History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 140 A couple of quick pinches on the waist

Let’s get back to the present.

Pingcheng, July 16th, the joint examination day of this month.

A few days ago, Wei Mao gathered a group of friends to beat up Yi Xie. He planned to continue the fight after the exam, but Yi Xie was not someone to be trifled with. He found out that Wei Mao always ranked in the top three in the joint exams at Wei Academy, so he gathered more than a dozen cronies and brought more than twenty servants to block Wei Mao at the various entrances of Wei Academy today.

Yi Xie said angrily, "You want to fight to the death, huh? Fine, I'll play with you. I'll make sure you can't take the exam every month! Spit!" When he saw the female student coming from afar, who seemed to be Wei Yao, whom he had beaten, he spat angrily.

The governor's office has spoken with the elders of the Yi family. From now on, the governor's office will not interfere with how Yi Xie fights with the sons of powerful and wealthy families, but they cannot touch Wei Yao or any of the outstanding students who were recently commended by the court!
Zhao Zhi knew about Yi Xie's reprimand, but she was still not completely at ease. Two days ago, her husband Wei Yin and daughter went to school together. Last night, her husband stayed at the school, so Zhao Zhi followed her daughter from a distance and secretly escorted her to the school.

When Zhao Zhi went out, she wore a large straw hat. She sat down by the roadside, pretending to shake the sand and mud out of her shoes, but in reality, she kept a close eye on Yi Xie and his group of people who were squatting or standing outside the gate.

Wei Yao didn't recognize anyone else, but she recognized Yi Xie. She first slowed her pace, then stopped.

Yi Xie yelled at her, "You stand..."

"Ah!" Wei Yao pretended to be startled and ran towards Wei Mao's house. Luckily, she arrived early today. Wei Mao was fighting endlessly with Yi Xie to help her, and she couldn't let Wei Mao run into this group of well-prepared playboys.

Looking at Yi Xie again, he was dumbfounded and clenched his fists!
Good heavens, why is she running? He was just trying to ask her why she suddenly stopped. He wasn't there to hit her! Then she screamed and ran away. What does that mean? Last time during the fight, she was the one who shouted "Call the police!" first. Is she going to call the police again this time?
When did it become common to report even a minor fight to the authorities?

"Miss Li, etc."

When Wei Yao heard the voice calling her from behind, she became even more frightened. Not to mention that she ran faster without daring to turn her head, she saw Zhao Zhi rushing towards Yi Xie and brushing past him as they passed each other.

Yi Xie pushed him, saying, "Where did this poor wretch come from? You can't even walk that far... Hey? Hey, hey?" Zhao Zhi twisted his arm behind his back.

The companions and servants rolled up their sleeves and raised their fists.

Zhao Zhi swung Yi Xie as a shield, making him twist twice, causing Yi Xie to scream like a pig being slaughtered: "Let go! It hurts, ouch, it hurts so much! Ah—help—wooo!"

He first felt a sharp pain in his mouth, then his vision spun, and he was thrown into a ditch half a meter deep beside the road.

Zhao Zhi kicked five people, one after another, into the ditch, and the surrounding people who were rubbing their hands together in anticipation all fell silent. She brushed the dust off her clothes and hurried towards the place where her daughter had run far away.

Isha was pulled up by the servants. The twisted right arm was secondary; his hand could still move, so his arm wasn't broken, but...

"Whoa! Whoa!"

His mouth was flicked by Zhao Zhi's finger, and it swelled up as if he had been stung by a giant bee. It took him more than half a month before he could eat solid food.

Meanwhile, Wei Yao, after running quite a distance, finally encountered Mao, a fellow student. The two didn't know that the main gate of the academy was the safest place at this time; they took a longer route to the side gate, only to find it blocked by people. So they decided to climb the wall.

Only the area near the main gate and the wall of the archery range had no broken tiles. So they ran further to the outer wall of the archery range. Wei Mao first had Wei Yao step on his legs and shoulders to get up to the top of the wall. Then he stepped back two zhang, took a step forward, grabbed the top of the wall, went down first, and then helped Wei Yao.

"Damn it," Wei Yao cursed inwardly. She should have just let Yi Xie beat this guy to death, because when Wei Mao helped her down, she clearly felt his hands pinch and tickle her waist twice. Wei Yao had her own little temper, and the moment her feet touched the ground, she deliberately landed on Wei Mao's toes.

"His-"

She glared at him angrily, but all she did was bare her teeth – that was a sign of guilt! He was definitely doing it on purpose!
Wei Mao felt guilty, but the feeling in his palm just now was so soft and warm, hehe...so good. The more he recalled the throbbing sensation he had just experienced, the more he regretted it. This thieving touch had opened up another of Wei Mao's arousal points. If he had known it would feel like this, if he had known that pinching his waist would only result in a kick, he would have pinched it a few more times.

So many unexpected things happened today.

Wu Ji did not come to school.

Although Wu Xuezha was not good at studying, he never skipped a class, let alone today when there was a joint exam. Before the exam started, Wei Mao sent Guan Nu to Wu Ji's house to ask about the situation. Today, Wei Jing set off, and Wei Mao was worried that Wu Ji might run away from home and go to Shuozhou with him!
Cui Xueguan was also not at peace.

This month's Book of Poetry exam, for the first time, brought together the five schools of instruction, morality, folk songs, and literary music in Guchang Qinlin for a joint exam.

The exam was scheduled to start at 5:30 AM, but all students were notified to arrive very early, by the end of 3:00 AM.

Cui Zhi, who was usually quiet, whispered to his fellow students, including Kong Mi, because opposite the examination area, there were five groups of soldiers stationed. Each group of soldiers was equipped with a ferocious and greedy hyena, and each group also carried a special iron plate with densely packed barbs on one side.

Soon, all the teachers and examiners from each school arrived.

Strangely, Erzhu Rong from Xunyi Academy, and Hai Yeren, Yuan Langxi, Qiu Ruizhi, and Changsun Fuming from Wenyin Academy followed at the back. The last four had lost their usual arrogance and walked with their heads down, looking at the heels of the people in front of them. Only Erzhu Rong still held his head high and walked with his chest out.

Erzhu Rong ran back on his own last night. In the few hours he was away, Cui Xueguan even pressed down on the belly of Xiong Heixuanfeng, the forest ranger. The servants searched all the ponds. Cui Xueguan even invited the Yuan governor to come and discipline the four troublemakers, Hai Yeren, to be as obedient as they are today.

Seeing the young master's fearless demeanor, the tutor was nearly driven to despair. He sensed the imposing presence of the guards and knew that the young master would not escape punishment. However, he could only stand outside the examination area and had been warned beforehand that if he dared to make a sound or interfere with the examination, he would be expelled from the academy forever.

The military officer who carried out the punishment this time was Military Advisor Huli.

Hai Yeren and the other four were led to the position of the fifth group of soldiers. Huli, the military advisor, had them face the examination hall and then loudly ordered that all the students could hear: "Two things are announced today. Those who have achieved below-average scores in all three joint examinations during the three months of autumn will not be allowed to participate in the winter hunt!"

"Those whose performance in July and August is below average will not be allowed to participate in the Cuju League in late September!"

In the examination area, the remaining imperial princes beat their chests and wailed silently! They dared not make a sound, for fear of being dragged forward and punished along with Hai Yeren and the other fools.

Huli, the military advisor, had been to the battlefield. Wherever his cold gaze swept, the students there would sit up straight, which was more effective than the chief proctor's authority.

He continued, “Yesterday, these five people got into a brawl, destroyed books, and ran away from the school without informing their teachers. Their mischievous behavior was utterly despicable! They even forced Governor Yuan to take time out of his busy schedule to come to the school! If you five are not severely punished this time, the atmosphere of Cui School will be corrupted by you sooner or later, and the commendation order for implementing the new school regulations in Pingcheng will be tainted because of you!”

"Now listen to my command, you five stand in front of the lime line! Get into a firm stance!"

Erzhu Rong, Yu Guangli, and the other four followed the military order before finally stepping forward. Now, the little rascal was starting to wonder how they would be punished. And why were they being followed by five hyenas that loved to gnaw on their backsides?
(End of this chapter)