History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 347 Wei Yao Issues a Powerful Question to the Three Ministers

"So urgent?" Zhen Chen asked as they walked, "Have you been looking for me for a while, or did His Majesty just summon me?"

The young eunuch replied breathlessly, "I've been looking for Minister Zhen for over half an hour. Every guard I've asked along the way says they haven't seen you."

Zhen Chen was secretly annoyed by his bad luck. In order to avoid Wei Yao, he first pretended to go to the Imperial Academy and the Secretariat, but actually took a roundabout route to hide in the Secretariat. He never expected that His Majesty, who had not summoned him for more than half a month, would summon him to an audience today.

Zhen Chen felt uneasy, so he slipped two gold beans to the young eunuch and asked, "Do you know why His Majesty suddenly summoned me for questioning?"

The junior eunuch said, "I was serving outside the palace and I don't know what happened. I only know that Prince Qinghe and Attendant Cui were also summoned at the same time."

In an instant, a hundred thoughts raced through Zhen Chen's mind. He asked, "When you went to the Secretariat to find me, was Vice Minister Wei Yao there?"

The young eunuch said, "The Vice Minister is already in the East Pole Hall..."

Zhen Chen felt a buzzing sound in his ears and only caught a vague part of what was said.

Upon arriving at Dongji Hall, even Yuan Yi, the Prince of Qinghe who resided in the west of the city, was there. Zhen Chen dared not utter a sound and stood to Cui Guang's right.

Wei Yao stood beside Emperor Yuan Ke, holding a memorial in her hand.

Yuan Ke closed the official document and asked in a calm tone, "Yuan Hui is on leave, so I only summoned the three of you for questioning. Since our dynasty established the 'Chancellery' and appointed four 'Attendants,' one position was previously vacant, and I sent Zhen Chen to fill it. Now tell me, what are your respective duties in the Chancellery? How many days of duty do you have each month? Yuan Yi, you go first."

The usually refined and elegant Prince Qinghe's heart, which had been pounding in his chest, was now pounding with anxiety. Fine, he'd let him speak first. "I originally thought..."

Yuan Ke interrupted him: "Just answer my question."

The sound of the official document being tossed lightly onto the desk sounded to the three people below the hall like the throwing of an iron knife.

Prince Qinghe: "I am in the Secretariat, in charge of the distribution of documents. I separate the imperial edicts that should belong to the Secretariat from the Chancellery. If my monthly duties do not meet the requirements, I am willing to accept the punishment. From today onwards, I will definitely perform my duties according to the requirements, dare not slack off, and strictly supervise my subordinates."

Yuan Ke: "I have permitted Cui Guang to write the history book. From now on, he shall be on duty at the Secretariat for at least five days each month."

Cui Guang had prepared a whole speech to resign from his position as Attendant-in-Ordinary, but he was choked back and could only reply, "Yes."

Yuan Ke: "Zhen Chen."

Zhen Chen knew things were going badly, but he forced himself to reply: "In the Secretariat, I am in charge of drafting imperial edicts and examining and classifying edicts that have already been sealed. If there is any discrepancy between a memorial from the Ministry of Personnel and an already issued edict, I am required to draft a memorial to reject it. After arriving at the Secretariat, I will be on duty every day."

Prince Qinghe and Cui Guang, one had never even entered the Secretariat, the other specialized in history. Yuan Ke continued to ask Zhen Chen, "You have been in the Secretariat for nearly two months. What confidential edicts have you handled?"

Zhen Chen was sweating profusely, but dared not wipe it away. He couldn't care less about befriending Yuan Hui now, and replied, "Yuan Hui keeps all the confidential memorials. Every time I want to read them, he always refuses with a hundred different reasons." Yuan Ke asked, "Then why don't you report them?"

“Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. I was foolish. I thought Yuan Hui’s reason for asking me to start by learning how to classify imperial edicts was reasonable, so I thought I would study for a month or two.”

Yuan Ke was very disappointed with Zhen Chen's performance and was too lazy to teach him personally. He ran his finger across Wei Yao.

Wei Yao first bowed to the emperor and acknowledged the order, then asked on behalf of the emperor: "The Secretariat has only been established for a short time, and because the division of responsibilities is unclear, four Attendants-in-Ordinary were appointed, assisted by four Vice Ministers. The primary responsibility of the Attendants-in-Ordinary is to delineate official duties so that subordinate officials can perform their respective tasks. If the Attendants-in-Ordinary delay and wait when they discover problems, won't the subordinate officials become even more confused and ineffective? If the entire Secretariat is managed by Yuan Hui alone, I ask you, in the long run, will all the officials be serving Your Majesty or Yuan Hui?"

Next, she launched a series of attacks: "Prince Qinghe, Yuan Yi! As a prince of the imperial clan, with your talent, virtue, and renowned reputation, you should be even more dedicated to your duties and set an example for all officials. The Secretariat must be staffed entirely by the Emperor, not by Yuan Hui! You have betrayed your noble imperial lineage, spending your days in your residence feasting with friends, drinking and singing, living in comfort without considering the dangers ahead. Have you never thought about who provides you with this peace and enjoyment?!"

Yuan Yi gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly. Had he known that Wei Yao would complain, he would never have agreed to Yuan Zizhi's request last month to help Wei Yao and her husband send a caravan to Shuozhou to find people for disaster relief.

"Cui Guang! Writing history is indeed beneficial to the country, but as a high-ranking official, you should also respond to the court's needs and assist the other officials in completing the division of responsibilities within the Secretariat, so that the Secretariat can be separated from the Chancellery and the Palace Attendants' Office as soon as possible. Only by doing your current duties well and having a clear conscience can you avoid personal bias when writing about the past. Furthermore, compiling history is not something that can be done by one person or in a few short years. Do not repeat the mistake of Li Biao, who used history as a means of personal achievement and lost the original intention and patience of history writing!"

"Zhen Chen! You have served as Attendant-in-Ordinary for the shortest time, yet you have committed the most serious offense! You knew that your subordinates were bribing Yuan Hui, but you did not report it to His Majesty. Instead, you sided with those who bribed him, making this trend even more wicked and evil! You have been in office for over a month, yet you have only been on duty for a few days, not fulfilling your responsibilities even once. This has led all the officials in the Secretariat to follow suit, with everyone filling their duty days and running around the office, seemingly busy, but in reality, no one has anything to do. You are the Attendant-in-Ordinary in charge of imperial seals and edicts, yet you have kept your office wide open, allowing me to stay there for an extended period. Your disregard for your authority is, in fact, contempt for the Secretariat!"

Wei Yao concluded: "The three of you, knowing full well that Yuan Hui alone controlled the confidential imperial edicts, violating the rules of the Secretariat, yet you went from turning a blind eye to making it a habit. Have you ever considered that, over time, what His Majesty sees and hears—the secret edicts from all directions—whether they are true or false? Are they the full text, or just excerpts? As Attendants-in-Ordinary, you should be His Majesty's eyes and ears in monitoring all directions, not sycophants who only know how to flatter and deceive His Majesty!"

Prince Qinghe, Cui Guang, and Zhen Chen all cursed inwardly: You are the treacherous minister! Your whole family... you and your mother are all treacherous ministers!
The emperor finally spoke, asking, "Do you all know your mistakes?"

The three men replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, we know we were wrong." But inwardly they were gritting their teeth, wanting to transform into ferocious monsters and tear Wei Yao's mouth apart.

And so, Prince Yuan Yi of Qinghe bid farewell to his life of pleasure.

Cui Guang wrote a long scroll overnight, detailing the division of duties between the Attendant-in-Ordinary and the Vice-Minister.

Zhen Chen moved all the drafts of the deposed edicts from the official residence to the storeroom to make room for them to wait.

The next day, Yuan Hui arrived at the Secretariat and was dumbfounded. He dared not demand money from the Prince of Qinghe and had no choice but to hand over all the confidential documents. After finishing, he locked himself in his office, beating his chest and stamping his feet, filled with anger and regret!
He really shouldn't have taken a day off yesterday. He only gets one day off a year, and the power he finally managed to get was taken away by Wei Yao's impeachment.

How dare she? How dare she impeach even the Prince of Qinghe?

Yuan Hui took several deep breaths and rubbed his face hard to calm his twitching anger. He went to Prince Qinghe and said, "This young lady, Wei Yao, is young and eager to make a name for herself. With Zhao Zhi protecting her, those of us who serve in the Dongji Hall are used to it. She has impeached you, Your Majesty. Please do not hold it against her, and especially do not let Zhao Zhi know."

Prince Qinghe nodded: "That makes sense, I won't argue with her."

What a coward! Yuan Hui, having been rebuffed, passed by Cui Guang's office and his brow relaxed as he devised a plan to deal with Wei Yao.