History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 20 Large Lecture

Wei Yao took a deep breath and admitted, "Yes. I was thinking, if I were Gao Xiao Niangzi, and the teacher stood next to me for a long time during the exam, could I not be affected? I couldn't, I would definitely hesitate and make mistakes."

Wei Jing: "Don't worry, it's okay if you make half a mistake, I'll cover for you."

If any other fellow disciples said this, Wei Yao would immediately respond with humility, but Jing's true frankness didn't require it. She continued, "I feel sorry for her situation and want to help her. It's not that I'm presumptuous in doing good, but I hope that one day when I am treated unfairly, someone will help me too."

In her previous life, after Du Ling transferred to the Wei Clan Academy to replace Master Duan, she immediately understood Gao Lou's frustration and anger. It turned out that Master Du was not harsh on all female students, but rather discriminated against female students from poor families, especially those who excelled academically.

Therefore, helping Gao Lou now is ultimately Wei Yao helping herself!
As for delaying Gao Lou's departure from the city, she had two purposes: firstly, of course, to make him and the Rouran army separate and avoid the risk of being harmed; secondly, to make a preemptive strike and let more noble children witness Gao Lou's helpless situation, thus spreading the bad reputation of that scoundrel Du Ling.

In that case, if Du Ling doesn't come to the Wei Academy again, fine. But if he still goes through all sorts of connections to become a teacher at the Book of Poetry Academy, she will retaliate twice over for the bad temper she suffered in her previous life!
Meanwhile, Wei Mao was pondering what Wei Yao had said when he was suddenly pushed aside by his friend.

Wei Jing exclaimed excitedly, "I'll help you! How about this, I'll count to three, and if you can step on my shadow, I'll agree to help you... three times, okay?" He raised his finger from one to three.

Little did he know that in Wei Mao's heart, his status as a friend was no longer the most important thing. As soon as he finished speaking, Wei Mao immediately wrapped his arms around him, hugged him tightly, and shouted to Wei Yao, "Quick, step on it!"

"Ah—you're cheating!"

"You stepped on it."

"Haha."

Amidst the cheers of the three, a group of people rode up at full speed, with Lu Baozhen and He Rong leading the way, the two riders riding side by side.

Before the horse had even come to a complete stop, Lu Baozhen hurriedly stated his purpose: "Wei Mao, help me! Changsun Gouzhuo is vicious. He called a bunch of his cronies to ambush me on my way home. Today I must beat him to a pulp."

Wei Mao handed the book box to A Jing and mounted He Rong's horse.

"go!"

"drive--"

The road was kicked up by the horses' hooves, kicking up dust as they galloped upwards like youthful spirit.

Wei Jing couldn't carry the two book boxes and had to wait for the servant to fetch them, so Wei Yao parted ways with him there. After returning home, she found her old notebooks, all written by her when she was truly a child. It was better to give them away, lest her father see them one day and perhaps notice her current feigned childish handwriting.

This time she had too much to take, so her mother pushed a wheelbarrow to take her. By the time they arrived at Cui Academy, the sun was already setting. A maid helped carry her luggage, and Wei Yao waved to her mother every three steps, saying, "Mother, let's go back."

But after ten days apart, Zhao Zhi was reluctant to leave. She waved to her daughter until she could no longer see her.

Wei Yao stayed in the same courtyard as before, but the steward had changed; his surname was Cui, and he looked older than Master Duan. She was led by a maid to the most secluded hut. This hut was built against the wall and had no windows. Outside the courtyard, lush tree branches hung over the roof, and birds perched on the branches, tilting their heads from side to side, showing no fear of strangers.

Upon entering the room, the maidservant exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, where's the mat on the floor? Miss Wei, please wait a moment, I'll go and ask."

Without mats, the ground was damp, cold, and smelled of earth. Wei Yao didn't stop working. First, she checked if the door could be closed tightly. After closing it, she found a crack, which was normal, allowing those outside to see if candles were burning all night and to ensure the safety of the students. After checking, she tidied up the stationery. Why was the desk not placed straight? There was mud on one corner. Had someone kicked the desk askew? Considering the arrangement of the room, Wei Yao guessed that the other rooms must be full, and those who had moved in earlier were all young ladies from noble families.

It took about half an hour for the maid to return carrying a roll of mats, her cheeks bearing the marks of a slap.

Wei Yao was unaware of the situation in the courtyard, so she ignored it and didn't ask any questions. She also warned herself that she must be vigilant and patient for the next ten days, so as not to be slapped in the face.

She brought her own dinner from home, closed the door, lit a candle, and first looked at the poetry book given to her by Cui Xueguan to make sure the course progress was the same. Then she copied her notes. As a child, her handwriting was poor, and to save paper, she had written almost all her notes on bamboo slips and wooden tablets, which were inconvenient for Gao Xiaoniangzi to carry over long distances. Since she was helping someone, she had to do it perfectly, so she was determined to copy all her notes onto paper in the next few days.

She would not take the copied bamboo slips home again; she would scrape the characters off with a carving knife and throw them into a bamboo basket next to the door.

At the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), there was a commotion outside the courtyard. Not long after, a maid came to inform Wei Yao that starting tomorrow, there would be four consecutive days of lectures in Dadu, with Confucius as the main lecturer. The lectures would be held in the "Youdao" bamboo grove in the northwest of the courtyard, and the time would still be half past Mao (5-7 AM).

"Dadu Shou" means large-scale classes. In Pingcheng, only the Imperial Academy, the State Academy, and the clan schools of the Four Pure Ones had large-scale classes, and it was even rarer to have large-scale classes at the primary school level. In her previous life, Wei Yao had encountered large-scale classes once each at the Zheng Family Academy and the Wang Family Academy. The advantage was that famous teachers imparted the essence of knowledge, but the disadvantage was that if there was no good seat to listen to the lecture, it was not as good as attending a regular class.

The next day, she went to the kitchen early to collect her breakfast. Her stationery had been packed the night before. After quickly finishing her meal, she left the courtyard and headed northwest. Her father had come to Cui's school many times to borrow and return books, so Wei Yao knew the layout of the place very well. She easily found the "Youdao" bamboo grove, where only a dozen or so servants were setting up seats and small desks.

Seeing that the seats were arranged in a spacious fan shape with varying spacing, Wei Yao asked the person closest to her, "Will I be sitting in the dormitory?"

“Returning to the young lady, the school is divided into sections. Since Confucius was teaching here, the one at the front is the School of Instruction and Righteousness, and the others, from near to far, are the School of Goodness and Righteousness, the School of National Customs, the School of Poetry and Music, and the School of Literature and Music.”

"I am an auditor at the school, where should I sit?"

“The students who are observing the class should also sit in their assigned rooms. The young lady has come with me. She may choose one of these two seats.”

"Thank you for your help." Wei Yao breathed a sigh of relief. That was great. Although her seat in the audience was on the right side of the third row, she could definitely hear the teacher speaking clearly.

When the weather is nice, the birds in the forest start chirping early.

The students arrived one after another. The formal disciples of Cui Academy all wore the same blue robes, making it easy to identify those who were auditing students. As she had expected, there were many Xianbei students. Judging from the fact that they were still making noise in groups of three or five, one could imagine how undisciplined they usually were.

When she saw Xi Jiao, she immediately turned around and sat up straight. As she turned around, she glanced at the table next to her that had been reserved for another disciple who was listening in.

What you least want to happen is what happens most often! Xi Jiao sat down.

He was once again in the same class as her at the school.

To avoid letting her mind wander, Wei Yao began to recite poetry silently. Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder from behind. She deliberately turned around in the opposite direction from Xi Jiao. The young man behind her looked somewhat like Yuan Yu and said to her, "Want to switch seats? I know him well." He pointed to Xi Jiao.

Wei Yao was definitely unwilling to change, so she pretended to hesitate, but the other party wasn't buying it. After blinking twice, he picked up his book box and stepped in front of her, urging, "Hurry up!"

(End of this chapter)