After the sweltering and bustling summer, a refreshing and pleasant autumn arrived. Just when people thought they could finally enjoy some peace, rumors of an Imperial Concubine Selection began to circulate.
The atmosphere in the capital region suddenly grew tense.
Why? Because ordinary families were generally unwilling to send their daughters to the selection.
After the Ming Dynasty moved its capital to Beijing, the Imperial Concubine Selections were mostly held in the capital region, essentially "grazing near home." Since Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang established the policy of "selecting concubines from common households and forming marital alliances with the common people," the imperial family had largely ceased marrying into noble or ministerial families, instead choosing girls from humble backgrounds to marry into the royal household.
However, even among humble families, many who cherished their daughters were reluctant to send them for the selection. This was because emperors of previous dynasties had maintained the barbaric practice of burying concubines alive with the deceased emperor. Even some consorts of feudal princes were subjected to this fate. Except for those families willing to trade their daughters' lives for glory, most ordinary families did not want their daughters to take such risks and sought various ways to evade the selection.
Later, the Zhengtong Emperor abolished the practice of burying concubines alive, and the common people's evasion of the selection slightly improved. However, the subsequent Chenghua Emperor exclusively favored Consort Wan, who was seventeen years his senior, and even went so far as to depose the empress for her sake!
If even an empress could be deposed, what chance did ordinary consorts have? Consort Wan's own son died young, and she had no desire to see other consorts bear children. She became adept at inducing abortions, and countless palace maids and consorts were tortured to death. Once again, the common people grew afraid to send their daughters to the selection.
The next emperor nearly lost his life due to Consort Wan's machinations and decided to have only one empress for his entire life, with no other consorts in the harem. For any young woman entering the palace, it meant the beginning of a living widowhood, with no hope of opportunity. Naturally, the common people had no desire to send their daughters to such a fate, wasting their youth.
By the time of the Zhengde Emperor two reigns later, the emperor openly preferred married women and prostitutes, showing no interest in the properly selected concubines. He even avoided seeing his empress for over a decade. The common people grew even more fearful of sending their daughters to the palace. The Zhengde Emperor ultimately died without an heir, and the throne passed to his cousin, the current Jiajing Emperor.
Due to the generations of barbaric burial practices and the endless parade of eccentric emperors in the Ming Dynasty, the people in the capital region trembled at the mere mention of an Imperial Concubine Selection.
The current Jiajing Emperor ascended the throne at sixteen, young and promising. At that time, he was in good health, and when selecting his empress and consorts, some families were willing to send their outstanding daughters, believing that this diligent and ambitious young emperor was different from the eccentric rulers of the past.
However, reality dealt them a harsh blow, making the common people feel that sending their daughters to the selection was akin to throwing them into a pit of fire—where things could always get worse.
Initially, Jiajing Emperor was reasonable, but later he became obsessed with Taoist practices and elixirs, causing his temperament to change drastically. He grew harsh and ungrateful toward both his empress and consorts, deposing two empresses in succession.
At one point, he became deeply superstitious about a Taoist priest named Tao Zhongwen, who used the first menstrual blood of young girls to refine Elixirs. The batch of girls selected for the concubine selection during that period were intentionally chosen to be very young, pre-pubescent girls who had not yet experienced menstruation. After being selected, they were kept in a separate area and treated as "Medicine Maidens." They were fed drugs to induce early menstruation so their "ingredients" could be collected.
These drugs caused severe physical harm to the young girls. Some died, while others were left disabled. After their menstruation was induced, they were forbidden from eating regular food during their periods and were instead forced to live on mulberry leaves and dew, like silkworms. After such brutal treatment, their bodies were discarded by the palace like spent medicinal dregs.Even if some "lucky" ones were retrieved by their families and later betrothed to other households, few selected maidens could conceive and bear children. The drug used to induce menarche was extremely potent, rendering them permanently infertile.
The Jiajing Emperor, after consuming elixirs, became irritable and prone to rage, frequently whipping concubines and palace maids. A palace maid named Yang Jinying, unable to endure the torment, conspired with over a dozen other maids to strangle him with a white silk cord while he slept. However, in their panic, they tied a dead knot, failing to kill the Jiajing Emperor. This incident, known as the "Renyin Palace Coup," shocked the entire court.
All the maids involved, along with two concubines, were executed, bathing the palace in blood.
A rebellion by palace maids was unprecedented in any dynasty, yet it occurred during the Jiajing era, revealing the emperor's extreme cruelty and cold-bloodedness after consuming "elixirs."
Eighteen years had passed since the "Renyin Palace Coup," and the deceitful Taoist who had persuaded the Jiajing Emperor to refine elixirs using menarche had died. The emperor now consumed elixirs primarily composed of minerals and metals, which tempered his madness and brutality. No further incidents of palace staff being beaten to death occurred.
However, the "Renyin Palace Coup" left a deep psychological scar on the common people in the capital region, who viewed the imperial harem as a pit of fire. Upon hearing news of the Imperial Concubine Selection, families with unmarried daughters of eligible age hastily sought ways to evade it.
Some sent their daughters to relatives in the south; those without southern relatives hid them in the remote valleys of the suburbs; and those without trusted friends or relatives to entrust their daughters to had no choice but to quickly find a man and marry off their daughters.
Thus, as soon as the selection was announced, the business of suona players in the capital region suddenly boomed!
Celebrations and wedding feasts were everywhere, with the suona as an indispensable instrument. Various dowry shops also thrived, earning substantial profits.
In more extreme cases, families who could find no suitable matches nearby would roam the streets, dragging any seemingly unmarried young man home, coaxing or pressuring him to sign a marriage certificate. They were willing to forgo any betrothal gifts, offering a wife for free, and hold the wedding ceremony that very night.
This absurd spectacle of "street groom-catching" grew increasingly rampant. Some strictly disciplined families even forbade their unmarried sons from leaving home, fearing they might be snatched as grooms. Once the deed was done, they would have to accept even a village girl or a shrew from the marketplace as a daughter-in-law.
The widespread panic and continuous chaos among the populace angered Huang Jin, the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, Supervising Eunuch and Chief of the Eastern Depot, who was responsible for the selection.
If this continued, how many maidens could be selected from the capital region to participate in the final round of the imperial concubine selection?
If the candidates were all unrefined and unsightly, with few presentable ones, wouldn't it become a laughingstock? Where would Eunuch Huang's dignity be?
As the saying goes, "Gold is revealed only after sifting through sand." To select outstanding maidens, there must be enough "sand" to eliminate. If even the basic number of candidates could not be met, what kind of selection would it be?
To ensure a sufficient number of eligible participants, the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Eastern Depot alone were inadequate. Thus, Eunuch Huang sought the assistance of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to devise ways to quell the phenomena of seeking refuge with relatives, chaotic marriages, and street groom-catching in the capital region.Huang Jin was the grand companion of the Jiajing Emperor when he was still an imperial prince—meaning a eunuch who accompanied the feudal lord in his studies. A proper graduate of the Directorate of Ceremonial's Inner Study Hall, erudite and talented, he enjoyed the deep trust of the Jiajing Emperor, who affectionately called him "Companion Huang."
Over the past decade, during each death penalty review by the Jiajing Emperor, Lu Bing would bribe Huang Jin and his subordinate eunuchs to ensure Ding Rukui's case file was placed last.
Thus, when Huang Jin made a request, Lu Bing naturally agreed. He ordered spies scattered across the capital region to divide their territories and secretly investigate households with eligible young women, compiling a register to be handed over to the Eastern Depot.
Eunuch Huang distributed the register, instructing his disciples and followers to bring in the listed individuals. In this way, they mended the fold after the sheep were lost, preventing girls who intended to flee and hide from the Imperial Concubine Selection.
Next came dealing with those snatching sons-in-law on the streets, for which Lu Bing also had a clever plan.
In the capital region, at Baoding Prefecture, on Qianmen Avenue, inside a teahouse.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard continued their "entrapment enforcement."
Disguised as a commoner, Lu Ying said to Wang Daxia, "It's your turn to take the stage."
With a crack, Wang Daxia used iron tongs to crush walnuts. "Why me again?"
Lu Ying pointed at herself. "I've tried several times, but no one pulls me in. You've been snatched eight times already—you're the most popular among us. If you don't go, who will?"
Embroidered Uniform Guard Wu Xiaoqi chimed in, "Exactly. I've only been taken twice. People around here really favor someone like Hundred-Household Commander Wang as a son-in-law. I get it—if I were a father, I'd also want to snatch a handsome groom for my daughter on the street."
Wu Xiaoqi was the sole son of the sacrificed Masked Wu. After his father was killed by Yan Shifan's death warriors, he followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Unwilling to guard warehouses, he preferred to follow Lu Ying through life-and-death missions outdoors.
During the operation to destroy two strongholds of the White Lotus Sect, he performed exceptionally, even saving five non-swimming comrades in the Pool of Accumulated Water. Rewarded for his merits, he was promoted from a regular soldier to a Xiaoqi, and everyone called him Wu Xiaoqi.
Wang Daxia was utterly unwilling, pointing at Lu Ying. "You're handsome too—why doesn't anyone grab you?"
Wu Xiaoqi laughed. "Because our leader naturally has an aura of 'stay away, don't mess with me.' Who would dare pull someone like that as a son-in-law? The father-in-law would probably get beaten up by the groom."
Wang Daxia was different. His gaze was clear, his smile radiant, embodying an innocent youth untouched by the harsh realities of society—clearly a virgin easy to deceive.
Moreover, this was Baoding Prefecture, not the capital Shuntian Prefecture. No one here knew Young Master Wang. If it were the capital, which commoner from the five districts would dare snatch Young Master Wang as a son-in-law?
Wang Daxia ate walnuts and sighed. "Who would have thought? Joining the Embroidered Uniform Guard not only means risking life and death, battling wits and luck against opponents, but I also have to sell my looks!"
Life was hard. Wang Daxia's path of preserving his purity for Wei Caiwei was fraught with difficulty. Sometimes, against his will, he had to sacrifice a bit of his body.
Lu Ying poured him a cup of tea. "Don't worry, we'll be following secretly. As soon as they force you into marriage, we'll appear immediately to rescue you. Lord Lu owes Eunuch Huang a favor, and we must quickly put a stop to this corrupt trend of snatching sons-in-law on the streets."
Wang Daxia downed the tea in one gulp. "I'll listen to you this time, but it's the last. I need to return to Shuntian Prefecture today."It's been almost seven days since I last saw Wei Caiwei!
Lu Ying said, "This is our last operation in Baoding Prefecture. Tomorrow we head to Yongding Prefecture, where you'll need to make another sacrifice by using your charms. I promise Yongding will be the final stop—after intimidating them, we'll return to the capital. Otherwise, we won't be able to report back to Lord Lu."
Outranked and powerless to refuse, Wang Daxia had no choice but to comply and get it over with quickly.
Wang Daxia dressed shabbily but neatly, resembling a down-on-his-luck young man from a fallen family. He wandered the streets, frequenting expensive bookstores where he couldn't afford a single book. He'd stand there reading for free, only to be repeatedly chased out by shopkeepers: "Don't dirty our books! If you're not buying, don't touch them."
After being thrown out twice, he caught the eye of a "long-plotting" matchmaker: handsome, with an innocent and pure gaze, young and naive—a poor boy with no money or influence, easy to control and quick to fall for a little bait.
The matchmaker approached him, "Young man, want to read books for free? I know a place where you can read as much as you like. Come with me."
Captured, Wang Daxia was taken to a small three-courtyard house in the suburbs of Baoding Prefecture, where a study, though modest in size, held a considerable collection of books. Inside, an anxious middle-aged man took one look at Wang Daxia and was immediately impressed. He ordered someone to bring a cup of tea, "You must be thirsty after such a long walk. Here, have a drink first."
Wang Daxia drank it and soon felt dizzy, his vision blurring until he couldn't even make out words. The middle-aged man said, "You're free to read the books here, but you must sign an agreement first. If you damage any, you'll have to pay the full price. Come, sign here."
With that, the man handed over a Marriage Certificate, deliberately folding the text so only the signature area was visible.
In his dazed state, Wang Daxia wrote a name: Wang Boda.
His father, Wang Commander, was named Wang Boda.
After signing, Wang Daxia collapsed unconscious. The middle-aged man took out an inkpad, stained all five fingers of Wang Daxia's right hand red, and slapped them firmly next to the signature. Mission accomplished, the man declared, "Someone, escort the new son-in-law to the bridal chamber."
Author's Note: Daxia: Please call me the Little Expert in Screwing Over My Dad, thank you~
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