History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 170 Rebel Leader in Rouxuan

"If you know you're thirsty, bring your own next time," Wei Yao retorted softly.

Wei Mao was not annoyed but pleased: "A Yao."

Here we go again! Wei Yao quickly handed the letter and the notes on the Book of Songs to the other party: "These are for Miss Gao and my fellow disciple Jing. Thank you for your help, fellow disciple Mao." When asking for a favor, one must have a good attitude. Her face could change in an instant, and she smiled and bowed.

But he didn't answer. Instead, he pretended to look around, and every time his gaze was about to sweep over her, he would walk around her head or feet.

"Fine, I won't help then," Wei Yao said, turning and leaving.

"Ah Yao, Ah Yao, Ah Yao, Ah—"

Wei Yao turned back, furious, and kicked Wei Mao hard in the calf: "What are you yelling for! What are you yelling for!"

Wei Mao neither dodged nor avoided her kicks, and after a few kicks, the atmosphere became strange and awkward. Wei Yao, unwilling to argue with her anymore, said coldly, "I have to go study, you should go back too."

Wei Mao snatched the notebook from her hand, his eyes fixed on her face.

Wei Yao took a step back.

Wei Mao took a step forward after her, and as he snatched the letter from her other hand, he used the force to poke it into his heart, whispering, "Even if you kick me in the heart, I'd be willing." Then, he took a pomegranate from his bag and shoved it into her hand. "Alright, you stingy little thing, I'm leaving."

Wei Yao watched the other person leave the hall, and then hurriedly returned to Tingxing Courtyard. She didn't have time to worry about whether Wei Mao was getting more and more deeply involved in the relationship, nor did she dwell on the crazy talk of the maidservant Chao Xi. When she returned to her room, Wei Yao immediately sat down at her desk and focused on memorizing her lessons.

Of the fifteen "Airs of the States" in the Book of Songs, only the last three, "Airs of Kuai," "Airs of Cao," and "Airs of Bin," remain. The more you learn, the more you need to review them frequently, otherwise the earlier content will become increasingly unfamiliar.

"It truly troubles my heart... The first line is 'looking forward but unable to reach,' and the second line is 'Zhongshi Renzhi,' which comes from the poem 'Yan Yan' in the 'Bei Feng' section... The poem's preface is 'Yan Yan,' which tells the story of Zhuang Jiang of Wei sending off her concubine... The preface notes that Zhuang Jiang had no children..."

Wei Yao's method of memorizing was still to draw bamboo slips, and according to the verses on the slips, first memorize the first and second verses, then memorize the chapters and verses where the verses were located, then memorize the whole poem, and then explain the historical background and the classics with the same verses to herself in the mirror.

The next day, in the state dungeon.

The Luoyang bandits, disguised as vegetable farmers, finally succumbed to torture and confessed that there were a total of twenty-three of them in Hengzhou. They would hide in places with boats every night, and all of them were skilled swimmers and breath-holding, which was why the patrols couldn't find them at night.

The prison guard Hu Ba walked out of the torture chamber. He was torturing the criminals as well as himself. He was so tired that he could hardly walk. So the prison warden Shi Guanxian took the confession to the office and gave it to the registrar.

The registrar was comparing the strange tales of the island barbarians with the handwriting of the heads of various schools and teachers. Upon learning that the bandits in Luoyang had confessed, he asked while reading the confession, "Didn't they refuse to talk all this time? You didn't beat them to death, did you?"

Guan Xian: "Registrant, please don't ask anymore. I've been performing autopsies for so many years, and I still can't stand Lord Hu's interrogation methods. Sigh, I'll just tell you, Registrant, do you know..."

"I don't want to know! I just want to know if the prisoner is dead or not!"

"not dead."

Clerk Gou raised his chin.

Get out!

After exchanging a few words with the talkative prison clerk, Clerk Gou was able to take a break. Now, there was progress in the case of the bandits in Luoyang, but the origin of the strange tales of the island barbarians was once again shrouded in mystery.

Many characters in the Tales of the Strange are indeed exactly the same as Wei Zhenyuan's handwriting, but Wei Zhenyuan is not stupid. Why would he show all his handwriting characteristics in the Tales of the Strange? Wouldn't that just be asking to be caught?
Never mind, the priority is to capture the bandits in Luoyang.

Starting that night, the governor's office, together with the troops of the prefectural and county offices, and organized fishermen to search for merchant ships and fishing boats along the city's river. With the help of fishing nets, harpoons, bows and arrows, and stones, the government captured three bandits from Luoyang and shot two of them dead.

On the night of August 15th, Military Advisor Huli led his troops in a surprise search of Chiyang Lane. The registrar was truly resourceful; there really were four bandits from Luoyang hiding in Wei Yao's house! Unfortunately, all four resisted stubbornly and were eventually riddled with arrows.

That night, in the northeast of Rouxuan Town, domes rose up on the grassland. This grassland was vast and boundless, with winding rivers gathering into pools at certain points, then carving out new channels before flowing towards the meeting point of the stars and the earth.

The Gaoche tribe that was camping here was the Yuanhe clan, one of the six clans. It was the largest tribe that had rebelled against the court. Its leader was named Shuzhe. At this moment, he and several tribesmen were sitting around the main tent. Shuzhe looked up at the night hawks that kept flying overhead and said, "We Tiele people should be like hawks, flying wherever we want."

"The chief is right! We are eagles, not the dogs of the Xianbei!"

"There are four seasons in a year, and the Northern Wei are always at war. They lack food, so they ask us to offer horses and sheep. They lack men to sacrifice, so they ask us to charge into battle. In the eyes of those powerful and wealthy, we are not even as good as the criminals of the Six Garrisons!" "They never care about our lives! Shuzhe, promise those tribes that we will all assist you and unite more tribes to rebel against Wei. As long as we don't leave the grasslands, we will not be afraid of the Xianbei!"

The tree-keeper stood up. He was exceptionally tall and strong. He strode forward, drew his bow towards the sky, and aimed at the circling night hawk, saying, "If I can shoot the hawk's wing with one arrow, it will prove that Heaven is helping my Yuan He clan!"

In the wilderness, gusts of wind carried the dampness of the river, and a cloud obscured the moonlight. Under these circumstances, even if an eagle flew low, it would not be easy to hit its wing.

The earth trembled slightly the instant the arrow left the bowstring.

The tree-keeper was startled; the arrow, which had been aimed at the sky, had gone astray and missed the night hawk.

But at this moment, no one cared about the bad luck of the arrow failing. The tribesmen searched for their horses and shouted to each other to send a warning signal.

The grasslands at the edge of their vision were initially a deep, dark color, then the "grass tops" began to rise, and with the clear sound of horses' hooves, hundreds of terrifying iron cavalry appeared in the fearful eyes of the Yuanhe tribesmen.

"kill--"

"Execute the traitors—"

The shouts of "Kill!" thundered as they rolled toward the felt tents!

Zhao Zhi took the lead.

Draw the arrow, pull the string, and shoot!

Once she sets her sights on someone, whether human or horse, she will strike their vitals.

Lan, the archer, followed closely behind. Because of this, every time she was about to draw her bow, she was killed by the chief clerk's arrow before she could even fire. She couldn't help but exclaim, "My God!"

The rebel cavalry, mounted on horseback, fearlessly charged into battle. They were skilled at using ropes to lasso necks, indiscriminately beheading both humans and horses!

Zhao Zhi accelerated first, shouting, "Charge—"

The roar of crashing waves echoed across the horizon: "Charge! Charge! Charge—"

In the Night Hawk's eyes, two thick black lines rapidly approached!
A head-on collision!

cross!

Turn around!

Arrows flew like a dense blast of light! Ropes lashed out like venomous snakes!

Zhao Zhi's quiver was empty, so she used her bow as a weapon and swung it in all directions, creating a blur of black shadows. With one "bang" and another "bang," within five breaths, the heads of two Gaoche men were smashed to pieces by the bow, white, red, and black fragments flying everywhere.

"Kill her! Quick, stop her!"

"Be careful, her bow is made of iron..."

boom!
Before he could finish speaking, another man on the bicycle had his head smashed off.

A dozen or so clansmen surrounded Yuan Heshu, calculating whether they could win the battle. At this time, they still hadn't seen Zhao Zhi.

Zhao Zhi couldn't see the back of the layers of felt tents yet. There was a slightly larger main tent. Tonight was her first battle in Rouxuan Town. Soon, she would catch the biggest fat sheep!

The winds are rising and the clouds are surging, as if they are calculating the secrets of heaven.

Bin Feng: Bin is the name of an ancient state.

The Gaoche people were called "Dingling (or Dingling)" during the Han Dynasty. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, they were known as both Gaoche and Tiele. The Xianbei and Rouran people of the north called the Gaoche people "Tiele," while the Han people of the north called them "Gaoche." The Han people of the Southern Dynasties still called them "Dingling." [Explanation excerpted from *History of the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties*]

(End of this chapter)