressed as a woman, sharing the same hobbies—both were obsessed with blending cosmetics and finding ways to sell them at good prices to earn money.
Matchmakers flocked to their doorstep, but Xia Qiwu rejected every suitor. She even told her parents, "I don't want to marry. Establish a Female Household for me—I'll support the family alone. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Wang Daxia and Wei Caiwei exchanged a knowing glance. Wang Daxia cleared his throat twice and said, "Don't be hasty. Before establishing a Female Household, let's all go to the capital together to visit old friends."
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