History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 246 Women's Martial Arts Competition
Yes, Wei Mao had been adopted and changed his surname to "Yuan". At the young age of eleven, he was appointed as "Shiyu Zhongsan", the same age and official rank as Yang Jin, who came from the Hongnong Yang family in the third year of Taihe.

What is a "Zhongsan" official? It is an official who has access to the inner palace, equivalent to a "Langguan" in the Han Dynasty. Among the honorary officials, the "Shiyu Zhongsan" is awarded if it is based on one's "starting official position". It is only awarded to the sons of meritorious officials or famous officials, belonging to the "upper fifth rank", and serving the emperor closely.

Xi Jiao coldly observed, sensing the affection between Wei Yao and Yuan Mao. A feeling of discomfort and jealousy he had never experienced before was fiercely suppressed in his palm.

However, he immediately became gloating. He saw Yuan Jingrong glaring at Yuan Mao without any politeness, and even tugged at the whip in her hand as a threat: "What do you want to do? Does being an official make you so great? Get out of the way, stay away from Wei Yao!"

The petty Yuan Mao narrowed his eyes: "I remember your name is Yuan Jingrong?" Back in Pingcheng, it was this shrew who wouldn't let him get close to Wei Yao! How come she's in Luoyang too!

Wei Yao stretched out her arm to block her friend and solemnly declared, "Yuan Zhongsan, she is my friend, and they are all my friends!"

Yuan Mao was angered by this distant address and walked away, standing on the farthest edge from her, thinking: Fine, they are all your friends, but I am not!
Yuan Mao was angry about his own actions, but he wouldn't let it go. He said to Xi Yi beside him, "Brother Yi, take my experience as a lesson. If you ever see someone you don't like, teach them a lesson before you even get a government job! Otherwise, they'll use your official position to provoke and challenge you."

Erzhu Rong laughed: "Why don't you just say that a good man doesn't fight with a woman?"

The women around who heard this all glared at the brat. Erzhu Rong felt like he had been beaten even though he hadn't been, and he slowly squatted down, drawing circles on the ground.

Soon, a great deal of noise arose from the crowd.

Yuan Langxi shouted excitedly, "Is it about to begin?"

A military officer stood in the middle of the arena, first gesturing to quiet the crowd, then announcing: "The martial arts competition is about to begin. Here are the rules. There will be two rounds in total. Today is the first round. The winners of the one-on-one matches in each arena will become the Tiger Warriors of the Mulan Camp. Remember, if you should concede defeat today, don't fight to the death, because you still have a chance to participate in the second round's bloody battle. The bloody battle is also one-on-one, and weapons are not distinguished."

"Alright, first group of competitors, please state your names and backgrounds before the match!"

Laughter erupted from the crowd.

The woman who entered the dueling circle first was over forty years old, and the weapon she carried was a pair of rolling pins. "My name is Xue Mianniang, I am forty-five years old, and I come from the residence of General Zuo Yi, a member of the meritorious Wei clan!"

"Ah?" Wei Yao remembered who Xue Mianniang was. She grabbed Guo Yun and Jing Rong beside her and said, "When I first came to Luoyang, I stayed at the Pine Forest Villa behind General Wei's mansion. Xue Mianniang was in charge of the kitchen. My God, she was skilled in martial arts, and strong enough to be selected as a Tiger Warrior!"

"Xue Mianniang is mighty!" Wei Yao was the first to raise her fist and shout, cheering for her.

Yuan Jingrong, Guo Yun, and the others followed closely behind, shouting, "Xue Mianniang is mighty!"

"Lady Xue is mighty! Lady Xue is mighty! Lady Xue is mighty!"

The increasing shouts drowned out the laughter.

The opponent has entered the game.

The woman appeared to be in her thirties, with some of her hair already gray. Her weapon was truly rare: she wore an iron plate in each hand, shaped like a shield, but with the front edge completely sharpened.

"My name is Liu Xiaosu, I am thirty-two years old, I come from the Grand Commandant's mansion, and I am a servant of the Prince of Xianyang's mansion."

Someone exclaimed in surprise: "She's the sister of Liu Xiaogou, the head guard of the Xianyang Prince's Palace!"

Wei Yao is now familiar with the famous guards of the residences of various important officials. She told her companions, "Liu Xiaosu is Liu Xiaogou's sworn sister. Her surname is Liu, but her given name was changed later."

Liu Zhenzhu: "I understand. Jia Yi, the Grand Tutor of the Han Dynasty, once wrote an article with the line... 'If there is plenty of grain, there will be plenty of wealth.'"

The imperial guards checked the records of the two men's competition applications and, after confirming that everything matched, shouted, "Begin! Stop when one side concedes defeat; no lethal force is allowed."

Before he could finish speaking, Xue and Liu had already started fighting.

Xue Mianniang excels at attacking the upper body, using a rolling pin in her left hand for defense and her right hand for offense.

Unfortunately, she met Liu Xiaosu, who was exactly the type to counter her.

Liu Xiaosu's moves mostly stayed close to the ground, as agile as a swallow flying low. She wielded the two iron armor plates with such skill that they created afterimages, nearly slashing Xue Mianniang's legs several times. "Ah, watch out!"

"Wonderful!"

"Beware!"

Xue Mianniang quickly found herself on the defensive, taking a stab wound that left blood seeping through her trousers. No, if she continued, her legs would be crippled, preventing her from participating in the next round of the bloody battle.

"I surrender."

The match lasted less than a quarter of an hour from start to finish. Wei Yao and the others were on tenterhooks. At this moment, Yuan Langxi was even more unwilling than Xue Mianniang: "What a pity! Xue Mianniang could have won if she had any other opponent!"

Yuan Jingrong: "You can't say that. Once you're on the battlefield, will you be allowed to choose your opponents?"

"Why can't we choose? She can control me, but there are others who can control her. We can just use our comrades to deal with her, right?"

"You're really something. The battlefield situation changes in an instant. Everyone else just stands there like an idiot, waiting for you to replace them."

"You're the interesting one; you've learned a new word: 'instantaneous changes'."

Guo Yun: "Stop arguing! Look, the next group is coming up."

Yuan Jingrong said happily, "Look, her weapon is a whip, just like mine."

The woman who stepped into the arena first clasped her hands in a fist salute and said in a loud voice, "My name is Yi Erniang, I am thirty-four years old, and I am a servant of Princess Zhangwu's household. Let me make this clear first, my weapon has iron spikes twisted in it, so don't cry if you get hurt on the face!"

Her opponent, wielding twin daggers, stepped closer and retorted to her provocation: "My surname is Tian, ​​my given name is Ming, I am thirty-five, and I serve in the General of Chariots and Cavalry's household. Let me make this clear beforehand: any life placed in my hands is wasted!"

Interestingly, the two exchanged a few blows, all using hard-hitting punches!
Wei Yao told Guo Yun and the others, "Princess Zhangwu's former husband was Mu Tai, who caused the rebellion in Pingcheng. The General of Chariots and Cavalry is the Prince of Guangling..."

Just then, someone in the crowd across from them started arguing: "Damn it, some lecherous guy touched me!"

Who else but Yuan Yu, the Prince of Guangling, would dare to take advantage of a disaster in broad daylight?

He protested, "Don't talk nonsense, I touched her."

It would have been better if he hadn't explained. After he did, he was slapped dozens of times across the face before he could escape the crowd. Even his trusted guards almost didn't recognize him.

After the second group finished competing, Yuan Jingrong was furious.

Yi Erniang, who wielded the whip, lost. It was precisely because Yi Erniang used so many unique moves that Yuan Jingrong felt that there was not much future in continuing to practice whip techniques. At most, she could only master the martial arts of Yi Erniang. But how could whip techniques be so easily found to have flaws and be countered?
"Waaah—Wei Yao, what should I do? If I switch to training something else now, won't all the time I've spent in the past few years be wasted?"

Xi Jiao: "Weighing the pros and cons, you have to give up what you should give up. I've been wanting to remind you for a long time, have you ever seen anyone go to the battlefield with a whip as a weapon? But don't be discouraged, there are brave women in the Qiqi Field, and they will all have to change their weapons after being selected into the Tiger Legion."

"really?"

It's more comfortable to share bad luck than to suffer bad luck alone.

Xi Jiao replied earnestly, "It's true. I've inquired, and the entire Mulan Battalion trains with ring-pommel swords."

Wei Yao pretended to look at Xi Jiao, but her gaze actually passed through the group of people and went to where Yuan Mao was standing.

Huh? Where did they go?

Yang Jin: Yang Jin's mother was Empress Dowager Wenming's maternal aunt. He started his career as a court attendant at the age of eleven.

(End of this chapter)