History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 403 Your Guilt About Me
Soon, the Princess Consort of Jingzhao was brought into Xuanguang Hall. She had been holding back her frustrations all the way, and finally found a pillar of support to rely on. She couldn't help but pout and complain to the Empress: "Sister, what should I do? I'm so panicked and scared. If something happens to Yuanyu, will it implicate me? Since I married him, I haven't enjoyed any glory, but I've tasted all the bitterness."

Yu Baoying comforted him, "Don't worry, if he has made a serious mistake, His Majesty will definitely inform me in advance."

Yu Baofei wiped away her tears and nodded: "I feel relieved now that you say so, elder sister. By the way, does elder sister know that the court official who led the troops to deliver the imperial edict this time was Wei Yao? What a treacherous minister! She has been promoted again! She is now the Grand Secretary of the Secretariat."

"Another promotion, so fast!" Yu Baoying sighed, her admiration for Wei Yao unconsciously mixed with a certain resentment.

Consort Yu pouted and complained, "I really hate how smug Wei Yao looks. Sister, you are the Empress, and since you can use the rules of conduct between wives and concubines to punish your concubines, then... can you punish your wives?"

"what for?"

"I've checked. Wei Yao's husband, Yuan Mao, works in the Censorate. He and Wei Yao rarely see each other. How about I bestow a beautiful and gentle concubine upon Yuan Mao, elder sister?"

Yu Baoying immediately reprimanded, "Don't be ridiculous! Wei Yao must have won His Majesty's trust to be promoted to Attendant-in-Ordinary. I've made an enemy of her for no reason. What if His Majesty dislikes me?"

“But it was her idea to restore the ancient custom of wives and concubines. She should be the one to set an example. Why is it that all of our sisters’ husbands take concubines, while her husband only has her as his legal wife?” Consort Yu said indignantly.

Yu Baoying sneered. She was not confused about such matters. In order to prevent her sister from doing something foolish that would affect the Yu family, she said bluntly: "If your husband is upright and knows propriety, who can force him to take a concubine and favor another? Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. If you came here to punish Yang Lianluo, I can let you vent your anger and establish the authority of the principal wife. But if you come up with any more foolish ideas or say any more foolish things, then go back to the Prince's Mansion and stay there obediently!"

At this moment, Prince Pengcheng, Yuan Xie, had just received the imperial edict and hurriedly bid farewell to his relatives before boarding a small oxcart. The young emperor was suspicious and ruthless in controlling his ministers. Yuan Xie, Yuan Xiang, and Yuan Yu were confined to a narrow, drafty wooden carriage. In this difficult situation, they had to face each other and confront their mutual suspicions.

Yuan Yu greeted Yuan Xie: "I didn't expect that Sixth Uncle would be here with us on this trip to the palace. Does Sixth Uncle know why His Majesty summoned us?"

Yuan Xie replied, "The emperor's will is unfathomable." He then closed his eyes, indicating that he did not want to speak.

Yuan Yu had asked Yuan Xiang about the same thing on the way. Yuan Xiang cursed his nephew for being stupid again. Among the people escorting the carriage was Wei Yao, the most cunning and treacherous minister in the court. Every extra word spoken on the way could give Wei Yao something to use against them.

Speaking of Yuan Xie, one of the three princes, he was recalling his conversation with Prince Rencheng on the day of the Taihe Temple ceremony. He knew that Prince Rencheng had deliberately approached him, so he only wanted to give him a few perfunctory words. Unexpectedly, as soon as Prince Rencheng opened his mouth, he almost drew his sword!

“Nephew Xie, do you still remember the twenty warriors I borrowed from you before? They were all good swords. Even I didn’t expect that Gao Zhao would die a violent death before he was granted an official position.”

At that moment, Yuan Xie felt a chill run through him, and his heart trembled, leading him to make a foolish decision: "The contracts of those twenty men, and all the people who accompanied them, are all yours."

Sure enough, Prince Rencheng pulled out a stack of papers and shook them: "I didn't go to the government office to change their status as slaves. They are still your people, Nephew Xie."

Next, without him asking, the fat man recounted how he arranged for twenty brave warriors to deal with Gao Zhao, Gao Xian, Gao Meng, and Gao Ying. Then he said, "Without a series of interconnected plans, I believe that the person in the position of Grand Councilor of the Secretariat is Gao Zhao. His brother Gao Xian will also be given important positions. Princess Jinan may not know Gao Meng, and Gao Meng and Gao Zhao's two sons will not leave the capital."

“The Gao family is useless to begin with. Without Gao Zhao, His Majesty must be heartbroken.” The Prince of Rencheng changed his tone as he said this: “But what’s done is done, and no one can change it!” Yuan Xie immediately understood that the so-called “what’s done is done” was the Prince of Rencheng’s way of reminding him! He was reminding him not to try to inform the emperor. As long as the other party insisted that the Twenty Warriors were loyal to his original master’s family, the emperor would definitely be willing to believe the Prince of Rencheng’s sophistry and pin the murderer of Gao Zhao on him.

"What is my uncle trying to gain from me through all this trouble?"

Prince Rencheng: "From now on, you will feel guilty."

As the oxcart turned at the intersection, it ran over a stone. Yuan Xie opened his eyes and gripped the window frame tightly. At the same time, his loyalty wavered, just as the Prince of Rencheng had planned... His loyalty was mixed with guilt. It was precisely because he wanted to be a loyal minister that he was bothered by this guilt that he could not shirk responsibility.

"That fatso is amazing, he's ruined my mental state." Yuan Xie once again drew his sword in his heart, wishing he could stab the Prince of Rencheng ten times.

The oxcart turned another corner. This time, it was Wei Yao who ordered it to deliberately pass by the old residence of the rebel Yuan Xi. Wei Yao told Gao Xian, and also the three kings in the cart, "That house imprisons many of Yuan Xi's relatives and descendants. In the past, this place was full of guests. Now, it is filled with flies and mourners. They have no honor in life and no integrity in death."

These words, when heard by different people, carry different meanings.

Yuan Yu, hot-tempered and dim-witted, immediately pushed past his sixth uncle, leaned out of the carriage window, and cursed at Wei Yao: "You wicked woman, don't try to threaten me with Yuan Xi! I act with integrity and I'm not afraid of His Majesty's repercussions!"

Wei Yao: "If you dare to speak so arrogantly in front of His Majesty, then I admire the bravery of the Prince of Jingzhao."

"What is there to be afraid of?!" Yuan Yu became more and more frustrated. What else did the emperor want from him? He had indeed broken the rules by favoring his concubine too much, but he had already admitted his mistake. Wasn't sending Yang Lianluo to Dunhuang enough? Why was such a small matter dragging on? Detaining Yang in the palace and subjecting her to flogging—was the empress standing up for her sister, or was His Majesty being intolerant of his brother and using this as an excuse to dismiss him from his post again?
"Yuan Yu." Yuan Xiang was annoyed and scolded his stupid nephew to shut up.

Before today, Yuan Xiang had always thought that the emperor was most wary of Yuan Xie, but the emperor chose the day of the Crane Banquet to take him away in front of so many guests, which was obviously intentional, to let the aristocratic families in the capital know the direction of the court.

Could it be that Yuan Xie will become the next Yuan Xi, or it will be him?
Prince Pengcheng, Yuan Xie, peered through the gap in the curtains his foolish nephew had lifted, looking at the courtyard wall of Yuan Xi's residence. He had been ordered by the emperor to take care of Yuan Xi's family, but he was busy with state affairs, so he gradually handed the matter over to his son, Zi Zhi.

Yuan Xie remembered that after his son returned from Yuanxi's residence last time, he said, "The fallen members of the imperial family are not even as good as chickens," and he was scolded for it.

He taught his sons, "Yuanxi brought this upon himself. His family enjoyed happiness when he was in glory, but will suffer together when he falls on hard times."

Unexpectedly, Zi asked a question directly: "What if Yuanxi didn't rebel, but was framed? Does that mean his family deserved to suffer?"

He was furious: "What 'what if'?!"

Yuan Xie exhaled heavily, pulling himself out of his thoughts. He missed the late emperor, who was single-mindedly focused on his great cause and never had the cunning to scheme against his ministers like Yuan Ke.