History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 127 Garden Cuju (ancient Chinese football)
Cui Zuan paused for a moment before asking, "Does the Prefect mean... that the prisoner is deceiving the officials under the Court of Justice? Does this prisoner know things that have been interrogated before?"

Yuan Zhi: "The prisoner simply fabricated the source of the information and fooled these officials under the Court of Justice. Alas, no wonder the Court of Justice sent them to Pingcheng to learn how to investigate cases. Cui Zuan, do you also believe that investigating and judging cases is a one-sided process of prison officials interrogating criminals? Otherwise, sometimes the situation is the opposite."

"Please teach me, Lord Yuan." Cui Zuan bowed, sincerely seeking instruction.

"When you arrive at an unfamiliar prison, the first thing you should do is observe the layout of the prison. In Pingcheng, the state and prefectural governments have the most serious criminals, so there are fewer cells for interrogation. Often, two or three serious criminals are interrogated in one cell, and they are familiar with each other's testimonies and even their temperaments and personalities."

Cui Zuan was very clever and understood immediately. "This prisoner was previously interrogated in the same torture cell as Nie Zhao. Is what he's confessing now just what Nie Zhao told him? Did he realize that the new prison guard wanted to gain favor, so he fabricated a little bit of confession each day, hoping to delay his execution in September?"

"Hmm. In November of the eleventh year of the Taihe reign, His Majesty, due to the severe cold that year, decreed that no prisoners should be tortured from November to April of the following year. Since then, the various government offices in the north have continued this benevolent policy. If this prisoner can survive until winter, he can live until the following summer, and if there is any festival or amnesty, ha..."

Although Cui Zuan did not enter officialdom, his background was far more distinguished and noble than that of the officials under the Court of Justice. It is unknown how Cui Zuan persuaded them, but the officials of the Court of Justice bid farewell to Governor Yuan the next day and set off back to Luoyang.

The serious criminal who was accused of "talking nonsense" by Governor Yuan waited all morning as usual without being interrogated. After learning that the Luoyang jailers had left the city and would not be returning, the prisoner stamped his feet and cried out, "I still have something important to say! I know something very important!"

In a deep prison, there are ways to uncover secrets and ways to bury them.

July 11th is a day off for Shogakukan, and also the day when Hu Ertiao, Hai Yeren, and other academically challenged students from the Imperial Family finish their punishments.

They had all failed to complete their mission, so the military advisor Huli allowed each of them one last stroke of the white horse's "glowing" mane before chasing them out of the government office.

Even the most boisterous Yuan Hui felt exhausted. After leaving the yamen, he sat down against the wall and said, "Sigh, I feel like I've been tricked. I couldn't have done the tasks these past few days if the clerk or the governor had been in charge."

Zhou Tai: "Hmph, you're the one who thinks so? Just wait, I'll find out who came up with this dirty trick to mess with me, and then I'll shave that guy's head and stuff it into my sack!"

Changsun Fuming, like an old Confucian scholar, asked, "Don't you have any insights or experiences? I finally understand how hard the Master worked to teach me. From now on, I will never pretend to understand when I don't understand, or pretend to be able to learn when I can't. I am not on the same path as you. Farewell."

Yuan Langxi threw out the words "a bunch of idiots," but... she didn't leave. Yuan Hui grabbed her leg and pulled her down into a big tumble.

"Er Tiao, help me beat this damn thing!"

Without needing his companions to call him, Hu Ertiao grabbed a bunch of orchids by the door and slammed them, pot and all, onto Yuan Hui's back.

Hai Yeren finally got his chance to take revenge on Hu Ertiao.

Qiu Ruizhi quickly intervened, saying to both sides, "Stop fighting! If you're going to fight, don't fight here!"

Zhou Tai took the opportunity to step on Yuan Hui's hand. "Hmph, so you despise the Analects. I can't learn it well, but you think you can?"
At this time, Wei Yao arrived at the Plum Garden at the time agreed upon with her companions.

As autumn arrives and the weather cools down, various football, shuttlecock, and rope skipping competitions are about to begin. As a result, children can be seen playing football, shuttlecock, and skipping rope in the streets and alleys, and Meiyuan Garden has been divided into practice areas.

Laughter and cheerful voices made the sunny weather even more beautiful.

Wei Yao brought a ball-playing bag with her, and just in case she was idle, she also brought a shuttlecock. After entering the garden, she kicked the ball-playing bag towards the agreed place, sometimes hooking the ball up, or alternately hitting it with her knees. In the Great Wei, women's Cuju (ancient Chinese football) was common, and at any major Cuju match, there would be a group performance by women who would beat drums and dance with the ball.

A colorful ball rolled over from the tree trunk in front of her; it was Wei Mao. "Not bad at football. I've never seen you play before," he praised. Wei Yao didn't care about his petty cold war that had lasted for several days, and just smiled and replied, "I haven't practiced in a long time, so I'm quite rusty."

"Really?!" Wei Mao's expression turned serious, which meant that Wei Yao's Cuju skills must be very strong.

Wei Yao realized the other party had misunderstood and explained, "I meant solo kicking. I've never teamed up with anyone, let alone participated in any competitions."

She learned to play football after getting married in her previous life. Back then, she spent most of her time alone, reading books until she got tired of playing shuttlecock, so she learned to play football. After being reborn, she didn't have enough time to read every day, and she never even thought about sewing a football pouch for fun.

But when Wei Mao heard these words, his concern immediately led him to misinterpret them. He thought that she couldn't find any peers to play with in Chi Yang Lane, so she was very lonely, and had been lonely for a long time? This made his heart ache.

Wei Mao suggested, "Our school is short of players for the Cuju (ancient Chinese football) competition. Why don't you sign up? Every day after school at noon, we can go to the archery field to practice together. I think you're good at knee headers and foot hooks. I'll teach you how to header with your head, shoulder, and back. These are the five skills you must know in the 'Bai Da' (a type of football) competition."

Wei Yao happily agreed. Cuju (ancient Chinese football) could not only strengthen the body but also expand social circles and make friends, so she naturally wanted to learn more formal match skills.

"Young lady, could you help us retrieve the purse?" A young man called out to Wei Yao from the fence in the training field to the side.

Wei Mao kicked the ball that the other party had kicked out back, and the caller was immediately ridiculed and laughed at by his companions.

As Wei Yao and Wei Mao left this place and were about to reach the agreed location, they saw Wei Zhen and Bu Yanzhen, who had arrived earlier.

Wei Zhen was instructing the latter to head the ball, but Bu Yanzhen, afraid the ball would fall, kept looking upwards. Every time he looked up, Wei Zhen would gently pinch his arm to remind him. "Looking again! If this were a competition, you'd be eliminated."

Wei Jing and Wu Ji came from another direction. Wu Ji imitated Wei Zhen in a high-pitched voice: "You'll be eliminated from the competition if you do that—" Humph, what's so good about Bu Yanzhen? Besides reciting poems, he's good for nothing! He was unhappy and kicked the ball, almost hitting Bu Yanzhen on the head.

"Wu Ji! If you dare to kick it recklessly again, believe me, I'll really turn on you!" Wei Zhen got angry and kicked the ball even further away.

Wu Ji picked it up with a pout.

Wei Mao said, "It's a rare day off, it's no fun arguing. Let's set up a competition method, is it free play or based on the number of goals scored?"

"White play" is a game that only tests the skill of heading the ball, without setting up goalposts. It is generally divided into two forms: singles white play and doubles white play. During the game, if the ball touches the ground or is touched by hand, it results in a loss.

There are two types of goal-scoring games. One is a team-versus-team competition, where the team that scores the most goals is the winner. The other is a team where each player is on their own, and everyone else is an opponent; in this case, the goal is also scored. In this type of game, the ball can roll on the ground, but players cannot touch or pass it with their hands.

Bu Yanzhen moved closer to Wei Zhen, and Wei Zhen immediately said, "It's a three-on-one fight! Yanzhen, Yao, and I are on the same team."

Wei Mao, Wu Ji... I thank you!

Cuju (蹴鞠) was among the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage items in 2006. The earliest cuju ball was called ju nang or mao wan, made of leather wrapped around animal hair or sewn with cloth and thread. Later, the character "毬" replaced "鞠," and only in modern times has "球" replaced "毬." Novels often use "球" for easier reading; this should not be taken literally.

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(End of this chapter)