History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 316 Yuanzhenjun's Further Schemes
Fortunately, Zhao Zhi did not use her internal energy, and Zhen Chen could still walk. After suppressing his anger and returning to the Zhai Palace, the Emperor ordered Zhao Zhi to receive thirty strokes of the cane in front of the palace as punishment, and reprimanded her: "If you cause trouble again, the punishment will be doubled!"

Zhen Chen quickly pleaded for Zhao Zhi: "Just now, I lost my footing and bumped into Zhao Changshi, causing me to fall down the steps. I beg Your Majesty to forgive Zhao Changshi."

"There's no need to plead for this shrew."

The servants followed him into the hall. The emperor remained silent, and they dared not utter a sound. Zhen Chen was the most uneasy. For some reason, even though the wooden cane outside the hall was clearly being used against Zhao Zhi, he felt anxious and uneasy with every sound.

The thirty strokes of the cane were quickly finished, and Zhao Zhi calmly entered the hall, still standing in the position closest to the emperor.

At this moment, Yuan Ke spoke up: "Zhao Zhi is impulsive and illiterate, and she hasn't learned the rules of the court well. However, her simple and honest heart is exactly what Zhuangzi said...'True things are what Heaven bestows upon us, and they cannot be changed. It is because of Zhao Zhi's simple and honest nature that I have repeatedly favored her. In the future, if court officials ask you if Zhao Zhi has overstepped the rules, I only want to know who is asking, not to hear maliciously fabricated rumors!"

"Your Majesty, we dare not! We will obey Your Majesty's will!"

The emperor's power and influence gradually grew, and not only the prime ministers and ministers felt it, but also his close attendants.

Yanxian Lane, south of the city, is the residence of the Minister of Works.

Princess Yuanzhen of Chenliu received an imperial edict of admonition and learned that You Shuangfeng, whom she wanted to use, had been beaten by Zhao Zhi. She was so frustrated and angry that she could hardly express it in words!
She dug her nails into her palms, trying to keep herself from losing control, and said bitterly, "It's my fault for misjudging her. If only I had seen her before this woman gained His Majesty's trust..."

Annoyance is useless. Yuan Zhenjun admitted defeat and stopped talking nonsense. He ordered his maid, "Prepare the carriage and go to the Prince of Rencheng's mansion."

The nanny, Dou, asked worriedly, "The Minister of the Imperial Secretariat should be returning to his residence soon. Didn't His Majesty just instruct the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat to accompany the Princess to apologize to the Prince of Rencheng?"

Yuan Zhenjun gently adjusted her hair and said sarcastically, "He wants my husband to apologize to him too? He's not worthy! It doesn't matter. Even if he's unhappy that my husband didn't come with me to apologize to him, he can only endure it. After all, he has a title but no official position."

But luck kept turning against her plans. When she arrived at Yongkang Lane, the steward of the Prince of Rencheng's mansion told her, "The Prince moved many of his personal belongings to another residence today, saying that he will not return to this residence for half a month."

The maid Fu Zhuang gave the steward a string of coins and inquired, "Which residence did the Prince of Rencheng go to?"

The steward hurriedly stuffed the reward money back into her hand, saying awkwardly, "The king is in a bad mood today, how could I dare to ask?"

Fu Zhuang returned to the carriage, where Yuan Zhenjun angrily exclaimed, "I heard you! Go back to the manor!" She knew that damned Yuan Cheng was humiliating her, deliberately making her run away empty-handed. Yuan Cheng owned more than a dozen mansions of all sizes in Luoyang; who knew where he had hidden!

However, the imperial edict gave her three days to apologize to Yuan Cheng. If she couldn't even do that, she would definitely give the emperor a handle to use against her and incur his wrath.

This is how to do?
As the carriage set off, Fu Zhuang, a knowledgeable maid, knew that Prince Rencheng was deliberately avoiding the eldest princess, so she expressed her concerns: "Three days is too short. The princess must make a decision soon."

Yuan Zhenjun was so angry that her head ached. Gazing at the setting sun, she felt utterly powerless and murmured, "What other ideas can I come up with? What that old scoundrel wants isn't my apology, but for my husband to bow down to him. Fine, with the imperial decree in hand, I can't defeat him this time no matter what. Let my husband handle it. Fu Zhuang, do something for me. Go to Chongxu Temple and find Master Lu. I will donate funds to hold a divination competition there. In the days leading up to the competition, have people spread the word everywhere... Master Wei Yin of Wenya Academy is skilled in divination."

Fu Zhuang roughly understood what the princess meant and asked, "What if Wei Yin denies everywhere that he knows divination?"

Yuan Zhenjun sneered: "Whether he knows divination or not is not important. Since this art can predict good and bad fortune, then the person who performs the divination is the knife." She had long known that Wei Yin was a descendant of Cui Hao, and she also knew that His Majesty forbade it to be publicized. At present, only the prime ministers and a few noble children who were related to or had enmity with Cui Hao knew about it.

After the banquet, she concluded that Wei Yin's enemies must include Zhong Lülang and You Shuangfeng!
It's not hard to guess why the You family wanted to deal with Wei Yin. You Shuangfeng's grandfather was a master of divination, but whenever he tried to predict the same thing as Cui Hao, he would always get the divination wrong. On the contrary, Cui Hao was always accurate in his predictions, no matter what the matter was.

The rumors about divination stealing one's fortune began when Cui Hao never made a wrong prediction. Since she couldn't deal with Zhao Zhi, and couldn't do anything to Wei Yao for the time being, she would deal with Wei Yin, the most useless member of the commoner family, first!
After the princess's carriage rolled away, a large head slowly rose from the wall of the Guangling Prince's mansion; it was none other than Prince Rencheng, Yuan Cheng.

Beneath the wall, Yuan Yu lay on a stretcher, anxiously watching the commotion but unable to see anything. "She just left like that? She didn't throw any more rotten eggs at your house?"

"She dares!" Yuan Cheng said angrily, "I'll wait until they're completely exhausted, until the sun sets on the third day, before I see Wang again..."

Before he could finish his angry words, the ladder was heard to crash and fall to the ground!
"Ouch!"

"what--"

It's all Yuan Cheng's fault for being too fat. He broke the ladder and fell, hitting the stretcher that couldn't dodge in time. After Yuan Yu fell to the ground, their heads collided.

On the official road leading to Jingyi Lane in the east of the city, several riders galloped at high speed.

You Wujiu was not a skilled rider and was startled by the passing cavalry. He screamed and tumbled off his horse, but fortunately he was not injured.

The servant helped her up, but was whipped several times.

You Wujiu cursed, "It's all your fault! My father was injured early this morning, why did you only tell me so late?"

After returning home injured in the morning, You Shuangfeng felt pain in all the tendons of her right shoulder. Although she could feel her right arm, she couldn't exert any strength, and she couldn't grasp small objects with her hand. Fortunately, the palace physician diagnosed her with the illness and said that she would recover after half a month of acupuncture.

During the chaotic half-day at the You family home, You Wujiu's younger brother, You Lizhen, kept the household servants running around like crazy, leaving no one free to go to Hongchi to find You Wujiu. The servants dared not complain about their young master, so they could only let You Wujiu vent his anger by whipping them a few times before continuing on their way to Jingyi Lane.

Then there's Grand Commandant Yuan Xi.

Tonight, he will ostensibly stay in the inner city, but once night falls, he will disguise himself as a merchant and leave the city, hurrying to Hongchi Villa.

check!
A thorough investigation is being conducted to check for any oversights in the security patrols within the villa!
Without informing any of his guards, Yuanxi ordered General Yin Longhu and Commander Liu Xiaogou to disguise themselves as assassins and use their skills to try and infiltrate his residence and staff quarters.

Only Yuan Xi knew that Yin Longhu was a fierce warrior whose lightness skill was significantly superior to Liu Xiaogou's, so the place where Yin Longhu was hiding was his residence.

To Yuanxi's relief, Yin Longhu had already startled the hunting dogs in the yard before he even climbed over the wall. Although the dogs didn't bark immediately, they all stood up and pricked up their ears, which meant he had failed and there was no need to continue testing.

However, Yuanxi immediately flew into a rage! Liu Xiaogou had successfully scaled the courtyard where the staff lived, and the guards only noticed him as he climbed onto the roof.