History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 396 Resignation of Female Official

After being instigated by Mu, Consort Yu became increasingly angry about the behavior of Yuan Yu's favored concubine, and sent a letter to the inner palace at dawn.

The words are divided into two parts.

Today is the first day that Gao Xian, the Duke of Chengcheng, is on duty at the Secretariat, and it is also the first day that Wei Yao is on duty at the Court of Justice.

Gao Xian was led to the Secretariat by palace servants, where another Chamberlain, Zhen Chen, quickly greeted him and took Gao Xian to the former residence of Chamberlain Cui.

Zhen Chen was glad that Wei Yao was not there, which gave him the opportunity to curry favor with the Duke of Chengcheng. He pointed to the official documents piled up on the long table on the wall and said, "Your Excellency, please familiarize yourself with the memorials and read through all the draft edicts on the table. I will bring your lunch back at noon. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me, and I will answer them one by one."

"Okay." Gao Xian remembered what Wei Yao had taught him: the less you talk, the less mistakes you make.

After the morning court session ended, Yuan Yi, the most powerful official in the Secretariat, and Yuan Hui, the official with the most official positions, returned together. The former had an extremely refined and noble demeanor, while the latter could be told from his appearance that he was not easy to get along with. Their attitude towards Gao Xian's arrival was in stark contrast to Zhen Chen's obsequious attitude. Gao Xian greeted them with a bow first, and the two of them gave a perfunctory "hmm." Then Yuan Hui went into Yuan Yi's office and closed the door to discuss matters.

Just as the ministers were in court, an urgent military report from Nanyang County arrived. This time, Zhao Zhi had executed Wang Mao, the governor of Yingzhou. Wang Mao's death was very likely to anger Emperor Xiao Yan of Liang and change the situation of the border war. Therefore, Yuan Yi and Yuan Hui had no time to take care of Gao Xian.

Seeing how disrespectful these two were to Gao Xian, Zhen Chen realized he had made a foolish mistake and took the hot potato that Wei Yao had thrown away. The surname "Yuan" was the most noble surname in the Great Wei, and arrogance was ingrained in their bones. Even if Gao Xian was truly from the Gao clan of Bohai Commandery, he might not be worthy of the attention of the two Yuan Attendants, let alone someone from the Eastern Yi and Goryeo clans.

Even Yuan Yi and Yuan Hui felt that working with Gao Xian was a disgrace!

Not daring to offend either side, Zhen Chen immediately toned down his obsequious and arrogant attitude. He had agreed to teach the other party about official matters at noon, but after only teaching for a little over half an hour, he made an excuse to leave the Ministry of Personnel.

Before the palace officials finished their shifts in the evening, Wei Yao hurriedly returned with several criminal documents. When she saw Gao Xian, she said, "It's my first day on duty, Duke. I originally wanted to come back early, but I'm new to criminal matters and have no clue what to do, which is why I'm late."

Gao Xian's resentment immediately dissipated, and he exclaimed, "I share the same sorrow as Vice Minister Wei."

He pointed to the messy pile of documents and said, "Minister Zhen made me look at these piles of memorials first, and they made my head spin." He was too embarrassed to say that almost every scroll contained unfamiliar characters, and he had nowhere to look them up and was too embarrassed to ask, so he just gritted his teeth and read them. Also, after looking at the text for a long time, it was easy to misread the columns, so in the end he could only use a wooden ruler to compare with the text to prevent misreading the columns and sentences.

Wei Yao pretended to open several volumes of documents that the other party pointed to, and said first: "Zhen Shizhong is indeed kind-hearted. These memorials and edicts came from the clerks of the Secretariat. Each clerk is familiar with receiving and issuing documents. After reading many, they can summarize the format of the memorials and the importance of the remonstrances."

“However,” she changed her tone, “His Majesty sent the Duke to the Secretariat not to teach him how to write imperial edicts, but to get him involved in confidential matters as soon as possible. I think the Duke should first familiarize himself with what each department of the Secretariat is in charge of, and at the same time continue to learn official etiquette. In a month, if he does not make any mistakes in the etiquette and rules, knows what the affairs of the province are, and never oversteps the rules to interfere in the affairs of other provinces, then the Duke will be able to establish himself in the Secretariat.”

“That makes sense.” Gao Xian nodded repeatedly.

The eunuch Liu Teng arrived and called out from outside, "Is the female Minister Wei Yao here?"

Wei Yao came out of the office and asked, "What is it?"

Liu Teng said, "The Empress is having trouble making a decision and would like to invite Minister Wei to come and discuss it."

Wei Yao frowned and refused: "I was just about to submit a memorial requesting to resign from my position as an official in the inner palace. Please ask Eunuch Liu to convey to the Empress that since His Majesty has appointed Attendant-in-Ordinary Gao to serve him, he can discuss matters within the inner palace or report to the outside world with her. My position as an official in the inner palace is below that of Attendant-in-Ordinary Gao, and I dare not overstep the bounds of propriety."

Liu Teng looked troubled: "Minister Wei, please come with me. It won't take more than an hour to go back and forth." Gao Yue'en, the Attendant-in-Ordinary, was Gao Xian's sister. Gao Xian heard everything clearly in the room. Wei Yao was really on the side of his Gao family. She even dared to disobey the Empress's orders. As a member of the Gao family, he couldn't just hide in the room and remain silent.

“I can testify that Vice Minister Wei is busy.”

Based on the official robes and the information he had gathered, Liu Teng guessed that the unfamiliar official opposite him was Gao Xian. His smile became more sincere, and he bowed and replied, "I understand." He then bowed to Wei Yao before leaving.

Gao Xian quickly asked Wei Yao, "Do you really want to resign as the Minister of the Interior?" If you resign as the Minister of the Interior, Diao Chan will be gone along with the female official's cap and hat!

Wei Yao said, "I am not capable enough and do not want to continue to hold a nominal position and receive a high salary, thus increasing the burden on the court."

Yang Fan, a eunuch from Dongji Hall, brushed past Liu Teng; Yang Fan was also there to see Wei Yao.

“Minister Wei, come with me quickly. His Majesty is furious because the Prince of Jingzhao is favoring his concubine and mistreating his wife. None of us dare to advise His Majesty.”

Wei Yao locked up the criminal documents, hesitated for a moment, then took out the "Female Minister" resignation letter she had written earlier and followed Yang Fan to the Dongji Hall.

Prince Yuan Yu of Jingzhao was nowhere to be seen, either inside or outside the palace. It seemed he had been reprimanded and left. Two young eunuchs were kneeling in front of the emperor's desk, wiping the floor tiles and cleaning up the broken porcelain shards.

The emperor stared at Wei Yao, his gaze seemingly piercing through her and looking into nothingness. The silence was terrifying; the two eunuchs kneeling to sweep dared not breathe, and their subordinates dared not make a sound.

"Wang Xian, you should have arrived in Xiangzhou by now, right?"

The matter the emperor inquired about had nothing to do with the reason why Yang Fan had summoned Wei Yao. Fortunately, she was prepared and replied, "This humble official has already arranged with Governor Wang that he will report his safety to Your Majesty as soon as he arrives in Xiangzhou, and will also send Your Majesty some special products from Xiangzhou."

Wang Xian had been providing medical care and daily assistance to the emperor since the emperor was a child. This kind of relationship between the emperor and his subject was like that of family members, which was unmatched by other ministers.

The Emperor nodded and ordered: "I entrust the matter of Yu Baofei's accusation that Yuan Yu favored his concubines and did not treat his principal wife with proper etiquette to you to reprimand Yuan Yu."

Wei Yao first replied "Yes", then said, "I have heard that the couple is not getting along. The reason is that Yuan Yu's concubine looks like a concubine that Yuan Yu took in during the mourning period. Even if the current concubine is killed, it is hard to guarantee that a second or third one will not appear."

Once the root of the problem is identified, a solution must be found. Before the emperor could become agitated, she continued, "A mental illness requires a mental cure. The concubine that Yuan Yu initially took in was killed by Yuan Yu. I request that when Yuan Yu is reprimanded, I go with Yuan Yu to ensure that Yuan Yu will no longer favor his concubine and mistreat his wife."

The emperor felt he couldn't live without Yu Yao anymore. She was like a spring breeze, always able to slip into his heart and solve his problems before he even had to explain his troubles.

"can."

"I have a request," Wei Yao said, handing over the memorial. "As I concurrently serve as the Vice Minister of the Court of Justice, it is truly difficult for me to attend to the duties of an official in the inner court. Although I am extremely reluctant to give up my position as the Imperial Attendant, I have decided to resign from my post as the Imperial Attendant. I beg Your Majesty's permission."

The emperor took the memorial, chuckled, and said, "Go and do the work. If you do it well, you'll surely be rewarded with Diao Chan."

Wei Yao was delighted and loudly replied "Yes," then took the order and left.