History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 220 Support from afar, kill up close!

The Xi family mansion was planted with many lush, tall trees. In the pleasant summer, the brothers Xi Jiao and Xi Yi were enjoying the cool shade under the trees in the courtyard with their father. One of them was studying the Book of Changes, and the other was studying the Erya. Xi Jian was practicing divination with the thin stems of yarrow stalks.

Xi Jiao and Xi Yi didn't ask their father what he was divining, fearing that he might not be able to divine anything and would blame them.

After the steward reported the arrival of Wei Yao and the others, Xi Jiao left with the steward. Xi Jian went into the study to change into coarse clothes, put on a straw hat, and instructed the boy, "Study hard. I'm going for a walk to digest my food. I'll come back and test you in a little while." After saying that, he picked up the flower hoe from the corner of the yard.

Xi Jian arrived at the eldest son's courtyard and ordered the servants not to reveal his identity as the head of the household. He then searched the entire courtyard but could not find a suitable place to dig a hole. Soon, he heard the commotion of his eldest son approaching with his fellow disciples, so Xi Jian had no choice but to stop where he was and begin digging at the clumps of thin bamboo under the courtyard wall directly opposite the north house.

Xi Jiao and Kong Mi entered the courtyard side by side, followed by Wei Yao, Yuan Heng, and Er Zhu Rong.

The moment their eyes met, Xi Jiao felt utterly helpless; he could almost picture his father jogging all the way.

The servants set out a feast and tableware, serving dishes of chilled fruit and cups of honeyed drinks. Erzhu Rong had just sat down when he got up again and went to Xi Jian to ask, "Why did you dig up the bamboo?"

"I'd love to!" Xi Jian pulled down the brim of his hat and made up a story: "The bamboo attracts insects."

"No, where are the bugs? Why are you always covering your face? Master Xi, he's from your household..."

Wei Yao interrupted him, saying, "Junior brother, come here."

As Erzhu Rong turned around, Xi Jian quickly peeked at Wei Yao through the gaps in the grass branches hanging from the brim of his hat.

She is my aunt's granddaughter!

It's a pity we can't recognize each other when we meet.

In the first year of Chengming, Xi Jian's father, Xi Mainu, was unjustly killed by the audacious Wan Guoan who forged an imperial edict. Before his death, he hastily left a will, instructing his descendants that if they ever encountered the descendants of Xi Wunan, they should either help them from afar or kill them if they were nearby!

You must never marry a member of the Xi tribe!

Xi Jian sighed inwardly as he left his eldest son's residence and returned to the front courtyard. His second son was no longer there. Xi Jian entered the study and opened an inconspicuous box containing two scrolls of paintings: one depicting a scholar's back view, and the other a hunting scene at Wuxian Mountain.

The first scroll of illustrations is actually a wanted poster that was circulated among the Xianbei nobility in earlier times.

The wanted man was Cui Shisheng, Xi Wunan's husband. Legend has it that he was a refined scholar, skilled in making poisons, and adept at scheming against people. Ironically, even after he killed more than twenty Xianbei youths and was surrounded on a mountaintop where he jumped off a cliff to his death, no one except Xi Wunan knew the scholar's true face or background!
Therefore, this scroll records Cui Shisheng's walking posture and his habit of always carrying a large book box on his back.

When Cui Shi died, Xi Wunan knew she was pregnant. She escaped the control of her clan and gave birth to her child alone in the wilderness. Then she found Cui Zongbo, the head of the Cui clan in Qinghe at the time, and General Wei Duohou, the General Who Conquers the West. With their help, in front of her brother Xi Mainu, who was also Xi Jian's father, she handed the child over to the Wei clan for protection.

From now on, this child will never be surnamed Cui!

Xi Wunan committed suicide, sacrificing her own life for her child's, hoping that her child could live a peaceful life as an ordinary citizen forever.

Many of the details Xi Jian knew were things he had painstakingly gathered over the years. His father's misfortune came without warning, and not long after, Cui Zongbo and Wei Duohou also passed away. Xi Jian could only piece together the information he had gathered after he came of age by trying to befriend Cui Xiu, the son of Cui Zongbo, and Wei Yi, the nephew of Wei Duohou.

However, Xi Jian was certain that Cui Xiu knew more. It was a pity that Wei Yin's family had come to the capital, and Cui Xiu had requested to be transferred to Bohai.

Xi Jian then unfurled another scroll, depicting a young girl shooting a tiger in the mountains. This was his aunt, Xi Wunan, and the only relic of hers remaining in the family. The girl's cheeks still bore traces of rouge, but she herself had long since turned to dust.

"Sigh!" Xi Jian put the painting back into the wooden box, closed it, and said, "Don't worry, I won't deliberately make things difficult for Wei Yin's family. It's best if Jiao'er and Wei Yao remain as they are today, closer than strangers, but farther than old friends." At this moment, Wei Yao and the others were discussing which court official to visit first. Director Cui had handwritten three letters of greeting, addressed to Cui Xiu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel; Guo Zuo, the Attendant-in-Ordinary; and Wei Yi, the Assistant Gentleman Attendant.

Xi Jiao: "Wei Mao's father has been appointed as Left General by the court, and Guo Shizhong has been promoted to Minister of Personnel."

Wei Yao: "Chancellor Cui has requested to be appointed as the Prefect of Bohai, and I estimate he has already left the capital."

Xi Jiao was surprised: "How did you know?" He hadn't heard his father mention it. No, it was his own fault for not paying enough attention to the political situation and the transfer of officials. If he hadn't asked, how could his father have told him everything?

Wei Yao explained, “When I left the academy, the headmaster gave me a letter to pay my respects to Vice Minister Cui. My mother inquired about Vice Minister Cui and learned that he had repeatedly petitioned to return to Bohai, and His Majesty had granted his request.”

Xi Jiao noticed something strange: why weren't his fellow disciples surprised that Wei Yao's mother was able to find out about Prefect Cui's official transfer? He increasingly felt that he hadn't understood the Book of Changes properly, and had even made people stupid, with such poor access to information!
Wei Yao was adept at reading people's expressions and then said to the other party, "My mother is currently the head guard of the Prince of Rencheng's mansion."

But Xi Jiao was even more puzzled. Some time ago, he asked his father to inquire about Wei Yao. His father found out that Wei Yao was a lecturer at the palace school. How could his father not find out that Wei Yao's mother was working at the Prince of Rencheng's mansion? Why didn't he even mention it?
The five agreed to first pay their respects to General Wei, who lived in Yinianli. Kong Ji and Yuan Heng would stay at Xi’s residence and deliver their visiting cards first, while Erzhu Rong would take the key to Xi Jiao’s house in Quanxueli and go to Quanxueli with Wei Yao.

When the group saw Wei Yao and Erzhu Rong off from the Xi residence, they saw Xi Jiao's younger brother, Xi Yi, riding on Erzhu Rong's mount "Daiyue," reaching out to touch a tuft of white hair on the horse's forehead.

"Yi'er, come down."

Xi Yi nimbly leaped down and saw Erzhu Maiti addressing the shortest young man as "Young Master." He approached and praised, "Are you Erzhu Rong? My name is Xi Yi. Your 'Moon-Dressing Steed' is truly majestic! It's even more majestic than my brother's 'Night Howl'!"

"You like it?"

"Ah."

"I'll give it to you, but I have to get going. I'd like to borrow a horse from your household; it must be docile."

"Are you serious?"

"of course."

Xiurongchuan has no shortage of horses. Erzhu Rong knew from a young age that if his family wanted to befriend powerful and influential people, they had to offer up precious horses or rare beasts from the mountains.

However, Xi Yi was also very generous, and he gave Erzhu Rong his two favorite horses, "Chunsou" and "Xiamiao". The two little guys got along very well and couldn't bear to part after just meeting. So Xi Jiao decided to let Xi Yi go with him to the school.

When Wei Yao and her three companions passed by Chongxu Temple, they saw soldiers escorting criminals.

These people were all involved in the assassination of Prince Rencheng. Those who had been convicted without trial were all in the prison cart. The common people walking behind the cart were involved in the case. No matter how much or how little they were involved, they all had to go through the trial at the Court of Justice.

Hun Yu Niang was the last to be arrested. The reason for her arrest was that she had provided the Taoist priests of Chongxu Temple with information about the southward migration of people from Pingcheng. When Hun Yu Niang was dragged out of her house, she vehemently protested her innocence, claiming she was also a victim! Besides, she hadn't said anything specific, only mentioning a family surnamed Wei…

What do you hate? What do you see? Hun Yu Niang and Wei Yao, who was riding on horseback, stared at each other.

Spring hunting (sōu): refers to hunting in the spring. Summer hunting was called "miao". In ancient times, horses had names and needed to be registered with the government, just like people.

(End of this chapter)