History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

From the moment the investigation into the private sale of official positions in Guangping and Jingzhao Prince's mansions began, Wei Yao suspected that a powerful figure surnamed "Yuan" was undermining the law. Why would someone go to such lengths to orchestrate this, anticipating the Emperor's desire to eliminate his uncles and other princes, and attempting to control the young princes? Undoubtedly, it was to overthrow the court and seize the throne! The Emperor was well aware of this, which is why he allowed her to establish a vast network of spies and suppressed all memorials impeaching her for abusing her power.

Later, based on a suggestion from the eunuch Yang Fan, who was trying to curry favor with her, Wei Yao guessed that Yuan Zhi was the mastermind she was looking for. Yuan Zhi was a sixth-generation descendant of Tuoba Gu, the younger brother of Emperor Zhaocheng. After entering officialdom, he made many meritorious contributions, but because of his taciturn and reserved nature, he was ignored by the other princes and ministers. The Yuan Zhi that Wei Yao learned about was very observant of etiquette and rules. However, this well-behaved and taciturn man suddenly lost his composure and inquired about her from the eunuch Yang, who was close to the emperor.

This shows that Yuan Zhi lost his composure at that time.

One mistake was enough for Wei Yao to expose this person's years of pretense.

As for Yuan Zhao, the Palace Attendant, Wei Yao had the idea of ​​testing him after learning that he was recommended by Yuan Hui, the former Attendant-in-Ordinary.

At the time, Yuan Hui was about to leave for Hengzhou and worried that he would not be able to return to the capital in the future. Naturally, he wanted to keep a backup plan to flatter the emperor in his place. Wei Yao did not think that Yuan Hui would be foolish enough to recommend the hot-tempered Yuan Zhao as a palace attendant simply because of their cousin relationship. Therefore, she used the incident of the cavalry guards summoning Yuan Zhao to make all the ministers complain about him. As she expected, Yuan Zhao, who was known for his hot temper, chose to swallow his anger and avoided her in the palace. He has not taken any measures to retaliate against her until now.

Unfortunately, Wei Yao suspected that Yuan Zhao was an accomplice of Yuan Zhi, but she had no concrete evidence of his motives. She only found out that the Empress had sent palace maids to communicate with Yuan Zhao. From this, she deduced that the Empress had rescued Wang Jishu from the palace prison to help Yuan Zhao cover up his treacherous intentions. Also, because the Yu family behind the Empress was on good terms with Yuan Zhao, Wei Yao boldly speculated that the "traveler" who was followed and lost by Hu Sou on the way to escort "Xue Zhixiao" into the palace was very likely Yu Zhong!
Even if there is concrete evidence, it may not be useful if the empress is involved, let alone all of it being speculation.

Wei Yao poured out the water, drowning the names she and the Prince of Pengcheng had written.

As the banquet ended, a light spring rain soaked Luoyang, causing delicate flowers and green leaves to stretch and bloom in the thin layer of water.

As evening approached, Wei Yao alighted from the carriage and hurried into the palace. Her reflection was barely visible in the puddles when her boots swayed and wobbled underfoot.

When the officials of the Ministry of Personnel learned that she had entered the palace at this hour, they dared not leave their posts. They all speculated about what had happened. The officials who had been sent to inquire returned and informed the supervisors, ministers, and other officials: "The Minister of Personnel went to Qinghui Hall. On the way there, his official robes were splashed by water. The Minister of Personnel was furious. The eunuch in charge of the middle of the road is in trouble."

Left Minister Yuan Huai came out of the council chamber, looked at the gray sky and the still-falling rain, and sighed.

His subordinate official, worried that he might catch a cold, held up his bamboo hat to shield his head and asked, "Is the Minister worried about the drought in the northern barbarians again?"

Yuan Huai nodded: "It would be so much better if this rain fell on the drought-stricken areas."

The official said, “The Minister’s wish reminds me of what the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat said that day… She said she hoped that remote prefectures and counties could one day also be peaceful and prosperous. Only when the land of Wei is as prosperous as Luoyang can it be truly powerful.”

Yuan Huai still frowned, and after a moment of silence, he said, "I hope these words are truly what she thinks."

In Qinghui Hall.

After Wei Yao paid her respects to the emperor, before she could even report the matter, the emperor handed her several memorials and said, "The officials who transported grain to the Qibo County military camp colluded and neglected their duties. Zhen Chen submitted a memorial requesting the court to send a high-ranking official to the front-line camp to comfort the soldiers and quell their discontent. What do you think? Do you think it is more appropriate to send Zhen Chen or Gao Xian?"

Wei Yao: "Both Attendants are acceptable, but if I had to choose one, I think it would be better to let Zhen Chen go this time."

The emperor showed no displeasure: "Tell me the reason."

Wei Yao: "The reason is related to what I have come to report. I have learned that Xiao Yan has appeared in Yingzhou!"

The Emperor knew that Wei Yao was cautious by nature; if she dared to say such a thing, then Xiao Yan might very well have personally gone to Yingzhou to oversee the war! Xiao Yan was skilled in both civil and military affairs, especially in divination and weather analysis; therefore, what should have been a lucrative path to merit had instantly become a perilous one leading to his death when facing Xiao Yan. The Emperor's only consolation was that Wei Yao's recommendation of Zhen Chen to repair Bo County had dispelled his suspicions.

He had met Gao Xian several times before, and Gao Xian had expressed his fear of being harmed by Wei Yao. The emperor was not unaware that his uncle had ambitions to seize power, but after hearing such talk so often, he couldn't help but suspect that Wei Yao was now eyeing the position of "Minister of State". Wei Yao was always far-sighted, and perhaps he really did have the idea of ​​killing his uncle Gao Xian in advance to secure the real power of the prime minister.

As the most treacherous minister, Wei Yao never posed a difficult question to the emperor. Observing the emperor's expression, she immediately said, "I believe that the grain transport officials are greedy and derelict in their duties. There are precedents for this, as seen in the battles of Yiyang and Shouchun. Why doesn't Your Majesty send two supervisors to Qibo County and Yangzhou respectively?"

The emperor hesitated: "Let Gao Xian go to Yangzhou... The battlefield in Yangzhou is large, and Yuan Ying and Yuan Zhen are still vying for power. It will be difficult for Gao Xian to make great contributions if he goes there."

Both the emperor and his ministers knew that transporting grain wouldn't bring much merit. The real credit would come from the battlefield camp, where the generals would lead Gao Xian to victory against the enemy. Yuan Zhen arrived in Yangzhou late and couldn't compete with Yuan Ying. Yuan Ying was warlike, but had suffered many defeats. If Gao Xian was taken along, he shouldn't be left stranded in the Liang army's camp.

Wei Yao: "I know Your Majesty is worried, therefore I recommend that Prince Rencheng and Gao Xian go together."

Prince Rencheng, Yuan Cheng, had served as the commander-in-chief of the Rouran campaign, had accompanied the late emperor on his southern expedition, and had experience as a local governor. He had also been in charge of the large-scale military training in the capital region. If he were to lead Gao Xian to Yangzhou, neither Yuan Ying nor Yuan Zhen would dare to harbor any ill intentions. At that time, it would not be difficult for the three imperial clansmen and ministers to lead Gao Xian and the Liang army to fight a few small-scale battles.

Wei Yao and the Prince of Pengcheng made the right bet!
The emperor was paranoid and suspected that Wei Yao was having an affair with the Prince of Rencheng. So when he issued the edict, he wrote that the Prince of Pengcheng and Gao Xian went to Yangzhou together!

Gao Xian was both happy and worried after receiving the imperial edict. So he went to see the immortal doctor Xiang Ling and said with concern, "As the saying goes, swords and arrows have no eyes. Can you cast a divination for me and tell me whether my journey will be good or bad?"

If things turn bad, he can feign illness and avoid going to Yangzhou. He is the emperor's uncle, so even if the emperor is angry with him, he certainly won't punish him!
Xiangling now possessed an even more otherworldly air than before. After careful calculation, he declared, "The divination is extremely auspicious! Your journey will be like a roc spreading its wings, no longer bound by the currents of the sea!"

Gao Xian's worries vanished instantly, and he set off in high spirits.

But when the army left the city gate, he couldn't laugh anymore. He shook his head and blinked, wondering if he was seeing things. How could he see Wei Yao and Xiang Ling standing together in the crowd?

No, he's mistaken, he's absolutely mistaken!

Gao Xian was in a panic when Yuan Xie, annoyed by his slowness, rode back and whipped his mount, causing it to ache. He then carried Gao Xian at breakneck speed, disappearing into the dust of the vast army.

Gao Xian wasn't seeing things; Wei Yao and Xiang Ling had indeed come together to watch the army leave the city. Poor Gao Xian only knew Xiang Ling was Lu Tianshi's disciple, unaware that Lu Tianshi also had a disciple and friend, Wei Yin.

Xiangling smiled and said, "The divination I performed that day was true, but I was doing it for Prince Pengcheng."

Wei Yao: "The departure of the Prince of Pengcheng will not only cause headaches for the Liang court, but also for us ministers."

The emperor personally handed over command of an army of over 100,000 to Yuan Xie. It was impossible to take it back or try to use the uncle-nephew relationship to summon Yuan Xie back to the capital as before!

She murmured to herself, "The wind is rising. May this wind give the Kunpeng strength to soar to the heavens, and from then on, I will borrow the Kunpeng's power to survey the world together. Your Majesty, what will you do when you discover that the Kunpeng's wings cannot be severed?" (End of Chapter)