History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 234 Father, my foot!
Wei Yao did not respond.

Wei Mao: "Is my thinking incomplete? Let me think... Half a month ago, you and Xi Jiao went to the Ministry of Personnel's residence and met Li Biao, who was also there to pay respects to Minister Guo. He looked at you alone at the time with an unfriendly gaze, so he may have heard of you."

"It doesn't matter where he heard about you; what matters is that he is hostile towards you and doesn't bother to hide it. As a former high-ranking official, he doesn't even care about showing his emotions openly. It's clear that Li Biao is on the verge of losing his mind because his career has been repeatedly thwarted."

Wei Yao's eyes showed approval.

After being met with a hateful look from an unfamiliar old man at the Guo residence, she took the situation seriously. Instead of waiting for Xi Jiao's news, she described the old man's appearance and demeanor to her mother and asked Wei Mao to help inquire. With the information from all three parties combined, they determined that the old man was Li Biao. Her father then deduced that the old man went to Minister Guo's residence to ask for an official position for his son, and that he must have failed!

While pondering, Wei Mao continued, "Li Biao can't be reinstated, and his son Li Zhi is also unknown. The setbacks of this father and son are probably not of their own volition, hehe."

"So let's make a bold guess: it's impossible for the Li Biao family to regain their former glory through men, but they're not completely desperate. The sudden rise of Miss Li's fame was orchestrated by her father, Li Biao, to promote the idea that the young girl had already mastered the classics at a young age, and that she wanted to use her talent to emulate... I remember now!"

When faced with a problem, one really has to think it over carefully. Wei Mao excitedly told Wei Yao, "The former Imperial Academy Chancellor Yang Ni came from the Yang clan of Wuzhong and was as famous as Li Biao at the time. Yang Ni was dismissed from his post for committing a crime, but his wife, Lady Gao, was exceptionally talented and was not only unaffected but was also summoned by the late emperor to the palace to serve as a high-ranking female official. Since there was a first time for such an edict to directly select high-ranking female officials from outside the palace, there can be a second time!"

"So Li Biao's plan is not to have Miss Li imitate you, but to have them imitate Lady Gao!"

Wei Yao nodded and sighed, "Old ginger is spicier. Take advantage of the situation twice! When Miss Li's talent is famous in Luoyang, there will naturally be officials who are on good terms with Li Biao to recommend her to Changqiu Temple. With the background of the Li family of Dunqiu, even if she does not reach the level of a high-ranking female official, her rank will not be low."

“Yaoyao, you don’t need to worry about your birth. When your godfather comes to Luoyang, I will…”

Wei Yao shook her head, stopping him from continuing: "The harem is not a vast pool, but a sea where even the surface is not calm. Getting in is a skill, but surviving and climbing the ranks is the real skill! I don't compete with any other woman in terms of how to get into the palace, because I have the ability to get in myself. As for what I will compete with in the future... hehe, we'll talk about that in the future."

She smiled mischievously and waved to a boat in the river: "Father, Mother—we're here."

Perhaps because he had been on the boat for too long during the day, Wei Mao had a dream at night in which he felt as if he were floating on the boat, swaying from side to side, making him feel nauseous and wanting to vomit.

In the crucial dream, he had his eyes closed, trying hard to open them to see what the dream was about, but he couldn't open them no matter what he did. He also heard many people around him crying and calling his name.

"Mao'er, Mao'er, my Mao'er."

It's so noisy! In his dream, Wei Mao seemed to be struggling with demons and monsters. Finally, he opened his eyes and was embraced by a strange woman.

What kind of situation is this? When he broke free from the other person, he realized that his thin arms and small hands were clearly the size of a four or five-year-old child.

It's confirmed, he's dreaming.

"Let your mother take a good look." The woman was still distressed, and turned to a young man, crying, "Why isn't Mao'er saying anything? Has he been frightened out of his wits?"

Wei Mao pondered: I know you want me to call you Mother, but you are not my Mother, so I can't bring myself to say it.

The young man had just sat down on the edge of the bed when he stood up again. The servants surrounding him all made way for him, and even the women gave up their seats to this short-bearded young man in his forties who had just arrived.

Good heavens! How come the short-bearded young man looks so much like Wei Jing?!
Wei Mao reached out to tug at the other man's beard, but his hand was gently caught. The middle-aged man's smile resembled Wei Jing's naive demeanor even more!

"Mao'er, are you scared? Don't be afraid, let your father hug you. We'll never take a boat again, don't be afraid."

Wei Mao shoved the other man, cursing under his breath: "Grandfather my foot! You're two generations older than me in my dreams, get out of my way!"
But he was completely powerless, and pushing him was almost like scratching an itch.

Since it was all a dream anyway, Wei Mao grabbed two of Wei Jing's beards, pulling so hard that the man's lips were distorted, and demanded, "Why did you name me 'Mao'? Tell me, did you do it on purpose?" Wei Jing waved his hand, signaling the couple behind him to be quiet, and replied with a smile, "Because when my father was young, his best friend was named Wei Mao. He died young and didn't get to enjoy a good life with my father, oh dear!"

Wei Mao ripped out both of his whiskers and angrily cursed, "You bastard Wei Jing, you're cursing me to die young!"

Immediately afterwards, he flicked the beard off his hand with his usual flicking motion, looked directly at the other person and said, "You left Pingcheng in the twenty-second year of Taihe, and I soon went to Luoyang. My father was quickly promoted to Left General, and my path to officialdom was paved. Tell me, how did I die?"

Wei Jing's smile froze. He first turned around and drove everyone out of the house. When he turned back, there were tears of disbelief in his eyes: "Mao?"

With tears in his eyes, Wei Mao said, "If I die young, what about Wei Yao?"

"Mao, Ah Mao? Mao, fellow disciple?"

"What do you mean 'Mao'? Just tell me!"

Wei Jing: "I know how you died, but I only heard about how Yao died. I only know that she died tragically before you..."

Oh!!!

Overwhelmed with grief and sorrow, Wei Mao abruptly awoke from his dream.

At the same time, Xi Jiao was haunted by a dream, unable to move or shout.

He still dreamt that he was riding in a car, which seemed to be rolling through time. He watched as his figure grew taller and stronger, and even the string of grass beads on his wrist faded and then broke.

When Xi Jiao picked up all the beads, he noticed that the skin on the back of his hands and exposed wrists and arms was starting to look old. He realized he was dreaming and didn't pay attention. For the first time, he opened the cloth bag he always carried with him, and just as he had predicted, there were threads inside.

By the time he had re-threaded the bracelet and put it on his wrist, the carriage had stopped.

Opening the carriage door, Xi Jiao was stunned for a moment. He had actually returned to the mountain forest where his mother was buried. It really was a dream; as soon as he left the carriage, all the carriage and horses disappeared.

But why is there another grave next to my mother's grave?

Xi Jiao stepped forward to look at the stele. Gazing at the words on it, he was puzzled, and a wave of grief, stronger than the last, surged through his heart.

Why is "尉窈" inscribed on the stele?
Judging from the handwriting, it looks very much like his!
Xi Jiao suddenly heard the sound of rustling leaves behind him. He turned around and saw a woman with gray hair standing where the carriage had just stopped.

She... is Zhao Zhi, Wei Yao's mother?
Zhao Zhi, who looked like an old woman, said in a hoarse voice, "I've finally found her. She doesn't belong to the Xi family, I'll take her with me."

As Zhao Zhi moved aside, Xi Jiao's bracelet was snatched away first, followed by the disappearance of Wei Yao's grave.

In his dream, a torrential rain fell from the sky. Xi Jiao sat alone in front of his mother's grave, unable to understand what was happening. When the rainwater in front of him formed a puddle, he saw his reflection in the water and was startled, touching his head.

What's going on? Where's his hair? How did he become a bald monk?

Xi Jiao woke up in fright. She didn't remember anything else from the dream except that she had no hair. She kept touching her hair in the second half of the night and couldn't sleep soundly until dawn.

Lady Gao, a female official: Both the *Book of Wei* and the *History of the Northern Dynasties* record that Emperor Xiaowen summoned Lady Gao, the wife of Yang Ni, to the palace to serve as a female official, where she wrote memorials for Empress Da Feng. Unfortunately, records about Lady Gao are scarce; only that she was from Bohai, her surname was "Gao," and she was not given a given name. However, her literary talent must have been exceptional!
(End of this chapter)