Abducting a Commoner Woman

In the autumn of King Zhou's seventh year, Huang Feihu was demoted to guarding Chaoge's south gate. By the following year, governance ran smoothly, the people lived in harmony, and a hundred neglected undertakings flourished anew. The Feudal Lords throughout the realm all came to Chaoge.

As for why Su Hu, the Marquis of Jizhou from the north, entered Chaoge through the south gate, Huang Feihu had no idea. After exchanging greetings, he continued patrolling his gate.

Su Hu, however, was rather bewildered. How had the King of Wucheng Who Guards the Nation become the commander of the south gate?

The security was so tight that Su Hu sensed something amiss. He sent his eldest son, Su Quanzhong, riding back to Jizhou alone, then continued into the city with his deputy generals, Zhao Bing and Chen Jizhen.

Daji, who had been secretly following him, also managed to enter Chaoge after quite some time.

As the Feudal Lords from every region streamed into the city, Zi Shou had already changed his clothes and taken You Hun out on an incognito tour.

You Hun was an excellent choice. His parents had died early, he had no brothers, and he had yet to marry.

Once a man like that fell in love with money, he would devote himself wholeheartedly to amassing wealth.

Zi Shou had tested him before. You Hun truly loved money and repaid even the slightest grievance. He was an ideal candidate for a treacherous minister and absolutely had to be entrusted with important duties.

"Your Majesty, have you come out in disguise to inspect the words and deeds of the various Feudal Lords?" You Hun's sly, shrill voice rang out, sounding rather like a eunuch.

Zi Shou shook his head. "Keep an eye out for beauties among the common folk."

He had come to abduct a commoner woman.

The Feudal Lords had all arrived in Chaoge, so Zi Shou needed to start taking action.

First, he needed to establish his image as an incompetent ruler and plant that impression in the Feudal Lords' minds before anything else.

Otherwise, with the court ministers praising him so lavishly, what if they mistook him for a wise ruler? First impressions mattered in everything.

Thus, Zi Shou would strike first and abduct a commoner woman right in the street. Once he got his hands on her, no amount of washing would scrub his reputation clean.

Still, even abducting a commoner woman required careful selection. First, she had to be beautiful. Second, she had to have poise. If he abducted someone who plainly could not find a husband, wouldn't he be doing the people a favor?

She might even be dying to enter the palace and serve the king.

He wandered aimlessly through the streets. As the capital, Chaoge was very prosperous, and its people were simple and unpretentious.

Zi Shou thought even the old woman selling vegetables by the roadside looked kindly and approachable. Sadly, once war broke out, peaceful days like these would never return.

So he stepped forward and asked her prices.

Upon asking, he learned that a bundle of heartless vegetables cost two Copper Shells.

Copper Shells were the main currency of the late Shang Dynasty. Made of bronze and roughly the size of a coin, they were the earliest surviving cast metal currency in the world.

They were, however, very ugly.

Their workmanship was crude, their design simple, and their shape inconsistent. Zi Shou found them extremely inconvenient, but they were surprisingly valuable.

Two Copper Shells were no small sum. Zi Shou eyed the old woman suspiciously. With her kindly brows and gentle eyes, she did not look like a dishonest person.

You Hun saw this and could not let it pass. Bowing beside Zi Shou, he said, "In Chaoge City, an ordinary bundle of heartless vegetables usually costs only one Copper Shell."

Zi Shou was shocked. There were already unscrupulous merchants in this era?

Presumably, the commoners had raised their prices to take advantage of the Feudal Lords' arrival. Among the Four Garrisons and the Eight Hundred Vassals, there were bound to be a few fools.

He turned and walked away. He had only been asking, anyway, and had never intended to buy anything.

The old woman was left muttering behind him. Dressed so splendidly, he must be some region's vassal. How could he begrudge buying even a bundle of vegetables?

After only a few steps, Zi Shou caught sight of a graceful figure.

He could make out a tall, slender frame, glossy black hair piled high, and a waist delicate enough to encircle with one hand.

I need to find a way to see her face.

Zi Shou kicked You Hun in the backside.

Caught completely off guard, You Hun lost his balance and staggered several steps forward, startling the bustling crowd into scattering. The graceful figure stopped as well.

Zi Shou demanded loudly, "Who dared lay such a vicious hand on my retainer?!"

He immediately strode forward and helped You Hun up.

You Hun paled. How could he let His Majesty help him?

But then he hissed and sucked in a cold breath. His backside hurt so badly that he really could not get up without help.

Taking advantage of helping You Hun, Zi Shou secretly glanced back.

Then he froze in astonishment.

How could he describe her?

In plain language, she had clear, bright eyes, curved willow-leaf brows, long lashes, a face like white jade, and beauty like the blossoms of dawn. Her clothing was not particularly luxurious; only a string of bright pearls hung around her neck, giving off a faint glow that made her look all the more like a figure sculpted from rosy jade.

In more literary terms, her hands were tender shoots, her skin congealed cream, her neck a pale grub, her teeth white gourd seeds. With a broad, lovely forehead and moth-wing brows, her charming smile enchanted, her beautiful eyes beguiled.

But even that was not enough. Words could no longer describe this woman.

Zi Shou hurriedly pulled You Hun into a sparsely occupied street corner.

You Hun was still rubbing his backside.

Target acquired. She's the one I'll abduct.

Zi Shou said solemnly, "Minister You, I have treated you generously."

You Hun could no longer spare a thought for his aching backside. Grimacing, he forced himself to reply, "Only through Your Majesty's great favor have I attained what I have today."

Zi Shou nodded in satisfaction. "What do you think of that woman?"

You Hun considered it. He had also inadvertently caught sight of the woman's face earlier, so he said, "A beauty fit to topple a nation, with the fragrance of heaven. Truly an immortal maiden descended to the mortal world."

Zi Shou said, "How about bringing her into the Imperial Harem?"

You Hun said, "Serving the king in his bedchamber is naturally a blessing for any woman in the world."

"Excellent!" Zi Shou could not help applauding. He took the jade pendant from his waist. "Take this pendant and summon my Royal Guards. Accompany me in welcoming this woman into the Imperial Harem."

You Hun froze for a moment.

His thoughts raced.

His Majesty likes this sort of thing? Abducting a commoner woman in broad daylight is hardly conduct befitting a sovereign, but...

I like it.

At court, those who best understood King Zhou's wishes were neither Grand Preceptor Wen Zhong nor Fei Lian, the Earl of the North Sea, but Fei Zhong and You Hun himself.

You Hun knew full well that everything he had came from King Zhou. Without King Zhou, he was nothing.

Fei Zhong was cleverer and more capable than he was, but he was more loyal. If King Zhou said east, he would never say west.

Loyalty was You Hun's greatest asset in navigating the court.

Even if King Zhou abducted a commoner woman in the street, he would not remonstrate. Even if he had to carry the blame for King Zhou and endure the ministers denouncing him as a petty villain who had egged the king on to commit such wickedness, he would accept it without hesitation.

"Your Majesty is truly wise. The selection of palace beauties is handled entirely by the Feudal Lords. If they planted spies beforehand, every matter within the palace would become known to them. How could those women offer the same peace of mind as a beauty Your Majesty personally chose?"

You Hun accepted the jade pendant without the slightest hesitation. He even felt deeply honored. To have the good fortune of performing such a task for His Majesty-did that not prove the king's trust in him?

Before long, You Hun returned with the Royal Guards.

Zi Shou frowned at the Royal Guards' restrained footsteps.

Utterly oblivious, You Hun said ingratiatingly, "I specifically ordered the Royal Guards to act discreetly. Once we find that woman, we can welcome her into the palace without anyone knowing."

Zi Shou inwardly cursed him for meddling. He had summoned the Royal Guards precisely because he wanted to cause a commotion. Their Overlord Step was extremely conspicuous. The instant they moved to abduct a commoner woman, word would spread, letting the Feudal Lords take a good look at just what kind of incompetent ruler they had come to pay homage to.

Still, now was not the time to quibble over that. Finding the woman came first. If the consorts in the Imperial Harem rated a nine, that woman was at least a ten. Moreover, she was exactly Zi Shou's type. If he missed this chance, finding her again would be troublesome.

After searching for a while, they found their target.

Zi Shou waved his hand. The Royal Guards were just about to swarm forward when several burly men suddenly sprang out of the crowd.

The woman cried out in alarm before the men pulled a sack over her and carried her away.

Zi Shou stared, dumbstruck. Someone abducted her before I could?

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