History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 352 Wei Yao Meets the Princess of Beihai

August marks the beginning of strong winds, urging wild geese southward. They sometimes form a straight line, sometimes a V-shape, leaving imaginative trails in the cloudless sky.

A flock of wild geese flew from the palace toward the Hongchi Marshland in the east of the city, their "cawing" echoing across the heavens and earth. The two princes, Yuan Yu and Yuan Huai, who were standing as punishment in the open space outside the Dongji Hall, looked up. Unlike ordinary people, they did not feel any joy for the geese. Instead, they thought that if they were given bows and arrows now, they could shoot down a sky full of goose feathers and droppings, which would infuriate the emperor who was discussing matters in the hall and the meddlesome officials who were impeaching them.

Attendant Yuan Hui came out and walked very quickly.

Yuan Yu quickly called out "Hey!" to Yuan Hui, trying to find out what was happening inside the hall. However, Yuan Hui seemed not to hear her and walked past with the wind blowing through his robes.

Yuan Hui was obviously faking it. He had previously hinted to the Prince of Jingzhao to strive for the position of Attendant-in-Ordinary, hoping to use him to deal with Wei Yao, but it all came to nothing. The Prince of Jingzhao was not only stupid, but also lacked any ambition!
What a waste of time.

Yuan Yu tugged at his fifth brother's sleeve and mocked Yuan Hui: "When he was begging me, he would come over with his nose in the air even if I didn't give him a bone. Now that he sees you and me in trouble, he pretends to be deaf and blind."

Prince Yuan Huai of Guangping raised his arm and pulled his sleeve, saying with disdain, "What trouble are you in! How come I never noticed how cowardly you were before, Third Brother? So what if you're impeached by the censor? What's there to be afraid of? We have plenty of money. Let them take as much as they want to pay off their sins. As long as you follow me, Third Brother, I guarantee all your money will be safe and sound by the end of the year..."

When Zhao Zhi went out of the palace to inspect the area, Yuan Huai immediately stood up straight and shut his mouth.

Not long after, the court meeting ended, and Prince Yuan Yu of Guangling came to his two nephews who were being punished by standing, and asked with a smile, "Are you trying to use money to make amends again this time?"

Yuan Huai responded with a "humph".

Yuan Yu opened his mouth but made no sound, then cursed, "Old thief."

Yuan Yu grinned, his smile growing even brighter: "As you wish, His Majesty will punish you each with ten thousand strings of cash to atone for your crimes, and will return all the houses and fields you seized to the people, and also..."

He then addressed only Prince Yuan Huai of Guangping: "The mistakes made by the officials in your household will also be converted into money, which you must repay in half a month. If they owe even a single copper coin, I will personally lead troops to your household to arrest them!"

After walking a few feet away, Yuan Yu turned back and called out, "Silly nephew, I forgot to tell you two, His Majesty has granted you permission to leave the palace."

The next morning, at Yaoguang Temple.

During her time off, Wei Yao met with Princess Liu Nian of Beihai at Zheng Dao'an's nunnery.

Liu Nian handed Wei Yao two wooden boxes. Inside were Buddhist scriptures. Lifting the cloth revealed a hidden compartment at the bottom of the boxes.

Wei Yao first took out three scrolls of paper from the hidden compartment of the large box, unfolded them, one scroll was filled with descriptions of the residences, mines, fields, and the origins of the families to which they belonged, the second scroll recorded the monthly living expenses of each residence in the Beihai Prince's Mansion, and the last scroll contained the extra gold and silver treasures in the storeroom in a month.

The most important volume is the first volume, because none of the industries described are located within the territory of Beihai County.

Liu explained, "Right now, all I can confirm is that these homeowners, mine owners, and landowners are Yuan Xiang's henchmen."

Wei Yao: "No rush, don't let Yuan Xiang find out."

Lady Liu: "I will be careful. Even if he or Consort Gao find out, don't worry, I will never implicate you."

Wei Yao pulled the other person's hand and said, "I am an official, serving the court. Why should I fear the revenge of the Prince of Beihai? I told you to be careful because I don't want Sister Nian to be buried with them and their child. They are not worthy."

Liu's eyes reddened, and she said in a low voice, "It's been so long since anyone called me by my name."

Wei Yao said, “We women have surnames and given names in our own homes. Why should we lose our names after marriage and be referred to only by our clan name? Sister Liu Nian, from now on you don’t need to address me by my official title. Just call me Wei Yao. You are older than me, so I will call you elder sister.” She then looked at the writing hidden in another wooden box. It wasn’t Liu Nian’s handwriting. The content was a bribe from the military commander of Yuyi Town in the Northern Border to Yuan Xiang. Yuan Xiang promised to allocate a certain amount of official grain to the other party on a certain day and time.

This record is very detailed, including how many oxcarts Lian Yuanxiang instructed the other party to bring, when to stop on which street, and which city gate to leave Luoyang through.

It is evident how many of the patrolmen in the city had long been Yuan Xiang's henchmen.

Wei Yao praised, "Good, good. If this evidence is proven, it will be the key to convicting Yuan Xiang." In the past two years, the imperial court has been on continuous southern expeditions, and has strictly limited the allocation of official grain and prohibited military strongholds from bribing court officials under any pretext.

Liu Nian: "The girl who collected this evidence is called Shi'er. She is nominally my personal maid, but in reality, I treat her like a younger sister. If we weren't facing a desperate situation, I wouldn't have sent her to serve Yuan Xiang. Wei...Wei Yao, if things go well, I have no other requests but that Yuan Xiang's sins not implicate Shi'er and that she be returned to me safely."

“I agree,” Wei Yao readily agreed.

They only had a moment to talk before Zheng Daoan and Xie Jifo arrived. The latter explained Buddhist scriptures to Liu Nian, while Zheng Daoan saw Wei Yao off from Yaoguang Temple.

On the way, they encountered Feng Linghua, a young woman from the Feng family who was also leaving.

Feng Linghua bowed first, and then said, "The Lady Wei is now a model for women in Luoyang. The fact that women are allowed to serve as officials and clerks in the capital must be thanks to the Lady Wei."

Wei Yao humbly returned the greeting: "Wei Yao dares not accept such praise. We scholars should thank the Emperor for his kindness and wisdom." With that, she bowed towards the Taiji Hall of the Imperial Palace.

Wei Yao did not dislike the other party just because she was a member of the Feng family and had previously tried to win the position of "Female Attendant". She asked, "The examination of classics will be held at the Imperial Academy in three days. May I participate, young lady?"

Feng Linghua smiled first and then replied, "I'll be there. To be honest, I was quite nervous at first, but after seeing you and remembering your excellent performance, I'm not nervous anymore. I'm even looking forward to three days from now."

Wei Yao nodded encouragingly, "Don't be afraid of being a little nervous. I was the same when the Imperial Scholar tested me. In that case, I wish Miss Feng a successful examination and look forward to meeting you in the court."

After Wei Yao left first, Feng Linghua's maid said resentfully, "She's so good with words, every sentence is like honey. Young lady, don't fall for her tricks! Humph, last time when she chased you out of the nunnery, she was all..."

The maid was so frightened by Feng Linghua's ambiguous smile that she shut her mouth.

Feng Linghua: "After you return to the manor, make a mistake yourself so that I can inform my stepmother that you are no longer needed to serve me."

"This servant wishes to serve the lady."

“Then I will tell your stepmother where you went wrong.” Feng Linghua finished speaking coldly, bowed towards the Buddhist hall behind him, and said softly, “If there is any bloodshed, please forgive the believer’s sins.”

The maid was so frightened that she quickly said, "This maid is willing to leave the young lady. This maid will return to the manor now, find the culprit herself, and apologize to the lady herself."

Feng Linghua acted as if no one was there, and with the help of the other maids, she got onto the oxcart and instructed the driver, "Go to the Imperial Academy in the south of the city."

Her third elder brother, Feng Yu, was pardoned by the court and appointed as the Prefect of Henan. Within a month of this appointment, he recovered a stone tablet inscribed with the Zuo Zhuan (Commentary of Zuo) and another with the Shangshu (Book of Documents). Both tablets were transported to the site of the Imperial Academy. Because many Confucian scholars had never heard of the content on the Shangshu tablet, learned scholars are now trying to determine its authenticity every day.

The site of the Imperial Academy ruins.

Prince Rencheng, Yuan Cheng, arrived on horseback, accompanied only by one guard.