History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 173 The Bond Between Fellow Disciples, Flowing Like Water

The largest open space in the East City is in the Plum Garden, which is divided into more than ten competition fields by fences. The Wei Academy occupies one of them. The Wei Academy's opponent is the State Academy. Wei Yao is participating in the first competition, "Rapid Kick" and "Stop Ball".

The kicking method is a two-person teamwork, and Wei Yao's teammate is Wei Puti. Wei Yao's task is to alternate between her toes and quickly kick several sets of prescribed movements. The ball height must be at knee level, waist level, shoulder level, and head level. There is no prescribed order for the four movements. As long as she completes these four movements, she must immediately kick the ball to Wei Puti.

There are no rules regarding the direction and distance from which Wei Puti catches the ball, but he can only catch it with his toes. After catching it, he is allowed to switch actions once, still catching the ball with his toes. This time, he is required to keep the ball still on his toes for ten breaths.

The two students from the state academy who competed against Wei Yao were named Yu Baoying and Feng Jiong.

Supporters from both sides roared outside the fence, creating another kind of confrontation.

"Wei Yao, Wei Yao—far ahead! Puti, Puti—invincible in Pingcheng!"

"Baoying, Baoying—we will win! We will win! Fengjiong, Fengjiong—Hengzhou is the bravest!"

Wei Yin and Zhao Zhi, a married couple, were also in the crowd, joining in the shouts and cheers to encourage their daughter.

Amidst the roaring screams and shouts of the raging waves, Wei Yao completed her rapid kick.

Wei Puti caught the ball.

In Cuju (ancient Chinese football), one must show off skills. He did not switch feet. After catching the ball with his right toe, his left foot immediately gripped the ground firmly. By changing his body posture, he controlled the ball with his right toe.

The sound of the crowd counting off the field drowned out the referee's voice.

"one two three four……"

At this moment, Yu Baoying completed the entire "quick kick" movement and passed the ball to Feng Jiong. Feng Jiong also did not switch feet, but received the ball in a more difficult posture.

Similarly, the voices of support for the state school were deafening!
"one two Three……"

Unfortunately, a sudden roar of "Awooo!" erupted from the crowd, announcing the victory of Wei Xueguan. Feng Jiong still managed to complete the ten-breath "stop-play" ceremony, and both sides bowed to each other before leaving the field.

Wei Yao ran towards her father and mother, excitedly asking, "Father, Mother, did I play well?"

"Of course! The best!" Zhao Zhi felt that simple praise could not express her love for her daughter. She picked up Wei Yao and squeezed through the crowd to spin around.

"Ah—" Wei Yao cried out, stretching out her arms like a bird in flight, gazing at the clear blue sky and the white wisps of clouds.

Then, the mother and daughter's joy was interrupted by Wei Yin's words. "Yao'er, get down, it's my turn."

The second competition in the arena has begun.

Zhao Zhi, protecting her husband and daughter, squeezed back in and cheered for Wei Yao's fellow disciples.

The second item is called "back pass".

Each team consists of five players. The rules are that the five players form a circle, and they can only use their heels to receive or pass the ball. There is no set order for receiving the ball. If the ball touches the ground, is received in a different way, or is juggled, the team loses.

Qu Rong participated in this project.

"Qu Rong, Qu Rong—play Cubo with ease!" When the surrounding area rang out to cheer for Qu Rong, Wei Yao smiled faintly and did not join in the shouting.

As her studies progressed and her knowledge broadened, she came to understand a principle: only those who are strong themselves are qualified to speak of "tolerance." She wasn't intentionally being tolerant of the other person, but rather unwilling to waste time seeking revenge on such a person. As long as Qu Rong stopped provoking her, and she fully enrolled in Cui Academy next year, they would no longer even be considered "acquaintances."

The third event begins. Wei Mao and Wu Ji are both participating in this event... mounted polo.

The competition is also conducted in teams of ten, with each side having ten members, and the competition lasts for half an hour.

The ball used in "Lianqi Jiju" is special; it is not made of leather but is a hollow wooden ball. The rules are that each person rides a horse and uses a crescent-shaped wooden stick to hit and snatch the wooden ball. Each time the ball is hit into the opponent's goal, a number is added to the base "ten". If the ball is accidentally hit into one's own goal, an even number is subtracted from the base "ten".

After half an hour, the team with the most points wins.

This kind of polo match requires not only brave players but also fierce horses, so those who participate are all sons of wealthy and powerful families who own fine horses.

Before even mounting his horse, Wei Mao was already searching for Wei Yao in the crowd. He finally spotted her, and with a triumphant air, he leaped onto his horse, head held high and chest puffed out, his gaze cold and sharp.

Among the students on the opposing team, Wei Yao recognized quite a few. She pointed them out to her parents one by one: "Yuan Gong and Yuan Tianmu, both of them participated in the May Great Hunt. That person is Zhou Tai, a good friend of mine from the same school. And that one over there, his name is Yuan Zhan. Yuan Zhan's older brother, Yuan Ning, also studies at Cui Academy."

Xi Jiao, who came to watch Zhou Tai's match, finally managed to squeeze behind Wei Yao, only to hear that she didn't even deserve to have her name mentioned. She angrily turned around and squeezed out again, leaving her partner Yuan Zizhi completely bewildered!

The two of them also have a match, which will be held tomorrow at Xiuguang Garden in Xicheng.

As for Wei Yao, before she could finish speaking, a young woman was knocked down in the crowd. Some people pushed her while others helped her up. Wei Yao glanced at her and recognized that the woman who had been knocked down was Yu Baoying, her opponent from the first competition.

Yu Baoying was not angry at all. Instead, she laughed and told the servants next to her not to investigate who had pushed her. As the competition started, Yu Baoying screamed and shouted excitedly, no matter which team the crowd cheered for.

The joyful atmosphere was infectious, and Wei Yao, having shed her inhibitions, raised her voice to the highest level, cheering for her fellow students at Wei Academy.

"Wei Mao, Wei Mao—the pride of the kicker!"

"Wu Ji, Wu Ji—Invincible on the field!"

"Wei Jian, Wei Jian—Kick the enemy's face!"

The lively Cuju match ended before noon. Wei Yao's voice was so hoarse that she could barely speak. After tallying the results, Wei Xueguan won. She ran onto the field and cheered with her fellow students as they tossed the Cuju ball.

But as the ball fell, Wei Mao caught it with lightning speed and suggested, "Fellow disciples, let's exchange balls. May our friendship flow like water forever!" After saying that, he forced his own ball on Wei Yao.

The fellow disciples were all delighted and agreed, and began exchanging items.

At this moment, Wei Yao could only grin happily; what else could she do? Moreover, she had to join her fellow disciples in excitedly shouting, "May our camaraderie among disciples flow like water forever!"

After the competition ended, the team members went home. Wei Mao stopped Wei Yao and Wu Ji and told them, "Bu Yanzhen got into some trouble. His family wants to arrange a marriage for him, so he ran away from home and wants to go to Luoyang."

Wu Ji: "That's it. Hearing you say that, I know you've been caught just like me."

“Yes, you’re the same. You don’t even know to get a travel permit before you go out.” Wei Mao continued, “His family is afraid he’ll run away again, so they won’t even let him go to school. Bu Yanzhen sent me a letter asking if I knew which route to Luoyang was the shortest and how long it would take.”

Wei Yao shook her head: "This is a difficult matter. It would be wrong for us to help him, and it would also be wrong not to help him."

The word "us" warmed Wei Mao's heart. He said, "My idea is to visit him as Bu Yanzhen's fellow disciple. I will definitely go to Luoyang next year to see if the Bu family is willing to postpone the marriage proposal and allow Yanzhen to travel with me. This way, we can preserve the friendship we have built with Bu Yanzhen, avoid embarrassing his elders, and with me present in Luoyang, we won't make things difficult for our fellow disciple Zhen."

Wu Ji pouted and sighed, "Sigh, I guessed you'd have to leave Pingcheng next year, and sure enough. Go, go, all of you. Yao, go too. I just hope that Qu Rong and I won't be the only ones left."

(End of this chapter)