History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 166 Inquiring about someone
Yuan Cheng went to Guangmo Gate, which is located east of the second northern city gate of Luoyang. The name Guangmo means "great" and comes from the saying "There are eight winds in the sky, and Guangmo is located in the north".

If there really were some fools wearing hoods entering Luoyang, there's no need to guess; they were definitely Xianbei people from several northern prefectures. Whether entering or leaving the city, they almost always passed through Guangmomen.

When Yuan Cheng, in a fit of pique, insisted on arresting several people who violated the court's rules and regulations, the emperor, after court, kept the crown prince behind and asked, "What do you think of my reprimand of the Prince of Rencheng?"

Yuan Ke was at his wit's end. He'd been having nightmares about this question lately; whether he dreamt of flowers or wild animals, they all ended up speaking in human language, asking, "What do you think about this?" before waking him up.

Yuan Ke pondered for a moment before answering, “On a small scale, Father Emperor’s ban on wearing nomadic clothing is about establishing proper etiquette and customs, so that our Xianbei people can change their customs from the northern frontier. In the long run, Father Emperor wants the whole world to know that our Wei Dynasty is the true successor to the Chinese civilization!”

"The decree to reform the dress code began at the end of the fifteenth year of the Taihe reign. In the twentieth year, the dress codes for the six palaces were established. The Emperor gave Prince Rencheng ample time, but to this day, Prince Rencheng has not taken it seriously. If the officials in charge of this matter do not respect this decree, then the subordinate officials who carry it out will be observant and become a disorganized mess."

"Your subject recently read the 'Shuolin' and was deeply moved by Huizi's words. Huizi said, 'Why is it that even with ten people planting something that is easy to grow, they cannot defeat one person? It is because planting is difficult, while removing it is easy.'"

"Your subject believes that Huizi's words serve as a warning for both interpersonal relationships and government policies. Yesterday, the gatekeepers who were in charge of the city gates did not arrest the common people wearing hoods, but instead allowed them to enter the city. So today, there will be many more people wearing hoods in the city! Ten days later, a hundred days later, in the dead of winter, countless people wearing hoods will turn the capital into a pasture in the north!"

"Therefore, those who dare to enter Luoyang wearing hoods today do not have the courage of a hat; they have brazenly and openly displayed their treacherous intentions to challenge the court on their heads!"

Emperor Yuan Hong became increasingly satisfied as he listened. At this moment, a military report from Wuchuan Town was presented, stating that the Rouran had begun to fall into internal strife due to the death of Futu, and that Khan Nagai had disappeared in an attack.

Yuan Hong gave the military intelligence to his men and asked with a smile, "What do you think about the Rouran internal strife?"

In fact, along with this news of victory, another urgent document arrived in the capital that caused trouble was a report on archery figures submitted by Yuan Zhi, the prefect of Hengzhou.

The document attached to Yuan Zhi states that a thief broke into Feng Xi's former residence in Pingcheng to steal things. After being discovered by patrolling soldiers, the thief confessed and then said that there was a baby crying in a Buddhist hall in Feng's residence. It did not seem like a place for worshiping Buddha, but rather like a gloomy ghost house. Therefore, Yuan Zhi personally went into the Buddhist hall and dug out a complete archery puppet and fragments of wooden puppets.

The puppet was involved in curses and witchcraft, as well as the late Grand Tutor Feng Xi and the Empress Da Feng, who was not deposed. The Director of the Imperial Secretariat sent the puppet to the Department of Divination, where it was first examined and then presented to His Majesty with a separate document.

On the other hand, when Prince Rencheng Yuancheng arrived at Guangmo Gate, the northern part of the city had the fewest ordinary residents, but there were many caravans going in and out of the city. This was because the other gate of the northern city was close to the parade ground, and the Imperial Guards and Tiger Warriors frequently entered and exited.

Damn it! He hadn't even warmed his feet when he saw not only people wearing hoods among those entering the city, but also people who had just left the city gate and immediately put on their hoods.

Is the wind stronger outside the city gate than inside?

"Sniff sniff sniff—" Yuan Cheng sniffed. There was a breeze, carrying the smell of cooked mutton. It wasn't gamey at all; it must be from the desert sheep.

Yuan Cheng followed the scent out of the city gate and found the food stall precisely. The family making meat soup were all wearing hoods. While waiting for the soup, Yuan Cheng asked, "Didn't the court forbid..." He pointed to the top of his head.

The old man scooping the meat pretended his hands were shaking and dropped the largest piece of meat back into the pot.

Yuan Cheng cursed under his breath: "Damn it, you asked too early."

A woman who had just skinned a sheep and was hanging the whole sheep on a hook said in broken Han Chinese, “Our family is poor and can’t get a good spot to do business. This place is in the wind, and if you don’t wear a hat, you’ll easily get sick and have to take medicine.”

"Aren't you afraid the guards will check on you? What if they confiscate your sheep and stalls and forbid you from doing business here?"

"No, we do this every day, and nobody cares."

For the first time, Yuan Cheng found meat tasteless. One reason was his shame at his own negligence in governing and managing the officials in the neighborhoods and city gates. Another reason was... he had easily ascertained that some commoners wore hoods year-round, and His Majesty should be more aware of this situation. What he saw and heard now was different from what His Majesty had reprimanded in court.

Yuan Cheng didn't think His Majesty was being lenient with him; otherwise, why would he have the historians record it? He always felt that His Majesty had just randomly found something wrong to reprimand him.

why?

At the same time, Cao of the Divine Department.

Xi Jian and Wei Yi were also drinking mutton soup, but of course, they had to drink it behind closed doors, otherwise the witches who would be following the smell and scratching at the door would be too scary, the sound of their fingernails scratching the door panel was like a hungry ghost pushing a wheel.

Whenever Wei Yi was on duty, he would patrol around the Taiji Hall, and thus he knew that His Majesty had reprimanded the Prince of Rencheng. He immediately told Xi Jian everything he had heard.

Xi Jian: "The fact that Prince Rencheng was reprimanded proves that our first step in the plan has succeeded. The next step is to report the matter of the puppet shooter to the palace, so that His Majesty will despise unruly monks and nuns like Sengzhi. Now the only variable is to see what Yuan Chuntuo's forces can find out in Hengzhou."

Wei Yi: "Hmph, if crucial evidence is found, it only proves that Yuan Zhi is an idiot!"

"We're already on his pirate ship, let's get to shore safely first. By the way, I want to ask you about someone. When my aunt was alive, she had a son who was sent to your father by my father. You must know about this. Tell me, is my aunt's child alright?"

“I can’t tell you. My father gave instructions that as long as he doesn’t revert to the surname Cui, he should be allowed to live a peaceful life.”

"Living a peaceful life, that's good, that's good."

Pingcheng, Governor's Mansion.

Wei Mao, carrying two large food boxes, arrived at the temporary residence of Wei Yin, led by a clerk. One food box contained four kinds of food to be eaten immediately.

The other food box contained a small quantity of various items: four types of tea, four types of rice cakes, and four types of snacks. The snacks were fresh almonds, honey-coated walnuts, red dates, and pine nuts.

Wei Mao put down the food box and took his leave as if he had done something wrong.

Upon opening the food box, Wei Yin immediately understood, and laughed in exasperation. This little brat had brought four different dishes—was he trying to integrate into his family and make it a family of four? Wei Yin had a small appetite, so he only took a bowl of meat porridge and gave the rest to the clerks in the surrounding offices.

Soon, Yuan Zhi learned of this, and like a pufferfish holding its breath, he couldn't wait to vent his anger! He stormed into the registrar's office, sat down, and complained, "Tell me, that wilted fellow struggles to even carry a bucket of water, how come he's so lucky?!"

Without needing to discern the content, Clerk Gou could tell from the official's sarcastic expression that he was criticizing Master Wei Yin. He mocked whoever paid him and whomever he was speaking up for, saying, "Hey, I saw it the other day; he can still lift that small bucket of water."

"Hmph." Yuan Zhi let out a sour laugh, then added sarcastically, "Wei Yi raised a son for ten years, and in the end, he raised a thankless wretch!"

The book *Shuolin* records, "Even with ten people planting an easy-to-grow poplar tree, it cannot withstand being uprooted by one person. Why is that? Because planting is difficult, but uprooting is easy."

Also, as I forgot to explain in the previous chapter, the record of Emperor Xiaowen reprimanding the Prince of Dicheng can be found in the "Biography of Yuan Cheng" in the Book of Wei.

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(End of this chapter)