In 1801, the nefarious intrigues of the 26 year old Cantonese floating brothel madame or prostitute known as Shi Xianggu (), known for her shrewd business savvy and trade in secrets through the pillow talk of her wealthy and political clientele, caught his attention. Either he became infatuated with her or purely as a business move, Zheng Yi made a proposal of marriage to Shi Xianggu to consolidate the powers of intrigue, as it were, which she is said to have agreed to by formal contract granting her a 50% control and share. Shi Xianggu was known as "Zheng Yi Sao" (. They adopted Cheung Po as their step-son, making him Zheng's legal heir. She also bore him two sons; Zheng Ying Shi () and Zheng Xiong Shi ().