History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 115 Erzhu Rong and Huwu House

She held the blanket between her legs, dragged it down to Xing Hang's feet in a lying position, and then, suppressing her fear, sewed the blanket at her feet to Xing Hang's.

A snake darted past.

Hu Wuwu didn't catch the snake intentionally; she didn't have the ability or courage. The snake crawled into their tent when Xing Hang went to copy notes. Hu Wuwu was terrified and, in a moment of quick thinking, covered the snake with a blanket.

When she was in Yonggu County, the local children played with Hu Wuwu and described several kinds of venomous snakes to her. This snake had the exact same pattern as the five-step snake!
If bitten by this kind of flower snake, death will occur within five steps!
Hu Wu didn't call for help, nor did she throw the blanket and snake out of the tent. Instead, a sorrowful thought popped into her head: If I were bitten to death by a snake, Xing Hang would be very happy, wouldn't he? Zhang Wenzhi and Xin Chun from the poetry club would be so happy they'd be worshipping Buddha, wouldn't they? If I were bitten to death by a snake, at most those traveling students would say, "Hu Wu is really unlucky," and then I would be gone from the world.
Why! !
Hu Wuwu mustered his courage and pressed down on the blanket, while the snake inside struggled and attacked fiercely: "Shh, shh... I can't let you come for nothing. Let's see together the faces of those people after Xing Hang was poisoned to death, okay? Do you want to see? Hehe, I want to see."

That's the reason.

As soon as the snake entered Xing Hang's bed, Hu Wuwu quickly rolled back to its place. The moment its head settled on the pillow, Xing Hang was bitten by the snake.

"Ah—what is that, ah what is that!" Xing Hang was more afraid than the bite, and she scrambled out of the room.

Hu Wuwu followed closely behind, feigning panic, and counting, "One, two, three, four, five."

"Help! I've been bitten! Something got into our tent, and I don't know what it is..." Xing Hang cried to the servant on night watch.

"One, two, three, four, five, one, two, three, four, five..." Hu Wuwu counted faster and faster in his mind, and became angrier and angrier as he counted!

The snake was caught by the servants. Xing Hang was not only unharmed, but his cries were also very loud.

Wei Yao and the other students who lived nearby all came to see what had happened. The Cui clan's healer also arrived and examined Xing Hang's wound. "It's alright, the snake wasn't poisonous."

"Waaah—" Hu Wu suddenly squatted down and cried bitterly, as if she had just realized what had happened and was filled with lingering fear. "I was so scared, waaah, I was so scared." Damn village boy! Well, she was foolish this time, actually believing the ignorant village boy's words. But it wasn't all for nothing. She gained courage, the courage she had never had before—the courage to kill!

Because of the snake infestation in the middle of the night and the approaching joint examination, the students from the primary schools set off for Pingcheng the next day. Xing Hang and Hu Wuwu, the two servants, also left ahead of time with some of the supplies from Cui Xueguan.

Confucius, Yuan Fan, the three officials from Luoyang, along with their disciples who were instructing others, and four imperial princes—Yuan Jingrong, Yuan Heng, Yuan Zizhi, and Yuan Ning—visited the Hanging Temple.

On June 26th, Xunyi Academy finally completed its tour of the four counties of Pingcheng (east, south, west, and north), and on the return journey, it stopped again on the banks of the Sanggan River. The setting sun turned the distant mountains and the nearby river surface red, and countless birds flew about, carrying twigs and dipping into the water, rising and falling among the patches of grass, their cries echoing across the fields.

Wei Yao and Guo Yun ran happily hand in hand along the shore.

Yuan Jingrong and Yuan Ning rushed into the river to scare away the water birds.

Kong Mi, Liu Zhenzhu, Cui Shang, and Cui Wanwan shouted loudly towards the sky and the distant mountains.

Xi Jiao, Yuan Heng, and Yuan Zizhi rode their horses to bathe in the river.

At this moment, the students' laughter and chatter blended seamlessly with the natural scenery. Overwhelmed with emotion, Yuan Fan spontaneously sang: "The water flows gently, the light shines brilliantly, above I see the green banks, and along the riverbanks, the rosy clouds drift."

Confucius beat the drum in response.

Meanwhile, at Cui Xueguan.

The choir.

With a "plop" and a scream, splashes of water hit the stone pavilion, and Hu Wuwu fell into the fish-viewing pond.

The person who pushed her was Erzhu Rong.

Erzhu Rong arrived in Pingcheng yesterday. After meeting with the Yuan governor with his father, he was then shoved into Cui's school by his father.

The child was too young, and because he had to study poetry with Kong Wen, he had to enroll halfway through his studies. Since he didn't know many characters, he brought his tutor with him. This tutor was skilled in both literature and martial arts, and was also a member of the Qihu tribe. His duty was to accompany the young master to class, help him take notes, and intensively study his vocabulary. When Erzhu Rong was in Wuchuan Town, the teacher he truly wanted to study under was that masked warrior in a wide robe and low-brimmed hat. However, such a mischievous child was unpredictable. After returning to his hometown of Xiurongchuan, Erzhu Rong changed his mind and refused to go to Pingcheng. He hid in the Qilian Lake high in the mountains, and it was only after his father, Erzhu Xinxing, sent over a hundred tribesmen that the unruly child was finally captured and brought down the mountain.

They beat us all the way to Pingcheng and still wouldn't behave!

Yesterday at the governor's mansion, the mischievous child pretended to whisper to Governor Yuan, and then ripped off the embroidered eye patch that Yuan Zhi was using to protect his injured eye.

Closer to home.

Before the teachers and students of Xunyi Academy had returned to the academy, Director Cui arranged for Erzhu Rong to officially start classes on the third day of the seventh lunar month. During this period, Erzhu Rong was free to play around in the academy and familiarize himself with the environment.

Hearing about a giant bear named "Black Whirlwind," the child dragged his teacher, Erzhu Rong, to the Guchang Bird Forest for a visit. Erzhu Rong, accustomed to beautiful scenery and ferocious beasts, quickly lost interest in Black Whirlwind. He was more interested in a cluster of white walls and red tiles in the forest, and asked, "What place is that?"

Erzhu Mai said, "It should be a poetry club, a place to teach singing. The young master will also come here to learn to sing poetry in the future."

"Hey? There's a parrot over there."

Before the question-buying teacher could even spot the parrot, Erzhu Rong threw a stone at it, startling "Youlai" so much that it almost forgot it could fly. After spreading its wings, it flew away cursingly: "You wretched creature, ah—the ospreys cry, the beautiful maiden."

Erzhu Rong swaggered into the poetry club. The various green plants and colorful flowers beloved by the students were all met with his disdain. "Master of the exam questions," he said, "what do you think would happen if we sneaked back to Xiurongchuan without anyone noticing?"

"I was thrown into the Heavenly Pool, and the young master rescued me."

"Hey? There are fish over there. I wonder if the fish here is good?"

Erzhu Maiti followed the young master at a fast pace, already accustomed to the young master's eccentric and capricious nature.

She had just returned to the choir's hut and was alone in the stone pavilion. As she fed the fish, she was lost in thought when she heard a noise behind her, turned around, and frowned.

Erzhu Rong was dressed in a shawl, his face and body covered in dirt. Master Erzhu was hardly clean either, especially with his full beard, each hair growing wildly, completely lacking the demeanor of a scholar.

"Who are you?" Hu Wuwu instantly transformed into Xiao Yan.

She wasn't foolish enough to think that the two people, one big and one small, were servants; servants would never dare to look at people with such high eyes.

"I'm feeding the fish," Erzhu Rong replied softly, leaning over the railing to peer at the fish. "With so many fish, can they all swim freely in the pond?"

"Why can't they swim away?" Hu Wuwu took some bait from the bait trough and scattered it down, and saw more fish emerge from the deep bottom to snatch the food.

She said sarcastically, "Look, if you scatter the bait here, there will be space elsewhere. You can raise a hundred more fish and the restaurant won't have too many."

"I don't like listening to you speak." Only then did Erzhu Rong look directly at the woman who was half a head taller than him and ask, "Are you a scholar?"

"Anyone who comes to Cui Academy to study is a student."

"Haha." Erzhu Rong looked at the teacher who bought the questions, and what he said next made Hu Wuwu angry and embarrassed.

The aria sung by Yuan in this chapter is an excerpt from his poem "Ode to Returning Home".

There won't be a second update tonight, so I need to take a break. Sorry! Two updates tomorrow as usual.

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(End of this chapter)