History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 413 Two Assassins
"Chirp—"

"Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp!"

"Whoosh-"

The long and short whistles that pierced the clouds drowned out the sound of the arrow flying—what a close call! The arrow had probably been distracted by the whistles, causing it to deviate from Wei Yao's path and tear into the darkness with a menacing aura of death.

The whistle-blowing team consisted of Wei Yao's secret guards, each in disguise, who continued to whistle to lure the patrolling soldiers over while simultaneously flanking the assassins.

"I saw you!"

I'll cut off your escape route!

"Quick, quick, there it is—"

Various rhetoric from the assassins followed. Sure enough, a dark figure appeared behind a tree. He ran away quickly, and his escape route was obvious. He wanted to jump into the canal that runs through the inner city of Luoyang!

"Intercept him—"

Three guards gave chase, while Commander Hu Sou led two others to wait near Wei Yao.

"It was my dereliction of duty, and I am willing to accept the punishment."

Wei Yao: "The other party is deliberately plotting against us; we must be extra careful from now on."

The Imperial Clan Court and the Imperial Palace were very close, and there were more patrols than in other places. Shouts for the capture of the assassin soon came. Just when everyone except Wei Yao thought there was only one assassin, Hu Sou suddenly tackled Wei Yao to the ground, shot an arrow that missed its mark, and then shot another arrow at Yuan Shao who had not yet reacted.

Yuan Shao was lucky; he was so frightened by Hu Sou's actions that he instinctively shrank back, and the second arrow pierced his official hat with such force that it hurt his scalp.

Hu Sou and one of the guards spread their arms wide, scanning the area warily. Hu Sou shielded Wei Yao with his body, while another guard ran and shouted towards the location where the arrow had been fired, firing arrows as he went: "There's another assassin! There's another assassin..."

A dozen or so patrolmen quickly assembled here.

Wei Yao's body was half numb from the fall. She stood up and asked Yuan Shao, "How is the Right Chancellor?"

The arrow in Yuan Shao's head was too strong to be pulled out for a moment. He was both angry and embarrassed, and said, "I won't die! I have no luck to enjoy the good fortune, but I suffer the misfortune because of Wei Shizhong."

blah blah blah...

Two groups of cavalrymen carrying torches crossed the bridge. The military officer leading the cavalry was Erzhu Maizhen, the Cavalry Advisor of Sizhou Prefecture. "Attendant-in-Ordinary, the Prefect has ordered me to come and fetch you."

There were too many court officials. Wei Yao knew that Erzhu Maizhen did not recognize Yuan Shao, so he said, "I would like to trouble you, Erzhu, to help Minister Yuan Youcheng pull out the arrow. This arrow is useful, so don't break it."

Taking down the arrow and holding it up to the light with a torch, Yuan Shao frowned and said, "I've seen this kind of arrow before. It was made in Xiangzhou, and the arrowhead material should be from the casting industry of Qiankou."

The weapons forged at the Xiangzhou Qiankou Forge are the finest in the Great Wei Dynasty, supplied exclusively to the imperial court. Even a single arrow is registered and recorded. Where did the assassin get them?
At this moment, the patrolmen who had been chasing the first assassin returned and reported: "The assassin jumped into the river and fled. There were merchant ships in the river. We ordered the boatmen to use poles to strike the water, but we did not find any trace of the assassin."

Hu Sou whispered to Wei Yao, "That assassin was thin, so he probably wasn't wearing heavy winter clothes because he wanted to escape through the river."

It's best for secret guards to avoid showing themselves in public as much as possible. Wei Yao nodded, indicating that Hu Sou could leave.

Soon, the patrolmen who had been chasing the second assassin returned. Knowing they were about to be scolded, they timidly reported, "The assassin was too cunning. He ran to the Yijing well and shouted that someone had jumped into the well. While the ward official of Yijing was rushing out, he ran into the ward. By the time we were explaining to the ward official, we could no longer catch up with him."

Wei Yao instructed Erzhu Maizhen: "Quickly deliver the arrow to the Imperial Guards on duty at the Changhe Palace gate. When you return, go to Yijing Ward and get a list of the ward officials."

She then said to Yuan Shao, "Let's go, let's go to the Sizhou office first." The Sizhou office is just south across the Qu River. Prince Yuan Yu of Guangling exclaimed "Oh!" and looked at the disheveled Yuan Shao with a smile: "What, did you just get out of bed?"

Yuan Shao said with disdain, "Do you think everyone is like you?"

When Prefect Yuan Zhi learned that Wei Yao had been assassinated, he dispatched more soldiers to search along the river overnight and requisitioned nearby merchant ships for assistance.

As Wei Yao had predicted, the conflict between Yuan Yu and Li Shixian arose again when the former, acting like a jerk, went to the gate of the Li residence and shouted, "Madam, let's end our relationship here. Your husband knows all about it."

How could Li Shixian not be angry and beat him up?

Wei Yao watched Yuan Shao mediate from the sidelines. Yuan Shao first complained to Yuan Yu: "General Yuan, if you and General Li have a conflict, you two can fight it out. Why take it out on his wife?"

Yuan Yu explained with a wronged expression, "He doesn't care about his wife's reputation. If I did, wouldn't that just prove that I'm having an affair with his wife? My reputation is terrible, everyone knows that. If this happens, who will believe what Li Shixian said last night?"

Yuan Shao: "That makes sense."

"Righteous my foot!" Li Shixian gritted his teeth: "No one spread rumors about what happened last night, but you've made a scene and everyone knows! How is my wife supposed to go out in public now?"

Yuan Yu resumed his shameless grin: "Of course I'll beat you up before I go out. You can beat me up too, but I'm afraid you won't agree."

Li Shixian angrily pointed at him and accused Yuan Shao: "Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, as a prince, he bullies me with his power and openly fabricates rumors that are detrimental to my wife. According to the rules, I must plead with you to punish him before I can submit a memorial to His Majesty to punish him. You have seen it all; he is completely unreasonable. I am a court official and can only endure his bullying. What about the powerless common people? They might die unjustly and have nowhere to seek redress."

Yuan Yu: "You can't just say that. Those who know me know that I only have affairs with the wives of ministers I don't like, and I never climb over the walls of ordinary people's houses."

"I don't care about my old life anymore!" Li Shixian rushed over and slapped the other person's face.

Yuan Yu was stubborn and had no fighting skills, so he covered his head and cried out, "Wei Yao, save me—"

Li Shixian, his wickedness growing, wanted to implicate Wei Yao and Yuan Yu. So, with a dark expression, he looked up and asked Wei Yao, "Could it be that the Attendant-in-Ordinary and Yuan..."

Wei Yao raised her voice to interrupt the other party: "How did General Li know that I and Yuan Youcheng were assassinated? Could it be that you and the assassin..."

"No!" Li Shixian didn't know what she meant by "assassination attempt," but he knew he couldn't let her pin anything on him.

Wei Yao: "What a coincidence. How did the assassin know I would come to the Sizhou Office with the Grand Master of Ceremonies? So I have to ask you clearly, which of you and Yu Wang suggested that we must find the Grand Master of Ceremonies to settle this matter tonight?"

Yuan Yu testified: "Of course it was him. I was going to let it go after he framed me last night, but he wouldn't let it go and didn't want to suffer any loss."

Li Shixian then remembered Wei Yaoting's identity as Vice Minister Wei. He sat up straight again and replied solemnly, "Vice Minister Wei, I had no idea that you and Right Chancellor Yuan were handling official business together, and therefore I did not know that you were assassinated on your way here."

As they confronted each other, Yuan Shao pondered, "Yes, who would know that he and Wei Yao were both in the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs?" While thinking about this question, his hand unconsciously gripped the paper book in the brocade pouch, which contained Yuan Zhi's duty record in the Ministry of Personnel.

The words are divided into two parts.

Tonight, the Emperor and Empress will rest in Xuanguang Palace. Empress Yu Baoying embodies the hopes of the Yu clan, who expect her to give birth to a prince before the other concubines.

After the emperor fell asleep, Yu Baoying gently turned to look at Yuan Ke's profile. In fact, even now she still felt that the fact that the emperor was her husband was like a dream and unreal. Only when he approached her with gentle care and asked about some ordinary little things in life did she feel that they were husband and wife.

But did he also show concern and inquire about the other concubines?
Was he thinking of his offspring, or did he genuinely love her?

A eunuch outside whispered, "Your Majesty, Wei Yao, the Attendant-in-Ordinary of the Secretariat, has been assassinated..."

The emperor sat up abruptly, showing no signs of drowsiness!