History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 385 Gao Xian Goes to Chongxu Temple
At the same time this news of victory was sent, in the Xiao Liang imperial palace...

Emperor Xiao Yan was summoning his trusted minister Cao Jingzong to discuss the matter of the barbarian tribes of Nanyang County abandoning their captivity and surrendering.

The Xiao family rulers and their ministers always referred to the barbarian tribes in Yongzhou and Jingzhou as "Panhu Barbarians".

Cao Jingzong said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, with Wang Mao in Yingzhou to support Lü Sengzhen, even if the Panhu barbarians fail to capture Huyang County, they can still keep Jingzhou and Nanyang in turmoil for half a year and relieve the crisis in Yangzhou."

He noticed the lingering worry on the emperor's face, so he continued, "When Your Majesty and I captured the capital, Your Majesty reprimanded me for allowing my soldiers to rob and kill wealthy households along the imperial road. I killed all the vicious and unrepentant ones, leaving only those brave soldiers who were momentarily confused but absolutely loyal to Your Majesty. When Lü Sengzhen set off, I personally selected one hundred brave soldiers and ordered them to be dispersed throughout Nanyang County, ready to meet Lü Sengzhen at any time on his journey to Yingzhou."

Emperor Xiao Yan was well-versed in divination. He held three ancient coins from his desk between his fingers and said, "Half a month ago, when Lü Sengzhen set off, I cast a divination for him. The divination result was: 'Clear the fog to see the road, crawl along, avoid obstacles and clear the way, and your career will be accomplished.'"

Cao Jingzong was puzzled: "Avoid the road...avoid the orchid?"

He understood the original meaning of Feng Ci's four lines. "Bi Zhi" is a kind of fragrant herb. The combined meaning is that Lü Sengzhen's trip to Nanyang County should be taken one step at a time. As long as he avoids or does not encounter the "Zhi" herb, the plan to incite the barbarians to attack Huyang County will succeed.

Emperor Xiao Yan said, “For the past two weeks, I have been pondering this matter, and it seems that only Zhao Zhi, the treacherous minister of Yuan Ke, can match the hexagram ‘Bi Zhi’. Today, I was again calculating the fortune for Lü Sengzhen. When the divination was being performed, I added Zhao Zhi’s name to the divination text, and the result was an ominous hexagram.”

Cao Jingzong clenched his fists nervously.

The strategy of inciting the barbarians to rebel against Wei can be described as having the right timing, the right place, and the right people! According to the information sent back by the spies, the young Suolu Yuan Ke is suspicious of his uncle Yuan Xie and rarely lets Yuan Xie lead troops into battle. After the deaths of Wang Su and Yu Lie, Yuan Ke transferred the fierce general Li Chong to Luoyang, which must be to embolden him and supervise Yuan Xie and his other uncle Yuan Xiang, who holds a high position.

Therefore, the emperor and his ministers were certain that Yuan Ke would not send Li Chong to lead troops to conquer the barbarians!

Cao Jingzong thought for a moment and shook his head: "But Zhao Zhi is a woman. How strong can a woman be in a fight? Pulling hair and scratching faces?"

Xiao Yan was both angry and amused, throwing the lightest official document at Cao Jingzong. However, he shared the same opinion. "The Book of Changes, in the hexagram 'Family,' says that women should stay at home and uphold the proper way, while men should go out and pursue their goals. This is in accordance with the great principles of Yin and Yang. The barbarian rulers and ministers only know how to read books by rote, but they don't understand the principles within them. Granting titles to women as generals is no different from King Zhou of Shang, who only listened to the words of women."

Immediately afterwards, Xiao Yan changed his tone: "Divination should not be completely disregarded, but it should not be blindly believed either. You should quickly write to Wang Mao and ask him to keep in touch with Sengzhen."

He then ordered: "Send more spies to Luoyang. In addition to continuing to sow discord between Yuan Ke and Yuan Xie, also send Yuan Cheng and Li Chong! With the spies from Yuan Xiang's side withdrawn, this move is basically settled."

late at night.

While the emperor and his minister were discussing the matter, Wang Mao, the governor of Yingzhou, had a nightmare. He dreamt that he returned to a battlefield strewn with corpses, where he, Cao Jingzong, and Lü Sengzhen were protecting the emperor as they charged into the dense ranks of Qi soldiers. Blood was falling like rain, making it impossible for him to open his eyes. The oppressive atmosphere of the dream also prevented him from expressing his heroic spirit.

When he wiped the blood from his eyes once more, the enemy soldiers changed, becoming the captives.

"kill--"

"kill--"

The feeling of killing Suo Lu was far more exhilarating than killing the Qi army!

Suddenly, his comrade Lü Sengzhen collapsed, his body gushing blood in a terrifying, gushing manner.

"No, no..." Wang Mao refused to believe that Lü Sengzhen was dead. He was furious and roared to the sky, but then he saw a black shadow like a strange bird rushing over.

It's so fast!
Wang Mao awoke with a start, breaking free from the dream. In the final moment of the dream, he seemed to have died, just like Lü Sengzhen.

The next morning, while Cao Jingzong was sending a letter from Jiankang to Yingzhou, Wang Mao also wrote a secret letter to Lü Sengzhen, which was delivered to Huyang County by brave soldiers.

These brave soldiers were all Cao Jingzong's men, considered among the fiercest and most ruthless soldiers of the Xiao Liang dynasty. Luoyang, the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty.

As soon as it was light, Duke Gao Xian of Chengcheng couldn't wait to leave his residence. He had arranged to go to Chongxu Temple to make a wish with Zhen Ning, the father of "Attendant-in-Ordinary" Zhen Chen, and Zhen Chen's younger brother Zhen Senglin. If the opportunity was good, they might be able to get Master Lu to perform a divination for them.

The reason why Zhao Yong, the "Commander of the Imperial Carriage," was not invited today is not because Zhao Yong was busy, but because Gao Xian dislikes him and has naturally distanced himself from him.

The reason for his displeasure was that Zhao Yong boasted about the amazing divination skills of the "Immortal Doctor" of the Chongxuan Bureau and took him to a Taoist priest named Zhao Xuan to predict good and bad fortune for him.

Gao Xian couldn't reveal his thoughts to Zhao Xuan on their first meeting, so he asked Zhao Xuan to predict whether his career would be smooth sailing over the next five years.
After Zhao Xuan finished the divination, her face was clearly not good, but she lied and told him that she was in a state of confusion that day, so the divination result was inaccurate.

Gao Xian was furious!
Along with that, he was also annoyed by Zhao Yong, who had no tact and kept nagging behind him.

On the way south out of the city, Zhen Ning cautiously inquired, "Did the Duke of Pingyuan go hunting?"

Gao Xian: "Hunting?"

Zhen Ning explained: "I heard from my son that this winter His Majesty summoned his ministers to hunt in Jingyang Mountain, and rewards were given based on their hunting skills. The Duke of the County and the Duke of Pingyuan are His Majesty's maternal uncles, so they don't need to compete in martial arts to please His Majesty."

"Alas—" he sighed, and then said, "When my son was first transferred to the Imperial Palace, he offended General Zhao Zhi, who was the General of the Eastern Garrison, and was kicked in the leg. He can walk without any problems, but his riding and archery skills have suffered. When such a good opportunity comes again next year, I would like to trouble you, Your Excellency, to put in a good word for my son."

Gao Xian is not the same person he was when he first arrived in Luoyang. He could tell that while the other party was trying to curry favor with him, they were also complaining about Zhao Zhi.

He only hummed in response. Wei Yao had reminded him that when faced with difficult situations and no time to think, the more you say, the more mistakes you make; the less you say, the fewer mistakes you make.

Although Gao Xian was jealous of Wei Yao's favoritism towards her elder brother, his jealousy was mainly directed at his brother, not Wei Yao. This was because he had his steward send money to his brother's steward to inquire about the matter. Every time Wei Yao left the Gao family, she would remind her brother to tell him about the errands she had come to the mansion.

It was my elder brother who deliberately didn't tell me!

It wasn't that Wei Yao looked down on him!
Wei Yao is on duty for His Majesty; in other words, His Majesty values ​​him and his elder brother equally.

Arrive at Chongxu Temple.

Because of Master Lu's fame, many people came to the Taoist temple to make wishes. However, Master Lu had a rule that no matter whether they were powerful or common people, they had to ask for divination at a pre-arranged time.

However, rules are one thing, but in real life, there are fewer and fewer ordinary people who dare to compete with the powerful and wealthy for the position of Celestial Master.

Master Lu, out of compassion for the people, especially those who came from afar, personally made three divination stick containers. The containers and sticks, made of peach wood, were decorated with complex hexagrams. When combined, they could be used to predict the simplest fortunes.

Gao Xian, accompanied by the Zhen family father and son, watched as the people shook buckets and drew lots.

There were three bamboo stick containers, managed by three handsome young Taoist boys. Next to them was an even younger boy who explained to the people how to draw wooden sticks in a clear, childish voice.

"It's very simple. There are three peach wood fortune stick containers, each representing fortune, prosperity, and longevity. After deciding which aspect of your fortune to predict, you choose a year. For example, if you want to predict your fortune within a year, you roll the fortune stick container on the table around the left once, back to the talisman position, stand the peach wood container upright, open the stopper, and draw a peach wood fortune stick as you wish. My senior brother will then interpret the meaning of the fortune stick."

With his hands on his hips, he asked loudly, "Can you understand everything?"

A burly man pushed forward: "I understand, I'll go first."