History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Wei Yao's prediction was correct; luck is truly unpredictable.

Within an hour, she met the last empress of the Liu Song dynasty, and on her way out of Yaoguang Temple, she encountered the deposed empress of Emperor Xiaowen.

Empress Feng's Buddhist name was "Cixing," which inevitably reminded Wei Yao of the emperor's wet nurse, "Ciqing," a temple within the palace.

Chronologically speaking, Cixing became a nun later, and his Dharma name also begins with the character "Ci". Was this intentional or just a coincidence of personal preference?

A turbulent May has passed, and an even more turbulent June is coming.

As more prefectures and counties suffered from famine, the imperial court dispatched envoys to various places. To ensure the availability of oxen for farmers, the emperor ordered the use of livestock from the pastures of Heyang and Hexi to transport official grain, and also mobilized temples and wealthy people to distribute porridge along the roads.

At this time, Wei Yao received letters from her fellow disciples Guo Yun and Liu Zhenzhu, and her friends Yuan Jingrong and Gao Loujin, informing her that Hengzhou, Wuchuan Town, and Shuozhou were all affected by drought. Of the three places, Wuchuan Town was the most severely affected! In the vast Wuchuan plains, only the paddy fields along the canals had a good harvest this summer. The small amount of fertile land was even more precious in the face of natural disaster, and it was all greedily seized by the town general and garrison commander.

Among all the friends, only Gao Loujin lived in poverty, while Wei Yao had stored up a lot of grain, but Luoyang was too far from Shuozhou, making it difficult to transport the grain there.

In the face of natural disasters, it's not just refugees who scramble for food; officials may be even more terrifying than the refugees.

This is how to do?
Wei Yao and Yuan Mao didn't mind the trouble, so they sent a letter every two or three days urging Wei Jing and Gao Loujin to come to the capital as soon as possible, or even send Gao Huan first.

Three other events occurred in June, all of which were promulgated by imperial edicts.

First, Prince Pengcheng, Yuan Xie, was granted the title of "Grand Marshal." In the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Grand Marshal was a first-rank official, and was known as one of the "Two Grand Marshals" alongside the Grand General, wielding significant military power.

This means that Yuan Xie, who had previously relinquished his military power to avoid trouble, was promoted to Minister of Works in February and then further promoted, forcing him to take over military power and begin to share the power of Grand Commandant Yuan Xi, who had been solely in charge of commanding the army.

The imperial court built a moat, and even princes and nobles were like fish that could not escape, their fates beyond their control.

The second event was the marriage of Princess Yuanzhen of Chenliu to Wang Su, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat. Wang Su was granted the title of "Grand Master of the Three Offices," and from then on, he enjoyed the same treatment as Grand Commandant Yuan Xi, Minister of Works Yuan Xie, and Minister of Agriculture Yuan Xiang. He also established his own office and was able to appoint his own staff.

Wang Su's change in official position means that the suppression of Prince Rencheng, Yuan Cheng, by Grand Commandant Yuan Xi and Minister of Works Yuan Xiang in the previous period was meaningless! Starting this month, Wang Su will delegate the administrative affairs of the various departments of the court, as well as the real power of selecting and rewarding officials, to Grand Commandant Yuan Xi.

The emperor drew his authority as a pond, adding fish instead of bait, and the turmoil and strife at the bottom of the water rose to the surface!
The third event was that Tian Yuqiu, the leader of the Dayang Man tribe of the Xiao Qi dynasty, led 28,000 households of barbarians to rebel against Qi and surrender. The court set up four prefectures and eighteen counties to settle the barbarians. According to old custom, the surrendered leaders were allowed to send their direct descendants as hostages to reside in Luoyang.

Their residence was located on the south bank of the Luoshui River in the south of the city.

At this time, Yuan Zhenjun had already moved into Wang Su's mansion in Yanxianli. She already disliked that the official road in the south of the city was not wide enough, and she also disliked that most of the people in the south of the city were of low status. So she sent a letter of request to Emperor Yuan Ke, in which she earnestly asked His Majesty to allow Wang Su's mansion to move to the inner city.

Yuan Ke refused.

Yuanzhenjun anticipated that this move would not succeed, so she then sent another letter requesting that the official road leading from the south of the city to Yanxianli be repaired and that the Luoshui River pontoon bridge be decorated and widened.

This time, the emperor not only refused, but also wrote a rather stern admonition in his rejection letter: "The construction of the southern part of the city should be requested by officials of the outer court."

The elders' dignity was completely lost in the admonition! Yuan Zhenjun was restless and pondered for two days. Inadvertently, she dropped the jade comb that His Majesty had given her last month, and several of the comb teeth broke.

Only then did she realize the other meaning behind His Majesty's gift... Only by handling it with utmost care could the relationship between aunt and niece remain forever close; otherwise, even the finest comb would break and lead to estrangement!
"How are Li Yin and He Lan doing in their study of the Book of Poetry?" Yuan Zhenjun asked her maid, Fu Zhuang.

“Li Yin is intelligent and his poetic skills far surpass those of He Lan. Fortunately, He Lan studies diligently every day, which is more diligent than Li Yin’s.”

"Some people's background makes it useless to study hard no matter how hard they study."

Fu Zhuang dared not respond, sensing that the Princess was not mocking He Lan, but rather the secretary Wei Yao.

She guessed correctly.

The more Yuanzhenjun thought about it, the more she felt that Zhao Zhi had been involved in the matter of His Majesty disrespecting her. Even if she hadn't been involved, Zhao Zhi would never have said a good word for her.

It is extremely unfavorable that His Majesty has a close attendant who is at odds with her! Moreover, Zhao Zhi appears to be loyal and upright, but in reality she is a treacherous and sycophantic person. She is clearly imitating Zhao Xiu before her, and is delusional in wanting to become His Majesty's most trusted attendant!
Following Zhao Xiu's example? Yuan Zhenjun had a sudden inspiration and came up with a way to kill this woman, but she could not carry out this plan alone. She needed a favored assistant who often served the Emperor. Yuan Zhenjun immediately instructed her maids: "The birthday of Consort Gao, the mother of the Prince of Beihai, is coming soon. Go to the treasure shops in the city to select gifts and make plenty of them. Spread the joy of Consort Gao's birthday far and wide."

Yuan Zhenjun did not respect Consort Gao, but rather recalled what Chen Saojing, the guard who had served His Majesty in combing his hair, had said. That fellow was foolish, but the information he revealed should be true: the favor shown to Wang Yu and other close attendants was no longer as great as that shown to Zhao Zhi.

If you can't keep up, you'll feel jealous.

It's Consort Gao's birthday, and while others might not be able to say for sure, Wang Yu will definitely be there! This eunuch has been hiding his true intentions for so many years, secretly currying favor with Consort Gao. Now that his favor is being suppressed by Zhao Zhi, wouldn't he be thinking of seeking help from all sides to use his influence to strike at Zhao Zhi?
She and Wang Yu might form an alliance for the same purpose, and regardless of the means, quickly eliminate Zhao Zhi!
June twenty.

Tonight, dark clouds obscured the moon over Luoyang, the wind whipped up dust, and leaves were blown off and scattered in the air.

In the spacious open space in front of the Zhai Palace, Zhao Zhizheng and Zhai Shuai Wang Zhongxing were having a hand-to-hand combat match.

Emperor Yuan Ke sat at the palace gate watching the battle.

Wang Zhongxing possesses a triple shield of strength: his chest, back, and right fist, making him one of the top warriors.

Other warriors with triple shields include Yu Lie, commander of the Imperial Guards; Li Chong, governor of Liangzhou; and Yuan Huai, governor of Yongzhou.

Wang Zhongxing was very tall and strong. He slammed down with his fists overlapping, his right fist at the bottom, the shadow of his fist enveloping Zhao Zhi like a millstone.

Head-to-head!
Zhao Zhi punched him with her fists crossed.

"Ah—" Wang Zhongxing roared, changing his move.

His sudden, unprepared backward lean caused the Imperial Guards present to gasp in surprise.

The shield strength in the same area is divided into levels, with the lowest being level one.

Wang Zhongxing's right fist shield strength level is "double hammer". If Zhao Zhi defeats him with her fist strength, her fist shield strength level will be rated as "triple hammer".

Wang Zhongxing took a step back to gather his strength, then thrust out with his right fist. The speed of his powerful arm as it swept across a tree trunk was like a hurricane.

"what--"

The Imperial Guards watching the battle gasped even louder this time.

Zhao Zhi unexpectedly split her fingers into a palm, directly meeting the punch!

With the softness of her palm, she caught the hardest bone in Wang Zhongxing's fist!

"Release her!" Wang Zhongxing shouted, his fighting spirit surging. He swung his arm, but unable to break free from Zhao Changshi's grasp, he swung her up and slammed her to the ground.

All imagination is delusion.

Zhao Zhi firmly planted her feet, pulled back Wang Zhongxing's arm that was about to rise, and continued to pull it towards her own body, then forcefully pushed it outwards.

With a "click".

Wang Zhongxing dislocated his arm. This man was indeed fierce and brave; he immediately twisted the bone back into place without even flinching.

He shouted, "Again!"

The eunuch Wang Yu, serving the emperor, said nostalgically, "The might of Attendant Zhao reminds me of Guard Zhao Xiu. Guard Zhao Xiu's disappearance was truly mysterious. Could it be that there are indeed fierce warriors hidden among the common people, capable of both murdering Guard Zhao and evading the thorough investigation of the Court of Justice?" (End of Chapter)