This article analyzes judges' legal reasoning in their adjudication of wife-selling cases in the late Ming. According to the Legal Code, wife-selling was illegal. However, the phrase "wife-selling due to poverty" (yin pin mai qi 因貧賣妻) appeared with growing frequency in late Ming case books, indicating that judges not only refrained from punishing wife-sellers, but also adopted a permissive attitude toward the phenomenon. Indeed, according to this analysis of cases, it is clear that judges turned a blind eye when it came to wife-selling, except in cases involving violent crimes. This flexible attitude actually maintained societal order and decreased the number of lawsuits brought to court.