History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Everyone on the roof screamed and ducked down, clinging to the railing for cover. The slightly bolder ones peered through the gaps and saw a woman in a two-piece armor appear from behind a building on one side.

It was Zhao Zhi.

She drew the Thousand Ox Blade from its sheath and called out, "Consort Gao, I am Zhao Zhi, a Thousand Ox Guard in His Majesty's presence. I have been ordered to accompany General Yu Deng to your residence for questioning."

Consort Gao stood up. She knew that Zhao Zhi had revealed her identity to give both sides a way out. She regained her dignified demeanor and said disdainfully, "Ask whatever you want to ask!"

"Does the Dowager Consort Gao look down on me because of her high position, or...?"

"Shut up!" Consort Gao refused to fall into the trap in the other party's words and walked down from the pavilion.

At this moment, the Prince's mansion guards had surrounded the area densely, and the place was filled with people of all heights. The bodies of Hu's three servants had also been carried down from the pavilion. The Dowager Consort Gao appeared even more dignified, now certain that Zhao Zhi would not dare to suffer a double loss.

With more people around, the Empress Dowager Gao stepped forward, determined to see Zhao Zhi, this vile woman, clearly so that she wouldn't mistake her for someone else when she killed her!
Zhao Zhi: "Since I am holding the Thousand Ox Blade, I will not bow to the Empress Dowager."

"Enough with the nonsense..."

歘!
Zhao Zhi twirled her knife.

As Consort Gao took a step back in fright, hundreds of guards from the Prince's Palace converged forward, and the encirclement instantly shrank.

Zhao Zhi: "Don't rush, everyone. I'm just clearing the way. The Empress Dowager and I will come over together as General Lang, and he can ask us the questions."

Consort Gao, having lost face once again, retorted sarcastically, "You are a Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate, a higher rank than the Emperor. Just admit that you are deliberately making things difficult for me by relying on His Majesty's will!"

"If I don't make things difficult for you, why should I make things difficult for myself?"

The ground shook, and the deafening sound of running could be heard—it was five hundred elite Imperial Guards!
"Get out of my way!"

Consort Gao's expression changed at first, but she was relieved when she saw that the one in charge was her son, Yuanxiang.

Yuan Xiang shouted, "All guards, put down your weapons. Is Mother alright?"

Yu Deng also stepped forward and asked Zhao Zhi, "Is the Attendant-in-Ordinary alright?"

Zhao Zhi spoke directly: "I am unharmed. A few disobedient servants of the manor have died." She showed no respect, and then said to the Prince of Beihai, "This humble official has come with the Emperor's decree to offer birthday greetings to the Dowager Consort, so I will not pay my respects to the Minister of Works."

Consort Gao was so angry that she spoke haltingly: "Xiang'er, did you hear that? This woman came to our mansion to cause trouble. She just said that she was here on His Majesty's orders to question us, but now she has changed her story!"

"Heh." Yuan Xiang smiled and explained to Zhao Zhi and Yu Deng, "Please don't be offended, my mother was a little impatient because there were many things to do at the birthday banquet today."

He bowed to the south, saying, "Your Majesty, I am grateful for your kindness." Then he asked, "Besides the verbal instruction, has Your Majesty given any further instructions?"

On his way here, Yu Deng had already prepared his words. He said, “His Majesty did not give any specific instructions, but we officials in the court should all abide by the rules. Please, Minister of Works, hand over all five hundred servants who offended the female official. Once I have taken them, I will immediately leave the palace and not disturb your peace.”

Consort Gao, having reached her limit, rebuked him: "Yu Deng! Your father was a man of unyielding integrity, yet he gave birth to such a treacherous villain as you! There are fewer than two hundred servants in the waterside pavilion today, where did you get five hundred from?"

Zhao Zhi held out her hand: "Six hundred."

"You vile woman!" Consort Gao gritted her teeth.

Yuan Xiang still smiled and admitted defeat: "Alright, six hundred. Chief Secretary, quickly go and count the number of people and bring them over. Inspector, this place is in your hands. You personally lead six hundred servants and two guards to deliver it. Attendant Zhao, General Yu, there are still guests in the Prince's mansion, so my mother and I will not accompany you."

A group of guards strode in, led by Liu Xiaogou, the head guard of the Grand Commandant's residence. "Your Highness, Minister of Works, the Grand Commandant has sent me to inquire about the situation."

Yuan Xiang had just opened his mouth when Zhao Zhi stepped forward and, with a "smack," slapped Liu Xiaogou against the guard behind him.

The slap was so powerful that no one could react in time.

The mother and son, Consort Gao, truly inherited each other's bad habits, instantly exchanging gloating glances.

Yu Deng was also stunned, mouthing to Zhao Zhi, "What's wrong?"

The guards at the Grand Commandant's mansion glared at Zhao Zhi with resentment. Zhao Zhi was even more furious and pointed at Liu Xiaogou to complain to Yu Deng: "I worked hard to earn 100,000 coins before, and he took 50,000 of them! Even after I got promoted, he still won't pay me back!"

Liu Xiaogou was on the verge of tears, and with a swollen and garbled tongue, he tried to explain, "You didn't ask me for it! Minister Lao, lend me 50,000 coins first."

The farce has finally come to an end.

The six hundred slaves of the Prince of Beihai's mansion were sentenced to hard labor by the Sizhou government and sent with the grain transport team to the drought-stricken prefectures and counties. After the hard labor was completed, the court allowed them to return to the Prince of Beihai's mansion.

The punishment of being raised high but released lightly reassured Consort Gao and her son.

Zhao Zhi committed murder in the Prime Minister's residence. Whether he was punished or not, the powerful and influential suddenly discovered that they could no longer obtain any information about the palace. Precisely because they could not find out anything, the Grand Commandant abandoned his idea of ​​revenge against Zhao Zhi. The name of the treacherous minister Zhao Changshi began to spread from the court to the common people.

As for Yu Lie and his son, although the Prince of Beihai treated them the same as usual when they met in the palace, both families knew that things were no longer the same.

But let's leave that aside for now. After Princess Chang Le Yuan Ying returned to the palace from the birthday banquet, she painted a portrait of a beautiful woman to present to the emperor.

"Your Majesty, guess which lady I've painted?"

The emperor examined the scroll.

Yuan Ying stared at the painting for a moment, then at the emperor, and asked, "Is my painting... beautiful?"

The emperor only answered her second question: "You still need to learn from the painter."

Yuan Ying pouted: "It's Yu Baoying, General Yu Lie's niece."

She thought to herself, "My second brother has changed completely since he ascended the throne. He hardly ever smiles anymore, he speaks very little, and all the care and affection he used to show her is gone!"
Feeling increasingly aggrieved, Yuan Ying choked up and said, "To be honest, Your Majesty, the families of high-ranking officials have long been aware of the choice for Empress, and they all say it's Miss Yu. As your sister, of course I have to care about this matter, so I tried every means to find out about Miss Yu. I met her this morning and thought she was quite nice, so I drew her portrait to show you. If you don't like her, I will not associate with her anymore. If you do like her, I will go and learn about her temperament and way of doing things on your behalf."

The emperor took out a handkerchief and said with a mixture of disgust and affection, "Wipe your snot. You're still the same as when you were a child, with four lines of snot and one line of tears."

Yuan Ying turned from crying to laughing, carefully put the handkerchief into her bag, took out her own wipe, and muttered, "This was a gift from His Majesty, I can't bear to get it dirty."

The emperor put the portrait aside and instructed, "In the future, if you hear others talking about the selection of the empress, you should stop them as a princess, instead of helping the rumors spread. The same goes for other rumors. You should think about whether someone is deliberately telling you. What you think is a quiet approach to the girl is actually being watched by many eyes. Not all of those people are as kind to the girl as you are."

"Ah!" Yuan Ying suddenly realized, "Your Majesty is right. If someone is jealous of her and sees that I am friends with her, they might try to harm her! Hmm? Your Majesty is worried about Miss Yu. I understand. Don't worry, I will protect her!"

The emperor instructed the eunuchs, "Take the princess to the Imperial Treasury's silk storehouse." He then told Yuan Ying, "Take as much as you like."

“Yes.” Yuan Ying was overjoyed. She pushed the portrait in front of her brother, bid farewell, and left.

Unbeknownst to her, the emperor didn't glance at the portrait even once more. (End of Chapter)