The Big Shot from Kangzhuang Gets Divorced Again

In the late Qing and early Republican era, the Kang family’s wax was famous throughout the land. In prosperous, affluent northern Jing, they had stood unchallenged for a hundred years. Whenever people encountered a Kang family carriage on the road, even ministers of the previous dynasty would kneel to pay their respects. When word spread that the Kangs were celebrating a happy occasion with a banquet, consorts from the imperial harem sent them precious gifts. People all said, “You may offend princes and nobles, but never anyone whose family name begins with Kang.” The Kang family’s rule was: pass the trade down to sons, never daughters! That was why the old master of the Kang family decreed that if the young mistress gave birth to a young master, everyone in the household would be richly rewarded, and the midwife would receive an extra fifty taels. But on the very day after the young mistress died following childbirth, two nanmu coffins were carried out of the Kang residence, and all the midwives in northern Jing who had been lured by the promise of money vanished without a trace. Rumors flew that the young mistress had not given birth to a boy, and the Kang family would lose its title as the king of the wax trade and all its glory. Another rumor claimed that the old master had killed the midwives to cover up the fact that no son had been born. One nanmu coffin held the young mistress, and the other held seven midwives. That night, after receiving a secret letter from an aunt in the palace, the Kang family announced that the young mistress had given birth to a son, and that the midwives had taken their payment and gone elsewhere to make a living. Ten years later, a young master really did emerge from the Kang family estate! ➺ Republican Era News Flash: The Kang family’s young master, a business tycoon who once ruled the commercial world, is actually a woman!!! ➺ Business News Flash: The four madams of the Kang family all filed for divorce last night!!! ➺ The Kang Family: Sigh, our young master’s in the news again. ➺ Kang Guanqi: Come on, finish your last round. Whoever wins gets to sleep with me tonight! ➺ The Madams: Master, how about a divorce?