History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 357 Step into My Trap
At the same time, the sound of bells from Yaoguang Temple on the west side of the palace and the inner temples within the palace also traveled across the distance, their echoes reverberating far and wide. Wei Yao was on duty at the Secretariat that night. As the bells rang, she paused her reading of confidential documents, silently reciting to herself: Tonight, the game of chess begins. Yuan Ke, once you step into my trap, you will no longer be able to control the board alone.

Emperor Yuan Ke was depressed for days because of Wang Su's death in Shouchun. At this time, the secret report that Yu Lie, the commander of the Imperial Guards, was seriously ill made Yuan Ke feel resentful that fate was not on his side. However, the more unfavorable the situation, the more he needed to remain calm. Therefore, he finished reviewing official documents early that night and went to the inner palace to visit Consort Yu Baoying.

What you think about during the day, you dream about at night. Yuan Ke had gathered a great deal of evidence against his seventh uncle, Yuan Xiang, and it was only a matter of time before Yuan Xiang was brought down. Therefore, he was not afraid that Yuan Xiang could cause even greater trouble. But his sixth uncle, Yuan Xie, was different! Since he ascended the throne, he had been wary of his sixth uncle's prestige in the court and the military. What was hateful was that Yuan Xie did not form factions or covet wealth. He was always victorious in battle and diligent in handling official affairs upon returning to court. To this day, no one could find any fault with him.

In his dream, Yuan Ke watched helplessly as the military tally in his hand flew away from him and towards his sixth uncle opposite him. The shadow of the tally spread and expanded, transforming into a vast army. As soon as Yuan Xie spoke, the clamor of the army instantly ceased.

"I am willing to relinquish my military power and leave the capital."

In his dream, Yuan Ke cursed whatever came to mind: "Sixth Uncle, I loathe your hypocrisy! I loathe your humble attitude! You know perfectly well that as long as you live, the military tally is meaningless! You know perfectly well that as long as you live, your prestige allows you to command the troops of the world! Yet you pretend to be confused, not to show your loyalty by dying, but to request to leave the capital every day, making everyone in the court and the public think that I am ungrateful and cold-hearted!"

Yuan Xie said with difficulty, "I bear a heavy responsibility for the country, and I cannot die."

The thousands of soldiers around him shouted in unison, echoing the words he had spoken: "Prince Pengcheng bears the heavy responsibility of the Great Wei. As long as Prince Xie is here, the state will stand."

Yuan Ke was furious: "As long as I am here, the country will exist! As long as I am here, if I say you are loyal ministers, then you are loyal; if I say you are traitors, then you are all traitors and rebels!"

But no one responded to his words. In comparison, he seemed like a subject, while Yuan Xie seemed like a celestial emperor!
Yuan Ke awoke in terror, no longer sleepy, and whispered, "Have Yu Zhong prepare the carriage and return to Dongji Hall."

The eunuch said, "Something happened at Yu Zhong's home, and he urgently requested leave. He is not in the palace."

Yuan Ke's emotions, which had just calmed down, became turbulent again, and he immediately asked, "What happened to the Yu family?"

"When General Yu Lie's wife returned to the city in the evening, her carriage was startled. A servant of the Yu family sent a message to Yu Zhong, who then asked for leave to go home to visit his mother."

Every night, either Zhao Zhi or Yu Zhong was on duty as the palace guards. Although Yuan Ke had never explicitly stated it, he had always assumed that both Zhao Zhi and Yu Zhong understood this. Unexpectedly, Yu Zhong requested leave due to family matters while Zhao Zhi was on her day off!
Looking back at the sleeping Yu Baoying, Yuan Ke felt even more strongly that the Yu family was not worthy of being relied upon.

"Go to the Imperial Secretariat and have Yang Daye come over."

After the Emperor departed, the lady-in-waiting Yu E dared to enter the bedchamber and wake Yu Baoying. "Your Highness, His Majesty left so suddenly in the middle of the night. Could it be that you said or did something wrong to offend him?"

Yu Baoying was stunned for a moment before she came back to her senses. She carefully recalled what had happened before she went to sleep and said, "No."

Yu E patted her chest and said, "That's good. It seems His Majesty left because he remembered he had some official business to attend to."

She then suggested, "Since Your Highness has been following Consort Wang's diet, your sleep has indeed become more restful, but perhaps a little too restful. I think it would be better to switch back to the previous cooking methods, since you are different from the other three consorts."

Yu Baoying felt the maid was being overly suspicious. Wang Puxian had adjusted the ingredients for dinner because he was so heartbroken over the death of his father, Wang Su, that he couldn't sleep all night and added some calming herbs that wouldn't harm his health. But Yu E's words clearly implied that Wang Puxian had set a trap or used tricks in the cooking.

"A benefactor? A benefactor."

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Yu Baoying was too lazy to argue about this kind of thing in the middle of the night.

As for the emperor, when he was almost at the Dongji Hall, he remembered that he had already reviewed all the official documents in the hall, so he ordered a change of route to the Menxia Province.

The attendants on duty tonight are Yuan Hui and Zhen Chen. They usually don't rest until after midnight, which is considered very diligent. But tonight they are unlucky to have Wei Yao, nicknamed "Night Owl," to keep them company.

Yang Da, who was leading the group, saw that only one office in the Secretariat was open and lit by candlelight, so he went towards Wei Yao's office. "It's Vice Minister Wei! That's great, His Majesty has arrived." Wei Yao quickly came to the carriage to pay his respects.

Yuan Ke was in a bad mood and ordered with a stern face: "Find the military reports from Yangzhou from the past three months."

"Yes." Wei Yao accepted the order and immediately headed towards a storehouse.

On her first day in the Secretariat, she impeached all the Attendants-in-Ordinary, and from that day on, no one dared to make things difficult for her regarding secret edicts. She also created her own lists to ensure that every type and state of secret report was kept in every room and cabinet, and that she could always find it at any time.

When Yuan Hui and Zhen Chen arrived to pay their respects, the emperor was already reviewing official documents.

This terrible night infuriated Yuan Hui. He barely slept, accomplished nothing, and was even considered lazy by His Majesty.

Zhen Chen flattered Wei Yao with insinuating words, trying to find out if she had any tips for staying up late.

Wei Yao told him, "A brilliant idea? Yes, it's just two words."

"what?"

"Just tough it out."

early morning.

The Imperial Guards were commanded by Yu Liefu.

Yu Zhong returned to the mansion late yesterday and didn't have time to ask about the details of the frightened horse, so he got up early to go to the stable to question the coachman who had driven his stepmother's carriage yesterday. While listening to his story, he checked the horses and the carriage.

Coachman: "At that time, the gates of Jinyang were crowded. The caravans inside the city were in a hurry to leave, and the caravans outside the city were in a hurry to enter. A horse got spooked. The other party only blew a whistle to calm the horse. Who knew that the horse carrying the old lady would suddenly kick up its hooves, tilting the carriage and frightening the old lady."

Yu Zhong asked, "Where is the person who whistled?"

The coachman said, "I don't know who blew it from across the crowd. Besides, I was only focused on whether the old lady was injured. By the time I remembered to look for the person who caused the trouble, they were no longer there."

The carriage and horses revealed nothing. Yu Zhong hurried back to the palace, recalling on the way that his stepmother had said they had gone to Chongxu Temple yesterday. The new Celestial Master of Chongxu Temple was surnamed Lu, and was a disciple of Kou Qianzhi, the National Preceptor during the reign of Emperor Taiwu. Because of his skill in divination, countless powerful and wealthy people sought to have Celestial Master Lu tell their fortunes every day.

Master Lu set a rule that he would cultivate in the morning and only perform divination in the afternoon, so it was already late when the old lady finished her divination yesterday afternoon.

Yu Zhong pondered the journey, sometimes finding his stepmother's injury suspicious, and other times thinking he was overthinking it. As they approached the palace, he sighed and prayed that his father would recover quickly from his illness, otherwise he would have no one to turn to if he encountered any difficulties.

This morning at court, after discussing state affairs, the Emperor issued an order... Yang Daye, with the rank of General of the Palace Guard, will also lead the Imperial Guard. Zhao Zhi, with the rank of General Who Guards the East, will lead all the guards of the Empress and Chief Guard Offices.

Of the five guards—the Zhige, Zhizhai, Zhihou, Zhizhang, and Zhiqin—Zhao Zhi and Yang Daye each led two, while Yu Zhong led only one.

When Yu Lie's second wife learned of this change, she was filled with regret! If she had known this would happen, even if she was really injured, she would never have taken the opportunity to establish her authority over Yu Zhong, the son of the first wife, and force him to ask for leave to return home to visit.