History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 397 Wei Yao Invites Yuan Yu

As soon as she left, the emperor ordered all his attendants to leave. He took out a wooden tablet from a lacquered box. There were two lines of words on it. One line, “In the eyes of all living beings, there is no self,” was written by him when he was a child. At that time, he was locked in the wood-burning room by the deposed crown prince for a night. He listened to the rats and insects crawling in the dark. The places they crawled and the places they didn’t crawled all turned into fear in his imagination.

Another inscription reads, “From now on I will be the eyes of all living beings,” seven characters in reverse order, cleverly curing his childhood heartache. However, after ascending the throne, natural disasters and wars continued, and the more he wanted to look down upon all living beings, the more powerless he felt.

Yuan Ke then calmed his agitated mind. Since his eyes could not see through the civil and military officials, he would let his arrows pierce into the territory of Xiao Liang!
On the road from Dongji Hall to Duanmen, Yang Fan, the eunuch who was delivering the imperial edict to the Prince of Guangling, was once again traveling with Wei Yao. Yang Fan said in a flattering tone, "No problem can stump Vice Minister Wei. Others may not know the temper of the Prince of Jingzhao, but do you think we don't? This prince is more stubborn than a donkey pulling a millstone. You can't coax him to move, and you can scold him for kicking people."

Wei Yao smiled gently and instructed without arrogance or humility, "After Eunuch Yang conveys the Emperor's decree, please inform the Prince of Guangling that he is waiting for me at the Situ's residence."

Yang Fan nodded: "Understood. This matter should not be delayed, lest it become known to everyone."

Wei Yao returned to the Secretariat, finished the urgent matters, and left the palace as the last rays of the evening glow faded.

At the same time, Consort Yu also left the inner palace and boarded a carriage outside Qianqiu Gate. There was a stove in the carriage, which made the walls and carpet very warm. As the carriage started, Consort Yu's body swayed slightly. Her maid knelt in front of her, steady in body and hand, and gently rolled a jade stone dipped in ointment around her eyes and cheeks to eliminate her haggardness after a day and a night.

The carriage, maids, and servants who drove and protected the carriage were all personally selected by Madam Mu this morning. With the maids serving her attentively, Consort Yu once again ignored the Empress's advice to listen less to Madam Mu's words.

The loud noise of the carriage wheels made the maid's voice sound even softer: "The mistress cares about the princess. Before leaving this morning, the mistress instructed me that if what she taught the princess last night is not to be heard by the empress, the princess should return to the Yu residence tonight."

Yu Baofei laughed, but her laughter was tinged with malice. She said, "No need. I'm going back to the Prince's residence. The Empress will always be my elder sister. She has already promised to punish that bitch Yang Lianluo! Just wait and see how Yuan Yu and Yang Lianluo have bullied me. I will make them pay double. From now on, they will only be able to learn about each other through other people's mouths. I want to see what Yuan Yu will choose between mutual support and the Prince's future."

"Whether he chooses Yang Lianluo or Qiancheng, he'll be miserable. I'm happy when he's miserable!" Yu Baofei gritted her teeth. Since she was destined to spend her whole life in this rotten marriage, then Yuan Yu shouldn't expect to have an easy time either!

The inner palace, Xuanguang Hall.

Empress Yu Baoying dismissed the female officials and palace maids who were serving her. She sat alone at her dressing table, her palms outstretched, revealing the marks she had made with her own fingernails.

Today was the first time she had mustered the courage to ask His Majesty to punish the Prince of Jingzhao. It would be a lie to say she wasn't afraid. She feared that after making this request, she would immediately fall out of favor. She even thought that after she fell out of favor, her aunt would send another girl from the Yu family into the palace to replace her.

Fortunately, after listening to her story, His Majesty was only angry with the Prince of Jingzhao and allowed her to severely punish Yang Lianluo in her capacity as Empress.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Yu Baoying muttered to herself, "Which couple in the world doesn't hope for mutual fidelity? What wife would be happy if her husband took a concubine? I married into the deep walls of the palace, forced to hide my jealousy, and pretend to be tolerant and magnanimous every day. I can suffer this alone; I accept my fate."

“But my sister can’t be like me! Yang Lianluo, you were originally a servant girl of the Xi official. My sister didn’t mind your lowly status and allowed you to be a concubine in the Prince’s mansion. However, you are not grateful and spend your days stirring up trouble in the Prince’s mansion, causing my sister to cry all the time. Yang Lianluo, aren’t you relying on the Prince of Jingzhao? Then I will use the same method to bully you! Let’s see if the Prince of Jingzhao has the ability to protect you!”

Yu Baoying clasped her hands together, and her face in the bronze mirror appeared even more majestic as an empress.

At the Situ residence, Yuan Yu, upon seeing Wei Yao, exclaimed excitedly, "How do you plan to discipline Yuan Yu? If you ask me, give him a hundred lashes first!"

Wei Yao put on a shameful expression and said, "I hadn't thought it through. His Majesty was in a bad mood when he gave me this order, so I agreed without thinking."

"Huh?" Yuan Yu glared at her, one eye big and one eye small, then said angrily, "You treacherous minister! Sweet talk but black heart! You were clearly using me, and once the matter was accomplished, all the credit went to you."

Wei Yao smiled bitterly: "Family disputes are the hardest to resolve since ancient times. If either the husband or wife is dissatisfied, there is no merit to speak of. I dare not lie to the general and beg the general to come along, for I fear that the Prince of Jingzhao will get angry and kill me in his palace. General Yuan, you and I went through life and death on Jingyang Mountain. At that time, you were so righteous that you gave me the chance to live. Please save me again this time." After saying that, she bowed deeply.

Yuan Yu jumped back, glanced at her sideways, and said, "Don't flatter me. I've known this since I was little: when someone praises me, it's never a good thing. Oh dear, my stomach hurts. You wait here for me."

Wei Yao smiled and agreed, sitting down with peace of mind. She opened the criminal documents she had brought and began to read them. At first, she would occasionally glance outside the office, but later she became completely absorbed in the difficult cases recorded in the documents. Each case was written in a categorized manner, including the prisoner's confessions from several different times, the officials' reasoning and impeachment, and the confessions of those involved in the case. If the method of the crime was similar to that of other cases, the documents would explain the causes and consequences of the imitated case.

For example, in the murder case she is currently looking at, the murderer is the son of the governor of a prefecture, and the method of murder is modeled after a case in which a prefect named Zhen Shao murdered his mother during the Han Dynasty. By comparing the two cases, Wei Yao takes notes and writes down the differences between the current legal system and the amnesty decrees in the Han Dynasty.

While she was engrossed in the case files, Yuan Yu led his troops into the Jingzhao Prince's Mansion.

This scene reminded Yuan Yu of his past resentment, but no matter how much he hated him, he still treated him with courtesy.

Yuan Yu patted his nephew's shoulder with a grin and asked, "Did Eunuch Yang tell you why I came?"

"Yes, I did not treat the Princess well. Please tell His Majesty that I know I was wrong and will not dare to do it again."

"Words are no proof. If you continue to foolishly favor your concubine, I will be implicated and reprimanded by His Majesty."

Yuan Yu's patience was broken by just one sentence. His face contorted with rage, he demanded, "Spit it out! What do you want?"

"What I want? You'll find out soon enough." Yuan Yu ignored him, first deliberately standing in front of Yang Lianluo, who was trembling with fear, then going to Yu Baofei. He drew the short knife from his waist, twirled it twice in his palm, and asked Yu Baofei, "Princess Consort of Jingzhao, guess what this knife has killed most recently?"

Consort Yu knew that she had encountered a tiger during the last hunt. She had deliberately provoked the tiger with her cries. One of the three people chasing the tiger was none other than the Prince of Guangling standing before her. She lowered her eyelids and said, "I can't guess..."

"Ah!" Yuan Yu suddenly shouted.

"Ah—" Yu Baofei was so frightened that she jumped up and down, raising her hands to her face.

Yuan Yu glared at the scene, but he was able to restrain himself from roaring or making a move because he loathed Consort Bao and felt that she deserved it.