History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 126 Teaching the Boatmen to Carry Articles
No one said a word.

The registrar repeated the question to each of the eighteen laborers in several tribal languages ​​that the underachievers couldn't understand. Yuan Langxi's "apprentice" mustered his courage and stood up, awkwardly pronouncing, "Shao Zhou?"

"Pfft." Xi Jing chuckled softly from the front.

Yuan Langxi leaned forward and slapped him on the back of the head: "What are you laughing at!"

Xi Jing turned around to fight back, but Huli Yelang grabbed his wrist.

Registrar: "Miss Yuan has been given one more medium-level punishment."

Xi Jing then gave up.

Zhou Tai, Changsun Fuming, and Changsun Chu were summoned back to the warehouse. Huli, the military advisor, announced the results: "No one completed this round of tasks. You will all be punished before proceeding to the second round. Listen to the command: now sit sideways, facing your apprentices..."

The chief clerk then gave instructions to the laborers in the tribal language.

A bet's a bet! The imperial princes did as they were told, and things were already going badly. Sure enough, the punishment was to have laborers chant words to them for half a quarter of an hour and smell the stench for half a quarter of an hour.

Finally, they could leave the warehouse. The additional punishment for Yuan Langxi, Zhou Tai, Changsun Fuming, and Changsun Chu was also very light: they had to move the eighteen desks in the warehouse back to their original location.

Although this round of tasks was better than the last, Yuan Hui was still very frustrated. He complained, "Those laborers were obviously stupid. How could anyone do it if we were asked to teach such stupid people in only half an hour?"

Chief Clerk Gou countered, "Young Master Yuan, have you ever considered how long the Master has been teaching you? From last year until now, how much of the meaning of the characters in the *Erya* have you learned?"

“I…” Yuan Hui said jokingly, “I’m switching to studying the Analects next month, hmph.”

Zhou Tai glanced at the other person. He himself couldn't learn the Analects well, so he especially hated those arrogant people who thought the Analects was easy to learn!

Clerk Gou smiled and clapped his hands: "No need for next month. The next task is for each of you to memorize a passage that you haven't learned yet. This afternoon, come with me to the dock and teach what you've learned to the boatmen. The first person to successfully teach will receive Governor Yuan's mount."

Hai Yeren was overjoyed: "Hey, this task is good, it's simpler than the previous one."

At least the dock is well-ventilated, so you don't have to smell the stench.

That clerk was a real scoundrel! He didn't tell them the passage to memorize was a section from the Book of Documents. Although it was only a short passage, the content was obscure and extremely difficult to memorize. And because they were eager to complete their tasks as soon as possible, they memorized it diligently and quickly the first time. As a result, the speed at which they memorized it became the speed at which they completed their respective tasks!

Add an extra quarter of an hour to each of their memorization time.

"I'm willing to accept severe punishment. I'm not going on this mission!" It was Yuan Hui again, stubbornly throwing a tantrum.

The clerk had already devised a plan to deal with this unruly youth. "Those who voluntarily give up in this round will be punished by being removed from the entire mission."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Hui immediately ran two zhang away and urged his companions, "Hurry up, what are you dawdling for? Let's go!"

Hu Ertiao snorted: "Hai Yeren, I used to think you were the most shameless, but now it seems you're second to last."

Hai Yeren clenched his fists so tightly they cracked: "Is that so? But you still have the worst mouth in the world, worse than those laborers!"

"you wanna die!"

"Come on, I don't mind being punished more."

Qiu Ruizhi put his arm around Hai Yeren's shoulder and walked with him: "Alright, alright, aren't you two going to sign up for the Cuju tournament? You can have a good time then."

The imperial princes arrived at the dock. As per the mission requirements, they were to select a single boatman and were not allowed to change their target. They had only one quarter of an hour to select a boatman; exceeding this time limit would be considered abandoning the mission.

Qiu Mang had a habit of taking an afternoon nap. She kept yawning; she needed to finish quickly and find a place to sleep. She pointed at the boatmen, saying, "Counting soldiers and generals, whoever you point to is..." She walked towards an elderly boatman, over fifty years old, whom she had pointed to. "Never mind," she thought, "this old man doesn't look easy to teach." She turned to the middle-aged man next to him and said, "I'll teach you to memorize a passage. If you learn it, you can go to the Qiu family's residence in the west of the city tomorrow to collect your reward, how about it?"

How to communicate with the boat trackers is not within the scope of the task.

The middle-aged man sized up Qiu Mang, then grinned, drooling without even wiping it away. An old man next to him explained to Qiu Mang, "This is my eldest son. He couldn't speak from birth. If you're not lying, young lady, will you teach me? I have a good memory."

"Hahahaha!" Yuan Hui and the others slapped their thighs with laughter.

Qiu Mang was instantly wide awake, and with tears welling up in his eyes, he returned to stand beside the clerk, becoming the first loser in this round of tasks.

At this point, it becomes clear who is more cunning. While others are still watching the spectacle, Zhou Tai takes two steps to stand in front of the old man and says, "I'll teach you! As long as you can memorize a passage within three quarters of an hour, you can go to the Zhou Mansion in the west of the city to collect your reward anytime."

The old man nodded repeatedly. At this moment, a boatman walked past, and the old man's eyes visibly froze for a moment. Then he pulled his mentally challenged son along: "Come on, Dalang, it's time to get to work."

"Hey? Where are we going?" Zhou Tai grabbed the other person.

The old man looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked, "Young man, what is it?"

The boatman who had just passed by heard this, came back, clasped his hands in a gesture of apology to Zhou Tai, and explained apologetically: "I don't know what illness the old man has contracted, but he keeps forgetting things in front of him. If he has offended you in any way, please tell me, and I will apologize to you on his behalf."

"Hahaha, hahaha!" Yuan Hui laughed so hard his chin almost fell to the ground.

Changsun Zhi sensed something was wrong and asked the registrar, "They have brain disorders? Could the other boatmen also have this condition?"

"It depends on your luck."

"But this is so unfair to us!" Zhou Tai was almost driven mad with frustration.

Clerk Gou: "How can everything in life be fair? Their lives are already full of bitterness, and the old are sick and the young are foolish. Besides, Governor Yuan gave his most beloved mount as a reward to encourage you to study. Is that fair to him? Hurry up, or you will exceed the time limit for choosing people."

Zhou Tai took a deep breath, and after the gloating crowd had left, he asked, "Registration Officer, who came up with these underhanded tricks?"

"What, you want revenge?"

"No, I admire him and want to befriend him."

Registrar Gou shook his head: "Only Governor Yuan knows who this person is. I'll ask him for you when we get back."

"Never mind then." Zhou Tai said dejectedly, and went over to sit next to Qiu Mang.

At this moment, Governor Yuan's mood finally improved because Zhao Xiu had left Pingcheng. Let's move on to the next problem. Yuan Zhi went to the dungeon. The criminal who made false accusations about the "Cui Hao incident" wasn't entirely baseless. The criminal confessed that he had previously bought information at Bingfang Flower Market.

Cui Zuan was skilled at taking notes; he wrote the interrogation transcripts and showed them to Yuan Zhi.

The prisoner said, "I know an old man surnamed Cui. The information he's trading is about finding a descendant of the Cui family of Qinghe. Based on the timeline he provided about Bingfang, I suspect that what he's looking for is related to Cui Hao!"

Court official: "How could you know what Old Man Cui and Bingfang were trading?"

The prisoner said, "Nie Zhao has a problem. He likes to visit brothels. When he gets drunk, he doesn't keep his mouth shut. I heard it from one of the dancers in the brothel."

Yuan Zhi asked, "Did the prisoner say who told me Bingfang's secret about buying and selling spies?"

(End of this chapter)