History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 107 Wei Yao's Lecture
Hu Wu bowed respectfully to Liu Zhenzhu, Guo Yun, and Cui Wan, but ignored Wei Yao. Since they had already fallen out, she naturally had to maintain the pride of the Hu clan and could not bow to a lowly commoner first! "Very well, I was just finding the felt tent damp, so I'll sleep in the oxcart from tonight onwards."

Guo Yun and the other two returned the greeting with a heavy heart, but Guo Yun was extremely disgusted: "Can she please stop coming near us in the future? She's so annoying!"

There were two wooden carts, both with their shafts removed, one side raised and the other resting on the ground. Hu Wuwu called over a servant and ordered, "Dig some soil and raise this side." A bunch of despicable people ganged up on her; humph, she was going to sleep comfortably and make them furious!

But after lying down, Hu Wuwu bit her lip hard, and tears still streamed down her face. She had her moments of vulnerability, which only she and the darkness could see.

Tonight, Wei Yao was still the last student to go to bed. Xi Jiao came over on night patrol and, just like last night, added a candle for her.

Wei Yao silently offered her thanks.

"Do you study like this every night?" Xi Jiao couldn't help but ask.

"No, I used to study until midnight."

"Only learned?!" Xi Jiao felt ashamed. He had occasionally stayed up until midnight and then boasted about his diligence. "I have something to tell you. When we were camped in Wuchuan Town for the Great Hunt, the string of grass beads was stolen. This string is to replace it for you." He took out a bamboo-green brocade pouch from his cloth bag and handed it to him.

Wei Yao didn't respond: "I had forgotten about it until Xi Tongmen mentioned it. That string of grass beads really wasn't mine, I..." She gestured to continue reciting her text.

"Alright." Xi Jiao calmly put the brocade pouch back in his pocket. When he walked behind a felt tent, he let his anger run wild, breathing heavily through his nose.

He was even more annoyed when he noticed the horse tied up next to him staring at him and mimicking his breathing!

The novice bracelet was made by picking many grass beads on his hunting trip, then picking them one by one to be the same size and color, and then using a needle and thread for the first time, until his fingertips were all pricked before he strung them together!

"Fine, I'll wear it myself!"

Before dawn, the chickens, ducks, and geese squawked and cawed, disturbing the servants so they slaughtered them and cooked them early.

The villagers gave so many poultry that Wei Yao finally had quite a bit of meat in her bowl.

Hu Wu was listless and found sleeping in the oxcart uncomfortable. The mosquitoes kept biting her until the middle of the night before she could finally fall asleep.

When she saw the three boys from Luoyang queuing for food, she immediately mustered her spirits and joined the queue.

As Feng Xing turned the corner with his bowl in his hand, he indeed saw her.

"Miss Hu".

How did you know my surname is Hu?

"I know when I hear someone calling you. Which student is giving a poetry lecture today?"

Hu Wuwu pouted: "How should I know?"

Feng Xing shrugged. To Hu Wuwu's surprise, the guy actually went towards his two companions and stopped talking to her!

Yuan Yi smiled with satisfaction when he saw Feng Xing approaching. "Not bad, it seems you listened to my advice last night."

"Sigh." Feng Xing sighed, "Actually, even if you didn't try to persuade me, I could tell that this Miss Hu was just playing me. It's pointless. I don't want to follow these students anymore. I came to Pingcheng, but I want to go to the border towns for a visit."

Yuan Yi asked Zong Yin, "I think the same way as Feng Lang, what about you?"

“I’m going back to Luoyang. I listened to your advice last night. It’s not good for me to keep bothering Miss Wei. It’s not bad for her, but it’s bad for me. I need to go back to Luoyang as soon as possible to tell my parents and propose marriage to the Wei family.”

Yuan Yi: "It won't make a difference if it's just one more month. How about this, let's go to the border town together, and after we get back to Luoyang, Feng Xing and I will go to your house to help you persuade your parents, okay?"

Zong Yin was overjoyed and quickly nodded. Pingcheng East Fourth Ward, Chiyang Lane.

Wei Yin, his hair disheveled, came to the kitchen to find his wife. "I've got it," he said. "The Crown Prince knows better than anyone that Zhao Xiu is an incompetent sycophant. So the more outrageous Zhao Xiu is this time, the more it suits the Crown Prince's purposes. The Crown Prince is sending a message to all the powerful figures in the north... He lacks power and capable ministers! Just watch, someone will come to bribe Zhao Xiu."

Zhao Zhi pressed her husband down onto the woodpile, combed his hair and tied it into a bun. She said, "I don't care how the Crown Prince acts, but if anyone dares to harm Yao'er, I will kill him in the North!"

"Yes, my good wife," Wei Yin agreed.

It was bright.

The prefectural government office.

Zhao Xiu scratched and clawed as he went out. Damn it, there were fleas in his bedding last night, which kept him up all night. This time, his back was really itchy.

He didn't know what time it was, the sunlight was blinding, he quickly ate something and went to the training ground. "Hit here!" He pointed to the itchiest spot on his upper back, then turned his back, assumed a horse stance, put his hands on his legs, arched his back and stretched his neck to wait for the stick to fall.

At this moment, Zhao Xiuzhen wasn't looking for trouble. He had short arms, and there was a thorny spot on his back that he couldn't reach no matter what he did; no matter how he rubbed against the wall or the tree, the itchier it got.

Zhao Zhi, dressed in a loose robe and wearing a hood, appeared silently and took the stick from the soldiers.

Outside Pingcheng, there are fields and green fields.

Wei Yao sat among many students and village children, beginning his first lecture in two generations.

"The poem 'Shu Yu Tian' from the 'Zheng Feng' section. The biggest difference between this poem and the others is that it poses a question and then answers it itself. Now, let me recite the poem once..."

With a concise and to-the-point opening, Wei Yao first pointed out the importance of the poem "Shu Yu Tian" in the entire classic, making the village children think that the poem was the most unique, so that they could concentrate on listening.

"Alright, now that I've explained the literal meaning of the poem, let me recite the preface." Wei Yao rearranged the order of her mentor's notes, explaining the poem first, then the preface.

Because the poem endlessly praises Gongshu Duan, the younger brother of Duke Zhuang of Zheng, one can understand the emotion in the last sentence of the preface... The people of the country agree with this.

Furthermore, because "the people of the country said and returned to him," the first sentence in the preface was interpreted as "a satire of Duke Zhuang."

When Wei Yao guided the village children to admire Gongshu Duan's "armor repair and weaponry, which were truly beautiful, benevolent, kind, and martial" just like the "people of the country" in the poem, Wei Yao began to explain Gongshu Duan from the perspective of Duke Zhuang of Zheng.

When the village children felt that Duke Zhuang of Zheng should be the true hegemon, and that all of Gongshu Duan's excellence was merely bestowed upon him by Duke Zhuang, Wei Yao once again reinterpreted the poem's meaning. "Let us disregard the poem's preface and all the ancient interpretations of this poem. When you hear 'Shu Yu Tian,' the person most skilled in hunting and riding, who comes to mind?"

A little boy called out, "We are the head of the five households."

"Nonsense, our neighborhood chief is better at riding horses than yours."

"No, that's not it! The lady meant someone who can both ride a horse and hunt..."

The lively debate drew laughter from Kong Wenzhong and Yuan Fan. The latter remarked, "This is much more lively than the previous two days. The village children listened from beginning to end, and not a single one of them made a fuss."

Kong Wenzhong praised his disciples: "Learning should be like this. If they were to follow my teachings exactly, generation after generation, their knowledge would become narrower and narrower. The teacher's methods should not be forgotten, but disciples should also be encouraged to dare to raise their own understandings of the scriptures and their questions about the interpretations of the ancients. One person's opinion is not as good as a hundred flowers blooming."

“I have learned a lot. If you go to Luoyang in the future, Master Kong can write to me.” Yuan Fan came from the Yuan clan of Chenjun. The Yuan clan’s motto was to uphold purity and humility in learning and never look down on poor students.

Kong Wenzhong nodded with pleasure. This teacher-student relationship was destined from the moment his daughter caught up with him after class, and the question she raised on a piece of paper. At that time, he could see that Wei Yao's understanding of poetry far surpassed that of Cui Zhi and Kong Yu.

(End of this chapter)