So-called capital region refers to four counties and one prefecture in the Eastern Region of the Greater Wei Dynasty, namely Donghe, Pingyang, Hongnong, Huanyang, and Henan Prefecture.
Luoyang County, County Prison.
The old soldier guarding the gate pulled open the doors of the county prison, and two sturdy guards pushed a chubby old woman inside, jostling her as they led her in.
The humid wind mixed with various unknown odors blew right at the elderly, chubby woman, causing her to shiver.
A look of terror flickered across her round face before quickly transforming into one of disgust. With two elbows, the old woman pushed the guards who were holding her arms away from her.
"What are you pushing, pushing? I can walk by myself. In a few days, your county magistrate might even ask me to leave," the chubby old woman said.
The two guards exchanged glances, showing a hint of helplessness on their faces.
"All right, Madam Chen, we won't escort you anymore. Your cell is inside, next to Madam Du," said the older guard on the left.
"Hmph," old woman Chen walked into the room: "Just wait and see. I am the wet nurse of General Wei. Do you not know that General Wei has just returned from a victory in the south?"
The older guard said, "We are just doing our duty. The affairs of the magistrate and the prefect are not something we can question. Please go in."
The three of them gradually walked in and stopped at the entrance of a slightly brighter cell.
The young guard on the right opened the cell's grate and said in a somewhat impatient tone, "Please enter, Madam Chen. We have placed you next to Madam Du."
Inside the cell, the cold ground was only slightly covered with a bit of dry straw in the two corners. Du Shi, who had been brought in earlier, was curled up on a patch of straw, looking as if she were sleeping.
Du Shi was startled awake by the sound of the door opening, and seeing that Chen Shi was also being brought in, she showed a hint of joy.
The elderly woman Chen Shi continued to speak, and her wrinkles on her face also twitched: "How can it be so shabby? Bring me a bed and bedding!"
Before Chen Shi could turn around, she was pushed from behind by the young guard who had just arrived, and she stumbled two steps into the cell.
The young guard muttered under his breath, "You don't even know where you are? You shouldn't act so haughty here."
After speaking, the two guards turned and left.
At the same time, in the residence of General Wei, General Cao Hong, who was in his sixties, was pacing back and forth in a state of urgency.
"How did the wet nurse of General Wei get arrested by the Lord of Luoyang?" Cao Hong asked urgently, turning to the standing butler.
The butler hesitated and said, "This morning, Mrs. Chen went to the eastern market to buy ritual items for worship. Perhaps the shopkeeper or someone else reported it to the authorities, which is why Mrs. Chen was arrested and taken to the prison."
"It's all because of the family of that Lining Princess!" Cao Hong said angrily.
The butler said, "General, should we seek an audience with the Emperor to plead for mercy?"
"Talk, talk, talk! I've just been restored to office for less than half a year; do you want me to lose my position again?" Cao Hong muttered to himself. "What kind of nonsense is this 'Wujian God'? Such indecent worship is something that shouldn't be known to the Emperor."
"If the Emperor knows, the wet nurse will only die even faster!" Cao Hong said, then kneeling down to sit in front of the table: "No, I have to write a letter to Empress Dowager and send it to the palace later."
Cao Hong looked at the butler: "Why didn't you report this to me earlier? You go and send it personally!"
The butler nodded and agreed, not daring to say another word.
That afternoon, inside the residence of Henan Prefect.
Ji Xuan, the Lord of Luoyang, stood helplessly in front of Sima Ji, the Henan Prefect.
The position of Henan Prefect was almost equivalent to the modern mayor of the capital city. The Lord of Luoyang was roughly comparable to the district leader in the core area of the capital.
Ji Xuan said, "Excellency, just now the Empress Dowager Ping sent the Eunuch Wu Da to send a letter to me. This matter involves royalty, and I dare not make a decision. Therefore, I have brought Wu Da outside to wait."
Sima Ji glanced at Ji Xuan. "If you're unwilling to bear the Empress Dowager's order, do you want to pass it on to me to bear?"
Sima Ji also surnamed Sima, and like the current Censor of the State, Sima Yi, he came from Wen County in Henan Province. He is a close branch brother of Sima Yi and has not yet exceeded the fifth ancestor generation.
Sima Ji asked indifferently, "This Eunuch is named Wu Da? What does he say?"
Ji Xuan lowered his head and said, "Of course, we hope to release the wet nurse of General Cao Hong from the county prison..."
Sima Ji knocked on the table: "Go back, and also persuade Wu Da to return. I haven't seen this person, and I haven't heard his words."
Ji Xuan hesitated and said, "Excellency, but what about the Empress Dowager's side...?"
Sima Ji coldly laughed: "What does that matter? Are you also thinking about going to prison?"
Ji Xuan's forehead began to sweat: "I will let Wu Da return to the palace first, and just say..."
"What will you say?" Sima Ji looked at Ji Xuan.
"Just say that the Prefect is not at home right now, and Wu Da cannot see him, which is normal." Ji Xuan said cautiously.
"Go ahead, you don't have to worry about this anymore. I will give the palace an explanation." Sima Ji said indifferently.
"As for Chen Shi and Du Shi, just have them executed in the prison. I will make sure to account to the Emperor."
Ji Xuan felt like he had been granted a great relief and immediately left the house to leave.
Wei followed the Han system, where a county with a population of over 10,000 households was led by a county magistrate, and one with a population below 10,000 households was led by a county administrator.
Ji Xuan was not an incompetent in the general sense. It's just that when it comes to figures of such importance as the Empress Dowager and General Wei, as a six-douan official, he was indeed powerless.
Sima Ji looked at Ji Xuan's departure in the back and thought of what his cousin Sima Yi had told him yesterday. He immediately picked up his pen and began writing a letter to the emperor.
In the north palace, inside the study.
Cao Rui had just finished his archery training in the afternoon and came to the study for a rest. Before he entered, he saw that the Grand Secretary Sun Zhi was waiting there.
"What's the matter?" Cao Rui asked casually.
Sun Zi presented a table in both hands: "Your Majesty, this is the report sent by the Henan Prefect Sima Ji this afternoon. Please take a look."
"Sent to the palace in the afternoon and now it's brought to me? Look at you, Sun Zhongshu," Cao Rui looked at Sun Zhi: "What's so urgent about this matter?"
Sun Zhi whispered: "There is a connection with the Empress Dowager and General Wei."
Cao Rui snatched Sima Ji's table from him and glanced at it briefly before throwing it back into Sun Zhi's chest.
"What's all this?" Cao Rui said, frowning, "What is this 'Wujian God'? How come E Hong's wet nurse and the eunuch of the Linfen Princess would perform such an indecent sacrifice?"
Cao Rui walked into the study, and Sun Zhi followed closely behind.
"The Empress Dowager, the wet nurse of General Wei is the woman who has been arrested and accused of sacrificing to this 'Wujian God'. This god is a deity from the Western Buddhist sect, and it's not clear how it began to appear," Sun Zhi replied.
"This 'Wujian God' is not a big deal. I just want to ask, why can the Empress Dowager send an eunuch directly to the Lord of Luoyang?" Cao Rui asked, frowning.
"I remember when I was still in Luoyang, neither Empress Dowager Ping nor Empress Dowager Guo had ever sent an eunuch directly to the official's office," Cao Rui said.
Sun Zhi replied: "Your Majesty, that is true."
Seeing Sun Zhi's decisive answer, Cao Rui slightly hesitated and asked, "Then was there before? Did it happen during the early period of the reign of Huang Di?"
Sun Zhi thought for a moment: "It happened once before, but then it ceased."
"Explain in detail!" Cao Rui waved his sleeve and leaned against the reclining chair.
"Understood," Sun Zhi said, "Such a thing did not exist during the reign of Emperor Wu."
During the reign of Emperor Wu? Cao Rui mentally chuckled, thinking that Emperor Wu was not yet Emperor Wu during the reign of Emperor Wu, so how could there be a harem?
Sun Zhi continued: "Around the third year of the reign of Huang Di, Your Majesty, the late Emperor led his army in their first campaign against Wu."
"When the late Emperor was away, Empress Dowager Ping frequently sent letters to Rendu Venerable King and Mengqi King. Upon learning of this, the late Emperor was furious and issued a special imperial edict prohibiting the involvement of the harem in politics."
"Is it related to Mengqi King?" Cao Rui frowned. "I remember that the late Emperor issued two edicts about the harem, weren't there one that prohibits eunuchs from holding power?"
"That's correct." Sun Zhi nodded. "In the first year of Yankang, when the late Emperor had just ascended to the title of Wei King but had not yet proclaimed himself emperor, he issued an edict saying 'eunuchs who hold office shall not exceed the title of head officials in various departments,' which has already been inscribed on a stone chamber within the palace."
"The edict prohibiting the harem from interfering in politics was issued in the third year of Huang Chi, after the late Emperor returned to Luoyang," Sun Zhi explained in detail. "In the edict, the late Emperor said, 'Involvement of women in politics is the root of chaos,' and he ordered that ministers could not report matters to the Empress Dowager, and members of the royal clan could not assist in government affairs or be granted titles."
Cao Rui closed his eyes and pondered on the reclining chair for a moment.
Sun Zhi noticed that the emperor was silent and continued to hint, "Your Majesty, this matter is also related to General Chen."
Cao Rui gave Sun Zhi a glance. Although Sun Zhi sometimes inserted personal matters into his speech, just like the case with Jia Kui last time that was exposed by Xin Pi.
But with Sun Zhi's long experience in the palace, if he delved into the root cause of anything, it was hard to avoid him.
"Is this matter related to Chen?" Cao Rui asked.
"I remember that the late Emperor wanted to posthumously enshrine the parents of Empress Dowager Bing," Sun Zhi explained. "But Chen Qun then appealed to the late Emperor, stating that there was never a system in the Zhou Dynasty for posthumous enshrinement of the royal concubines' relatives. It was only when the Qin and Han dynasties violated the Zhou Dynasty's system that there was chaos in the harem."
"This is really something!" Cao Rui praised, surprised. "Really, you can say anything! If you use the example of the Zhou Dynasty, wouldn't all those county lords and town leaders have to be enfeoffed?"
Sun Zhi, who was a marquis himself, wisely chose to remain silent.
Cao Rui shook his head: "It seems that the Empress Dowager is not as quiet in the palace as one might think."
"What about Empress Dowager Guo?" Cao Rui asked.
Sun Zhi spoke carefully: "Empress Dowager Guo has not been involved in these affairs."
Cao Rui nodded. Empress Dowager Guo being a stepmother, it was quite good that Cao Rui did not trouble her. Now that she was behaving herself in the palace and seemed to be quite aware of her place, it was likely that she was also rather prudent.
Cao Rui took a deep breath: "I have another question. How could Cao Hong act in such a manner and submit this report to the Empress Dowager for such a small matter, which violated the edict of the late Emperor?"
Sun Zhi thought for a moment and whispered in reply: "That is correct."
"The eunuch who the Empress Dowager sent to find the Lord of Luoyang, where is he?" Cao Rui frowned. "Order, have him beaten to death."
(Chapter ends)
