History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 334 Revenge in the Dark
At this moment, the Guangling Prince's entourage stopped in front of the Beihai Prince's residence. After Yuan Yu got off the carriage, he waved to all his subordinates: "Go back now."

His current assistants and guards are all useless. If they live with him in the North Sea King's residence, they can easily be bribed or used to harm him.

"Since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it." Yuan Yu walked away with his hands behind his back, looking quite relaxed.

When the steward of the front courtyard hurriedly went to the banquet hall to inform the Prince of Guangling of his arrival, the maid Hantao also arrived. The steward did not let Hantao in, and he entered the hall alone. He saw the Prince and His Majesty chatting and laughing happily, so he had no choice but to stand at the door and wait for an opportunity to report.

This wait meant the opportunity was completely lost.

Soon, the Prince of Beihai was summoned by His Majesty to drink together. After exchanging toasts, when the Prince of Guangling came to pay his respects to the Emperor, Emperor Yuan Ke's speech became incoherent.

Yuan Ke beckoned to the Prince of Guangling, then took his two uncles' hands together and gently patted them, instructing them: "Seventh Uncle, it was I who allowed Fourth Uncle to stay here temporarily. You must take good care of Fourth Uncle."

The moment Yuan Yu and Yuan Xiang's hands touched, they both felt disgusted, as if they were touching hot excrement.

As the emperor prepared to leave his seat, eunuchs and guards came to help him. Dissatisfied, the emperor looked around and asked, "Where is Zhao Zhi? Let Zhao Zhi come and fetch me."

Yuan Xiang turned around and shouted at the steward, "Why haven't you brought General Zhao here yet!"

In the backyard, Consort Gao sat at the doorway, confronting Zhao Zhi, who was being punished by standing. She waited and waited, but Han Tao did not return. Her confidence that His Majesty would decide to increase Zhao Zhi's punishment gradually wavered.

A burly servant suddenly exclaimed with delight, "Han Tao is back! Look, Your Highness, there are guards following behind her. His Majesty has sent someone to stand up for you."

"Hmm." Consort Gao rubbed her forehead, then began to feign weakness again.

After being admitted to the hospital, Han Tao dared not utter a word.

The guard bowed to Zhao Zhi and said, "General, the banquet in the front courtyard has ended, and His Majesty has ordered you to escort him back to the palace."

Without warning, Zhao Zhi kicked the ground, sending dirt flying towards Consort Gao.

"The ground in the yard is uneven, let me shovel it for you."

Consort Gao's face was contorted with rage, her breath short and rapid. Pointing at Zhao Zhi's retreating figure, she cursed, "You lowly, shameless woman, how dare you threaten me!"

What frustrated her even more was that when her son Yuan Xiang came back to visit her in the backyard, he was accompanied by the tactless and annoying Yuan Yu, leaving her with a bellyful of complaints to keep to herself.

However, Consort Gao had her own way of venting her anger, which was to personally beat her daughter-in-law Liu with a stick. Yuanxiang disliked his wife, and since Liu's family had declined, he could only silently endure it.

On the imperial road, the stars were scattered all the way to the end of the sky, but no matter how bright the stars were, they could not compare to the clear eyes of the emperor in the carriage. He no longer needed to pretend to be drunk and listened to Zhao Zhi's brief account of Consort Gao's arrogant behavior.

Zhao Zhi's narration was devoid of emotion, but this young emperor was fiercely protective of his own, and he could already picture the arrogant and despicable appearance of Consort Gao! He was the emperor, and whether his intentions were genuine or feigned, his visit to the inner palace to see Consort Gao was already a great honor for the mother and son. Yet Consort Gao dared to slap a meritorious official and even instigated her servants to beat Zhao Zhi. Ultimately, this showed how much she despised him, the emperor!

"Go to the North Palace Garden and stay at the Qing Shu Palace tonight." He ordered the carriage to turn onto the east-west imperial road and enter the royal garden from the south gate of the North Palace Garden.

To the north of Qingshu Hall is Jingyang Mountain. In the darkness, only the outline of the mountain can be seen, not the beautiful scenery of daytime. After getting off the carriage, the group climbed the steps. Yuan Ke did not go to the main hall, but only ordered Zhao Zhi, Yang Daye, and Yu Zhong to follow him to the Linwei Terrace to the west of the hall.

The Linwei Terrace is the highest viewing spot in the entire Qingshu Palace area. A gentle night breeze blows as the emperor and his ministers gaze towards the main hall of the palace.

After a brief silence, the emperor asked Zhao Zhi, "The Empress Dowager hit you, are you angry?"

Zhao Zhi angrily replied "Yes," and then pleaded, "Your Majesty, I humbly request that you grant me permission to avenge the slap I received!"

Yu Zhong and Yang Daye were both stunned upon hearing this! The latter, in particular, was so anxious that he kept scratching his head, really wanting to cover General Zhao's mouth and tell her that if she wanted to take revenge, she should do it secretly. How could she say it in front of His Majesty?
What happened next was even more unbelievable to them.

The emperor said, "Go, I will give you one hour. Yu Zhong, Da Yan, during this hour, General Zhao will guard me on the perilous platform with you two."

Yu Zhong and the other man hurriedly replied, "Yes." Yu Zhong wished he could punch himself at this moment. He was too late to react. His Majesty was diligent in his duties, working day and night. It was already a waste of time for him to hold a banquet at the Prince of Beihai’s residence. Why would he come to Weitai to enjoy the view for no reason?

In this critical moment, His Majesty wanted to show his most trusted minister that the trip to the Prince of Beihai's residence was not because Zhao Zhi was looked down upon by that mother and son, but because the emperor's authority and power were actually being disregarded!

Zhao Zhi changed into the uniform of an ordinary Imperial Guard after her shift and exited the palace through the west gate, the closest to the Beihai Prince's residence. She then found a dark street corner, turned her uniform inside out, and stealthily made her way along the courtyard wall of the Beihai Prince's residence. No matter how quiet a person's movements, their weight of over a hundred pounds makes it difficult to avoid the keen-hearing hunting dogs. There were over two hundred hunting dogs in the Beihai Prince's residence; Zhao Zhi prioritized speed, and wherever she ran, the dogs barked from near and far.

Swift movement breaks through all laws!
She moved faster than a ghost could float. By the time the guards inside the wall climbed the ladder to look out, she had already climbed down the wall and entered the palace.

Yuan Xiang is truly a dog king!
Hunting dogs were leashed everywhere.

"Wang Wang Wang-"

The guards at the brothel trained the dogs while taking arrows from their quivers and slowly moving towards the direction of the barking.

With a thud, an archer fell to the ground, and only then did the dozen or so guards in the courtyard realize that an assassin had broken into the mansion.

Some people blew bamboo whistles, while others shouted, "Catch the assassin!"

This group never expected that the masked assassin would dare to do the opposite, leaping down from the roof to fight them. Zhao Zhi's martial arts moves never missed; regardless of whether it was pulling, spreading, or urging, they all resulted in broken bones and injuries!
She punched with both fists!
The guard who was struck had his sternum shattered, and blood splattered onto the wall of the house along with his corpse.

She took another leap, her flying right knee smashing into the face of a guard. Her momentum continued unabated as she punched a guard even further away, killing two guards in one move!

Seize the bow!

Seize the arrow!

Like an ape climbing onto a roof and disappearing into the night.

More guards rushed into the courtyard and were horrified to find that the entire place was deserted, with no survivors, including people and dogs.

"Leave a few men to search the yard and see what's missing."

If you are slow to react, you will be passive in every situation.

By the time the guards discovered that all the kerosene cans in the courtyard were broken, wailing had already broken out from the direction of the back residence.

"It's on fire!"

Consort Gao escaped the house faster than someone who wasn't sick.

In the courtyard, Zhao Zhi moved around the rooftops and walls, shooting arrows into the courtyard. Consort Gao screamed incessantly. The closer the maids were to her, the more trusted and carefully cultivated they were. One by one, they fell to the arrows, including Han Tao.

"Ah-ah!"

"what--"

Consort Gao jumped up and down, covering her head, her cries growing louder and louder.

"Gao is useful, though we can't kill her, we must punish her!" Zhao Zhi had only one arrow left in her quiver. Gao was not worthy of it, so she crushed a piece of tile and threw it. The broken tile grazed Gao Taifei's nose.

Yuan Xiang and Prince Yuan Yu of Guangling have arrived!

Zhao Zhi crouched down and drew out the last arrow to prepare.

"Mother?" Yuanxiang was terrified when he saw the bloody hole on his mother's face!
Yuan Yu, feeling scared, yelled "A ghost!" Then he jumped in front of Yuan Xiang and hugged him tightly.

The blow from the tile was so severe that Consort Gao has not felt any pain yet; she only feels a tightness in her chest and something dripping down her mouth.

"Get down here! Mother, Mother..." Yuan Xiang couldn't move Yuan Yu, and cried as he reached out to touch his mother's face.

That's it!

Zhao Zhi stood up, as proud and unruly as a valiant female eagle. She drew her bow and nocked an arrow!