Racy Novels Gathering Place

The old lady threatened to throw herself at a young officer from the Capital Constabulary. The poor officer was so terrified his face turned green, and he hurriedly caught her around the waist, nearly dropping to his knees and calling her "Mother."

"Please, ma'am, don't do anything rash! We'll take your books, alright?" The head constable was sweating bullets, cursing his luck. The citizens here in the capital weren't easily intimidated—they'd seen it all. You couldn't just scare them into handing over their books.

These folks all knew that if things got out of hand, the Capital Constabulary would be held accountable. Beating up a crowd of citizens over a few books? That was no small matter.

If they wanted to confiscate these books, persuasion was their only option.

But everyone knew these books could fetch a good price. The Crown Prince of Chu wanted them, and so did the Jin officials. Who would willingly let you take them for free?

So the officers from the Capital Constabulary spent half the day begging and pleading, but not a single book was handed over.

The laws of this era didn’t actually prohibit selling racy novels. Even erotic paintings were legal, thanks to limited printing technology—hand-copied books were everywhere. The officers were completely stumped; there was nothing they could do about these citizens.

"These books are for my master," insisted the steward, clutching the newly bought novels. "If you want them, go talk to the Minister yourself!"

"My master wants these, too! If you take them, I’ll get a beating when I get home. No way I’m handing them over! Go ahead, arrest me if you want—I’d like to see what law I’m breaking!" A young servant hugged his books tightly, preferring jail over giving them up.

The Capital Constabulary officers were losing their minds. Since the citizens weren’t breaking any laws, they weren’t afraid of the officials at all. They acted as if the Constabulary didn’t exist—hawking their wares, making deals. The makeshift market had become a hotspot for racy novels. Alongside Charles Chu’s books, all sorts of erotic stories were now circulating, and the selection was surprisingly complete.

The officers wiped the sweat from their brows, realizing their mission was doomed from the start.

But since they were already here, and the opportunity was just too good—so many racy novels to choose from—they figured, why not buy some themselves?

So the constables who came to enforce the law decided to skip the mission entirely and mingled with the crowd, picking out racy novels for themselves...

Soon, someone recognized an officer and called out, "Hey, Officer Wang, you want the Crown Prince of Chu’s special edition? I saved one for you!"

Officer Wang blushed, snatched the book, and stuffed it into his sleeve, pretending nothing had happened.

After that, the market was packed with constables, all on the hunt for the Crown Prince of Chu’s latest adventures. The sellers couldn’t keep up with the demand.

The Capital Constabulary, once feared, had become the biggest fans of racy novels in the city. Their reputation as law enforcers was gone; now, they were just another bunch of eager customers.