History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 250 Qiucao sends friends off

After talking with her parents, Wei Yao returned to her room and selected a scroll from a large pile of old bamboo slips. These notes were made by her mentor when he was young and studying the Erya. Compared with her mentor's current interpretation of the Erya, the content was neither detailed nor supported by classical texts.

My mentor brought all his old notes to Luoyang because he would be living in the capital for a long time. However, there were too many old notes and they were too varied. At present, Wenya Academy does not have the same good storage conditions as Cui Academy in Pingcheng. Whether it is bamboo slips or books, they are very easy to get moldy or infested with insects. It will be too late to save them once they are damaged.

So Wei Yao asked her mentor for permission to first find all the bamboo slips of the Erya, move them to her house, and have her open them. She removed all the ones that were moldy, had insect bite marks, or had unclear characters, copied them on new bamboo slips, and then supplemented the annotations and recompiled the book.

By the time she finishes these tasks, several storage rooms for the manuscripts at the Wenya Study should be completed, and she can then store her Erya notes there before organizing other academic works.

The process of organizing old notes is also the process of relearning the Erya and practicing calligraphy.

This volume contains part of the "Explanation of Words" chapter.

In the first chapter, “殷、齐，中也”, taking “殷” as an example, what she had learned before was only to memorize the original meaning of “殷” as “great joy”, as well as what its extended meanings were and which chapters and sentences in the classics contained those extended meanings.

To relearn the Erya, we must first verify the origin of the original meaning of "Sheng Le" from the Shuowen Jiezi. The Shuowen Jiezi records... The Yi Jing says, "The Yin people offered sacrifices to the Supreme God."

When Wei Yao supplemented her mentor's notes, she couldn't just add "殷荐之上帝" (Yin Jian Zhi Shangdi); she also needed to add a popular explanation of the phrase. As for the remaining extended meanings, the more examples of textual evidence she provided, the better.

The candlelight went out, and night and day alternated.

Friends are hard to gather and easy to part.

Wei Yao then went to Qili Bridge to bid farewell to Guo Yun, Liu Zhenzhu, Yuan Jingrong, and the rest of their fellow disciples. They had been away from home for too long and had to set off to return home. After this parting, they didn't know when they would see each other again.

"I'll miss you all," Wei Yao cried, leaning on Guo Yun's shoulder.

Yuan Jingrong then instructed Yuan Langxi: "Luoyang is not Pingcheng. You should practice your martial arts well and avoid causing trouble. If you are selected for the Tiger Guard Camp, remember to write to me."

Yuan Langxi was an orphan. Her family's property had long been seized by her clansmen, and she would probably have nothing left by the time she returned to Pingcheng. So she listened to Yuan Jingrong and Wei Yao's advice and stayed in Luoyang.

Liu Zhenzhu took Wei Yao's hand and pulled her aside to whisper. "Don't just write to Yun Tongmeng, send me letters too."

"Of course I will write to you."

“I mean…single letter to me. In the letter, don’t just write about yourself, mention Cui Zhi once or twice.”

Back in Pingcheng, Wei Yao knew that Zhenzhu was in love with her senior brother Zhi, and that he was focused on his studies and treated all his fellow disciples the same, neither showing affection nor deliberately distancing himself.

Knowing she might never see Zhenzhu again in her lifetime, Wei Yao opened her heart and advised her, "Zhenzhu, in the future, when Senior Brother Zhi is in Luoyang, if you..."

“There’s no ‘if’.” Liu Zhenzhu shook her head sadly, tears flying with the movement. “My home is in Pingcheng, so I definitely have to go back. Cui Zhi and I were never meant to be. Actually, I knew it was impossible last year. I just hope he’s doing well and is healthy.”

"Don't write too much about him, but don't write nothing about him either." With these last words, Liu Zhenzhu broke down in tears.

The endless autumn grass sways in the wind, gradually obscuring the departing friend.

royal palace.

With his chubby little hands behind his back, the Seventh Prince Yuan Zhen had already recited up to the end of "The Ballad of Mulan".

"I went out to see my comrades, and they were all startled... Two rabbits ran side by side on the ground, how could I tell which was male and which was female?"

Unlike usual, the little guy didn't boast after reciting the poem; he was listless. Emperor Yuan Ke glanced at the imperial physician Wang Xian, who quickly took the Seventh Prince's pulse.

"How many meals has Your Highness been fasting?"

"Two meals. Imperial Physician Wang can even diagnose me on an empty stomach?"

"Your Highness, I heard your stomach growling. Your Highness is well, just rest more and eat something nourishing." Yuan Ru walked up to the emperor, wiping away tears with both arms, and said, "I didn't mean to skip meals, causing Your Majesty to worry about me in your busy schedule. I just... feel sorry for my mother. She became a nun at Yaoguang Temple. I originally thought it was a good thing, that it would be easier than going to the palace to see her, but when I saw her with her head shaved, I would rather she stay far away from me and go back to the Zheng family."

The Yaoguang Temple, which he oversaw the construction of, was where he personally imprisoned his mother.

At this moment, Ru Hao came in and reported, "Your Majesty, the Prince of Jingzhao has arrived."

After being summoned, Yuan Yu bowed and pleaded, "I heard that Grand Chamberlain Bai Zheng went to Yique Mountain to inspect the terrain of the grottoes. I would also like to go."

Yuan Ke rebuked, "Didn't you see that Seventh Brother is crying? You are his elder brother, yet you show no kinship. If I were to let you participate in the construction of the grottoes, you would only carve out Buddhas without compassion!"

Yuan Yu hung her head, her eyes blazing with anger, and cowardly retorted, "What serious worries could someone his age have?"

Yuan Ke: "Then what serious things have you done?"

"Your Majesty would like to do it, but you must grant me permission."

"It seems you haven't taken my words to heart. You'll only be given a task when you've mastered the Book of Poetry and the Erya!"

Taking advantage of the silence between his two elder brothers, Yuan Yu took his leave. Wang Xian saw him off, and after leaving the Zhai Palace, Yuan Mao was carrying a newly arranged set of Buddhist scriptures and walking into the hall. All three of them were startled by the sudden loud rebuke from His Majesty inside the hall.

Immediately afterwards, Prince Yuan Yu of Jingzhao came out, embarrassed and angry. He glared at the three of them, still not satisfied, and pointed at Yuan Heng: "Weren't you leaving the palace? Why aren't you coming with me!"

Wang Xian: "Prince Yu..."

"Shut up." Yuan Yu's voice wasn't loud, but his sneer was ferocious. "I'm only down on my luck for now. Anyone who dares to bully me or make me unhappy at this time will be repaid many times over in the future."

After threatening Wang Xian, he cursed Yuan Mao: "And you, you don't look like a good person at all. Bah, it seems like anyone can serve in front of the emperor. Humph."

Yuan Mao replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "His Majesty has his reasons for granting me the position of Zhongsan. I only know one thing: His Majesty certainly did not appoint me based on my looks."

Yuan Yu squinted and moved closer, each word landing squarely on Yuan Mao's face: "You're asking for it."

Ru Hao came out: "If anyone makes any more noise, His Majesty will have me take them to the Commander's Mansion to receive twenty lashes! Seventh Prince, His Majesty still has some lessons to ask you, please come into the palace."

Yuan Yi felt as if he had been granted a general amnesty.

In an instant, only the Prince of Jingzhao remained outside. "Yuan Mao, is it? I can't do anything to these sycophantic eunuch scum, but I can certainly do nothing to you?"

Outside the gate of Changhe Palace.

All the officials and guards waiting for the patriarch to finish court looked at the newly arrived rider. The only one to arrive at court so late was General Yuan Yu.

Yuan Yu got off the carriage, dragging a large iron hook, and walked towards the carriage of the Prince of Rencheng's mansion. He smiled and called out to Zhao Zhi, "Guard Zhao, I specially went to the Tingwei Prison to find another iron hook for you, to match your original one."

The more she argued with this person, the more humiliating it would be. Zhao Zhi readily accepted the gift, bowed, and thanked him.

Yuan Yu stated his purpose: "It's August now. Do you remember what we discussed last month in the countryside south of the city?"

Not to mention the people who heard this, even all the horses' ears instantly tilted in this direction!

Zhao Zhi looked at Chief Secretary Li Xuanmao: "If Chief Secretary Li doesn't stop me, I..."

"Stop them! Stop them! Stop them!" Li Xuanmao dared not listen to the commotion.

At this moment, the King of Jingzhao came out of the Changhe Palace and saw the King of Guangling, whom he hated day and night, grinning with his big teeth.