History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 114 The Abnormalities of Huwu House

Qu Rong knew that being obsessed with supernatural tales was wrong and would interfere with his studies, but he became more and more engrossed in it each day. After reading the story of "Lu Ji Mo," he would go to various bookstores every day after school to look for stories and manuscripts. He found that the ones written by the scholars of Xiao Qi were better than those written by the scholars of Da Wei.

However, Qu Rong's constant reading without buying books had already drawn the attention of the bookstore clerks. The only bookstore that didn't chase him away was Yingju Bookstore, because Wei Mao had returned, and he didn't dare go there anymore.

A few days ago, Qu Rong, having run out of stories to read, had the idea to write one himself, and finished it in just two nights. Fueled by this enthusiasm, he took it to a bookstore he'd never been to before at the far east end of Zhuji Street to see if he could sell it. The shopkeeper did show interest, but after reading it from beginning to end, he still refused.

Qu Rong came to this bookstore again today. He revised the storyline and wanted to see if the shopkeeper could read it again.

The servant informed them, "The manager has gone out, but should be back in a while."

Qu Rong: "Then I'll read and wait for him." He picked up the bamboo slips and flipped through them, finding the pile of strange tales. Unexpectedly, the first scroll he opened contained almost the same content as what he had written before, only the names of the characters had been changed!

Ah… he understood! The shopkeeper had remembered the story he wrote, pretending to refuse but actually plagiarizing it.

Qu Rong walked out of the bookstore, dejected and not daring to cause trouble. He knew that everyone who could run a shop on this street was both rich and powerful. As he passed Dongyue Flower Shop, Fei Ming, carrying flowerpots, was on the ground along with the potted plants when another servant pointed at him and cursed, "What else can you do?"

"I didn't mean to, my leg is bad."

"What does your leg injury have to do with me?"

"The flower is fine, just change its pot."

"You make it sound so easy!"

Qu Rong, completely oblivious, helped Fei Ming up, not even bothering to see who he was helping, and continued walking in a daze.

But Feiming recognized him.

The backyard of the prefectural government office.

Yu Jin finally met Zhao Xiu, the attendant sent by the Crown Prince.

The prefect introduced, "Attendant Zhao is Yu Jin, the younger brother of General Yu Lie, and is currently the garrison commander of Woye Town."

Yu Jin clasped his hands in a fist and smiled, saying, "Does Attendant Zhao still remember me? We met before in the old palace."

Zhao Xiu shook his head. He thought to himself, "I don't even remember myself, how could I possibly remember you?"
Yu Jin didn't feel awkward, after all, Attendant Zhao's status was different now than before. He tried to make conversation by asking, "Does the Crown Prince still enjoy reading as much as before?"

Zhao Xiu nodded. The fierce warrior who liked to beat people gave the order that no matter what anyone asked him, if he found it difficult to answer, he should shake his head and nod at the same time. If he got annoyed by the questions, he should pretend to be asleep.

"What does Attendant Zhao think of the northern region now?"

Zhao Xiu shook his head.

Yu Jin sighed with a worried expression, "Alas, the imperial court is fighting in the south every year, while we six garrisons are only responsible for border defense and it is difficult for us to make any contributions. It is indeed much worse than before the capital was moved. Governor Yuan went to Wuchuan Garrison some time ago and should know about it."

That's true. Governor Yuan said, "The weapons and warhorses in Wuchuan Town are due for replacement."

Yu Jin: "The key issue is the population of the town. It increases year by year, but there isn't enough pasture and paddy fields to go around."

Zhao Xiu looked at the two men separately, first nodding and then shaking his head.

Yu Jin's heart skipped a beat. What did this mean? Could it be that the Crown Prince valued Wuchuan Town more than his Woye Town?

"Attendant Zhao, I have also arranged for carriages and horses to be sent to the Crown Prince's Palace. However, the carriages are slow and will not arrive in Pingcheng for another two days. I will need to trouble Attendant Zhao to take a look beforehand and see which gifts the Crown Prince likes and which he does not."

Zhao Xiu, being greedy by nature, forgot Zhao Zhi's instructions and burst into laughter: "Haha, as long as it's a gift, I like it!"

Governor Yuan stood up: "How about we leave it at that for today? I think Attendant Zhao looks a bit tired."

Zhao Xiu's face darkened, and he belatedly began to recall Yu Jin's mention of "Eastern Palace, Crown Prince".

Yu Jin wasn't stupid. After following Yuan Zhi out, he asked suspiciously, "Has Attendant Zhao become so taciturn since arriving in Pingcheng?" "You've noticed something's wrong too? To be honest, the Crown Prince sent two trusted confidants this time. Besides Zhao Xiu, there's also Xue Zhixiao, a military officer. The two don't get along at all. Xue Zhixiao has only been here a few days, but he's already using a hand injury as an excuse to stay at the guesthouse to recuperate. Do you want to see Xue Zhixiao?"

Yu Jin shook his head: "No need." His brother's letter only instructed him to meet with the former servants of the Eastern Palace, without mentioning any of the Tiger Guards' names.

Yuan Zhi became even more convinced that Xue Zhixiao's mission was a pretext for the Eastern Palace.

On June 18th, when the results of the monthly exam on the Book of Songs came out, Wei Yao and the other traveling students had already passed the Wuzhou Mountain Grottoes and arrived at Wuzhou County.

On June 24, the traveling group entered Guoshan County, southeast of Pingcheng.

On this day, the head of Futu, the son of the Rouran Khan, was delivered to the main camp of Xuanhu. This unexpected surprise cured Emperor Yuan Hong's illness, and Yuan Hong ordered Yu Lie to accompany him, and the emperor and his ministers hurriedly returned to Luoyang.

In Wei Yao's previous life, the emperor only ordered the troops to return to the capital after he recovered from his illness in September.

To the east of Guoshan County lies Hengshan Mountain, where fine trees grow deep within, bearing lush, tender leaves. These leaves, after being steamed several times using special methods by tea craftsmen, become a tea exclusively supplied to the powerful and wealthy of Pingcheng. Because of its mellow flavor and the longevity-promoting effects, this tea is known as "Hengshan Laodao Tea."

There are many temples surrounding Ershan Mountain, the most famous of which are the Hanging Temple and Yue Du Temple. However, many students have lost interest in sightseeing because the date of the joint entrance examination is getting closer and closer. They have broadened their horizons in the past month, but they have fallen behind in their studies.

Therefore, whenever the group stopped, Wei Yao's notes would be passed around and copied, and they would be read in turn every night.

The pageboy Xing Hang also went to copy it, returning to his tent late at night. Hu Wuwu, hearing the commotion, opened his eyes and asked, "Did you copy the notes on the 'Tang Feng' section?"

Xing Hang hummed in agreement and lay down.

"Can I borrow it to copy?"

"No."

Xing Hang coldly refused, thinking to himself: If you're so high and mighty, why don't you go and ask the disciples at the Free School for guidance? If you're so capable, then keep being high and mighty.

Hu Wuwu didn't take it seriously. She still asked in a friendly tone, "Isn't it strange? They are all disciples of Confucius, so why do they all think that Miss Wei's notes are the most complete? Is it possible that even Kong Milang is not as good as Miss Wei?"

Xing Hang remained silent.

Hu Wuwu: "Ahang, I know you think I'm a malicious person, jealous, and not worth befriending."

Xing Hang couldn't help but let out a soft "humph," and could only say, "I didn't say that, don't wrong me!"

"Then tell me the truth, do you think I'm stupid?"

"If you're stupid, then there are no smart people in this world."

"Heh." Hu Wuwu's laughter was tinged with undisguised resentment. "But when I got to the state academy, my grades were almost at the bottom! To get into Cui Academy and hear famous teachers lecture on poetry, I, a noble lady, could only be a page. Ah Hang, I'm not convinced! I'm not dumber than others, so why can't I pass the exams? Why can't I pass the exams of Wei Yao, Guo Yun, and Liu Zhenzhu? I'm not convinced!"

"What exactly are you trying to say? I'm so sleepy!" Xing Hang sat up impatiently.

"I need your help. This is my last request. Let's study together these next few days and cram together to surpass the students at Cui Academy in the joint entrance exam. What do you say?"

"How could you possibly surpass them? I think you're crazy! I'm going to sleep, so don't bother me anymore. Also, if you really want to learn, don't waste your time figuring out how to learn from others. Tomorrow, go and line up with me to copy their notes."

Hu Wuwu watched Xing Hang lying with his back to her. She grinned, but her smile was stiff and tinged with madness.

Xing Hang quickly fell asleep.

Hu Wuwu's eyes brightened as he whispered to himself, "I gave you a chance."

Hengshan Laodao Tea: In 2022, the craftsmanship of Hengshan Laodao Tea was included in the seventh batch of intangible cultural heritage projects in Datong City.

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(End of this chapter)