History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

The strange person in this story is indistinguishable as male or female, old or young. Yuan Cheng wondered if it could be interpreted as representing men, women, young and old in the human world, or as the head of every household.
“The extraordinary man is the emperor.”

Then the idea of ​​"marrying a relative to another relative" becomes clear instantly.

Yuan Cheng wrote "Goryeo Gao Clan" and "Bohai Gao Clan" respectively.

Then write the names of the three people, "Gao Zhao", "Gao Xian", and "Gao Meng", the nephew of Zhao and Xian.

This time, His Majesty has elevated several maternal clans, but simply bestowing the title of duke is not enough, because the Gao family originated from Goryeo in the Eastern Barbarian lands, not from the Bohai Gao clan mentioned in Empress Wenzhao's memorial.

The nobles of Luoyang despise even the Xianbei nobles who have lived in the old capital for a long time, let alone the Gao family of the Eastern Yi. Therefore, Your Majesty still has to rely on marriage alliances to turn the Gao family of Goryeo into a local noble family in Luoyang.

Yuan Cheng then wrote down the key clues from the previous two stories.

In the first story... Gao Zhao, a wealthy merchant from Pingcheng, moved to Luoyang.

In the second story... the pine tree that has endured tribulation, Yuan Xie, and the substitution of one thing for another. Heavenly thunder, the wrath of the emperor.

After finishing writing, Yuan Cheng reread the three tales of the strange and supernatural. This time, he carefully analyzed each sentence and pondered each word, then added new ideas to the previous clues.

The candlelight burns silently, and time flows quietly by.

Yuan Cheng finally felt he had run out of ideas, and the clues on the paper, which were initially simple, became densely packed.

The story of the wealthy merchant moving to Luoyang City reveals many clues!

First, Gao Zhao's entire family was already en route to Luoyang, having set off before the imperial decree of investiture was issued. Second, the story's phrase "using the lives of relatives to prolong one's own" refers to the Emperor's unusual use of his maternal uncles and cousins; here, "life" does not refer to physical life, but rather to the Emperor's destiny of securing his throne.

In other words, His Majesty intends to use Gao Zhao and Gao Xian to deal with the power of the princes. The princes whom His Majesty suspects are naturally Pengcheng Prince Yuan Xie, who holds the high position of Grand Tutor, and Beihai Prince Yuan Xiang, who holds the high position of Grand Preceptor.

"The stronger the sheep's abilities, the easier it is to kill it" means that the only way to break His Majesty's plans is to start with Gao Zhao and Gao Xian, so that they will live in fear after arriving in Luoyang and dare not become too powerful even with His Majesty's support.

The most crucial element at the end of this story is actually the reminder of the "two-year" timeframe. This "two-year" figure wasn't something Wei Yin wrote casually; it was something Wei Yao, who worked in the Secretariat, discovered. By the end of next year, His Majesty intends to use the power of Gao Zhao and others to kill Yuan Xiang, the Prince of Beihai!

Why was it Yuan Xiang who was killed, and not Yuan Xie within two years?

The clue lies in the third story.

The strange man "held an ancient cauldron in his palm," but it wasn't mentioned that the cauldron was missing a leg!

The second story is very clear, implying that Yuan Xie's pine tree was saved by the fox-cat scholar.

Yuan Cheng shifted his gaze to the clues he had added to the second story.

He almost overlooked the key point of this story! The "substituting one thing for another" strategy failed.

As early as when the late emperor passed away and Yuan Xie voluntarily relinquished his military power and left the capital, Yuan Cheng worried that Yuan Xie would be assassinated by His Majesty's men, and even considered finding a substitute for him. Now, thinking about it, would His Majesty not have taken precautions against this? There must have been His Majesty's spies around Yuan Xie all along, just like in the story where "the gods saw through the substitution!"
Therefore, the message conveyed in this story is very clear: His Majesty will surely kill Prince Pengcheng, Yuan Xie!
Yuan Xie was extremely loyal to the late emperor, and this loyalty has continued to the current emperor. Unfortunately, no matter how loyal Yuan Xie was, his outstanding literary and military talents made him unable to escape the gossip that his achievements overshadowed the emperor.

Another point is that the "scholar" in this story, judging from the phrase "spreading the power of divination," indicates that Yuan Cheng can contact Wei Yin or Zhao Zhi, which is implied by the "power," but he cannot communicate with Wei Yao.

In short, the second story tells Yuan Cheng that Yuan Xie is a pillar of the state, and to save the Prince of Pengcheng, he must ally with the Wei Yao family. Although the process of survival is difficult, there is still a chance of success. The last story, besides reminding him to use tactics to prevent the intelligent and capable princess from marrying into the Gao family, also reveals the Wei Yao family's principle of respect... the people are the most important, the state is next, and the ruler is the least important.

After deciphering all the clues, Yuan Cheng pondered. He decided that Yuan Xiang's death was acceptable, but Yuan Xie's safety was paramount. Yuan Cheng then wrote down the names of officials he could trust, as well as his trusted military officers, before shaking his head.

"not enough."

These forces are far from enough to contend with the one in the palace! He needs to find help among the princes, someone capable who won't arouse the emperor's suspicion!
"Yuan Yu." After writing down the name of the master of the neighboring prince's mansion, Yuan Cheng had finished thinking. He threw all the papers on the desk into the brazier and watched them burn to ashes.

A side gate of the Prince of Guangling's mansion.

Yuan Yu was helped across the threshold by Chief Secretary Li Bi. Yuan Yu's buttocks were bumped by a dog's mouth. There was no blood, but it left a bruise.

Once inside the palace, Yuan Yu's cowardice completely returned, and he cursed, "Damn Yuan Jiong! I sincerely wanted to befriend him, but he deliberately set his dogs to bite me!"

Li Bi thought to himself: If not you, who else would I bite? Any powerful or influential person who has lived in Luoyang for a while, who would want to befriend you? If they say a few more words, they'll have to raise their courtyard walls when they get home to prevent you from climbing over them.

Yuan Yu looked at the newly appointed chief secretary with suspicion.

Feeling guilty, Li Bi tried to find an excuse for Prince Yangping, Yuan Jiong, saying, "After inheriting the title, Prince Jiong was only granted the position of Assistant General of the State, a third-rank official, and he was unsuccessful in his youth..."

"So you're taking your frustrations out on me just because you're not successful at a young age?" Yuan Yu was even angrier!

"If you take someone's salary, you have to do your job properly!" Li Bi decided to stop lying. He bowed first and then told the truth: "Your Majesty, the reason why Prince Yangping is unwilling to associate with you is the same as that of other ministers. When princes and nobles associate with each other in private, they are suspected of forming factions. But when Your Majesty associates with other ministers, everyone mocks you behind your back for forming crotches... the crotch of a pair of pants! So tonight, Prince Yangping would rather pretend that the guard dogs have broken free than have Your Majesty stay at Prince Yangping's residence for long."

Yuan Yu clutched his chest in anger, thinking, "What a terrible Chief Secretary!"

"I miss Zhao Zhi... Waaaaah!"

Li Bi was terrified, even more so than when he was chased by the pack of dogs, and tightly covered the mouth of the Prince of Guangling.

South of the city, in the lane of encouraging learning.

The moonlight made the ground in the Wei family's courtyard look as if it were covered with frost.

Zhao Zhiming had to get up early to go to the palace to work, and the couple stayed close together, reluctant to sleep, but their conversation had nothing to do with affection.

Zhao Zhi asked, "Why is Yao Yao so certain that Gao Zhao is a menace? Although the Gao family has always lived in Pingcheng, I've never heard of them before."

Wei Yin explained, "Because the emperor wanted Gao Zhao to become a scourge. If Gao Zhao couldn't do it, then someone from the Gao family would be replaced. There's always someone in the Gao clan who can do it."

Zhao Zhi: "I understand. Just like when you commented on Zhao Xiu, the root of all evil is the emperor. My husband, if one day..."

Wei Yin tightened his grip on his wife's back and said, "It's not 'if there will be such a day,' but 'there will definitely be such a day.'"

The sound of temple bells drifted from afar.

Amidst the cacophony of tolling bells, Wei Yin announced, "Tonight, the chess game begins." (End of Chapter)