He glanced at the seat of honor in the Daxiong Bao Hall and said in a low voice, "In the thirteenth year of Emperor Jiajing's reign, the Criminal Department Shilang Wang Kuang, having mourned the death of his mother, resumed his duties after three years and returned to Nanjing, only to hear that within Nanjing City, there was a rich merchant named Wang Guan."
Wang Guan was immensely wealthy. His mansion, marked by a crimson gate and embroidered doorways, shone with gold and jade. He had numerous wives and concubines, over a thousand child servants, and maintained close relations with powerful officials and nobility.
It was rumored among the people that Wang Guan kept dozens of young girls as concubines under the guise of taking them as wives, and he held a banquet in his mansion every night, allowing these concubines to spend the night with guests.
