History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 165 Long Arrow Slays Ghosts
Before the servant could answer Zhan Gui, an old man resting against the wall said, "Master Wei used to teach poetry, and now he teaches the rites at the university."

The servant, seizing the opportunity, immediately proclaimed: "Yes, yes, yes, Master Wei Yin is the father of Wei Yao, the top scholar in poetry. Anyone who completes a primary school course at Wei Academy can directly enter the university of their clan upon reaching adulthood, without having to pass the examinations."

Zhan Gui stepped out of the crowd, squatted down in front of the old man, and asked, "Are you also from the Wei Academy?"

"Ah."

"I am from Gaoliu County. I have heard that Master Weiyin is very learned and would like to visit him. I wonder if he is open for business today?"

Wei Weng: "Master Wei went to the prefectural capital a few days ago, and it will probably be several more days before he returns."

"Going to the prefectural capital?" Zhan Gui asked with a smile. "Does the old man know why Master Wei is going to the prefectural capital?"

"What else could it be? It must be about the joint entrance exam questions next month."

"An ordinary teacher setting exam questions? Haha, Weng is really good at deceiving people."

The old man, his brows furrowed in anger, yelled, "What do you know! Do you think just anyone can come and teach at our Wei Academy? Get out! If you don't get out, I'll pounce on you with a broom!"

The old man picked up the large broom, stomped back to the museum in a huff, and as his anger subsided, he muttered, "Master Wei Yin's predictions were really accurate. Someone really is inquiring about him. I'll go tell the curator right away."

When Wei Yin left in a hurry that day, he only saw the old man Wei who was cleaning the Confucius Temple. At that time, Wei Yin gave all the remaining food in the school to the old man and instructed him to wait outside the school gate when he was free. If anyone asked whether he was teaching at the school, he should tell them that he had gone to the prefecture to set the joint examination questions, and then report the matter of people asking about him to the headmaster.

As for Zhan Gui, after questioning the servants, he learned that the time Wei Yin left the school was almost the same as the time when Ru Junxia went to investigate Wei Yao's family.

Zhan Gui judged that Ru Junxia probably didn't have time to check on Wei Yin's side before she went missing.

It was probably a coincidence that Wei Yin went to the prefecture.

Given the current situation, it can only be judged as a coincidence!
If Ru Junxia hadn't run into trouble, combining the clues found by Zhan Gui would have allowed them to roughly analyze the reasons behind the Hu family's hasty departure from the city.

Because Zhan Gui discovered that on July 11th, Hu Wuwu instigated a fight between two groups of纨绔 (sons of wealthy families) in Youmei Garden. He also found that the fight involved the imperial family members surnamed Yuan, Yi, Xi, and Zhou, meritorious officials surnamed Mu, Lu, Wei, and He, and Han aristocratic families surnamed Cui and Zheng.

He further discovered that Hu Wuwu had fled after causing trouble, and those纨绔 (playboys) were inquiring about the inn where Wu Shibo was staying, despite their injuries. It was clear that in their anger, both groups of纨绔 wanted to capture Hu Wuwu, who had instigated the trouble, that very day and take revenge!
So last night, Zhan Gui originally planned to persuade Ru Junxia not to investigate Wei Yao, who came from a privileged background, and instead to start with the two groups of纨绔 (sons of wealthy and powerful families).

But now Zhan Gui is not as confident as he was last night, because if Ru Junxia had gone in the wrong direction, how could she have disappeared?

Chiyang Lane Front Street.

Zhan Gui was drinking mutton soup at a food stall while observing the patrolling soldiers. If there were more patrolling soldiers here than on the same street, it meant that a case had recently occurred.

However, the number of officers and soldiers here is significantly smaller, but the number of patrols is normal, just like elsewhere.

He expanded his search area, walking through all the surrounding streets to make sure no one was following him. When he returned to Chiyang Lane, it was just time for dinner. He switched to another food stall, pretending to eat slowly, while observing the night patrol. The number of soldiers hadn't increased, and the patrol intervals were the same as during the day.

The food stalls quickly filled up, and someone chatted idly: "Have you heard? Quite a few people have gone missing, both inside and outside the city. The government is in a panic. This morning when I passed through Hexi Street, the soldiers were thoroughly inspecting several music halls along the street."

“Whenever you need to check Hexi Street, I advise you to avoid ‘passing by’ there.”

Zhan Gui thought to himself, Ru Junxia's plan was indeed effective, using dozens of worthless lives to tie down the government's military forces.

At this point, the suspicious Zhan Gui no longer doubted why there were so few patrolmen nearby.

As night fell, Zhan Gui swiftly entered Chi Yang Lane and leaped over the wall into Wei Yin's house just after the patrolmen left. Now, he carried a bow and arrows, completely devoid of any scholarly air; each step he took was as silent as a cat's footsteps. Of course, this was only in his own mind.

Zhao Zhi stood quietly by the window, watching the furtive figure in plain clothes groping around in the courtyard through a crack in the window.

The moonlight was bright tonight, and Zhan Gui's eyesight was excellent. He quickly finished inspecting the courtyard and found no signs of a struggle. Only the side rooms and the main house remained. The door locks of the side rooms were secured with ropes, indicating that no one lived there.

The door of the main house is empty.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhan Gui stared at the main house and retreated to the courtyard gate, deliberately making a small noise to loosen the door bolt.

Suddenly! Zhan Gui suspiciously moved closer to the door panel, sniffing it up and down.

The smell of blood!

He has a special talent: an exceptionally keen sense of smell. Through special training, he was able to determine that the blood on the door panel had been collected within the last few days!
With a creak, Zhan Gui turned around and simultaneously nocked an arrow and shot it towards the main house, where the door had opened.

Zhao Zhi hid behind the door. When the arrow missed, she immediately rushed out and appeared inside the threshold. Zhan Gui had already fired a second arrow.

This arrow is so elusive that it seems as if a gust of wind could blow it away, but in fact, it is faster than ordinary arrows!
But Zhao Zhi didn't stop charging. By the time the arrow reached her, she had already hidden behind the other side of the door panel.

"Thump, thump, thump..." Zhan Gui nocked the third arrow, waiting, keeping his heartbeat and hand strength steady.

Zhao Zhi threw a blouse towards the door.

As expected of the Ghost Arrow!
The speed was too fast; the third arrow hit the garment, and the garment itself was stuck in the wall.

"Thump, thump, thump..." Zhan Gui nocked the fourth arrow, trying his best to keep his mind steady. At this moment, he was certain that Ru Junxia was dead, right here in this courtyard!

Zhao Zhi, a veteran of countless battles, seized the moment when her opponent momentarily lost focus. She appeared in a flash, drew her bow, and fired a long arrow!
With a crisp "snap," her arrow cleaved through the demon's fourth arrow, piercing straight into one of those disbelieving eyes!
Zhan Gui's corpse crashed against the courtyard gate and fell down, the fletching of an arrow supporting his drooping head, preventing it from hanging completely.

The neighbor's dog heard the sound of two arrows clashing together and was so frightened that it dared not breathe. It covered its ears with its two front paws and pretended to be asleep. It was terrified. Don't throw stones over the wall!

Zhao Zhi fired an arrow at the top of the corpse's head before approaching. She put on gloves and emptied the contents of the corpse's bag. Besides the Wuzhu coins that could only be used in Luoyang, there were six small gold ingots. Zhao Zhi smiled and put away the gold ingots and copper coins, and put the rest of the items back.

The next morning, a military officer from the prefecture, disguised as a latrine official, came to the door, stuffed the body into a latrine bucket, and took it away. Zhao Zhizi carefully cleaned up the bloodstains in the yard and then wiped the gate of the yard several times with grass ash water.

The warriors of the Yuan Chun Tuo sect each had their own unique tricks for evading government investigations. When the soldiers and jailers searched them together, apart from the dead Ru Junxia and Zhan Gui, the rest of them disappeared as if they had never come to Pingcheng.

Luoyang.

Yuan Chun Tuo's elder brother, Prince Rencheng Yuan Cheng, came to court, feeling both depressed and puzzled. In court, His Majesty reprimanded him in front of the civil and military officials: "Yesterday I saw women wearing hoods on carriages entering and leaving the city gate. Why did the Minister not investigate or pursue this matter?"

Yuan Cheng immediately replied, "There are very few people who still wear this kind of old custom."

The emperor was even more displeased: "Does the Prince of Rencheng mean that everyone should dress like that? You should know that a single wrong word can ruin a country. What you consider a trivial matter of clothing is, in my opinion, a major event that can destroy reforms! Historians, record the Prince of Rencheng's slip of the tongue."

Ah... Standing outside the imperial city, Yuan Cheng stared at the sky speechlessly, feeling as if blood was about to boil in his chest! Such a trivial matter had to be recorded in the history books!

No, he insisted on going to the city gate to count how many people wearing hoods had passed through the city gate throughout the day!

(End of this chapter)