History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 314 Zhao Zhi Beats the Second Official

Early in the morning, carriages and horses passed around the palace.

Today, Emperor Yuan Ke will summon Prince Rencheng, Yuan Cheng, to the East Hall of the Taiji Hall, which indicates that Prince Rencheng's crime of arbitrarily arresting the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat has been absolved.

With some free time, the officials weren't in a hurry to enter the palace gates; they all waited to exchange a few pleasantries with the long-absent Prince Rencheng.

coming!

Prince Rencheng had grown even larger, and the moment he jumped off the carriage, the entire carriage was raised higher off the ground.

With a clatter of hooves, Prince Yuan Yu of Guangling arrived at the gate of Changhe Palace. He dismounted, and the court officials saw a thunderous procession of carriages and horses approaching from afar. It was the arrival of Minister of Works Yuan Xiang.

Yuan Xiang took the initiative to greet the Prince of Rencheng with a beaming smile: "Your Majesty has finally stopped letting your uncle from shirking his responsibilities."

Prince Rencheng waved his hand, his words ambiguous: "Ah, I'm used to a life of leisure."

Yuan Yu gently touched Prince Guangping Yuan Kuang's shoulder and said, "Do you understand? One of them is worried that the other will really be reinstated, while the other is pretending to be confused and not telling the truth."

Yuan Kuang flicked his shoulder in disgust, feeling utterly annoyed by the guy.

Yuan Yu, always eager for drama, asked Yuan Xiang, "Where is Minister Wang Su? Could it be that he's deliberately hiding because he knows the Prince of Rencheng is going to the palace?"

In front of this fellow, Yuan Xiang was too lazy to pretend and coldly retorted, "How should I know!"

Yuan Yu approached the Prince of Rencheng again and complained, "This morning I wanted to ride in your carriage, but you were heartless and wouldn't let me." Then, a lewd smile appeared on his face. "Uncle, I have something to tell you. I've found Wang Su's ex-wife and his two daughters and son. I guess they've already recognized each other. Hehe."

Prince Rencheng exclaimed, "What a wonderful thing! The family is finally reunited."

As the court officials were discussing why the Grand Commandant was still nowhere to be seen, the imperial guards patrolling the imperial road lined up and ran towards the west palace wall.

The reason was quickly found out: Zhao Zhi, a Tongzhi Sanqi Changshi, had beaten two officials at the Tongmen on the west side.

Zhao Zhi was beating You Shuangfeng and Changsun Chenggui.

The officials who entered and exited through the gate were not of high rank. Zhao Zhi was holding the five-colored pheasant upside down in her hand, making no attempt to conceal it. Changsun Chenggui recognized it at a glance as the rare bird that had gone missing from his family.

You Shuangfeng's face was flushed, because he had just told his colleagues about the results of the divination last night.

"Attendant Zhao, please wait. I am Changsun Chenggui, the Seventh Military Officer of the Ministry of War. The rare bird in your hand, Attendant Zhao, should be the Five-Colored Crane that I have trained. May I have a closer look?"

Zhao Zhi: "You tamed it? Then call it and see if it responds."

The officials dared not speak out in anger: the Five-Colored Crane was clearly injured and unconscious, and it would not respond to anyone's calls!

Changsun Cheng returned: "You jest, Your Excellency. It seems that the Five-Colored Crane was injured and was rescued by you. How about this, Your Excellency, how much did it cost you to save it? I will repay you double."

"No way."

“Attendant Zhao.” You Shuangfeng, who had always wanted to curry favor with the Changsun family, and who had chased after Zhao Zhi with Changsun Chenggui, testified, “I have seen this bird before. It is exactly the same as the quail raised by the Seven Soldiers. If Attendant Zhao does not believe me, look at the copper ring on its foot. It must have the words ‘Changsun’ engraved on it.”

"Bullshit! Do you think I don't know the 'long' in 'long and short'?"

Not to mention the eldest grandson himself, the other officials who heard this almost choked to death.

Changsun Chenggui was afraid of Zhao Zhi's power and dared not provoke her any further. He thought he should ask his cousin for help to get the Five-Colored Crane back later. However, You Shuangfeng knew that he had offended Zhao Zhi and was determined to drag him into it.

“Attendant Zhao, everything else can be faked, but the five-colored feathers on this bird’s shoulders are real, aren’t they!” Zhao Zhi stopped and looked at You Shuangfeng, poking his shoulder with her right finger, questioning, “Didn’t he lose his bird? Why are you in such a hurry?”

You Shuangfeng was drenched in sweat because every spot where the finger had poked him was numb. After the other party stopped, the numb spots were stabbed with excruciating pain, and he fell backward with his mouth half open. No one dared to help him up.

Zhao Zhi looked at Changsun Chenggui again, but the latter looked up at the sky and down at the ground, not daring to look at the female warrior opposite him.

The five-colored crane never wakes up early or late, but it woke up now.

Even with its view upside down, it can still recognize its owner!

It cried out and fluttered about anxiously, which made Changsun Chenggui feel distressed. He instinctively tried to snatch the bird, but failed. Instead, Zhao Zhi punched him, hitting him on the nose.

"Damn it!" The five-colored crane screamed in fright, its feathers bristling. It quickly became still and closed its eyes, pretending to be unconscious.

Two court officials were injured in front of the palace gate. This matter falls under the jurisdiction of both the palace and the city's imperial guards, which is why the patrolling guards came to clear the gate.

You and Changsun were seriously injured and unable to work. Zhao Zhi, however, acted as if nothing had happened and went to the Zhaigong Palace with her usual high spirits.

She first recounted the conversation she overheard at the Grand Commandant's villa the previous night, then presented the five-colored pheasant and petitioned: "I request that the entire city be thoroughly investigated for hawks and pigeons, and that all the abilities of any domesticated birds be recorded truthfully."

Just as Emperor Yuan Ke was about to praise Zhao Zhi for her efficient handling of the matter, Ru Hao came to report that Zhao Zhi had just injured two officials at Tongmen.

Zhao Zhi said confidently, "Seven Soldiers think I'm not well-educated. They said the words engraved on the copper ring are 'Changsun,' but the first character is clearly the 'Chang' in 'Changduan' (meaning 'long' or 'short')!"

Everyone in the hall except her, including the emperor, was trying their best to recall some sad memories. They couldn't stop thinking about sad things, and they would even laugh.

Yuan Ke had long since grown tired of teaching Zhao Zhi, and ordered, "Go to the East Hall."

In addition to his confidants Zhao Zhi, Yu Deng, Wang Xian, Ru Hao, Wang Zhongxing, and Hou Gang, the entourage also included an official named Zhen Chen.

Zhen Chen was originally the chief secretary of the Prince of Yangping. He was recommended to come to the capital and was given the official position of Zhongsan Dafu. He served the emperor and was responsible for devising strategies on how to rule personally and take over military power.

The Taiji Hall was under renovation. The emperor summoned Prince Yuan Cheng of Rencheng to the East Hall, not to reinstate Yuan Cheng to his former post, but to appoint him as the governor of Liangzhou.

Liangzhou and Sizhou are separated by the three prefectures of Hua, Yong, and Qi, which are too far from the capital. The fat fox Yuan Cheng would not go. He choked up and declined, because his mother was old and could not travel a long distance to Liangzhou with him. If he left his mother in Luoyang, he would be unable to eat or sleep and would have no mind to deal with local military affairs.

Unable to force the emperor, he had to comfort the Prince of Rencheng and exempt him from the punishment of being confined to his residence for reflection, effective immediately. After expressing his gratitude, the Prince of Rencheng continued to weep, saying, "I dare not go out, for I fear that Princess Chenliu will stop throwing filth at my gate and start throwing it at me instead, which would make me lose even more face."

"Nonsense! Even I, the supreme ruler, must respect my elders. How dare Princess Chenliu offend the elder, Prince Rencheng! Issue an edict to strip Princess Yuanzhen of one year's salary and order her to pay a visit to Prince Rencheng within three days to apologize!"

The fat fox wiped away his tears, thanked the emperor again, and left the palace satisfied.

The emperor summoned Yuan Yu, the Prince of Guangling, to an audience and ordered him to take over the post of Governor of Sizhou. Yuan Yu walked unsteadily into the east hall and declined the governorship, explaining, "This morning, when I heard that an official had been injured at the Tongmen Gate, I went to uphold justice and injured my back. I can barely walk now and will probably need to rest for half a year. I am incompetent and humbly request to resign from my position as General of Chariots and Cavalry."

The emperor sighed deeply and said, "The position of Governor of Sizhou will remain concurrently held by the Prince of Guangyang, and the matter of resigning as General of Chariots and Cavalry shall not be mentioned again."

Yuan Yu: "Yes."

"Fourth Uncle's back injury needs to be treated with care. Zhao Zhi, you should help Prince Yu out of the palace and make sure he can recover from his injury after half a year of rest."

Yuan Yu hurriedly waved his hand: "No need, no need, I can walk by myself."

Zhao Zhi reached out and pinched his waist, half-lifting and dragging him out of the east hall. Then, the people inside the hall heard a scream from outside!
Yuan Yu's fake back injury has turned into a real one.