History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 18 The Promising Wei Mao (Thanks to the friend who gifted a monthly pass)

He remembered that his elder sister had warned his father not to associate with idlers after their family had been separated from the household registration system, but his father wouldn't listen and kept talking to those scoundrels.

Some are saddened, some are happy.

The lamb restaurant has the most affordable meat prices in the East Fourth Ward. In addition to the grain and cloth commonly used by the Great Wei, it also accepts medicinal herbs, writing utensils, animal hides, weaving tools, and so on.

When Wei Yin and his daughter arrived, they smiled at each other, because Wei Yao's mother, Zhao Zhi, was selecting items in the shop.

Zhao Zhi: "Add more roasted lamb leg meat, my husband loves it. Are the braised rabbit legs selling so fast today? Give them all to me, my daughter likes them."

Wei Yin recognized the shopkeeper and servants here, and without letting them make a sound, he tiptoed to his wife's side and said, "Cut some more roasted venison; my wife likes it."

"Ah, my husband, A-Yao? You're back so quickly?"

Wei Yao covered her mouth and laughed. She really liked seeing her mother's surprised expression, and of course, she also liked seeing her father's occasional mischief.

The family of three returned to the market in joyful harmony on the Lantern Festival.

All nine main streets outside Pingcheng were brightly lit! The bustling traffic made the colorful streets even more lively, like daytime. In the residential areas of the sixteen wards, every house hung lanterns, like thousands of colorful stars adorning the earth.

Both Wei Yao and her mother wore brightly colored new pleated clothes. Wei Yao's crisscross skirt was white and green, while her mother's was white and light brown. When they first went out, the mother and daughter looked like a beautiful painting of quiet maidens. But when the family poured into the street, they joined countless people who were enjoying the lantern festival to create a magnificent and splendid scene.

The main north-south street in Dongsifang is called Zhiqu Street. The middle section was almost impassable. Fortunately, Zhao Zhi was strong and managed to squeeze her husband and daughter under the dragon lantern that was being watched by the crowd.

Lanterns driven by the heat of candles have existed since the Qin Dynasty, and today they are made in all sorts of ways. This huge lantern, taller than a person, contains several coiled mythical beasts that rotate in circles. Their shadows are seen through the thin, cloud-painted lantern canopy, and their scales appear to move gracefully. Moreover, various exquisite seashells hang below the lantern, which tap against each other as they rotate, producing a pleasant, crisp sound.

Wei Yao was admiring the lamp with her family when she heard a voice calling her from the pavilion that owned the lamp.

"Fellow disciples—"

"Wei Yao—"

She looked up and saw Wei Mao and Wei Jing, with several companions beside them, one of whom was He Rong, a boy who had once raced horses in the Plum Garden.

Wei Yao waved, then indicated that she and her family were going somewhere else.

Wei Mao shouted "Wait!" and threw the colorful flower ball made by the restaurant at her with all his might. Someone caught it and passed it to Wei Yao. She smiled and waved to her fellow disciples again, then hugged the beautiful flower ball and continued walking with her parents to the end of the street.

What a joyous festival! Zhao Zhi smiled and told her husband, "That child just now was named Wei Mao, and he's A Yao's fellow disciple."

Wei Yin: "Yes, I know. His eldest and second eldest brothers were both my disciples. On the day of A Yao's joint examination, this child came to greet me and thanked me for speaking well of him."

Wei Yao was very curious and asked, "When did Father say something good about Mao Tong? Father, please tell us."

"Haha, it was a very small matter, I only remembered it when he mentioned it. This Wei Mao was naughty when he was young. Once, his family went out together and met me. While his father and brothers were talking to me, he was jumping around on the carriage shaft. Haha, his father was both worried and angry, saying that of his three sons, only his youngest son, Wei Mao, was unruly, and that beatings and scoldings were useless. I comforted him, saying that this child has outstanding potential and a virtuous character. As long as we don't interfere too much, he will surely amount to something in the future."

Zhao Zhi looked at her husband with admiration and told Wei Yao, "Your father is skilled at reading people and predicting their fates. He can accurately predict anything he's willing to do!" Wei Yao was astonished and immediately asked, "Father, what about me? Do I have the appearance of someone who will stand out from the crowd?"

Wei Yin shook his head: "You don't have a bump on your head, of course not."

The mother and daughter were overjoyed; it turned out that this was the "Zhengrong" method.

The family continued their stroll. At this time of year, fans were for sale—waist fans, round fans, whisk fans, and hand fans—all kinds were available. Scholars favored elegant fans, and Wei Yin picked up one with calligraphy and paintings, explaining to his wife what was depicted and written on it. Wei Yao listened in, while also observing their surroundings. Most passersby were praising the beauty of the festival, while others mentioned the results of the elementary school entrance exams, naturally referring to who had performed poorly and would be expelled from which school.

Wearing a black cloak, Cui Zhi entered Wei Yao's field of vision.

His complexion was exceptionally fair, and his youthful elegance, coupled with his noble attire, made him hard to miss. However, Wei Yao was more concerned about another young man, Zheng Zun, who met Cui Zhi and bowed to him.

In her past life, she studied with Zheng Zun for a period of time. After leaving the Wei Academy due to Qu Rong's murder, Zheng Zun felt sorry for her and helped her inquire about smaller private schools, lending her his notes. This pure friendship became a rare light in her life, coexisting with familial affection.

Of course, Zheng Zun didn't recognize Wei Yao at the moment. To her surprise, Cui Zhi bowed to her across the crowd as if they were fellow disciples. After returning the bow, she noticed that he was surprised and quickly looked behind her. Ah... it turned out that behind the fan stall, a child of about ten years old was the fellow disciple that Cui Zhi was greeting.

Making the best of a bad situation, she called out to Cui Zhi, "I am Wei Yao, who attended classes at Cui's Academy last month. I hope that when you see Confucius, you will give him my regards." Then she continued to choose fans with her parents.

Humorous encounters are best experienced during holidays; they are not only not awkward, but they also become memorable moments of laughter.

However, all the lavish parties must eventually come to an end.

As the night drew to a close, a light snow began to fall, and people gradually returned home, leaving the colorful lanterns still illuminating the market.

As the wind picked up, the snowflakes became denser, covering everything in Pingcheng, high and low.

Outside the picturesque city, a short-eared owl forages at night, but the place it often lands in is different from the usual one.

The dozen or so families who lived there were all brutally murdered!

The still-warm smell of blood quickly melted the falling snow, as if protesting the despair and grief that had just occurred.

The sixteenth day of the first lunar month.

The Weizu Elementary School has released the results of this month's joint examinations for all subjects. The list for the "Book of Poetry" examination is quite interesting: the first and second place winners are both from the first ward, while the third and last place winners are both from the fifth ward.

Next, Master Duan informed the top three disciples of their respective auditing schools. From the day after tomorrow to the 27th, the top-ranked Wei Yao would continue to attend the Cui family's school, the second-ranked Wei Mao would attend the Zheng family's school, and the third-ranked Chen Yu would attend the Wang family's school.

Wei Yao knew Chen Yu; he came from the "Houmochen" tribe, and all the students from this tribe in Pingcheng studied under the Wei clan.

After informing his disciples, Master Duan encouraged them: "This joint examination had a perfect score paper. Only two disciples from the various Xianbei academies achieved a perfect score, one of whom is your fellow disciple, Wei Yao! Even combined, the state academies and the Han academies only had a dozen or so students who achieved a perfect score. This shows that in the basic stage of recognizing characters and interpreting poetry, you are no less capable than the Han students. From now on, you should learn more from Wei Yao about study methods and strive to be on par with him. Also, the Lantern Festival will mark the next day off. Alright, quiet down. Today we will begin studying the fifth part of the *Guofeng*, the *Weifeng*. Has anyone memorized the first poem, *Qi Ao*?"

The students made a slight murmur because Wei Yao, Wei Mao, Wei Puti, and Wei Zhen all raised their hands.

(End of this chapter)