History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

The arrow leaves the bowstring.

The flying shuttle carries a deadly aura!

The jade hairpin that held Yuan Xiang's hair in his bun shattered instantly, and the arrow grazed his jade crown as it flew through the air with a loud thud, piercing the tree!

Time seemed to stand still; all voices and movements in the courtyard vanished.

In that brief moment of stillness, Yuanxiang's hair fell in scattered pieces from the top of his head.

Then Yuan Yu let go and fell to the ground, while Consort Gao fainted due to excessive fright and blood loss.

The guards were all in a panic.

"king!"

"Grand Tutor—"

"Your Highness!"

Amidst the shouts, Yuan Xiang snapped back to reality. The direction from which the arrow that had nearly taken his life had been fired was now empty and deserted.

Chaos at the Prince of Beihai's residence has intensified, making it even harder to track Zhao Zhi down. It was much easier for her to leave than to come, and she even had time to recall her husband's admonitions to her and her daughter: "Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger. As a subject, everything you say, do, think, and consider is for the sake of public duty. Never regard the enemy of the king as your own enemy."

Especially since Zhao Zhi is the sharpest "knife" in the emperor's hand, she must always remember this! Before the emperor takes action against the Prince of Beihai, she can only hurt the Prince of Beihai's face, but not his person.

Because while consolidating his throne, the emperor also cared about his reputation for being kind and benevolent. If the court and the public were to discuss Yuan Ke's harshness and lack of kindness, the emperor would probably not only disregard her contributions in eliminating Yuan Xiang, but would also denigrate her merits as faults and frame her for the serious crime of abusing her power.

She won't be a scapegoat! Neither will her daughter!

North Palace Garden, West Gate.

Yu Zhong arrived with several trusted guards to change shifts; such sudden inspections occurred every month. The guard at the gate came in to report: "A female guard has noticed something unusual happening at the Beihai Prince's residence and requests to report it to the Hualin Duting."

Yu Zhong said, "Bring her here. I will question her personally and take her to the guards. Tell the rest of the guards that this matter is under investigation and must not be publicized."

Yu Zhong thus successfully brought Zhao Zhi back to Linweitai.

The next morning, court officials arrived one after another outside the East Hall of the Taiji Hall to wait. As usual, a few officials whispered among themselves, while most stared at their tablets, thinking about what they would be saying later.

It is clear that the King of Beihai has blocked the news of the assassins causing havoc in his mansion last night.

Beside him, the mischievous Prince Yuan Yu of Guangling first poked at the crown on his head, then leaned over and whispered, "How is the Dowager Consort?"

Yuan Xiang lowered his eyelids, secretly wishing he could chop Yuan Yu into pieces and feed him to the pigs! "How is the Empress Dowager? How is the Empress Dowager?" This guy had asked more than twenty times since he left the manor early in the morning until he entered the palace!

Yuan Yu received no answer, so he touched his nose, then pursed his lips tightly, stretching his nostrils, imagining what Consort Gao's face would look like after the flesh of her nose had been cut off.

The Emperor has arrived.

The guards in front and behind were all imposing and walked with a grand and imposing manner.

More than a dozen scribes and eunuchs in charge of miscellaneous tasks in the East Hall all came out to greet the Emperor.

In this situation, Yuanxiang had never felt as resentful and indignant as he did today!
His resentment had been there since the time of the late emperor. He believed that his literary and military talents were no less than those of his brothers. However, because he was the youngest, Empress Dowager Wenming always ignored his talents. She had finally waited for the late emperor to die, but before her death, she actually gave the position of chief minister to that brute Yuan Xi!

What infuriated him was that his mother had been disfigured the previous night, and the assassin could only be Zhao Zhi. However, with the corrupt emperor and treacherous officials colluding, he had no evidence and could only swallow his hatred. What made Yuan Xiang even angrier was that when Zhao Zhi passed by him, she made a provocative gesture by swiping her nose with one finger, which was tantamount to openly telling him what was going on.

She's the assassin!

During the ensuing political discussion, he was distracted, his mind filled with the painful wails of his mother as she cleaned her wounds.

When the court session ended, Zhao Zhi pretended to see Yuan Xiang off, and spoke even more bluntly: "I am a petty person and cannot tolerate grudges overnight. Please ask Grand Tutor to go back and tell the Empress Dowager not to act arrogantly towards me again."

Yuan Xiang laughed in fury, his eyes darkening. "You're just a second-rank General Who Guards the East, how dare you threaten me?"

Zhao Zhi: "So what? We're all subjects. Who's more noble than whom?"

Yuan Xiang's mind was buzzing. Yes, no matter how high his official rank was, as long as the emperor was suppressing him, he was a subject and could be suppressed, threatened, and intimidated by sycophantic officials of low birth.

To break free from this frustrating fate and prevent the humiliation of last night from happening again, slow and deliberate planning is no longer a good strategy; the only way is to retaliate as soon as possible!

The power struggles among the officials in the outer court were completely unknown to the noble ladies in the inner palace.

However, this does not mean that the harem is peaceful.

The female Minister Wang Sengnan led a group of female officials to deliver documents to the princesses and four noble ladies. The documents contained all the imperial edicts issued during the reign of the previous emperor and implemented up to the present. What was missing were the regulations for which dynasty's system should govern the women of the harem outside the palace, and the number of concubines that court officials should be assigned according to their ranks.

Firstly, although the final edict for a noblewoman was conferred by the emperor, the emperor was too busy with court affairs to attend to such matters. Therefore, the imperial harem had to prepare the edict and draft a formal draft, which would then be copied by officials from the Ministry of Personnel or the Secretariat, and finally stamped with the emperor's seal.

The conferment of titles upon noblewomen was no small matter. Empresses and princesses could summon noblewomen to the palace from time to time to inquire about the thoughts of court officials and remind the emperor to either win over or guard against them.

However, the establishment of the ranks of noblewomen was merely cumbersome, not difficult.

The second task was more difficult... to increase the number of concubines for court officials.

The court's eagerness to restore the ancient customs of wives and concubines was aimed at ensuring the continuation of the imperial line, teaching women not to be jealous, and restoring various ancient customs for the education of women.

This is a thankless and arduous task, and it would be difficult to carry out no matter who is the empress.

First of all, jealousy of one's husband taking a concubine is human nature, how can it be avoided? In other words, if a wife allows her husband to take a mistress or keep an extramarital affair, would men all over the world applaud and accept it?

Secondly, the women of the Xianbei were all not kind-hearted; they possessed strength and resourcefulness, and their husbands rarely dared to take concubines, especially the daughters of powerful and influential princes and noblewomen.

The longer the noblewomen do not follow the ancient system of wives and concubines, the more commoners will follow suit. In the long run, it is likely that monogamy will become the norm in the Wei territory.

Therefore, the princesses and noble ladies were caught in a dilemma. Satisfying the court would inevitably offend the women of the world. Furthermore, the princesses themselves would not allow their husbands to take concubines, so how could they persuade the noble ladies?
Princess Yiyang handed the relevant documents to Yu Baoying and said with a playful smile, "I won't trouble two masters with this matter, so I'll leave it to you."

Yu Baoying couldn't refuse, nor could she accept, so she looked to Wang Puxian for help.

Princess Yiyang's smile held a hint of sarcasm as she said, "Why are you looking at her? Those island barbarians have harems of wives and concubines..."

Princess Nanyang interrupted the other person, saying, "Say less."

As Wang Su was stationed in Shouchun, rumors began to circulate in the court that he was being sidelined by high-ranking officials and that the emperor was doubting his loyalty. It was said that, at some point, the banquets of the powerful no longer served tea that southerners enjoyed or crucian carp dishes that southerners loved. Even the fish and turtle trade in Luoyang was affected.

At this moment, Princess Chang Le, Yuan Ying, asked Wang Sengnan, "I heard that it was the female official in charge of delivering the documents to us today, why did it turn into you?" (End of this chapter)