History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 431 also contains seven urns.

Yuan Zhi walked behind Wei Yao and suddenly remembered the saying "Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger." He thought that this saying could also be reversed, that is, to guess the king's thoughts through the actions of treacherous ministers.

So, does Wei Yao's open mockery of the two princes mean that the emperor's dislike for Yuan Yu and Yuan Huai has intensified? If so, he must be preparing his next plan, inciting the fool Yuan Yu to hate the emperor and rebel like Yuan Xi!

Upon entering Qinghui Hall, Yuan Zhi dared not be distracted and bowed along with Wei Yao. The respectful bowing was because in his mind, he had replaced Yuan Ke, who was sitting in the emperor's seat at the head of the table, with himself, Yuan Zhi!
He was bowing to his future self, and it was a sincere gesture.

Wei Yao's voice was clear and loud, echoing slightly within the hall: "Your Majesty, the assassin from the Xiao Liang regime who attempted to assassinate me refused to surrender, and the Sizhou government has already shot him dead. The mastermind behind the assassination was named Du Sichong, a trusted military officer of Cao Jingzong, a minister of the Xiao Liang regime. Du Sichong is willing to submit to the legitimate rule of our Wei dynasty. He revealed that there were fifty other assassins who came to Luoyang with him, all subordinates of Cao Jingzong, scattered throughout the inner city and the south of the city. I request that troops be transferred from the residences of the Princes of Jingzhao and Guangping, under the command of General Yuan Zhi, to apprehend these fifty fugitives before the New Year, so that the people may live in peace!"

Yuan Zhi's breathing became heavier in an instant.

As rumored, Wei Yao was cunning; she cleared herself of all suspicion with just a few words! Everything he said before was a lie.

The Emperor nodded with delight: "Perfect timing. Yuan Yu and Yuan Huai just now made a solemn vow to me that they would get rid of their boastful bad habits and work diligently. Yuan Zhi will assist them in this campaign against the villains."

Yuan Zhi was like Wei Yao's shadow; he had no chance to respond to the emperor before he followed Wei Yao to take his leave.

Previously, he was ignored by the emperor, by the Grand Minister of the Imperial Clan, and by his colleagues in the Ministry of Personnel—a situation he had desired, feigning ignorance and refraining from revealing his talents early on. However, the political landscape had changed. Since the death of Yu Lie, the commander of the Imperial Guards, the three most likely contenders for the position—Yu Jin, Zhao Zhi, and Yuan Zhen—were all in limbo: one was mediocre, another was away campaigning against barbarian bandits, and Yuan Zhen had replaced the Prince of Rencheng to garrison Yangzhou. If he continued to remain obscure, once Yu Lie's son, Yu Zhong, finished his mourning period and returned to court, the position of commander of the Imperial Guards would truly be out of his reach!

Before the Prince of Jingzhao had even finished venting his anger, he saw Wei Yao come out. He decided not to stoop to the level of this cunning and treacherous minister. Unexpectedly, just as he straightened his neck and tilted his head, Wei Yao called out to him. He turned his face back too quickly, and with a "crack," he twisted his muscle.

Wei Yao, she's really his nemesis!
With the troublesome task of Xiao Liang's spy handed over, Wei Yao could finally breathe a sigh of relief. She went back to the Secretariat first and heard the commotion in the council chamber from afar. Without even asking, she knew that Gao Xian was reprimanding his subordinates.

Gao Xian was indeed more intelligent than his deceased elder brother Gao Zhao, but Gao Zhao had one advantage that Gao Xian lacked: Gao Zhao knew his knowledge was limited and was willing to learn, while Gao Xian believed that being good at flattery was enough for him to rely on the emperor's favor and abuse his official power for the rest of his life.

When Prince Yuan Yi of Qinghe saw Wei Yao come to the government office, he immediately discussed with her the construction of the Imperial Academy and the National Academy, which were to be discussed in court.

Yuan Yi: "I have heard rumors from the Ministry of Personnel that some officials plan to propose the construction of the Mingtang during the court meeting. Others oppose the construction of the Taixue at this time, arguing that the war in Ying and Yang prefectures is urgent and it is not appropriate to carry out construction work while the army is at war."

As Wei Yao listened, she pondered for a moment and said, "During court discussions, the topic must never veer into the controversy over the construction of the Mingtang! The regulations for the Mingtang have been controversial since ancient times. Whether it is built with five or nine chambers, there are ancient records of the regulations to follow. Even if we argue for a year or two, we may not reach a conclusion." Yuan Yi nodded, admiring Wei Yao even more. He had only heard the news that the Ministry of Personnel wanted to propose building the Mingtang before returning to his residence to search through books and find various records of the Mingtang's regulations. "But the Ministry of Personnel likes to oppose our Ministry of Personnel. They have more people, especially the Minister of Personnel, Guo Zuo. It is he who advocates prioritizing the war effort, making the construction of the border areas an urgent matter, and delaying the construction of the academies to avoid excessive burdening the people."

Wei Yao thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "I know what you mean, but I cannot go to Minister Guo."

Based solely on a few old letters and oral accounts of her ancestors, it's difficult to prove that her great-grandfather was indeed Cui Hao. This explains why, even after she and her mother secured their positions in the court, her father didn't change his surname to "Cui." The implication of Prince Qinghe's words is that Cui Hao was Guo Zuo's uncle-in-law, and if she were to meet with Minister Guo and make a request, he would certainly support the construction of the Imperial Academy during the court assembly.

But who knows if the information the Prince of Qinghe heard was deliberately leaked by someone with ulterior motives? The Ministry of Personnel is the head of the Ministry of Personnel, and in the selection of officials, the Minister of Personnel has more real power than the Vice Minister. She believed that as long as she went to visit Minister Guo's residence, someone would accuse her of forming a faction with Minister Guo. At that time, not only would she be suspected by the emperor and have her path to the Ministry of Personnel cut off, but Minister Guo would also be implicated and might even be transferred out of the Ministry of Personnel.

Wei Yao pondered, imagining the scene of ministers debating during the court meeting, and finally said: "The path of respecting Confucianism and Taoism has never been smooth. We should not be afraid of difficulties. It is nothing more than 'facing the challenge'."

When Prince Qinghe heard her say this, his eyes welled up with tears. He suddenly felt indignant for her. Who said she was a treacherous minister? She was just following the path of a treacherous minister while doing the work of a loyal minister!
When Wei Yao went to the Sizhou government office again, the case of Liu Caidao in the east of the city had been concluded. As she guessed, the real Liu Caidao was dead, and the replacement was surnamed Ke, named Bo Mao. He was originally a low-ranking military officer in the Imperial Guard. He was injured and almost died in the Mangshan martial arts competition in October of the year before last, and retired from the military camp after that.

Ke Bomao's home was in Wuchuan Town. After he stopped being a member of the Imperial Guard, he lived in poverty. Last March, he met Liu Shun, Liu Teng's adopted son. Liu Shun never thought he was ugly and even bought him food to live on, which made Ke Bomao feel at ease to stay in Luoyang.

Once, Liu Shun invited him to the market and told him about a butcher named Liu Caidao who claimed that the salted meat sauce he sold was made from wild boar meat. In reality, Liu Caidao and his family of three were committing evil deeds, luring travelers from all over the country to Luoyang to their home, where they killed them and robbed them of their money.

Liu Caidao and his wife were extremely domineering in their business. As soon as they realized a customer was an ordinary person, even if they only tasted a small bite of their salted meat sauce, they would force the customer to buy it from them. Some travelers they caused contracted diseases, and perhaps because of this, the entire family of three began to develop sores all over their bodies. The local doctors could not cure them. First, Liu Caidao's wife and son died, and then Liu Caidao wailed all day long. The neighbors hated his family and all hoped that he would die soon too.

It was around that time that Ke Bomao, incited by Liu Shun, sneaked into Liu the Butcher's house and, using the same methods he used to harm travelers, killed him and stole his money. Ke Bomao's appearance was identical to Liu the Butcher's; since he was disfigured and unrecognizable anyway, he simply occupied the house and lived alone as Liu the Butcher's widower. As for the former Imperial Guard Ke Bomao, his fate was also tragic; even his disappearance went unnoticed, and no one reported it to the authorities.

Yuan Yu then told Wei Yao a coincidence: "There are many skeletons in the cellar, and the number of urns is the same as the seven urns that Xue Zhixiao hid in the cellar. Ke Bomao confessed that Liu Shun bought all the urns for him."

Wei Yao murmured in confusion, "Seven urns... seven? Is it a coincidence or does it have a symbolic meaning? Are the urns still there?"

Yuan Yu: "I also thought of this, but unfortunately all the urns that the Xue family found were thrown into the dilapidated tile field in the northeast of the city, and they are hard to find. I broke one of the urns from Liu Caidao's house, and the words 'Yuheng' were engraved inside."

Wei Yao: "Yuheng... the Big Dipper!"