History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

The next day.

At the camp where the elite troops were stationed, Military Commander Diao Zheng was discussing with several officers a good strategy for suppressing the barbarians, deciding which shortcut to take to avoid the known mountain barbarian tribes and reach Huyang County as quickly as possible.

In the middle of them was a small sand table, on which were the distribution of hills made of mud and the direction of a lake paved with broken leaves. The position of a stick represented their current camp, and the position of a small stone represented the town of Huyang, which was heavily besieged by barbarian soldiers.

The lean man to Diao Zheng's right is Zhang Yi, the deputy military officer of the Tongbai Mountain garrison. He is familiar with the terrain of Nanyang County, which is why he was able to find the camp of the army that was sent to conquer the barbarians through great danger.

The very robust military officer to Diao Zheng's left is named Li Shen, a cousin of Li Chong, the Minister of War. Li Shen joined the army during the reign of the late emperor and participated in numerous campaigns in the south, and was quite familiar with the terrain of Nanyang Commandery.

The sand table depicting the valley formed by collecting mud and sand, used to overlook the terrain of Nanyang County, was created by Zhang Yi and Li Shen together.

Zhang Yi explained the current predicament of Huyang County to his generals: "We currently lack sufficient troops and supplies to defend the entire city. Fortunately, General Li Hui, the guerrilla commander, is familiar with the barbarian bandits' tactics, which has allowed us to hold out until now. However, the barbarians have recently changed their tactics; they no longer attack the city gates in a swarm, but instead first occupy the advantageous terrain around the city..."

He pointed to several locations on the sand table, his expression becoming even more grave, and said, "Then the barbarian bandits drove innocent barbarian civilians toward the city gate, forcing our city soldiers to expend arrows and rolling stones to kill the barbarians. There's another piece of news that my garrison only recently discovered: Liu Beixi, who leads the second largest barbarian tribe, may have left this place and retreated north of Nanyang County. I estimate that Liu Beixi's move is to gather the newly arrived small tribes and wait for the bandits' losses to be recovered before attacking Huyang again."

He asked solemnly, "Commander Diao, when will General Zhao return to camp? If I'm not mistaken, the garrison where Liu Beixi retired and is now stationed is very likely nearby!"

Diao Zheng replied vaguely, "General Zhao will be back soon."

Then he changed the subject, saying, "You said the barbarians changed their tactics... This cannot be ignored. Perhaps this was Xiao Yan's idea! And he has already sent trusted advisors or military officials to infiltrate Nanyang to make contact with Lu Beiyan and Liu Beixi."

Zhang Yi: "That makes sense."

So many barbarian tribes have developed the idea of ​​rebelling against Wei and joining Liang, which was initially instigated by spies from Xiao Liang. Now, the rebellious barbarians have gathered in Nanyang County, already on the border between Wei and Liang, but instead of rushing to join Liang, they are trying to seize Huyang County. This idea, which can make decisions about the actions of hundreds of thousands of barbarians, must have been approved by Emperor Xiao Yan of Liang.

During military campaigns, decisions regarding offense and defense must be made according to local conditions. It's impossible to wait for Emperor Liang to issue orders in every situation, so...

Thinking about this, Diao Zheng became quite excited: "If we can find the hiding place of Lu Beiyan and Liu Beixi, we can capture Xiao Yan's favorite minister!"

Just then, cheers erupted outside the military tent: "General Zhao has returned to camp!"

Diao Zheng, who had been on tenterhooks, finally relaxed and immediately led his men out of the tent. They, like the soldiers, could not believe what they were seeing. They saw General Zhao Zhi of Zhen Dong treating more than a hundred ferocious wolves like cattle and horses, with the heads of barbarian bandits carried on their backs like cargo. Among them was a conspicuous cart covered with a felt tent.

Zhao Zhi was covered in blood. Seeing the worried soldiers, she explained again, "I'm not injured."

She first told them what was on the cart: "Our scouts have been killed in action."

Diao Zheng understood and said, "I will first have the craftsmen make a thin coffin, and then we will deal with it properly after we return to Luoyang."

Zhao Zhi nodded.

A wolf chieftain followed closely behind her at all times; he was the fiercest and most intelligent of the eight chieftains. The two heads he carried on his back belonged to Liu Beixi and the tribe's strategist.

When Diao Zheng, Zhang Yi, and the others heard the name "Liu Beixi," they were instantly stunned!
However, none of them, including Zhang Yi, had ever seen Liu Beixi.

Diao Zheng had an idea and quickly said, "These two heads have complete facial features. I will draw two copies. One copy will be sent to the capital for identification, and the other will be kept until we enter Huyang City to see if General Li can confirm it."

Having finished discussing the important matters, Zhao Zhi first instructed the soldiers to release the wolf pack after recording their battle achievements, leaving only the eight wolf leaders behind. Then, the group entered the felt tent. Zhao Zhi sat down, letting exhaustion creep into her limbs. She remembered something, took out the military manual she had found in the barbarian camp, and briefly explained how she had obtained it.

Diao Zheng took the document and quickly glanced through it, then sneered, "Xiao Liang's spies are truly cunning; they even fabricate things like this. The content is taken from the ancient book 'The Art of War for Wandering Soldiers,' but it's pieced together, rigid, and inflexible..."

Diao Zheng's eyes widened suddenly, and he hissed as he pointed excitedly at the name of the person who wrote the military treatise: "Lü Sengzhen! Xiao Yan's trusted strategist! Judging from the paper and ink, it was written not long ago. Perhaps the Xiao Liang rebel general who instigated the bandit leader in Huyang County was Lü Sengzhen!"

Li Shen became even more excited, punching his right fist with his left palm and saying, "If we could kill Lü Sengzhen, it would be like delivering a heavy blow to Xiao Yan!"

Diao Zheng noticed that Zhao Zhi was extremely tired and reported, "General, please rest well first. I will come back to inquire about the matter of breaking camp and advancing to suppress the enemy after I have recovered my energy."

Zhao Zhi: "Okay, wake me up in two hours."

The eight-headed wolf leader was exhausted. Like a tamed hunting dog, he lay down on the open ground outside the tent and snored with his eyes closed, drawing admiring glances from passing soldiers. Li Shentong, intrigued, quietly sat down in the middle of the wolf leaders after Diao Zheng finished drawing Liu Beixi's face, striking a relaxed pose, and asked Diao Zheng to draw a picture of him subduing the wolves.

The border regions are battlefields everywhere.

The imperial court is also constantly facing crises.

Imperial Physician Wang Xian has thoroughly investigated the background of Princess Jinan's association with Duke Gao Meng of Bohai.

In the Qinghui Hall on the east side of the central axis of the palace, the Prince of Guangling and the Princess of Jinan were summoned into the palace for a confrontation.

Princess Jinan dared not look directly at the emperor's face. She timidly recounted that she had been drunk that day and had believed the nonsense of the Prince of Guangling. After being tricked by Gao Meng, she lost her temper, stormed into Gao's residence, and scratched Gao Meng's face.

The emperor looked toward Yuan Yu, the Prince of Guangling.

Everyone thought Yuan Yu would do what the princess did, shifting the blame to the other party and clearing himself of any wrongdoing. But he admitted it as soon as he opened his mouth: "I just want Feng Junxing dead! Who told Princess Zhen to have an affair with Feng Junxing?"

Princess Jinan had a fiery temper, and before she could hold back, she lunged at Yuan Yu.

Although Yuan Yu wasn't very strong, he easily dodged his niece. He grabbed the princess's hand and twisted it, which made the princess even angrier. She stomped her feet and cursed, "Damn Yuan Yu! Let me go! You dare..."

The guards on either side hurriedly pulled the two apart.

Yuan Ke suppressed his anger, and inside his sleeve, he pinched his fingers until they bled!

But no matter how angry he was, he could only give these two bastards a minor punishment, not a severe one. Especially his fourth uncle, Yuan Yu, who was capable but lazy. If he wasn't punished, he would think about resigning all the time. Now, no one was more suitable than Yuan Yu to be the commander of the Imperial Guard.

As for Princess Yuanzhen, since she had no choice but to marry Gao Meng, punishing her severely now would only make the entire Gao family even more despised by the aristocratic families of Luoyang.

Since the onset of winter, official documents regarding winter disasters from various regions have been pouring in. Yuan Ke had no time to think about such matters, so he ordered the eunuch: "Summon Wei Yao here."

He then reprimanded Yuan Yu and the princess: "Go stand in the corridor of the East Pavilion and reflect on your mistakes!"

A draft swept through the corridors of the east pavilion of Qinghui Hall, and Yuan Ke thought to himself with resentment: "I hope those two idiots freeze to death!" (End of Chapter)