History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 217 The Unlucky Prince of Guangling
Meng Gongren was too nervous; in fact, Wei Yao was returning to her official residence.

As for Lady He, she had served Jiang Shu Nu for over ten years, yet she remained an ordinary palace maid, having to bow to the ten-year-old Wei Yao first. Lady He was unhappy and pretended that she couldn't stand the heat, so she didn't go to the kitchen with Meng Gong Ren. After returning to the palace maids' quarters, she looked in the mirror and felt sorry for herself.

He was only ten years younger than Jiang Wenqian. If she was not selected as a female official, she would likely die of old age in the Xi official's office.

“What does the south side of Yongxiang look like? Is the outside of Xi’s office still the same scenery I saw when I came in? Have all the trees grown tall and strong?” Madam He spoke to herself in the mirror. Suddenly, except for her face, she looked exactly like Jiang Shunu, even her aloof demeanor was exactly the same as Jiang Wenqian’s.

The pageboy Gong Ai and the palace student Pei Shen brought back Wei Yao's lunch. Soon, the other palace students who had finished their lunch came to the office. They each found a book to read, and occasionally there was a slight sound of scrolls being unrolled.

Wei Yao continued reciting the "Explanation of Names".

At the end of the hour of Wei (1-3 PM), the servants Xie Yi and Gong Ai, along with Pei Shen, the top student among the palace students, escorted Wei Yao out of the palace. This was the first time Pei Shen had stepped outside the walls of the Xi official residence since being forced into labor by the Xi officials. She felt that the air outside was fragrant everywhere, and even the shapes of the clouds were pleasing to the eye.

Wei Yao left the palace early, intending to walk through Tongtuo Street to the south gate to go home. Otherwise, the cost of renting a car twice a day would be more than what she earned.

From Qianqiu Gate to the south end of the palace, the journey is about two and a half li. Turning onto Tongtuo Street along the outer street of the city wall, the journey is less than one li. Wei Yao did not stroll around today, but only focused on getting on her way, her eyes quickly passing by the offices of the Grand Commandant, the Minister of Works, and other government offices on both sides of Tongtuo Street.

Between the Situ Mansion and the Imperial Clan Court was a large open space, framed with white lime, reserved for the Imperial Academy. However, when Wei Yao died in the previous life, the court did not put much effort into building the Imperial Academy. Only a few temporary school buildings and a few dozen Confucian scholars from Sizhou and Pingcheng reflected the court's determination to still value Confucian education.

Wei Yaowei paused there, looking at the empty space, and a spark ignited in her heart.

"I, Wei Yao, boldly swear! In this new life, I will use my own strength as a spark to revitalize the teaching profession, uniting the Confucian scholars of Great Wei, especially Sili! I will never allow the construction of official schools to give way to the construction of various frivolous Buddhist venues! I, Wei Yao... will never allow the new school order to exist in name only again!"

At the easternmost end of the open space stood a scholar. He was nearly fifty years old, named Sun Huiwei. Because the late emperor appreciated his literary talent, he was ordered to go to the Eastern Palace to serve as a tutor to Crown Prince Yuan Ke. Now that Yuan Ke was the emperor, he was in mourning for the late emperor in the Zhai Palace, so an edict was issued appointing him as a redundant attendant minister.

Many people in the court envied Sun Huiwei, saying that his future would surely be as bright as a roc soaring into the sky! But no one knew his worries.

The emperor has been frequently summoning him to the Zhai Palace to lecture not on Confucianism, but on Buddhist scriptures.

I never let him talk about Confucianism!

What kind of disaster would it bring if a monarch favored Buddhism more than Confucianism? Sun Huiwei dared not think about it, and he dared not even think about whether he would be seen by the world as the one who led the new emperor down the path of devout Buddhism, even to the point of cult of Buddhism.

"Sigh—" Sun Huiwei sighed as she left.

Meanwhile, Wei Yao continued on her journey.

Just as she passed by, a group of people came from the west to the east. Sitting in the carriage in the middle was Yuan Yu, the Prince of Guangling, who had just finished judging the assassin case at the Prince of Rencheng's Mansion in Yongkangli.

Yuan Yu is the emperor's fourth uncle. Because he repeatedly committed moral errors during the reign of the previous emperor and was used to being criticized, Yuan Yu gradually became lazy. Although he held positions such as Attendant-in-Ordinary and General of Chariots and Cavalry, the actual military power was now entirely in the hands of Prince Xianyang, Yuan Xi.

Yuan Yu genuinely didn't care.

He had something else on his mind, but unfortunately he dared not say it.

Zhao Zhi was among the guards accompanying the carriage. The reason she was protecting Prince Guangling, Yuan Yu, was that he had helped Prince Rencheng uncover the mastermind behind the assassination attempt and had asked her to protect him for a day and a night, as a way for Prince Rencheng to repay the favor.

“Shameless! His Majesty sent you to investigate this case. What favor do I owe you?” Prince Rencheng immediately refused.

Yuan Yu: "His Majesty has appointed me as the Governor of Sizhou. If you don't lend me Guard Zhao for two days, I'll go to the palace right now and promise His Majesty that I'll release all the criminals in Sizhou prison and throw them into your mansion!"

And so, Zhao Zhi temporarily left the Prince of Rencheng's residence and went to the Prince of Guangling's residence... a secluded house just across the street. At this time, only Zhao Zhi and his own chief guard, Dong Zhuo, were with the Prince of Guangling.

The various furnishings in the idle house were covered in dust, so Zhao Zhi and Dong Zhuo took on the role of cleaning servants, wiping the bedroom spotless.

After cleaning up, they just waited there until dark. Yuan Yu never mentioned eating, and the main guard and two bodyguards were all starving, their stomachs growling until the middle of the night.

"Let's go," Yuan Yu finally gave the order.

After leaving the courtyard, Dong Zhuo led the way, while Zhao Zhi protected Yuan Yu from being followed.

The three arrived at the foot of a wall. Dong Zhuo pretended to sing like a night bird, and soon someone inside responded with the same sound. Dong Zhuo quickly climbed over the wall and reached down, while Yuan Yu smacked Zhao Zhi with his chin.

Understood. Zhao Zhi rubbed the other person up.

With such a weak skill that even climbing over a wall is difficult enough, how can you call yourself a general of chariots and cavalry!
Yuan Yu plucked a flower from the wall and tucked it behind her ear, then jumped down with the motion of a roc spreading its wings.

Of course, Dong Zhuo caught it steadily.

When Zhao Zhi saw that the person waiting inside the wall was a woman with a charming appearance, she thought to herself, "What bad luck! That damned Prince Guangling lives up to his reputation for lust; he's here to meet someone else's family in the middle of the night!"

Yuan Yu, revealing his frivolous nature, asked the woman, "My darling, do you miss me?"

"I dare not not think so." The woman's surname was Xin, and she said with a hint of sarcasm, "It's only been three months since I last saw you, and Your Highness has already gained a new concubine."

Zhao Zhi kicked the flowering tree against the wall!

Click—bang!

The tree fell.

Yuan Yu and Xin Shi were both startled and trembled. The latter angrily pointed at Zhao Zhi, while the former quickly covered her mouth and put her arm around her waist. The two of them half-dragged and half-pulled each other to the small house next door.

The hut is surrounded by open walls, close by, and offers no soundproofing; the more you listen, the more unlucky it feels!
Zhao Zhi sat down on the spot and took out a large flatbread from her cloth bag. Dong Zhuo's stomach growled even louder, and he sat down next to her, swallowing hard as he asked, "Why didn't you take out your food earlier?"

Zhao Zhi tore off half of the torn piece and gave it to the other person, not wanting to say anything.

The two men wolfed down their pancakes. Remembering the kindness shown to him with half a pancake, Dong Zhuo admonished them: "It's not a good job to assign you this task, but the reward is high. Aren't we guards all after the reward? Now, the important thing is that the general only plans to avoid the patrol officers on our way here. If we encounter them patrolling at night when we leave, and the general orders me to cover your retreat, you must immediately carry the general and run. If the general orders you to cover your retreat, you must not disobey. And if… I mean, hypothetically, if you are captured and the general or the Prince of Rencheng rescues you, during the rescue, you must not reveal that the person who visited this house at night was the general!"

Zhao Zhi then realized what was happening and asked, "You had guards with you before, right? Where are they?"

“The general only has this kind of thought every month or so. The last time was in March. The guard who accompanied me was borrowed from the Prince of Gaoyang’s residence. That man… was arrested and imprisoned in the county jail. Before the general could even think of a way to rescue him, he was killed in prison by that woman’s husband.” Before saying the last sentence, Dong Zhuo stuffed all the cakes into his mouth, choking so hard that his eyes and nostrils bulged out.

During the Northern Wei Dynasty, one li (里) was approximately 415 meters.

To give an example of a Buddhist site encroaching on an educational site, before the Northern Wei Dynasty moved its capital, two governors, Feng Xi (brother of Empress Dowager Wenming and father-in-law of Emperor Xiaowen) and Chang Bofu, used large Han and Wei stone scriptures to build Buddhist pagodas and temples.

(End of this chapter)