History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 399 Crane Banquet

Gao Ying trusted Wei Yao completely. The young lady tried her best to imagine that she would encounter difficulties at the Crane Banquet, but when she actually faced it, she could only tremble with anger and all the verbal rebuttals she had prepared were useless.

The following day, the Prince of Beihai's mansion extended a warm invitation to guests, with all the gates open. In addition to plants lining the road to welcome the distinguished guests, wine jars of different colors and sizes were neatly stacked behind the flowerpots, creating a delightful blend of wine and floral fragrance.

Gao Ying followed Wei Yao into the Prince's mansion, and was immediately surrounded by strange drum music. Gao Ying was overwhelmed with attention, sometimes focusing on the music and dance in the pavilions and towers, sometimes watching the large ship carrying animal trainers controlling snakes and tigers. She then shook Wei Yao's sleeve and whispered, "Minister Wei, look over there! They're practicing swordsmanship and singing at the same time. Oh, the swordsmen are fighting!"

Wei Yao smiled and said, "It's not a real fight. They're performing a small play from the Hundred Entertainments, called 'Gongmo Dance' or 'Jin Dance'."

The two followed the maids of the Prince's mansion into a garden. The garden was full of low trees with dense foliage. Not far from them, women were chatting, but because of the trees, Wei Yao and Gao Ying could not see who was talking.

"Among the female guests at today's banquet, we invited a lady from the Goryeo family. I wonder if they dare to come."

Gao Ying stopped in her tracks, while Wei Yao observed the expression of the maid who was leading the way. Sure enough, the other party was doing it on purpose. She could tell at a glance whether the maid was pretending to be flustered!
Since the other party has set a trap, listen carefully.

"Ha, if they come, it proves they don't understand social etiquette and mistake the politeness of the Prince of Beihai's mansion for currying favor with them."

More laughter erupted, and a woman scoffed, "Would anyone be that foolish? If the Beihai Prince's Mansion really wanted to be on good terms with the Gao family, they should have invited the Duke of Chengcheng or some other young men."

"By the way, have you heard? There's a young lady from the Gao family who might be going to the palace to become a concubine."

"Hmph, a Goryeo maid being made a concubine, just as the book says... lacking virtue yet holding a high position, knowing little yet plotting great things..."

From the shadows of the trees, several voices chanted in unison: "Those with little strength but heavy responsibilities are rarely able to succeed."

Gao Ying understood most of what the women were reading from the book. She was so angry that her hands went numb and she felt wronged and on the verge of tears.

Wei Yao spoke up, speaking slowly and deliberately: "The book says, 'A petty person is neither ashamed of being unkind nor afraid of being unjust.' What does this mean? It means that... a petty person is neither ashamed of his unkindness nor afraid of his unjustness."

The maid leading the way coughed lightly.

The noblewoman, who was about to step out of the bushes in anger, stopped in her tracks.

Wei Yao: "The book also says that chaos arises from words. This means that people usually get into trouble because they are too talkative."

A few cold snorts came from the bushes, followed by the sound of footsteps moving away.

The maid continued to lead the way, and Gao Ying whispered to Wei Yao, "Weren't we supposed to go over and reason with them just now?"

Wei Yao: "No, if you get angry and argue, it will be tantamount to admitting that they belittled your background. The bigger the incident gets, the more people will talk about you. Besides, our testimonies are no match for their joint sophistry. Instead, it will give them the opportunity to spread rumors that we deliberately disrupted the Prince's banquet."

Gao Ying: "I see. They are really wicked. If I had fallen for their trick, Consort Gao would definitely hate me and never invite me to banquets again."

The maid who led the way scoffed inwardly: Neither you nor Wei Yao should have come today!

Wei Yao calmly observed the maid, her mind replaying her meeting with Princess Liu Nian of Beihai at Yaoguang Temple yesterday. Liu Nian had told her that Prince Yuan Xiang of Beihai had converted a residence in the south of the city into a Buddhist temple, and Gao Fang, the cousin of Duke Gao Xian of Chengcheng, had gone to the temple to pray for blessings, thus catching Yuan Xiang's eye.

Yuanxiang currently trusts his favorite concubine, Shi'er. After drinking, the topic came up. Shi'er is a confidante of Princess Liu Nian, so she advised Yuanxiang to seduce Gao Fang while simultaneously leaking the information to the Dowager Princess. The Dowager Princess, a true member of the Bohai Gao clan, naturally looked down on the Dongyi Gao family, who had climbed the social ladder. Therefore, Wei Yao suspected that the noble ladies who had just belittled Gao Ying were actually acting on the Dowager Princess's orders.

Next, there will likely be a situation involving dealing with Gao Ying.

Wei Yao guessed correctly.

At this moment, the steward of the banquet area was grumbling: "Suddenly they told me to add two more seats here. It's easy to arrange the position of Vice Minister Wei, but where is Gao Yingjia? Whose seat is he placed in front of?"

A maid dressed in gold and silver led over a group of servants. Two servants in front carried a food table, and one behind carried a stool.

The maid whispered in the attendant's ear, "The Dowager Consort wants this set of tableware..."

After listening, the manager asked in confusion, "Why only replace Gao Ying's?"

The maid's face darkened, and she scolded, "Wei Yao has a sharp tongue; it's best not to offend her if you can avoid it." The truth was, Prince Xiang had received word that Wei Yao enjoyed the Emperor's deep trust and commanded numerous palace guards. There were undoubtedly others lurking within the Prince's residence as well. The infuriating thing was that these guards couldn't be openly investigated. The Dowager Consort harbored an extraordinary loathing for Wei Yao; she wished she could tear Wei Yao apart. However, with guards watching the Prince's residence, the Dowager Consort and Prince Xiang could only endure it. Since they couldn't kill or harm her, why embarrass Wei Yao over trivial matters and incur the Emperor's wrath?

The five noble ladies, who were gossiping, took a shortcut to the banquet area first. Among them were You Wujiu and Changsun E, who had previously clashed with Wei Yao.

They sat side by side.

You Wujiu's father, You Shuangfeng, works in the Secretariat. Lately, he has been constantly reprimanded by his superior, Yuan Cheng. You Shuangfeng is not happy with his career and often takes his anger out on his children when he gets home. You Wujiu was already upset, and she was just ridiculed and couldn't refute him, which made her even more depressed. So she poured herself a bowl of wine and took a big gulp, which made her throat very uncomfortable.

Changsun E was also unhappy. Seeing that the guests were arriving one after another, and no one had come to the side or opposite her yet, she moved her stool closer to You Wujiu and muttered, "Do you think the person who just slandered us with clever words was Wei Yao?"

You Wujiu: "Sounds like it."

Changsun E pouted and said, "The maid in the Prince's mansion coughed to remind us to leave. I guess it really was Wei Yao with the Gao family's daughter. Sigh, she's so lucky. You know, Zhao Zhi has done another good deed."

Her father, Changsun Chenggui, served in the Ministry of Personnel, where he was in charge of military affairs, and thus knew about the situation during the campaign against the barbarians.

Last year, Zhao Zhi took possession of the colorful rare birds that her family had raised. Zhao Zhi was unreasonable; not only did she refuse to return the birds, but she also beat her father. This incident became a source of deep resentment for her family, and they hated Zhao Zhi's family because of it.

You Wujiu's throat discomfort subsided, and he took another sip of wine, advising his companions and himself: "The wicked will be punished! The Dowager Empress ordered us to humiliate Gao Ying. If Wei Yao is on good terms with Gao Ying and continues to protect her, then we might accidentally let Wei Yao..."

Changsun E's rationality prevailed, and she shook her head, saying, "No, we can't disobey the Empress Dowager's instructions. We must understand this point, just do what the Empress Dowager instructed, and don't make her dissatisfied with us. Don't cause trouble at the banquet."

You Wujiu: "I'm not reconciled. I finally met Wei Yao. If I miss today, I don't know when I'll be able to take revenge."

She actually disliked Changsun E and no longer considered her a friend. If her father hadn't helped Changsun E's father ask Zhao Zhi for the Five-Colored Crab last year, Zhao Zhi wouldn't have injured his shoulder tendon with her internal force. Even now, he can't hold the yarrow stalks properly, causing his divination skills to regress instead of improve.

Furthermore, every time Changsun E stirs up trouble and clamors for revenge, she finds excuses to back down when the time comes.

"Wu Jiu, look, it really is Wei Yao, she's coming over."