History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 410 The Dead Xue Zhixiao
"Can an apology get me my eye back?" Yuan Yu sat up angrily.

He can only see people with one eye now. Due to the pain, he has to blink and squint frequently with this one eye. No one in the room dares to stare at him, because they will unconsciously imitate his blinking.

Yuan Yu took a deep breath. He was losing his temper. He clenched his fists repeatedly, wanting to beat the old thief blind!

Wei Yao promptly stepped between the two and reported, "Everyone makes mistakes, but to err is human, to forgive divine. I beg Your Majesty to give Prince Yu a chance to correct his mistakes."

She then said to Yuan Yu, "The king's eye injury is indeed serious. Why don't we have Prince Yu attend to him while he recovers?"

"Ha—" Yuan Yu was delighted and rubbed his hands together eagerly.

Yuan Yu winked even faster, then wisely lay back down: "No need, there's nothing to argue about between uncle and nephew."

The unfortunate Li Shixian was under the watchful eyes of everyone. His mind raced. No, he couldn't wait any longer. If he waited for the foolish Prince Yuan Yu to expose him, his career would truly be over!
"Your Majesty—" He slumped to the ground, tears streaming down his face, and pointed at Yuan Yu on the stretcher: "Since things have come to this, I will not care about my reputation today. I was foolish. I was angry that Yuan Yu had a secret rendezvous with my wife, so I instigated Prince Yu to beat him to settle my personal grudge. I was so foolish!"

Yuan Yu hadn't even straightened up properly when he sat up angrily: "Who did I meet with in secret?"

"Of course you won't admit to something like this!" Li Shixian pounded his chest, looking pained and unwilling to elaborate.

It's rumored that Prince Yuan Yu of Guangling enjoys climbing over walls at night to seek pleasure. He was almost beaten to death by a group of assassins with rattles in the night market. Many ministers have heard about this, so it's understandable that Li Shixian would make an enemy of him because of this.

Wei Yao pressed Yuan Yu's hand down. Such matters were not worth arguing about. She reported, "Your Majesty, the matter is clear. The faults of the two princes and Li Shixian ultimately stem from their shallow virtue. They did not restrain themselves with propriety and teachings, so how could they teach others to change their ways and do good?"

"The Book of Documents says, 'Those who rely on virtue prosper, those who rely on force perish.' Your Majesty is requested to personally lecture us on the Book of Rites, to invite renowned Confucian scholars to participate, and to lead us in reviving the 'Ritual of Offering Vegetables' at the Four Gates Primary School. At that time, we can have Emperor Wenzong Cui Guang lecture on the Book of Poetry, Minister Fang Jingxian answer questions about the Five Classics, Imperial Academy Chancellor Liu Fang transmit phonetic and exegesis, and Secretary Sun Huiwei interpret the Zuo Zhuan..."

"When the barbarians admire the Chinese culture and Luoyang gathers scholars, the world will know that the Great Wei is flourishing in its studies! It will know that Chinese civilization has converged in the Central Plains! It will know that Your Majesty treats all learned scholars with humility and open-mindedness!"

Her words grew more and more impassioned, praising the emperor's great achievements. Who would dare to mention the unpleasant things that happened to Yuan Yu and the others?

It is true that the emperor was fond of Buddhism, but he knew that Confucianism was the foundation of governing the country. He ordered: "All civil officials may submit a memorial on this matter, and the matter will be discussed in court before the end of the year."

Wei Yao was the first to respond: "Your subject obeys the imperial edict!"

The wind was strong at night, and the lanterns swayed. Wei Yao accompanied the emperor all the way back to Qinghui Hall, handed the memorial box to Yang Fan, and then briefly explained the suspicious points about Wu Bo'an's death. She then expressed her concerns directly: "Evil can be big or small. Small evils can harm a family, while big evils can harm the country. If someone really plotted and arranged the appointment of officials in the princes' mansions, then his ambition must be great, and his status must not be low."

Yuan Ke understood immediately and asked, "You believe this person is a member of the imperial family?"

"Yes."

"How dare you!" The Emperor's words were soft, yet they contained a thunderous intent of absolute ruthlessness. His disappointment in the Prince of Guangping and the Prince of Jingzhao was one thing, but being plotted against and thus disappointed in the princes was another.

Wei Yao said, "Even if a wicked person with malicious intentions appears honest and upright, they will always fear being seen through. Their confusion will reveal their weaknesses. Your Majesty, rest assured, those who dare to circumvent the law will be caught!" The guard Kou Meng escorted her back to the Secretariat. Several times he wanted to ask Zhao Zhi if she had sent any letters home, but he suppressed the thought, knowing it wasn't something he should ask. He secretly wished that, as the saying goes, arrows have no eyes; they would all be used against others, and not against Zhao Zhi.

General Yuan Zhi, leading a patrol of elite Imperial Guards, passed by Wei Yao.

Wei Yao glanced back, and Kou Meng curiously followed her gaze.

Wei Yao smiled and said, "General Yuan Zhi is truly an extraordinary person. Despite his imposing appearance, he is not easily noticed."

Kou Meng: "Indeed, all I know is that his previous official position was Censor, but I have no idea where he served or what he did."

The previous General of the Martial Guard was Yuan Zhen. Because the Prince of Rencheng lost his wife and did not go to Yangzhou to take up his post, Yuan Zhen was promoted to General of the East and sent to Yangzhou. Yuan Zhi was promoted from Attendant Censor to General of the Martial Guard.

Wei Yao didn't know anything about Yuan Zhi's background, which wouldn't do. She had to go to the Imperial Prison of the Court of Justice early in the morning, so she entrusted the task of finding Yuan Zhi's resume to Prince Yuan Yi of Qinghe.

If you can't win the power struggle, then join! Yuan Yi readily agreed. Upon investigation, it was discovered that Yuan Zhi was exceptionally talented, but due to his dull and inflexible personality, he had been relegated to working as an assistant in various departments of the Ministry of Personnel for many years, handling all sorts of administrative tasks without ever complaining.

We won't go into the details later.

The Imperial Prison of the Court of Justice.

This morning, Wei Yao studied under Cui Tingweiqing. Cui Zhen opened room after room, where old case documents, covered in dust, were piled up like small mountains. He said, "Previously, the court used severe punishments to deal with evil and violence. Starting in the first year of Taihe, the court changed to a more lenient policy and revised the laws, which took five years to complete. It was revised again in the eleventh year of Taihe and officially promulgated in the sixteenth year. However, there are still many murder cases and major cases without clear laws to follow. When such cases are encountered, officials from multiple departments need to gather together to debate them and then submit a petition to the emperor for approval."

Wei Yao asked, "Which government agencies are eligible to participate in the debate?"

Cui Zhen: "Besides the Court of Justice and the Secretariat, there is also the Ministry of Personnel. If a case is reported by the Censorate or the State Administration, the Censor-in-Chief and the Governor of the State Administration can also participate in the final trial. If a member of the imperial family commits a crime, the judgment will need to be considered separately. The documents in the room are all past cases that are difficult to judge. You are given the key to keep and can look at them at any time."

"Alright." Wei Yao thanked her and asked, "After the Princes of Jingzhao and Guangping were enfeoffed, can the cases committed by their officials be investigated in the imperial prison?"

"Yes, but not entirely. Some of the cases committed by the two kings themselves are still under investigation by the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs."

Besides managing the register of imperial clan members, the Grand Court of Imperial Clan Affairs also participated in the trial of cases involving princes who broke the law. Yu Yao decided to go in the afternoon. She thanked Cui Zhen again, then buried herself in the mountain of documents, and half a day passed by unnoticed.

She singled out a particular case: a murder where a person had drowned in a river and whose body was swollen. The authorities suspected the deceased was Xue Zhixiao, the missing imperial guard of the Eastern Palace. The coroner determined the time of death to be the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the twenty-third year of the Taihe era, the year the emperor ascended the throne.

"Xue Zhixiao." Wei Yao murmured the name. That year, this person went from Luoyang to Pingcheng to find four sets of wooden slips. She almost got targeted by Xue Zhixiao because she left words on the wooden slips. In the end, with the help of her uncle Yuan Zhi and the registrar Gou, she made the old palace lady Zhang Wenzhi her scapegoat.

After entering officialdom, she was afraid that inquiring about Xue Zhixiao would arouse suspicion, so she pretended not to know him. She thought that she had never met him in the palace because the emperor had not promoted him and had demoted him to another place. She did not expect that he was dead.

"Dead... The body is swollen and unrecognizable..."