Two grim paths soon appeared.
First came proposals from a wealthy young master of a neighboring village whose hilltop farmlands had escaped the worst of the disaster. This man, Zhang Wei, was a notorious drunkard and womanizer, heir to vast estates worked by tenant farmers. He lounged in his grand manor of glazed tile roofs and painted screens, surrounded by concubines, his breath reeking of rice wine as he chased serving girls through taverns. His messenger arrived with arrogant words; "Marry your daughters to my master, and he will send wagons of grain to save your family."
The thought sickened Li Hao. His daughters deserved far better than a life of abuse and endless humiliation.
The second path arrived with Han military recruiters, hard-eyed officers in silk-trimmed armor and iron helmets, who scoured famine-stricken villages for healthy boys aged seven to ten. These children were not volunteers but purchased as private retainers (jian'er), trained to serve as soldiers in the private forces of high nobles supporting the dynasty's border campaigns against the Xiongnu. The officers offered gold coins and sacks of millet in exchange for strong boys. "They will be fed, clothed, and trained to serve the Son of Heaven," they promised, concealing the iron chains of lifelong servitude.
Li Wei, carrying faint memories of battlefield discipline from past lives, saw the choice with painful clarity. Better he suffer than his beloved sisters be sold to that beast. One evening by the dim fire, his small voice steady despite the fear in his chest, he spoke; "Father, let me go. I have always dreamed of becoming a soldier, protecting the land like the heroes in the old stories."
His parents wept bitterly, but desperation crushed their resistance. At the selection, Li Wei impressed the grizzled officer with his quick wits and sturdy little frame, running laps without tiring and answering simple riddles with surprising sharpness. "This one is special," the officer muttered, paying extra gold taels to Li Hao along with carts of millet and dried fish, enough to feed the family for years.
As Li Wei climbed into the wooden wagon, he hugged his sisters tightly, forcing a brave smile. "Don't be sad. This is my path. I will make you all proud." He hid his own terror, the older soul within quietly reassuring the frightened child; this was merely another trial set by the heavens.
The long journey to Chang'an took many weary weeks along dusty roads lined with weeping willows, past grand Buddhist and Daoist pagodas and long merchant caravans laden with silk. The capital awed the young boy beyond words; towering rammed-earth walls, massive gates guarded by stone lions, wide streets teeming with Confucian scholars in flowing robes, vendors shouting about steaming dumplings, and magnificent palaces with upturned eaves glittering under the sun.
Li Wei was delivered to the sprawling mansion of Lord Zhao, a high-ranking noble with close ties to Emperor Xuan's court. Lord Zhao purchased boys like him to strengthen his private retinue, future soldiers and bodyguards for the dynasty's wars. The estate was vast; multiple courtyards, serene lotus ponds, vermilion pillars, and inner chambers heavy with the scent of incense and rare woods.
All Li Wei possessed was his natural, almost ethereal beauty; soft, refined features, bright intelligent eyes, and a lithe build honed by farm work. Training began at once alongside other purchased boys in the mansion's outer training yard. Dawn runs, grueling spear drills, archery practice under stern instructors, they were treated not as mere field slaves but as valuable investments. They received rice porridge with scraps of meat, simple tunics, and straw mats in the barracks.
"Train hard and serve well," the instructors barked daily.
Li Wei applied fragments of past-life discipline subtly, perfecting stances, enduring pain without complaint, moving with quiet efficiency. By fifteen, his body had transformed. No longer the scrawny farm boy, he possessed balanced, lean muscle beneath smooth skin, a graceful, almost feminine elegance in his movements combined with surprising power in his strikes. His face had matured into striking handsomeness that drew envious and lingering glances from fellow trainees.