History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 160 "Mirror Polisher" Ru Junxia
Many people's misfortunes are beyond Wei Yao's ability to change after her rebirth, but Wei Yao believes that she can definitely change the fate of Qu Rong being killed by being hit with a brick.

Last night, Xi Jiao briefly recounted to her how Fei Ming had committed evil deeds and his intention to frame Qu Rong. When Wei Yao returned to her tent to rest, she couldn't sleep for a long time. While pondering who the murderer was, she never even suspected that wicked servant!
In this life, Feiming and Qu Rong's acquaintance was at most a chance encounter on Zhuji Street. Even with such a few meetings, Feiming managed to find out about Qu Rong and use her. So what about in their past life? Feiming went to the Wei Academy to find her quite a few times. It would have been much easier for her to know Qu Rong and find out that Qu Rong and she were at odds.

Therefore, Fei Ming in his previous life must have had dealings with Qu Rong! Recalling Du Ling's replacement of Master Duan to teach poetry at the school in the previous life, Qu Rong and Du Ling argued more frequently, as if anything could provoke the other party to find fault with her. Besides Du Ling's reasons, perhaps Fei Ming was also instigating Qu Rong behind the scenes.

Qu Rong was suspicious and insecure, while Fei Ming was mean and sinister. These two types of people wouldn't be on good terms for long. Moreover, Qu Rong was young, and any angry or threatening word she uttered when they fell out would terrify the lowly slave Fei Ming. Fei Ming was so good at spreading rumors that after killing Qu Rong, he immediately spread the rumor that she was the murderer everywhere.

Wei Mao handed the freshly roasted rabbit leg to Wei Yao and urged her, "Eat quickly, you still have to practice riding and archery this afternoon, you can't do it if you don't have enough strength."

"You eat it yourself, mine is almost done baking."

“Fellow students—” Wei Mao raised his voice, drawing the attention of the surrounding students.

Wei Yao reluctantly accepted the rabbit leg.

Wei Mao took her grill skewers and started grilling them while brushing them with honey.

In the morning, Wei Mao, Yuan Zizhi, and Yuan Heng shot quite a few rabbits and pheasants, which all belonged to the three of them. So they called their friends and went to the riverbank to dig a fire pit and roast the meat. The academic underachievers who had been fighting all morning made up again while cooperating in finding firewood, roasting tools, and butchering the meat.

As Wei Mao turned the grill skewers, he asked Wei Yao, "What were you thinking about just now?"

Yuan Jingrong pushed Wei Mao aside and scolded him, "What she thinks is none of your business!"

Wei Mao, being petty, swallowed his anger for the time being. After the ranch activities ended, he found Yuan Jingrong's horse, which was staying in the stable, and stuffed an "8"-shaped tree branch into the unfortunate horse's rear end. Afterwards, Yuan Jingrong got into fights with several suspects, but she never guessed that Wei Mao was the one who did this disgusting thing.

Just as the students were returning to their respective schools, the warriors sent by Yuan Chuntuo to Hengzhou to investigate the whereabouts of the Hu family used various tricks to infiltrate Pingcheng.

They didn't want the local government to know, so they disguised themselves as vegetable farmers and peddlers. Their leader, Ru Junxia, ​​was a mirror polisher and disguised himself as a mirror polisher. He followed the clues he had gathered and arrived at Chiyang Lane in the East City.

Polishing bronze mirrors is not just physical labor. Each craftsman uses tools made using ancestral methods. If you encounter a craftsman with poor skills, they will only thin or damage the mirror, making it very difficult to repair later. Therefore, ordinary families would only bring their mirrors to be polished when a familiar craftsman came to visit.

Ru Junxia knew this perfectly well and could take advantage of it. He went door to door asking if anyone needed their mirrors sharpened, and soon arrived at Wei Yao's house.

Like elsewhere, the residents of Chiyang Lane would leave their courtyard gates open during the day as long as someone was home. Ru Junxia stood outside the threshold and called out, "Is anyone home?"

Zhao Zhi, who was cutting venison jerky in the kitchen, came out, looked at the basket at the other person's feet, and asked, "For grinding mirrors?"

"Yes, I'm from another county. This year's harvest was bad, so I came to Pingcheng to beg for food." Ru Junxia nodded honestly. He was slightly hunched over, his eyes not wandering around, and he looked exactly like a small merchant from another county who had just arrived in Pingcheng.

Zhao Zhi went into the main room, took out a bronze mirror, and asked, "How much does it cost to polish a mirror like this?"

“I’ll grind it first, and you can decide how much to pay.” Ru Junxia was delighted, but still stood politely outside the threshold. He rubbed his hands together and added, in a pleading manner, “If I grind it well, please tell the neighbors to help me with my business.”

Zhao Zhi smiled and pointed to the courtyard: "It's hot today, no rush, let's drink some water first before we get to work."

"Okay, okay," Ru Junxia said, wiping her sweat as she agreed, "It is quite hot."

After drinking half a ladle of water, Ru Junxia asked while working, "When I was wandering the streets and alleys, I heard that the best student of poetry in Pingcheng is in your Chiyang Lane. Is that true?" The courtyard wasn't big, and Zhao Zhi was cutting venison jerky in the kitchen; her voice could be heard very clearly even outside. "Yes, that's my daughter. Isn't she amazing?"

"Foolish woman!" Ru Junxia continued to probe, "It's more than just impressive. You're so used to being praised that you don't appreciate it. You don't know how we illiterate people feel when we hear that Scholar Wei always gets first place in the exams... I can't think of any words to praise him, haha."

Zhao Zhi: "Actually, I can't read either."

"Then your family must be even more impressive! I've also heard that the most prestigious Cui Academy is vying for Wei Xuezi's place, and that some of the children of high-ranking officials in Pingcheng can't even get into Cui Academy, and if they do, they end up as servants."

Zhao Zhi: "How many days have you been in the city? I've heard a lot about it."

"Hey, all a peddler does is ask around."

“That’s true.” Zhao Zhi not only didn’t mind the other person’s talkativeness, but also took the initiative to explain what the other person was interested in: “How could children from noble families do the work of serving others? Those children go to the choir of Cui Academy. Although they are called ‘servants,’ they are just like my daughter. They do not miss any of their studies and even learn to sing.”

"Is this preferential treatment only for local dignitaries in Pingcheng, or is it also applicable to people from other places?"

"Some are from out of town. Which county are you from?"

"Gaoliu County".

“There are some from Gaoliu County! The pageboys in the choir are from Gaoliu County, I’m sure of it!” Zhao Zhiwei said, holding a kitchen knife and standing at the kitchen door to confirm her statement. Then she went back to the stove to continue cutting the dried meat.

Ru Junxia cursed the stupid woman under his breath again, but at this moment he genuinely envied the children of Pingcheng. Although Luoyang was now the capital, temples were easy to find, but schools were hard to come by. The old capital was the opposite; schoolchildren could be seen on any street, which showed how many schools there were.

He continued, feigning envy and admiration, asking, "Your daughter goes to school with those rich kids. Has she ever said she gets along well with her classmates? Don't let her be like those farmers in our county, who curse and fight behind each other's backs over trivial matters every day."

It's so easy talking to that stupid woman!
Zhao Zhi's answer thrilled Ru Junxia: "She's not easy to get along with at all! She came home complaining on her very first day of school. My daughter is a good student, and there are a lot of jealous bad kids, the worst of whom is a guy surnamed Hu!"

"What, are those rich kids really bullying Scholar Wei?"

Zhao Zhi came out of the kitchen again, this time standing in front of the other person and saying, "Hmph, that Miss Hu, she's all talk and no action! Don't just listen, or you'll break my bronze mirror!"

"Oh oh oh."

Zhao Zhi began to list all the evil deeds of Hu Wuwu, including the plum garden during their travels, and then pinned the bad things that little brat Wei Mao had done on Hu Wuwu.

Ru Junxia had a feeling that if he didn't polish the bronze mirror in his hand well today, this woman would definitely nag him until tomorrow.

"It's all polished up. Take a look in the mirror. Isn't it quite clear?"

Zhao Zhi took the bronze mirror, straightened the slightly crooked floral hairpin on her forehead, and while looking at herself, summarized Hu Wuwu: "Fortunately, that damned Hu girl is gone."

(End of this chapter)