History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 110 Hijacked

We have arrived at the residence of Crown Prince Yuan Ke in the old palace. Zhou Xiguan explained, "The Crown Prince only started living here alone after he turned nine. Before that, he lived with Consort Gao."

The registrar corrected her: "Don't call her Consort Gao anymore, call her Consort Wenzhao." Consort Wenzhao was the posthumous title of Gao Zhaorong, Yuan Ke's birth mother.

"Yes." Zhou Xiguan asked, "The residence of Consort Wenzhao is not far. Shall we go here first, or go to Consort Wenzhao's residence?"

Zhao Xiu felt a strange emotion welling up inside him: "I want to go inside this house and take a look."

The courtyard had two sections, and Zhou Xiguan stayed at the gate to guard it. Zhao Zhi and the registrar followed Zhao Xiu directly to the backyard. Zhao Xiu pointed to a large vat outside the side room and told Zhao Zhi as if presenting a treasure: "I remember now, we used to bury something under the vat."

Chief Clerk Gou nodded to Zhao Zhi.

Zhao Zhi instructed Zhao Xiu: "Dig it out."

There were several small shovels in the courtyard, which must have been used by the Crown Prince to dig and play in the soil. Zhao Xiu moved the jar and dug the soil, and indeed buried a pottery urn. The urn's seal was very rough. Zhao Xiu had just shown off to Zhao Zhi that "I buried this secretly" when the registrar Gou had already taken out the cloth wrapping inside.

It was a stack of letters!
The registrar, Gou, only read the top letter and was terrified, breaking out in a cold sweat. The letter contained secret conversations between the Crown Prince and Shuang San Nian, the eunuch who served His Majesty, during the sixteenth year of the Taihe era. The person mentioned most frequently in the letter was none other than the current Empress Feng, the second daughter of the late Grand Tutor Feng Xi!

However, in the sixteenth year of the Taihe era, this Lady Feng had already been expelled from Pingcheng Palace and was becoming a nun in a temple.

Clerk Gou kept wiping his sweat, thinking to himself, "It's all over, it's all over! So Yuan Ke knew so early on how to unite with the Great Feng to deal with the then Crown Prince Yuan Xun and the soon-to-be Empress Xiao Feng! Then why didn't he destroy these letters?"
Or... is this stack of letters the Crown Prince's real purpose in sending people to Pingcheng? To secretly bring these letters back to Luoyang?

"No, no," Clerk Gou immediately refuted the conjecture. "Now that His Majesty has been on a southern expedition and has not returned to Luoyang Palace for a long time, the palace must be full of Empress Feng's spies. If the Crown Prince takes the letter back and Empress Feng finds out, the consequences will be unimaginable."

In his panic, Clerk Gou looked up and met Zhao Xiu's sinister gaze. Fortunately, Zhao Xiu's next words made Clerk Gou's heart, which had been in his throat, settle down.

"Look, his eyes are darting around; he's up to no good," Zhao Xiu complained to Zhao Zhi.

at the same time.

At the prefectural government office, an official hurriedly reported to Yuan Zhi: "The government office has received a report that a teacher and a student at the military academy have been kidnapped by a bandit."

"Why would you report this kind of case here instead of to the Pingcheng County government?"

"That schoolboy was the youngest son of Wei Qingbin, a wealthy and powerful official."

Yuan Zhi slammed the bamboo slips in his hand onto the table.

"They're just asking for trouble! The officials in the Court of Justice are still here. If these people find out that Wei Qingbin's son could be taken hostage in broad daylight, all my years as governor will have been for nothing! And if they try to find out who the other teacher is, is it Teacher Song who was just hired to the Wei Academy?"

"It's not Master Song. This man's surname is Wei. He teaches at the university and is said to be the father of Wei Yao, the top student in the spring examination."

"Damn it!" Yuan Zhigang slammed the book he had picked up onto the table again.

"Bring me my bow!" It's utterly despicable! He had just asked Zhao Zhi to help him bring Zhao Xiu into the palace, and the bandits kidnapped her husband right after. If he were killed by the bandits, Zhao Zhi would chop up the entire governor's mansion as firewood!
The one who robbed Wei Yin was Niulangjun.

He had a plan, but no one was paying attention. This morning, while Wei Yin and his wife were out, he climbed over the wall into Wei's house, searched the place, but found no clues related to Cui Weng.

The few pots of orchids in the storeroom upset Niu Dalang, making him feel even more sorry for Cui Weng. If Cui Weng died, those pots of orchids he used to keep must have died too.

Overwhelmed by grief and helplessness, Niu Dalang came up with the idea of ​​kidnapping someone to interrogate them.

He first set the kitchen on fire, then hid in the main house.

Soon, neighbors poured water to put out the fire, and one neighbor ran to Wei Xueguan to find Wei Yin and tell him about the fire at his house.

Why was Wei Mao also kidnapped?
It was quite a coincidence that Wei Mao had just bribed the gatekeeper yesterday to keep an eye on Master Wei so that he could go and get some extra lessons from him if Master Wei didn't leave the school at noon.

When the servant saw Wei Yin hurriedly leaving the inn at this time, he immediately informed Wei Mao. Wei Mao asked for leave and rushed to Chi Yang Lane. He ran and took a shortcut, arriving at Chi Yang Lane earlier than Wei Yin.

The gate to the Wei family's courtyard was locked, and two neighbors were loitering outside. Wei Mao identified himself and jumped over the wall to enter the courtyard. The kitchen wasn't too badly burned, but after careful observation, Wei Mao discovered that the cause of the fire was suspicious.

It wasn't started in the stove! Someone set fire to the pile of firewood in the corner.

Wei Mao felt uneasy, as if a pair of eyes were watching him from the shadows. Just as he was about to leave quickly, Niu Dalang rushed out of the main house and grabbed him by the neck.

At this moment, Wei Yin unlocked the door and entered the courtyard.

"Bandits!" a neighbor exclaimed in alarm. What was happening in the courtyard?

Wei Yin said to his neighbors, "He is not a bandit. This young man is an old friend of mine. You should all go home. There is no need to report to the authorities."

He then said to Niu Dalang, "Release this child, and I will be your hostage."

There was no turning back once the arrow was released; Niu Dalang knew he was doomed. Even if he managed to escape the city today, even if he only wanted to find out some things about Wei Yin and didn't really intend to kidnap or kill anyone, he was now destined to be a bandit.

Then memorize it.

"Come over here first, then I'll let him go."

Wei Yin: "Okay."

Niu Dalang shoved Wei Mao aside, quickly grabbed Wei Yin by the throat, and ordered Wei Mao: "Before I change my mind, lock the courtyard gate after you leave."

Wei Mao turned around swiftly, and several more neighbors gathered outside the courtyard gate. He mouthed "report to the authorities" to them, closed the gate, and locked himself inside. "I'm not leaving. Although Master Wei isn't my relative, he's more like family to me."

Niu Dalang hummed in confusion, then looked at Wei Yin with disdain and said, "Is he your bastard child born outside?"

"No, that's right," Wei Yin struggled to say before being dragged into the house.

Wei Mao followed him inside.

When Governor Yuan arrived with his troops, Wei Yin and Wei Mao had been held hostage for exactly one hour. Among those who came with Governor Yuan was a young man of about twenty years old from Luoyang named Cui Zuan. Although young, Cui Zuan was already famous in Luoyang for his extensive knowledge of the classics and history.

The prefect asked the people in the alley for details about the robbery. Cui Zuan said, "Judging from the time, the people of Chiyang Alley reported the case immediately."

An old man quickly nodded: "It was my eldest son who reported it to the authorities. Master Wei taught us code words long ago. He said that if anyone is threatened by bandits and wants someone to report it to the authorities, they should say the opposite of what they mean."

Cui Zuan's eyes showed approval.

Governor Yuan signaled his advisor, Huli Yelang, to climb into the courtyard and open the gate.

"Sigh, this family is so poor. The kitchen even burned down." Yuan Zhi glanced around the courtyard, then had Hulü Yelang shout into the house, "Bandits, listen up! Hand over the hostages..."

The main house door opens.

With Niu Langjun standing on Wei Mao's feet and carrying the barely breathing Wei Yin in his hand, unable to even walk, he stood facing the soldiers at the threshold: "I don't want to kill anyone. Give me a moment more so I can finish my questioning..."

Unable to move from being trampled, Wei Mao could only pound on the threshold with his hands to interrupt the other party's lies, shouting, "Make him release Master Wei first! Quick, Master Wei is dying, release Master Wei first, make him release Master Wei first!"

The Cowherd grinned and threatened the soldiers: "If you don't retreat, another life will be lost later."

This is an ensemble piece, not just focusing on supporting characters while ignoring the main character. The protagonist will enter the palace and face very complex relationships. If we don't lay the groundwork for some characters and their personalities now, it will be difficult to understand later on.

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(End of this chapter)