History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 143 Young Students
The group of five students from Wei Yao's group, being smaller in number, formed a circle with each student spaced equally apart, standing in the inner circle. The group of eight students from Wei Mao's group also formed a circle with equal spacing between them, standing in the outer circle.

The students in the inner circle ran around to the right, while the students in the outer circle ran around to the left.

As they gained control of their distance from each other, the thirteen students began to speed up, running and trying to follow the rules that the teacher had just explained.

Rules: Starting with Wei Yao, she will call out a line from a classical poem as the topic. Anyone in the outer circle who can answer with any line from the classical poem containing that line will be considered to have answered correctly. Multiple people are allowed to answer, and multiple answers are allowed, as long as they do not repeat Wei Yao's line.

After answering the truncated sentence, all participants must immediately follow up with two reminders: "Reverse run, reverse run."

Then the students in the inner circle changed direction and ran around to the left, while the students in the outer circle ran around to the right.

After shouting "Reverse run, reverse run," Wei Mao immediately poses the next question. It is important to note that you cannot wait until all your fellow students have changed direction and run away before posing the next question, as that would be considered a violation of the rules.

After Wei Mao set the questions, Wei Yao's group had to answer them quickly, and all those answering the questions had to keep up with the reminder to "run back, run back".

Whether you answer a question incorrectly, the question is wrong, you make a mistake when changing direction while running, or you miss the correct number of "reverse run" reminders, you must quickly leave your current lap and join your opponent's lap.

The rules for setting questions, answering questions, running directions, and reminding runners to turn around were followed repeatedly, for a total of two quarters of an hour.

Only Wei Yao and Wei Mao, as their respective team leaders, do not need to switch teams if they make a mistake.

Since the focus is on having fun and not on grades, the simpler the questions, the better.

The first question Wei Yao posed was: "Guan Guan Jujiu".

Everyone in Wei Mao's group answered with the most familiar "on the river islet," and almost simultaneously shouted "run back, run back" as a reminder.

"what!"

"Ouch!"

"Ha ha--"

Some students reacted very quickly and turned around fast, while others reacted slowly and turned around slowly. So, on the first time they changed direction, several students almost collided.

"Let's call it a day for this round. The team that makes a mistake in the next round will be replaced." After Xue Fuzi finished speaking, he and Song Fuzi looked at each other and smiled.

Amidst laughter and cheers, Wei Mao called out the next question: "The peach tree is in full bloom."

Wei Yao and her group responded in unison: "Bright and beautiful! Run back, run back!"

Wei Yao: "You gave me a papaya—"

Wei Mao's group immediately responded: "Repay them with a precious jade, and run back, run back!"

"Oops—" Another collision occurred, and this time the two people involved instinctively moved to the inner circle to run.

Wei Mao: "Holding your hand—"

The voices from Wei Yao's group increased: "Growing old together, running back and forth!"

From near and far, the joyful sounds from the five poetry academies drifted over the surrounding walls, merging into one. Qu Rong quickly forgot his conflict with Wei Yao, and after she called out the poem topic, he immediately answered loudly any poem he knew.

As the familiar poem prompts were exhausted and the pace quickened, the two teams switched roles almost every round, with frequent instances of running in the wrong direction. Some laughed until they were breathless, while others became increasingly confused by the change in direction.

Sometimes there are more people in the inner circle, and sometimes there are more people in the outer circle. Everyone's companions are no longer fixed.

This caused fellow disciples who didn't usually talk much, such as Wei Zhen and Wei Puti who were having a conflict, or Wei Yao and Qu Rong, to bump into each other while running in opposite directions and burst into laughter. At least at that moment, they had no resentment in their hearts, and their hearty smiles came from the bottom of their hearts.

Master Song couldn't help but exclaim, "This is what young students should look like! Look, they're all running around with flushed faces, how wonderful! We should come up with a few more of these great ideas, haha."

Master Xue: "Don't worry, I will mention it to the director. By the way, the various activities on the days off at Cui Academy have been extended to three days. The ranch provides students from the various academies of the meritorious officials with tents for sleeping and food. The state government also provides horsemen and archers to train in riding and archery. Our director has always encouraged such good things."

"Understood. I will make sure all my disciples go to this school, so that I can go myself." He lowered his voice for the last sentence.

Master Xue smiled and pointed at the other person: "You."

There is a considerable gap between the knowledge of ordinary teachers and that of great Confucian scholars, and Master Song certainly wanted to hear lectures from the great Confucian scholars of Cui Academy.

The joint examination was over. Master Song informed his disciples that Cui Academy and the prefectural government would be jointly organizing lectures, archery, cuju (ancient Chinese football), and military drills at Mingtang Ranch on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of this month. The academy required all primary school students to participate, and those who could not attend should inform the academy in advance before the day off.

"Great!" The students cheered and bowed as they watched their teacher leave.

Wei Zhen took out a fan from her waist and fanned herself and Wei Yao together to cool off.

Wei Yao praised the picture of the wild geese above: "It's really beautiful."

Wei Zhen whispered in my ear, "This fan was given to me by Bu Yanzhen, and he painted it himself. What do you think I should give him in return? A sachet? Or a belt?"

“I think as long as you sew it with your heart, the students will definitely like it. However… Ah Zhen, we are still young. If we are exchanging fabrics or other personal items, please try not to leave your name on them.”

Wei Zhen nodded: "I understand. There's something else I need to tell you. My aunt wrote to me asking me to stay in Luoyang for a while. She said that Luoyang is much more prosperous than Pingcheng. Is that really true? Our Pingcheng is so nice. How could it be so much more prosperous than Pingcheng? I really can't imagine it."

"Are you going then?"

"I want to go, but I'm also reluctant to leave..."

There's no need to say everything; Wei Yao understands.

On her way home from school, Wei Yao walked alone, reminiscing about the scenery of the capital city she had seen when she lived in Luoyang.

It is indeed far more prosperous than Pingcheng.

When Pingcheng was established as the capital, the Great Wei's financial resources were mostly used for conquest and relocation. From the construction of city walls to the construction of residences, even the mansions of the powerful and nobles were almost entirely made of earth. For example, the old palace she visited last time still had earthen warehouses.

However, before His Majesty announced the decree to move the capital, he had already made plans for Luoyang. The powerful and noble people who supported His Majesty had long ago selected places to build magnificent mansions. The most luxurious one was "Shouqiu Lane" in the west of the city, where the imperial family gathered!
Every year, Luoyang adds new royal temples, and the powerful and wealthy also build their own temples annually for blessings. These Buddhist and Taoist temples compete in beauty and spiritual significance, with each site boasting lush flowers and trees, exquisitely crafted hills and ponds, and interconnected fruit trees providing shade. Take Youmei Garden, for example; it's considered one of the top three scenic spots in Pingcheng, but in Luoyang, people would think it's just a surveyed site, a wasteland yet to be built!
“Fellow disciple Yao.” Wei Mao caught up with Wei Yao, handed her a large bouquet of wildflowers, and asked, “What are you thinking about, so lost in thought?”

Wei Yao smiled and said, "I miss Luoyang." She spoke the truth as if it were a lie; she wouldn't hate the city because of the people or things she disliked.

"Do you need me to scout ahead for you?" Wei Mao walked backwards. He really liked watching her, and he liked her more and more, to the point of obsession.

"Are you planning to go to Luoyang?"

(End of this chapter)