History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 407 The World's Circumstances of Profit and Loss
Wei Yao: "You have a cousin named He Lan. Tell me about her."

Wei Yao had long suspected that her death in her previous life, caused by being hit by the He family's carriage, was not necessarily related to love. Now, fate had smiled upon her, allowing her to discover, through Wu Bo'an's death, that a powerful force was actually hiding in the court!
Interesting. What is their purpose? Do they want to learn about the movements of the princes' residences through someone like He'erhun? Is their target only the princes' residences, or the Forbidden City?

He Erhun: "He Lan fell in love with a scholar named Lu Gongzhi. Lu promised to write home to set a date for the marriage proposal, but for some reason, he was arrested by the government. Our clan fell into poverty and we couldn't find out what crime he had committed or where he had been taken. After this incident, I was busy running errands for the powerful and wealthy and hardly saw He Lan."

He was in so much pain all over his body, and he cried out, "I'm telling the truth, can you... can you let me go back to jail to rest? Please, please."

Wei Yao made a gesture, and the jailer untied He Erhun and dragged him out of the torture chamber.

Gu Kai: "Shaoqing, Lu Gongzhi was arrested because of the Yuanxi case, and he is in the imperial prison."

Yuan Xi's rebellion implicated many officials, none of whom needed to be investigated immediately. Wei Yao then accompanied Gu Kai to the earthen dungeon where Lu Gongzhi was imprisoned.

Gu Kai: "Lu Gongzhi's uncle was Lu Xiu, the governor of Hanoi. After Yuan Xi was captured, Lu Xiu was arrested for hiding Yuan Xi's eldest son. Lu Gongzhi and his brother, as well as their father Lu Kai, were implicated. I have seen the case file. Lu Gongzhi and his brother Lu Wei were indeed in Luoyang at the time of the incident."

He lowered his voice and told Wei Yao, "I heard that after Lu Xiu was imprisoned, many powerful people pleaded for him and exonerated him. He died in the imperial prison before his crime was determined. After this incident, the imperial prison stopped interrogating members of the Lu family. I estimate that if there is a general amnesty, the entire Lu family will be released."

The underground passages of the Imperial Prison were narrow and cold, and it felt oppressive even to walk outside the cells, let alone endure the torment inside.

When the prisoners heard people moving around, some cried out for justice, some pretended to be crazy, and some cursed loudly. The Lu family father and son belonged to the former group. They kept banging on the prison door. More than being tortured, they were afraid of being forgotten by the court.

The jailer opened the cell door, and the three members of the Lu family were stunned to see that it was a female official who had entered. They wondered what Wei Yao's identity was and whether her presence was a good or bad thing.

"Lu Gongzhi".

Wei Yao read out the names, found the other person among the two young men, and asked, "Do you know He Lan?"

"I know her, no, I'm not familiar with her. I've only met Miss He a few times at the Hongchi Poetry Society. She has no relation to our Lu family."

Wei Yao said regretfully, "It's a pity. I know He Lan has an opportunity recently that could help you and your son escape the suffering of imprisonment."

Lu Gongzhi shook his head.

His elder brother, Lu Weixian, was full of expectations. When he saw his younger brother's reluctance, he looked at their elderly father with heartache. Their father was old and had been trapped in darkness for a long time, and his eyes were already inflamed.

Wei Yao: "Lu Gongzhi, you only have one chance. How do you know she's unwilling to help you if you don't ask Miss He?"

Lu Gongzhi bit his lower lip, using the pain to remind himself that this was a trap and he couldn't fall for it.

Lu Kai spoke up: "Lady, please don't make things difficult for my son. The affairs of my Lu family have nothing to do with that Miss He now, nor will they have anything to do with him in the future."

Lu Gongzhi understood the meaning behind his father's words, and a mix of emotions welled up within him.

Wei Yao: "It seems that Elder Lu is a wise man. I am a kind-hearted person and couldn't bear to see your son's marriage confused, so I came here specifically. It has nothing to do with the Yuanxi case. Here's what we'll do, Lu Gongzhi, I'll have He Lan come to the imperial prison to visit you. You can tell her everything you have to say at once, so as not to delay her or you."

As she left the prison, Gu Kai left the Lu family father and son with the words, "She is Wei Yao, the newly appointed Vice Minister of the Court of Justice." Then the two of them left the imperial prison, changed into ordinary clothes, and went straight to the floating bridge in the south of the city to look for clues about Wu Bo'an's wrongful death.

On the way, Gu Kai asked, "He Lan and Lu Gongzhi are not a good match in terms of social standing. Does Shaoqing suspect that this woman is intentionally getting close to Lu Gongzhi?"

Wei Yao smiled and said, "When I was studying in Pingcheng, I read Lu Kai's poem in a bookstore. It was a gift he gave to Fan Ye."

Gu Kai was astonished and asked, "Fan Ye, the author of the Book of the Later Han Dynasty?" "Yes." Wei Yao recited the poem: "I met a messenger while picking flowers, and sent them to the person in Longtou. I have nothing from Jiangnan, so I send you a sprig of spring."

“At that time, I thought, what kind of scholar Lu Kai must have been to write this poem. I couldn’t bear to see such a Confucian scholar wronged. If his family had nothing to do with the treason case, I would have been willing to lend a helping hand and help them get out of prison.”

Gu Kai praised, "Shaoqing has a kind heart."

Wei Yao smiled bitterly: "In this world, profit and gain are intertwined, and I am no exception. I have long been caught up in it. I had other purposes in saving the Lu family, but I did not expect to get involved with He Lan after they were released from prison. As far as I know, He Lan will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. The Lu family has been in trouble for so long. Even if she can't send any messages, she can at least use money to buy warm clothes, blankets, candle oil, and other things to make things a little better for Lu Gongzhi."

Gu Kai: "True character is revealed in times of trouble. No wonder his father deliberately said that the Lu family and He Lan would have no connection in the future."

The pontoon bridge has arrived, and foreign merchants of all kinds of appearances come and go, chattering in incomprehensible languages ​​from one end of the bridge to the other.

After crossing the bridge, fish stalls were everywhere. Based on the location of the incident given by He Erhun, Wei Yao spoke loudly to Gu Kai: "Don't buy fish here. Tell the neighbors not to buy fish here either. Someone died here. I heard that the spirits of the unjustly killed are most likely to possess fish, especially big fish. It's terrifying."

Upon hearing this, the fishmonger became agitated and immediately retorted, "Where did you hear such absurd theories, young lady?"

"That's what the Celestial Master of Chongxu Temple said!"

"Huh? Really?"

Who in the capital city doesn't know the fame of Chongxu Temple?

Wei Yao: "People from Luoyang don't lie to people from Luoyang. Do you sell fish here every day? Then tell me, did the young man who died here that day die unjustly?"

The fishmonger gestured for her to lower her voice: "Shh—stop talking, you're so young and don't know how dangerous the world is." After saying that, he looked at the several large fish on display again, and the more he looked at them, the more he felt that the fish's eyes resembled human eyes, which made him feel quite scared.

As Wei Yao walked past the stall, Gu Kai said, "Even if some vendors saw how Wu Bo'an died that day, they probably pretended not to know, or perhaps they had been warned beforehand... I understand now, Shaoqing did it on purpose. The person who plotted against He Erhun chose to harm Wu Bo'an here, so it's very likely that one of the shops nearby is their stronghold."

"Yes, hopefully we can find out. Let's go back and talk to that fishmonger again."

The fishmonger saw Wei Yao approaching again and didn't want to pay her any attention.

Wei Yao asked, "So, do you think the big fish are hard to sell? Why don't you sell them all to me at a low price?"

"You think beautiful!"

"Look at these fish eyes, don't they look like human eyes? Are they staring at you?"

"Hey? I'm telling you, young lady..."

Wei Yao, interrupting the other person's words, also exclaimed "Ah!" and exclaimed in alarm, "Ah! People who die unjustly can't be reincarnated! How pitiful—"

The fishmonger panicked, but dared not raise his voice: "What does it matter to me if he's pitiful? No, how would I know if he's pitiful or not?"

Wei Yao deliberately made her smile more sinister and said, "If anyone asks you what I told you, just tell them... I've caught you!"

After she finished speaking, she gestured for Gu Kai to quicken his pace and leave. She instructed him, "I'll have someone keep an eye on this case to protect the fishmongers from disaster. You don't need to worry about He Lan's matter. After returning to the imperial prison, keep an eye on He Erhun and make sure he doesn't 'commit suicide' like Li Songgui."

Wei Yao had many things to do. After parting ways with Gu Kai, a bodyguard appeared and accompanied her into the city, arriving at the open space of the former Imperial Academy ruins.