History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 237 Mulan's Battle at the Pass

It was a false alarm. Yuan Cheng didn't have time to be angry with this guy, and everyone followed Cui Shaoqing to the torture chamber.

The prisoner bound in the torture chamber was a ruffian who had insulted Yuan Yu for no reason. Interestingly, Zhao Zhi spared only this villain, while she beat the rest of the ruffians to death with her fists.

Her killing moves were deadly, like a scythe cutting through grass. Even now, when Yuan Yu recalls the scene at the restaurant, he still feels an extraordinary sense of satisfaction.

But Cui Shaoqing was unhappy.

As soon as this prisoner entered the Tingwei prison, he confessed that the Prince of Jingzhao had taken a concubine during the mourning period and had also condoned his trusted subordinates' evil deeds such as seizing farmland in Xuzhou and minting a large number of inferior copper coins. Each and every one of these crimes was a serious offense!
Fortunately, Prince Rencheng arrived. Cui Zhen handed the confession to Yuan Cheng and said, "Gongsun Tingwei is in charge of supervising the prefectures and counties. He will not be able to return to the capital for several days. We prison officials are of low rank and have little power. We dare not ask Prince Jingzhao to come to the prison to testify. We can only beg the Minister to report this matter to His Majesty."

Yuan Cheng took it in his hand and said, "Perfect timing. Prince Yu also did not observe proper mourning last month. I will draft a memorial to report to His Majesty."

Yuan Yu, who was watching the commotion, didn't expect it to affect him. He immediately said, "No, I'll make amends for my mistake. Let me think... I know something! Recently, people inside and outside the city have been encouraged to expose all kinds of witchcraft and sorcery. Is that related to the poisoned crossbow assassination case on Copper Camel Street a while ago?"

"Huh? What do you know?!" Yuan Cheng and Cui Zhen were both shocked!
Yuan Yu: "When I was the Minister of Justice, I received many accusations against Yuan Ji, the Prince of Jiangyang, for his crimes of embezzlement. Among them were accusations that he colluded with male and female sorcerers, fake monks, and fake Taoists to swindle money from the common people. It is said that he has a lot of poisonous spells and magic tricks in his possession. Regardless of whether the poisoned crossbow assassination is related to him or not, you should investigate him! You will definitely find some clues!"

Cui Zhen asked, "If the Court of Justice has these charges in its possession, why haven't we found any of the cases you mentioned, General, even after searching through all the previous cases?"

Yuan Yu: "Yuan Ji isn't stupid. He gave me two beautiful widows, so I burned all those charges against him."

Cui Zhen was so angry that his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes widened!

Yuan Cheng looked at Zhao Zhi, clearly saying: Why save this beast?
Regardless, Yuan Yu's official rank and title determined that his words were testimony! The Court of Justice immediately sent its subordinates to invite the Prince of Jiangyang, while Yuan Cheng took the record of the Prince of Jingzhao's crimes to the Grand Commandant's office.

The Prince of Jingzhao is His Majesty's younger brother, so Yuan Cheng dared not impeach him alone; it had to be the Grand Commandant who led the effort.

As for Zhao Zhi, she took on the role of Yuan Yu's temporary bodyguard and accompanied him to the music hall in Luoyang.

Tiaoyinli was a concentrated area where foreign merchants lived. Especially at night, the lights were as bright as stars, and the pavilions were filled with the sounds of playing the zither and sheng, creating a lively atmosphere.

The most spacious dance floor here is in "Peach Blossom Pavilion," which can seat a hundred people around the dance floor.

Most of the wealthy guests gathered here tonight are noblewomen of the Xianbei ethnic group from the capital. Wei Mao's mother, Lu Luo, is also there. In the afternoon, she sent her daughter-in-law, Zheng Zheng, home and stayed in this pavilion to wait for the first musical and dance performance of "The Ballad of Mulan," titled "Mulan's Battle at the Pass."

The servants in the pavilion came one after another and blew out all the candles inside and outside the dance floor, darkening the entire pavilion. Only the moonlight shining through a few silk windows could be used to distinguish the figures and objects.

Yuan Yu brought Zhao Zhi into Peach Blossom Pavilion just in time. He had arranged a place with the person he was meeting, which was very thoughtful of him, as he had even left an empty seat for Zhao Zhi.

Zhao Zhi sat down, observing as Yu Wang and the noblewoman in front of her began to flirt, while listening to the whispers around her.

"Have you heard? The Prince of Jingzhao returned to Luoyang today. He's so young. I wonder which older princes he'll squeeze out of the capital this time."

"Whoever is useless will be ousted."

"Hehehe—" The two noblewomen laughed together and said the same name in unison: "Prince Yuan Yu of Guangling".

Upon hearing this, Yuan Yu grabbed the food table and stool and moved closer to Zhao Zhi: "Find a chance to slap them in the face later, ten thousand coins for each slap."

Zhao Zhi whispered back to him, "I can kill, but I never hit women."

"Never mind then." Yuan Yu moved back.

At this moment, all the servants withdrew, and figures moved about in the center of the dance floor. The dancers were about to enter. They stretched out wide cloths and then used them to cover their bodies. The cloths sank down, first trembling slightly, and then quickly coming to a stop, making the audience feel that the floor of the dance floor was slightly higher.

During this time, the noblewomen to Zhao Zhi's right started talking about something else: "Do you remember Li Biao, the former Imperial Censor? His family has really fallen on hard times. His son couldn't get an official position, and he himself was in dire straits. He ended up working as a commoner in the Secretariat, copying books and compiling history. Even for this job, he had to ask the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Wang Su, for help."

Another noblewoman said, "You all know that Prince Rencheng and Minister Wang Su are at odds. Although Wang Su holds a high official position, he is from the south and has little seniority. I heard that Minister Wang always avoids Prince Rencheng whenever he enters the palace."

"Come on, his seniority is only relative to that of the Prince Zong."

"Oh dear, why are you so protective of Minister Wang whenever something bad is said about him? What, have you taken a fancy to him?"

A noblewoman sneered, "Let me remind you, Minister Wang is not a widower. His wife is still alive, though in Xiao Qi." "Really? That can't be right. I've heard that Princess Chenliu and Minister Wang are deeply in love, and I estimate that they will get married after the mourning period for the late emperor."

In the center of the dance floor, a bugle call suddenly rang out!
"Shh-"

All the whispers stopped. Zhao Zhi, who had been listening intently, felt very disappointed. She glanced at the dance floor, where crescent-shaped white lanterns hung from the ceiling. The fabrics, illuminated by the dim light, trembled as they rose higher from front to back, shaking more violently!

Suddenly, the dancer at the very back appeared first.

"what--"

Everyone who saw it was deeply moved!

The dancers were dressed in armor and military attire, portraying female warriors heading to battle. To everyone's surprise, they were all riding warhorses. The warhorses were, of course, faked by pairs of dancers, but after being tackled, they were indistinguishable from real warhorses in the dim light.

As the silk fabric fluttered, this row of "female warriors" ran from the back to the center of the dance floor, while resounding chants echoed from all around the pavilion and from above: "Ten thousand miles to the battlefield!"

"Crossing mountains and passes as if flying!"

"The northern wind carries the sound of the watchman's clapper!"

"Cold light—"

"According to!"

"iron!"

"Clothes!"

The sounds of horses neighing, fighting, howling wind, and shouts of charging into the city, all imitated by people, flooded the ears of the viewers.

Suddenly, arrows were shot from the high pavilion on the second floor toward the dance floor, a dense barrage of arrows!

Some of the "female warriors" fell, while others made movements as if braving arrows. When the last "female general" fell, she shouted: "Wearing war robes, how can I fear death in a hundred battles!"

With a whoosh!
The wide silk cloth was removed from the dance floor, and all the dancers were dressed in mottled military uniforms. Illuminated by the crescent lanterns, the noble ladies watching were instantly moved to tears, knowing that the dark colors on the uniforms were blood!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh... The high pavilion on the second floor fired even more arrows into the dance floor, this time in waves.

"Charge! Smash the Rouran royal court!"

As one of the "female warriors" shouted, the "female warriors" in the rain of arrows either fought, crawled forward, or performed difficult high jump somersaults.

But one by one they fell.

In the midst of the "battle," the women's fighting spirit rang out in unison: "Wearing wartime robes, how can we fear death in a hundred battles!"

"Twelve scrolls of military dispatches, each scroll bearing the name of Mulan!"

"I am willing to serve as a saddle and horse in the city, and from now on fight for my country!"

When the last "heroine" fell, all the arrows stopped flying, and the noise of the battlefield ceased. Her voice was light and clear, yet everyone around could hear her clearly: "What are you thinking, woman? What are you remembering, woman?"

The crescent lantern was pulled back to the top of the pavilion and blown out.

Silk fabric covered the dance floor like waves.

In the darkness, the cries of noblewomen rose and fell.

Only Zhao Zhi remained unusually cold and aloof.

(End of this chapter)