History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 224 The Ballad of Mulan

Zhao Zhi's keen senses were honed through countless life-or-death battles. Two crossbow bolts were fired at each other, and the shooters were close together. The moment she tackled the two kings, one of the arrows shot out like a blazing fire, only an inch away from the back of her neck!
The two kings were saved, but Yuan Hui, who had just been so eager to beat the drum to appeal, was shot through the neck.

The other arrow struck a military officer under the command of the Prince of Xianyang.

People around reacted and started screaming and running around, but were stunned by the shouts of the officials and military officers of the Second Prince's Palace.

"All citizens, squat down with your hands raised. Anyone running around will be considered an assassin!"

Liu Xiaogou: "Quickly, protect the Grand Commandant—"

Li Xuanmao: "Protect the Minister! Form a human wall to protect the Minister!"

Two assassins were discovered, but before the soldiers could surround them, both assassins committed suicide with arrows.

Inside the human wall, Zhao Zhi was fine, but Yuan Cheng and Yuan Xi sat on the ground, their heads fuzzy.

What kind of strength does this woman possess? The two men, one tall and strong and the other fat, were both lifted off the ground by her.

Damn, the ground on Tongtuo Street is really hard!
Li Xuanmao and Liu Xiaogou squeezed in, with the army doctor behind them, holding four blood-stained crossbow bolts on several layers of cloth. The army doctor reported, "The arrows are all soaked in a strange poison with an unusual odor. We need to examine them carefully to find out what kind of poison it is."

Liu Xiaogou told Yuanxi, "Guard Liu was shot in the shoulder with an arrow. He didn't die, but he's not fully conscious." The guard who was shot was his cousin. He suppressed his complicated emotions and bowed to Zhao Zhi.

"Thank you, Guard Zhao, for saving the Grand Commandant."

Zhao Zhi humbly replied, "I was just lucky this time."

It's better not to say it at all.

The Prince of Xianyang glared at Liu Xiaogou and walked with the Prince of Rencheng to Yuan Hui's corpse. They saw that the black color was spreading from the wound on the neck, and even the blood could not cover it. The two princes felt even more frightened.

As for Yuan Pi's other son, Yuan Guo, he had cried himself hoarse. They had only been in Luoyang for a day! He was the only one left in the family.

The Prince of Xianyang addressed Yuan Cheng in a kind tone: "Uncle, Guard Zhao..."

Yuan Cheng: "Yes, thanks to Guard Zhao today! Otherwise, I would never have heard the Grand Commandant call me uncle again."

Court Minister Gongsun Liang arrived with his subordinate Chang Jing, taking over the cases of the assassin and Yuan Pi, and order was restored to Tongtuo Street.

At this time, the Prince of Xianyang thought that the assassins were targeting Yuan Cheng, and Yuan Cheng himself thought so too. However, the Court of Justice quickly deduced from the location of the assassins, the structure of the crossbows, the positions of the two princes, and the position of the person who was hit by the arrow that the two assassins' target was actually to kill the Prince of Xianyang!
What made the Prince of Xianyang even more uneasy was that after the injured guard Liu was carried back to the mansion, he convulsed and talked incoherently. Even after undergoing bone scraping treatment, he still died.

What kind of poison is this?

As for Wei Mao, he returned home in a state of anxiety. In the evening, his father sent someone back with a letter saying that there was a disturbance in Tongtuo Street and that the city's defenses needed to be strengthened. The rest day that was originally scheduled for the day after tomorrow was postponed.

Wei Mao's heart pounded even harder; something really had happened!
Is it related to Mrs. Zhao? Or is it just a coincidence that something happened today?

The more anxious you are, the less you should panic.

That night, Wei Mao replayed the image of Zhao Shifu leaving him in his mind over and over again. He guessed that Shifu was the folk heroine who saved him when he encountered a bear on Baideng Mountain, but he must have seen her calm and composed turning around elsewhere.

In his imagination, Wei Mao dressed Zhao Shima in various disguises, accompanied by her nimble turning movements.

Ah!
I remembered!

Last July, Hu Guozhen's daughter plotted a vicious scheme in Youmei Garden, causing Yao Yao to be beaten innocently. The children who were caught in the brawl went out of the city to chase after Hu Guozhen's family, but unfortunately they only intercepted Hu's wife, Huangfu, and the fake Hu girl. At that time, the "mother and daughter" were crying and were about to gain the sympathy of some of their friends when more than twenty cavalrymen from the governor's mansion arrived.

The lead cavalryman helped Lady Huangfu onto the carriage, but the fake mother and daughter died inside. The cavalry leader was none other than the teacher's wife!
We finally found out who killed Huangfu.

Wei Mao was extremely excited. Such an extraordinary woman with such remarkable martial arts skills and a profound yet unassuming demeanor was his future mother-in-law! No, his master's wife was skilled in martial arts, Master Wei was cunning, and Yao Yao was also cunning and good at studying. He had to be better than all the other young men to be worthy of Yao Yao.

Otherwise, of the "four dishes," he would be the only minor pickled vegetable, something that could be skipped in the morning and evening.

The extinguished candle was relit, and Wei Mao studied for another half an hour before going to sleep.

The next day, in the south of the city, at the "Nanying" bookstore in Sitong City.

This bookstore also manufactures pens and ink. It is the property of General Wei Yi. Wei Yin earns money by copying books here, and when he gets tired of copying, he walks around the bookstore.

There aren't many permanent bookstores on this street. Because it's close to the ruins of Biyong and Guozixue, there are many Confucian scholars selling books. They all speak with accents from other places and claim that the books they have are passed down from their ancestors or picked up from war-torn areas. Anyone who believes that scholars don't lie will definitely be deceived.

Wei Yin's family possessed the Erya, but the books he most wanted to find were the other three foundational texts: Shuowen, Fangyan, and Shiming.

The shopkeeper and servants at Nanying Bookstore were used to Wei Yin going out empty-handed and returning empty-handed every day. But today was different. Wei Yin came back clutching a scroll of paper wrapped in a silk pouch. The shopkeeper could tell that Wei Yin was suppressing his excitement, which made him curious: "Young Master Wei Yin, what good book did you buy?"

"Come."

The shopkeeper came over happily and saw that the cloth bag covering the book was made of ordinary coarse cloth without any embroidery.

Wei Yin excitedly removed the pouch and unfolded the paper scroll.

The shopkeeper warned, "Young Master Wei Yin, please don't be fooled. These days, all the fake scholars use this trick, deliberately wrapping their books in coarse cloth bags to make it seem like they're poor and forced to sell their books."

"I know. But I think it's a good poem!"

诗？
The shopkeeper, his interest completely gone, said, "The Xiao Qi side? I told you you'd been fooled. Poems from there aren't selling well these days." The Xiao Qi scholars loved writing poetry; they could find sorrow in every season. They were just looking for trouble!
"No," Wei Yin said as the shopkeeper walked away. "Let me read you a few lines."

"Okay, okay, you read it."

"Chirp, chirp, chirp..."

At this moment, the shopkeeper and the servants around him all turned lewd.

"Mulan weaves at her loom, but no sound is heard from the shuttle; only the woman's sighs..."

"I saw the conscription notice last night, the Khan is a bit... oh?"

The shopkeeper couldn't wait any longer. He took the scroll of paper, first scolding the servants to "get to work properly," and then signaled Wei Yin to follow him upstairs.

On the way upstairs, the shopkeeper glanced at the poems a few times and almost tripped over himself.

On the second floor, the shopkeeper softly recited the poem, the words of which carried their own power: "Traveling ten thousand miles to the battlefield, crossing mountains and passes as if flying, the northern wind carries the sound of the watchman's clapper, the cold light shines on the iron armor."

His voice was already choked with emotion: "Generals die in a hundred battles, brave warriors... return after ten years! Return to see the Emperor..."

After reciting the entire poem, the shopkeeper was lost in the reverie described in it. After a few breaths, he wiped away his tears with embarrassment and said, "My mother went with the army to fight against the Rouran. Alas, she is buried there forever."

"Young Master Wei Yin, did you buy this poem from nearby? Did the seller say who wrote it? Don't misunderstand, I didn't mean to force you to take it, but such a good poem loses its meaning if it's kept by one person! Throughout history, there have been many heroines who went to the battlefield, but how many are remembered? I can't bear to see Mulan in this poem like my mother, with no one remembering her loyalty and bravery, no one recording her merits!"

(End of this chapter)