History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 315 The Mind of a Powerful Minister

Inside the palace, in the Secretariat southeast of Duanmen Gate, the chief ministers and court officials finished their meeting. As usual, some officials followed Wang Su, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, to the Secretariat to discuss specific administrative affairs of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, and other departments.

Wang Su led his officials on a procession, appearing impressive, but in reality, his ambitions had waned.

Firstly, he had been framed and imprisoned by the Prince of Rencheng. Although the court quickly cleared his name, that incident made him realize that no matter how high his official position or how great his achievements were in Wei, they were no match for the Prince Zong.

Furthermore, the highest official in the Ministry of Personnel was no longer him, but Pengcheng Prince Yuan Xie, who held the position of "Record Minister of Personnel". Because Yuan Xie was stationed at Feishui during his southern expedition, he was still in charge of the general affairs of various departments and offices.

With these thoughts weighing on his mind, just as he was about to reach the Ministry of Personnel, an imperial eunuch arrived and announced His Majesty's punishment for Yuanzhen Jun's disrespect towards the Prince of Rencheng.

Wang Su was troubled by both political and family matters, and Grand Commandant Yuan Xi, who was on his way out of the palace, was even more annoyed and furious!
He happened to run into Zhao Zhi, who was seeing off the Prince of Guangling.

Zhao Zhi didn't even bother with a perfunctory greeting, simply brushing past the officials. Without Yuan Xi needing to give a signal, a minor official immediately rebuked, "Attendant Zhao! Didn't you see the Grand Commandant? Why aren't you bowing?"

Zhao Zhi pressed her hand on the hilt of the Qianniu sword, looking at the official with disdain as if he were an ant, and said, "I am doing my duty for His Majesty, do you dare to stop me?" When she said the last four words, her eyes swept over Yuan Xi.

Assistant Minister Feng Junxing continued, "In the palace and the court, who isn't serving His Majesty? Only Attendant Zhao has such a grand air."

Zhao Zhi: "Who do you think you are!"

"Stop your arrogance!" The Supervising Censor sternly questioned, "Zhao Zhi, you stole the Five-Colored Crane raised by Changsun Qibinglang and even beat him. You wait, I will impeach you!"

“Alas,” Yuanxi then spoke up, “There may be very similar rare birds in the world. Whether the five-colored crane this morning belonged to the Changsun family or not, we need to investigate. Zhao Zhi, You Shuangfeng cast a divination for this bird, predicting that it would fly down to Hongchi Swamp today. Where did you catch the five-colored crane?”

Zhao Zhi replied with a cold expression, "The Grand Commandant is not old, but his hearing is failing. I must hurry to report to His Majesty! Also, everyone should leave the palace as soon as possible after discussing state affairs!"

The Imperial Censor, who was in charge of the administration, nearly fainted from anger, and pointed at her back with trembling hands.

Yuan Xi no longer cared about saving face; he only wanted to know if Zhao Zhi had caught the Five-Colored Crane from Hongchi. If she was at Hongchi last night, she might have sneaked into his villa!
The less Yuanxi could find out, the more uneasy he became.

As for Prince Yuan Yu of Guangling, his back was truly injured, and he couldn't ride a horse at all. Fortunately, Prince Rencheng was eating at a restaurant not far from the palace gate and helped him onto the carriage.

Every time the carriage jolted, the two princes inside would groan in pain. Yuan Yu's back ached from the jolting, while the Prince of Rencheng's knees ached from being scratched by this fellow.

But I couldn't pry his hand off.

"You suffer the consequences, and I am in trouble. I should have known better than to wait for you."

Yuan Yu wiped away her tears and snot, and said, "I knew my uncle was waiting for me on purpose. His Majesty summoned me and wanted me to take over the Sizhou Administration. I declined on the grounds of back pain, and then His Majesty ordered that poisonous woman Zhao Zhi to really pinch my back."

Prince Rencheng solemnly said, "I originally wanted to remind you that Assistant Minister Feng Junxing might be a man of the Minister of Works. You should not meet with his wife in secret again, and you should not underestimate your younger brother. Don't accidentally become a pawn in his fight against the Grand Commandant. Now it's all over. You can't cause trouble for half a year. You must obey the Emperor's will and focus on recovering from your injuries."

As he gave his final words of advice, he patted Yuan Yu's hand meaningfully.

But there was no way to talk about serious matters with Yuan Yu. This guy raised his face and asked, "Isn't that word 'stirring up trouble'? You dropped 'stirring up trouble,' are you cursing me or praising me?" Prince Rencheng: "Hmph, I think you're still not badly injured!"

Zhao Zhi returned to the East Hall of Taiji Palace and reported on her encounter with the Grand Commandant on her way back. The Emperor then looked at Zhen Chen and asked, "What do you think of the news that Zhao Zhi found out last night?"

From this question, Zhen Chen first confirmed that Zhao Zhi was indeed deeply trusted by His Majesty. Even though he knew that this woman was brave but lacked strategy, he still waited for her to return before discussing matters.

Without further thought, he bowed and replied, "This humble official believes that the left and right guards should remain as they are and not be moved. If the guards are changed, it might be easier to take action against Yuan Xi and bribe the traitor."

The emperor did not interrupt, and Zhen Chen continued, "Whether or not Your Majesty can use Fu Chengzhu, the Imperial Bodyguard, is up to you. You cannot truly use or trust him. Fu Chengzhu was selected as an Imperial Bodyguard, so his background must be impeccable. Therefore, we need to investigate his usual conduct. Is he cunning or cowardly? If he is cunning, he can be used; if he is cowardly, he should be killed. If he can be kept alive, then I will find a trustworthy bodyguard to keep a close eye on him. In less than a month, we will surely be able to find another traitor."

He continued, “I never expected that the Li family of Longxi would produce a traitor. The only official who is closest to Yuanxi’s wife, Li, and holds an important position is Li Zuo, the governor of Jingzhou. He is old and has made many military achievements. He is very popular in Jingzhou. It would be better to transfer him back to the capital and first strip him of the military power he relies on. No matter whether he has any rebellious intentions, he will not be a threat after returning to the capital.”

Emperor: "Hmm."

Encouraged, Zhen Chen's thoughts flowed more smoothly, and he continued, "Li has two elder brothers who have entered officialdom. They are her eldest brother, Li Boshang, and her second brother, Li Zhongshang. Li Boshang is currently a fifth-rank secretary, and Li Zhongshang is a military advisor in the Prince of Jingzhao's mansion."

Emperor: "Yuan Yu."

Upon hearing His Majesty pronounce the name of the Prince of Jingzhao, Yu Deng immediately reported: "The Prince of Yu is under house arrest in Hualin Garden, and recently he has been frequently lingering in the Crane Grove on the west side of the palace garden."

Helin is home not only to cranes, but also to various other birds.

Zhen Chen: "Speaking of Helin, I am reminded of what Zhao Changshi just told me. Why would the Grand Commandant care about an ordinary official losing a bird? He is probably worried that Zhao Changshi might have sneaked into his Hongchi villa last night. I think Zhao Changshi has offended the Grand Commandant perfectly! We should let the Grand Commandant guess and be uneasy, either to make him lose his composure and act hastily, which will surely expose his mistakes, or to make him fearful and stop his rebellious plots, so that he will obediently hand over his military power at the end of the year."

He bowed to the head of the court and said, "These are all I can think of for the moment. I will investigate further and report back to Your Majesty in detail."

The emperor nodded slightly and ordered Ru Hao: "The Secretariat should be thoroughly cleaned up. Corrupt officials and those who are negligent in their duties should all be transferred."

The Secretariat was in charge of issuing confidential edicts. In case of emergencies, edicts could be issued directly without going through the Department of State Affairs.

Ru Hao, invigorated, loudly replied, "Yes!" Zhen Chen, who had just been eloquently explaining his reasoning, was alarmed, his palms sweating. He had overlooked something—how could he have forgotten about Pengcheng Prince Yuan Xie, whom His Majesty had always been suspicious of!

Prince Xie concurrently served as the Grand Secretary, in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. Regardless of the outcome of the Battle of Fei River, the Emperor would definitely issue an edict before assuming full power, summoning Prince Xie back to the capital for defense and preventing him from leading troops outside. Given Prince Xie's abilities, he could take control of the Ministry of Personnel within a day of returning to the capital. Therefore, the Secretariat was of paramount importance and must be completely under His Majesty's control.

The emperor then gave Yu Deng another secret order: "Keep a close watch on Yuan Yu, even if it seems loose. If you find any contact between Helin and the Beihai Prince's Mansion, which is near the palace walls, just make a note of it and don't let Yuan Yu find out. Alright, that's all for now. Let's return to the Zhai Palace."

As was customary, Zhao Zhi left the palace first.

Zhen Chen was intelligent, but he was also good at flattery. He felt that Zhao Zhi was the most favored among the emperor's close attendants, so he immediately followed her out of the palace.

However, he didn't get a single flattering word. Zhao Zhi found him in the way and irritably said "Get out of the way," shoving him off the steps.