History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 426 Two Beasts Traveling Together
Two quarters of an hour ago.

Palace Attendant Yuan Zhao stepped up to the Grand Marshal's Gate of the Imperial Palace. The slight clanking of his armor revealed a murderous aura, just like its master.

On the city wall, General Yuan Zhi stood alone with his back to the wind, gazing at the scenery of the inner city. Hearing someone approaching, he turned around, his wooden expression turning back to his indifferent state when he saw that it was Yuan Zhao.

This indifference is utterly cold and devoid of any warmth.

The two stood side by side gazing into the distance, and Yuan Zhao said, "Peacock, we can finally meet inside the palace walls."

"Peacock" is the courtesy name of Yuan Zhi.

"Ah."

Yuan Zhi was not yet thirty, younger than Yuan Zhao, but a simple "hmm" was enough to show who was stronger between them. He asked, "Did the Prince of Beihai reprimand you yesterday?"

Yuan Zhao, like an enraged bear, said fiercely, "His elder brother also scolded me, and now he's buried in Mangshan!"

Yuan Zhi lowered his gaze, observing Kou Meng as he entered the palace, and said, "It'll be soon. Yuan Xiang will soon be reunited with his three elder brothers in the Yellow Springs. How is the Yu family's situation?"

Yuan Zhao used the pretext of inspecting the city wall warehouses to find the other party, just to talk about this matter.

"Peacock, you miscalculated this time. Yu Zhong is brave but cowardly. He was only asked to teach Wei Yao a lesson, not to kill anyone, and he was too scared to make a move."

Yuan Zhi showed no disappointment, but instead said with satisfaction, "Using him this time was a test. It's good that he's timid; timidity makes him easier to control."

"I believe you. Tell me, what's the next step?"

"Do your job well and don't act rashly."

"Peacock, you've never said anything like that."

"I haven't met any rivals before."

Yuan Zhao asked in confusion, "An opponent? Who? Attendant-in-Ordinary Wei Yao?"

Previously, Emperor Xiaowen had severely reprimanded Yuan Zhao for being foolish. This wasn't actually a reprimand for his lack of intelligence, but rather for Yuan Zhao's disrespect towards Emperor Xiaowen's fourth uncle, the Prince of Qi, which led to his dismissal from office. Yuan Zhi, who had been scheming in the court for many years, chose Yuan Zhao as an accomplice, demonstrating that Yuan Zhao was not only not foolish, but also quick-witted. Of course, Yuan Zhi also valued Yuan Zhao's disrespect for heaven and earth, and his untamed, beast-like nature.

This is the principle behind the saying "animals with the same feet roam together".

“It’s her.” Yuan Zhi reminded his companions: “Don’t underestimate her. She removed my arrangements in the Imperial Kitchen and my chess pieces in the Prince of Guangping’s mansion in just two days. Xue Zhixiao is also crippled. Even if someone helped her in these matters, her own abilities are not to be underestimated.”

Yuan Zhao: "Should we..." He moved his hand slightly, making a "chop" gesture.

"Too late, we can't kill her now." Yuan Zhi lowered his gaze again; Kou Meng was leaving the palace through this door. There was no need to speculate; Kou Meng's hasty arrival must have been at Wei Yao's behest, and his hurried departure must be to return to Wei Yao's side as a guard.

Soon, Prince Yuan Yi of Qinghe, who was on duty that day, presented Wei Yao's memorial to the Dongji Hall, along with a memorial from Attendant-in-Ordinary Gao Xian recommending the Daoist Xiang Ling.

The emperor, having elevated the power of his maternal relatives, was finally able to have his uncle present his memorial. He opened Gao Xian's memorial first, and below, Prince Qinghe saw that the emperor's face was grim.

The Emperor asked, "When Gao Xian entered the Ministry of Personnel to serve, did you teach him?" The Prince of Qinghe quickly replied, "I am also learning about the affairs, and my knowledge is shallow, so I dare not teach Gao Xian."

"What about Zhen Chen?"

Protecting oneself is important. Prince Qinghe replied, "Attendant Zhen often chats with Attendant Gao."

"Slow to learn and yet you spend all your time chatting?" The emperor suppressed his anger and opened Wei Yao's memorial. In fact, the matter he had suggested had been made by a minister during the reign of the late emperor. Unfortunately, the capital had just been moved and various administrative matters were pressing, so the memorial was ignored and no official made the same request again.

As long as the emperor isn't senile, everyone agrees that officials shouldn't compete with the people for profit. Wei Yao mentioned in his memorial that officials engaging in commerce not only condones rampant bribery but also disrupts land and water transportation. Greed fuels ambition; when officials become greedy enough to become like the wealthy merchants Liu, possessing mountains of gold and grain, they will divert the imperial transport routes to their own profit-making schemes. When the goods of the imperial court can no longer fill their coffers, these corrupt officials' ambitions will extend to the surrounding barbarians, even to the Liang dynasty! Selling out the country for personal gain is not an unfounded fear!

This memorial, written with resounding words and a powerful appeal for the country and its people, completely overshadowed Gao Xian's petition. However, no matter how much the emperor resented his uncle's lack of ambition, he couldn't easily discourage him. A mere scholar of immortality was just a figurehead to anyone else. He simply wrote "Approved" on the paper, tossed it onto the side of his desk, and ordered the Prince of Qinghe to relay Wei Yao's proposal to reform the neighborhoods to the ministers of the Ministry of Works and the Secretariat. He instructed the ministers to stay behind after court the next day to discuss the matter.

Prince Qinghe had become much more shrewd than before. He first returned to the Secretariat and found a clever clerk to go outside the palace to find Wei Yao and tell her about tomorrow's meeting.

The officials in the Ministry of Personnel knew this Attendant-in-Ordinary best. What nonsense about serving the country and the people! It must be that Liu Dajia offended her! In the memorial of more than two hundred words, only the sentence "Liu Dajia, who owns mountains of gold and grain" was her true opinion!

"Um... something has come up at home, so I'll have to ask for leave and go back first."

"Together, together! My wife and concubine gave birth to children today. I have to go back and encourage them."

"I suddenly caught a cold, and I feel dizzy and lightheaded, so I'm taking the day off."

Liu Dajia's businesses spanned the entire Wei territory, and countless officials had profited from investing in his businesses. As the minor officials of various departments passed their memorials to each other, they all had a bad feeling: Liu's businesses were about to fail, and they couldn't wait any longer; they had to get their principal back as soon as possible!
As night fell, the wind grew stronger, causing the lanterns to sway. Eunuch Wang Wen, accompanied by several junior eunuchs, walked through the Yongxiang Palace. Wang Wen was the younger brother of Wang Jishu, the Director of the Imperial Kitchen. He held a higher official position than his brother, serving as "Zhongjishizhong," responsible for the nighttime defense of the inner palace. As a result of this duty, he would travel between the inner palace and the outer court every day.

Tonight, he was like a lost soul. When he arrived at Zhu Hua Gate, he almost walked into the flower garden, and then he heard the gatekeepers talking about the Empress's benevolence and kindness.

“It was an enormous difficulty for us, but with just one word from the Empress, my brother was saved.”

"Then you brothers must risk your lives to repay the Empress's kindness, right?"

"What's there to be afraid of risking my life for? It's my blessing to be able to risk my life for the Empress."

Wang Wen stared at his own shadow. The shadow of a person was very different from the shadow of a tree. He knew that the two eunuchs who were talking were deliberately telling him what they were saying.

The Empress is giving him a chance; should he be sensible? If he isn't, his elder brother might really die in the palace prison!
The palace servants were in prison.

After being imprisoned, Liu Teng was exhausted from thinking things through and fell asleep, only to be awakened by a nightmare shortly afterward. He had a feeling that he was in deep trouble this time; entering the palace and being imprisoned was easy, but getting out would be difficult.

"Guards! Guards! I need to see the Grand Chamberlain!"

The eunuch guarding him had a hunched back and mostly gray hair. He seemed deaf and leaned closer to ask, "What?"

Liu Teng gripped the wooden fence tightly with both hands and said, "I have something important to tell the Grand Chamberlain. Go find him quickly, go now."

"Oh, I see. I walk slowly, so please be patient." He said that he was just bragging about how slow he walked, that he was even slow to turn around. What was annoying was that he hummed a folk song as he walked: "Water poured on flat ground flows east, west, north, and south, life is also predestined, how can one sigh and sit in sorrow?"

The soft humming, falling into Liu Teng's ears, was like a heavy stone striking, each word and phrase deadly!