History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 192 The Orchard Behind the Villa

Zhao Zhi was always a woman of few words, and she immediately buried herself in her work. When the other person returned with the food box, she had just finished chopping three pieces of thick wood, and continued moving wood and chopping, four, five...

click!
click!
Move again, chop again...

"Alright, alright! That's enough." Manager Xue beamed and said, "Come with me."

The kitchen Zhao Zhi followed into was a special kitchen for cooking meat and making sauces. Steward Xue picked out braised meat and a few kinds of pickled vegetables and put them into a new small food box. These small food boxes were standardized. After placing them on top of the large food box from before, Steward Xue then gestured with his chin toward a large iron kettle on the ground.

Zhao Zhi understood, picked up the kettle, and found it was full of hot water.

As he left the kitchen, the other person walked him a few steps, then instructed, "Don't make a fuss. Next time you come, just look for me. Hey? Did I tell you my surname is Xue?"

Zhao Zhi nodded: "Thank you, Steward Xue."

"Hey, wait a minute." The woman hurried along as if she were on wheels, quickly fetching a bundle of mugwort. "Go back and put it in the house to get rid of the musty smell."

Zhao Zhi turned onto the path in front of the courtyard. Wei Yin also returned from Steward Lu's place. The couple entered the courtyard, and the scholar surnamed Wei, who lived in the north room, walked out with a serious face. Guessing that Wei Yin and his wife had gone inside, the scholar shook his head and sneered, "Bribing the cook on the first day instead of earning a living by his own strength. Is he here to seek a job or to enjoy a life of luxury? Ha."

The Wei family did not have the custom of not speaking while eating. Wei Yin told his wife and daughter what he had learned from Steward Lu: "We should be able to get the contract tomorrow, and then we will go to the county office to inquire about the lecturer position. However, the county office is quite far away, and it will take a whole day to go there and back. My idea is that after we get the contract, I will take you to the big market in the west, and then we will go to the county office early the next day."

Zhao Zhi never offered her opinion on such matters.

Wei Yao nodded happily, "That's wonderful." In her previous life, she had been married into the main family for several years but hadn't even explored the entire city of Luoyang because her husband wasn't entirely satisfactory, which had dampened her interest in shopping and sightseeing. Now it was different; what could be more heartwarming than shopping with family?
Wei Yin continued, "Minister Wei's return to the manor is uncertain. Even when he does return, he will personally instruct the Third Young Master Wei Maowen in both literature and martial arts. Steward Lu's meaning is very clear: it will take at least three months for the people to go to the front courtyard to be assigned to me."

"It is necessary to prepare for everything in advance, so I inquired and found that the Vice Minister's family owns properties in the large market, small market, and Sitong Market in the south of Luoyang. Most of them are bookstores. During the time I am waiting to pay my respects, I can earn money by copying books in the various bookstores of the Wei family using the contract."

“Pine Forest Villa is not a place to stay for long. Since we can’t stay here for long, we might as well buy a stable place to live as soon as possible.”

Zhao Zhi wolfed down five pancakes, and when she was half full, she finally had a mouthful: "Okay."

Wei Yin brought water to his wife and said, "There are also the scholars Yuan and Cui, whom Confucius and Director Cui asked Yao'er to visit. We will decide on the visit after we have found out who the lecturer is."

Yuan Fan, a scholar, was one of the officials dispatched by the Prince of Rencheng last summer to Pingcheng to implement the new school decree and commend the new school.

Cui Shilang, whose given name is Xiu, is currently serving as the Chief Secretary of the Prince of Beihai's Palace and concurrently as the Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate.

Zhao Zhi looked at her daughter with delight and praised, "Our Yao'er is so capable; she's even managed to get to know high-ranking officials in the capital."

"I will get to know more high-ranking officials in the future."

In front of her parents, Wei Yao didn't need to be modest; in fact, she seemed slightly proud. When she left Cui's academy, her mentor personally wrote a letter, along with a recommendation letter that Cui himself had prepared in advance, instructing her to visit Yuan Rushi once she had settled down in Luoyang. Because of Cui's high official rank, she shouldn't visit him unless there were extremely difficult circumstances, which is why her father said it would depend on the situation.

The family quickly finished their meal. The water in the iron kettle was still quite hot. Wei Yao scalded the food box clean. At this moment, Wei Rusheng returned carrying firewood and said to Wei Yao expressionlessly, "There are rules for living in this courtyard. Water can only be splashed within two steps of your own courtyard wall."

Wei Yao had already poured all the food at the base of the wall, which showed that this middle-aged scholar was difficult to get along with. Zhao Zhi stood at the door and glared at him. Wei Yao knew her mother was angry. She stacked the food box neatly and asked cheerfully, "Mother, are you tired? If not, how about we take a walk around this afternoon? I've heard so many times on the road that Luoyang is full of money. I don't believe I can't find some, hmph." Zhao Zhi loved seeing her daughter pout and act cute. So the family happily locked the door, returned the food box, and left the Pine Forest Villa.

There are markets to the west and southwest of Yinianli. Don't rush to visit the markets; it's more important to familiarize yourself with the surroundings first. As they walked along the outer perimeter of the yellow courtyard, they could see that the land was shorter from east to west and longer from north to south. Only the south side of the courtyard wall was planted with dense green bamboo, while the other three sides were lined with evergreen pine trees.

Behind the north wall was a small orchard where more than a dozen children were playing a game of tag, blindfolded. Every time someone was caught, all the children screamed.

Zhao Zhi held her daughter's hand and asked, "Yao'er, do you remember playing this when you were little? You hide, and your mother will blindfold you and try to catch you."

Wei Yaole: "My mother knew where I was hiding as soon as she entered the house, so I didn't like playing anymore."

She suddenly had an idea: "How about I blindfold myself and try to catch Dad and Mom today? Come on, Dad and Mom, play with me—"

"Let's play!" Zhao Zhi and Wei Yin agreed in unison.

The orchard wasn't large. They avoided the children. After Wei Yao blindfolded herself with a handkerchief, her father, still a child at heart, pointed and asked her, "How many? Can you see?"

Wei Yao: "You can't see. I'm starting to count. After I count to ten, you can't move, you can't cheat, one, two, three..."

Beneath the folded handkerchief, Wei Yao's eyes were closed, and of course, it was pitch black and she couldn't see anything. She stretched out her hand and walked slowly, as if she were searching for her father and mother in a dream in her past life.

Tears seeped into her handkerchief from between her eyelids.

In her heart, she cried out, "Father, Mother, I regret it. I should have listened to you and not married so far away. Please come to Luoyang to pick me up."

No, the past life is gone!
In this life, their whole family came to Luoyang in joy!
Wei Yao's sorrow dissipated, and at this moment, she completely became A Yao in this life.

She said cheerfully, "I can hear where you are."

Wei Yin and Zhao Zhi, hiding behind a tree, looked at each other and smiled.

At this moment, among the children in the distance, there was a little boy who didn't fit in and was being pushed and shoved by several other children. This child left the group and walked towards Wei Yao. When he got closer, Zhao Zhi and Wei Yin could see that the child had been crying, and his eyelashes were wet.

The child's bright eyes first looked at Zhao Zhi and Wei Yin, then pointed at Wei Yao, clearly asking, "Can he play with me?"
Zhao Zhi nodded to the child.

The boy immediately tiptoed and hid behind a tree quite close to Wei Yao.

Wei Yao heard the sound of the branches being trampled and came over to the little boy. The little boy smiled. He was short and avoided Wei Yao's hands from reaching out. But Wei Yao had a premonition that she was about to touch him. She changed the height and direction of her hands. The little boy nervously dodged, but he was still touched.

"Huh?" Wei Yao took off her handkerchief and asked as if coaxing a child, "Who are you?"

(End of this chapter)