History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 436 The Mister Husband
As if by some unseen omen, just as Wei Yao's deductions were getting closer and closer to the root of the evil, in a secluded passage of the palace, General Yuan Zhi of the Imperial Guard dismissed his accompanying patrolmen and patrolled alone from the south end of this passage to the north.

He hadn't walked far when a sudden sense of dread gripped his heart. With this ominous feeling, he quickly looked up at the Big Dipper. Whenever he encountered injustice in his career or felt resentful after someone stole his credit, he would look at the Big Dipper to calm his mind.

His growth is destined to be marked by the machinations and intrigues of treacherous officials! All the injustices and resentments will be settled with interest on the day he achieves success!
"The Milky Way stretches across the land, and the纨绔 (sons of wealthy families) have become thieves. We await the Big Dipper to point east and restore order to the world."

He spoke his wishes to the Big Dipper, imagining that one day he would realize his ambitions. At that time, he would sit in the imperial carriage and slaughter everyone in the court and the country, using the blood of the powerful families flowing everywhere to bury the stench of the corrupt officials. Then he would select officials from among the clerks to the top officials.

Yuan Zhi's gaze shifted, and he saw that the bright moon was half-obscured by a strangely shaped dark cloud, turning the original bright white outline into a yin-yang contrast of white and black.

At the north end of the passage, Yuan Zhao, the Palace Attendant, came alone, carrying a lantern.

His behavior was completely different from Yuan Zhi's; his arrogance was evident on his face. As the two approached, Yuan Zhao asked, "Was the capture of the Xiao Liang assassin successful?"

Yuan Zhi grunted in acknowledgment. Although the place was remote, prolonged patrols would inevitably arouse suspicion. He did not elaborate on the matter, but instead asked Yuan Zhao, "Has Wang Wen, the Palace Attendant, sided with the Empress?"

Yuan Zhao's face was inherently fierce, and his smile revealed a hint of madness. He replied, "Of course. Kind people are the easiest to exploit. Whether it's their true intention or just for show, they all want to appear as brothers. Don't worry, Uncle Wang Ji has already stayed in Xianyang Palace to serve food and drink. Even if that scoundrel Bai Zheng has sided with Wei Yao, he wouldn't dare to arrest anyone from the Empress."

Yuan Zhao then informed him: "We just couldn't find suitable people to kill that eunuch surnamed Chang in the palace prison."

Yuan Zhi had painstakingly planned for many years, and watching his plans crumble step by step was bound to cause him great anxiety. He simply didn't want to show it to the capricious Yuan Zhao. He instructed, "Before the New Year, I'll be busy capturing Xiao Liang spies in the inner city and south of the city. I won't have any free time. You need to find a way to kill Liu Shun. We can't let him fall into Wei Yao's hands and implicate Lu Mu and his pawns."

“Alright, leave this to me.” Yuan Zhao agreed first, then asked, “What if Lu Mu and the others have already been exposed?”

Although he was asking a question, he made a chopping motion with his hand.

Yuan Zhi agreed with the other party, saying, "A hidden piece exposed in the wilderness becomes a useless piece. Kill it if you want, but protect that fire-wielding artist named Liu Huo. He is skilled in illusion magic, and keeping him alive will be of great use. He also has a disciple who has been sent to Jizhou as a Buddhist monk. Find out where his disciple is while you're at it."

“Understood. You can trust me to do things. I will make sure those useless pieces die silently.” Yuan Zhao’s tone was full of disdain for human life. “Liu Huo’s disciple, I remember his Buddhist name is Fa Qing. A piece of chess, don’t even think about escaping our control.”

The two continued their patrol, their strides intersecting, the candlelight casting shifting shadows on their faces, like the interplay of yin and yang.

The moment Yuan Zhi appeared with his back to Yuan Zhao, his fierce expression was even more terrifying.

In the section on encouraging learning.

Wei Yao was engrossed in investigating several murder cases and couldn't fall asleep even as the night deepened. When she heard the temple bells ringing, she paused her thoughts and gently covered Yuan Mao's ears.

Yuan Mao opened his eyes in surprise, and only when he saw that the person in front of him was his wife, Wei Yao, did he come to his senses and tightly covered his heart with her hand.

Wei Yao felt extremely distressed, knowing that while he was supervising the military rations, he must have been living in constant fear, afraid that someone would harm him while he slept. He didn't have memories of both lives, and he would only be fourteen years old the following year. Wei Yao pulled him into her arms, gently patted his back, and said, "I'll stay by your side, go back to sleep."

Yuan Mao has gotten used to sleeping short naps lately. He said, "When I can't sleep at night, I count the stars in the Milky Way."

Wei Yao pulled him up: "Me too, come on, come with me to the yard to count the stars, let's see who gets the count wrong first." "I'll definitely win!" Yuan Mao perked up, grabbed her waist and lifted her up over the threshold, making Wei Yao slap him back because it tickled her.

Upon hearing the commotion, Wei Yin came out carrying a lantern in one hand and a fire poker in the other, and the young couple immediately put on a serious face.

Seeing that nothing was wrong, Wei Yin gave a few instructions and was about to return to his room when Wei Yao asked, "Father, have you been drawing star charts lately?"

“Ah,” Wei Yin explained, “Master Lu of Chongxu Temple found a scroll of records from the late Master Xuan Ye’s school. It says that the sun, moon and stars float in the void, neither following the heavens nor revolving around the earth. They are impermanent and have no roots. So Master Lu and I agreed that if we could see the positions of the five planets every night, we would draw the positions of the five planets and the moon to verify the theory of Xuan Ye’s school.”

Yuan Mao was completely confused.

Wei Yao only knew that there were various schools of thought in astronomy. The earliest ones were Gaitian, Xuanye, and Huntian, and later there were Xintian, Antian, and Qiongtian. She didn't know anything more about them.

She confided in her father about the perplexing cases she had encountered, mentioning the accumulation of resentment from ghosts and the use of their spiritual power to appease the Big Dipper. Wei Yin shook his head and laughed in exasperation: "Although there are differences between celestial and astrological theories, they are both aimed at calculating the laws governing the movement of the heavens, earth, sun, moon, and stars. Each has its own logic and its own calculation method, and the debate has raged over this since ancient times. Those who blindly believe in the legend of the Big Dipper are utterly ignorant fools who do not understand astrology at all! Because they do not understand, they believe that the mysteries are unsolvable."

Looking up at the dazzling night sky, Wei Yin sighed, “The earth beneath our feet is too vast, warm in the south and cold in the north, so we cannot rely on the freezing of rivers and the withering of leaves to determine the seasons. Since we cannot find a marker on the ground to tell future generations about the changing seasons, we look in the sky. In this way, our ancestors found the Big Dipper among thousands of stars.”

"Without my master's discovery, the Big Dipper would just be seven stars; where would its divine and supernatural power come from?"

Yuan Mao joked, "Being superstitious about the Big Dipper is not as good as being superstitious about a water clock. You can hold it every day and even sleep with it in your arms."

Both Wei Yin and Wei Yao were amused.

Yuan Mao then praised, "Father-in-law, your knowledge is truly extensive. When will you be able to teach me? I also want to learn about celestial and astrological theories."

"First, learn to draw five stars." Wei Yin looked happily in the direction his wife was fighting, thinking to himself that broad knowledge is an essential skill for a husband who lives off his wife, otherwise he won't have the confidence to defend the home.

Early in the morning, Huyang County was damp and chilly everywhere, and even the smoke from the wood-burning stove for breakfast didn't smell very good.

Now the elite troops of the Zhengman Army and the main camp of Huyang County have been combined, and the command of the troops has been handed over to Zhao Zhi, with Li Hui, the guerrilla general, as the deputy general, and Diao Zheng as the military commander.

After Zhao Zhi finished her set of punches, she ate while listening to Diao Zheng report the news sent back by spies from the northern border of Yingzhou.

“Cao Jingzong is very cunning. He claims that no one has ever seen him in the government office. In addition, we cannot completely trust the spies who have been temporarily bribed, and the information may also be false.”

Zhao Zhi tilted her head, spat the crumbs from her food onto the ground, and said, "You are the military commander; it is up to you to judge the veracity of the information."

Diao Zheng replied "Yes," but unlike Zhao Zhi, he wasn't carefree. He turned around and instructed the military officer outside the tent: "Check the military rations. Why are they so hard to chew today!"

Li Hui rushed into the tent excitedly and announced, "General, Xiao Liang has sent someone."