History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 253 Zhang Jia, Liang Xuantong
When it comes to verbal retorts, Wei Yao has never lost. She began by drawing out her words: "My neighbor—"

Zhang Xiaojian frowned and made a listening gesture.

Wei Yao: "There's a dog tied up in front of the door. The leash is too long, and it's doing what dogs often do: meddling in other people's business and keeping an eye on my doorstep." She paused here and looked directly at the other person.

Zhang Xiaojian clenched his fists. Leaving now or getting angry would both seem foolish, like he was asking for trouble and being treated like a dog! But if he didn't leave...

"Not leaving?" Wei Yao continued, picking up where she left off: "I cursed the dog, but it still sat at my door, refusing to budge. I cursed it again, but the dog, oblivious to human affairs, still wouldn't leave." She paused, a mocking smile playing on her lips. "Then I'll keep cursing..."

"I've experienced Instructor Wei's sharp tongue." Zhang Xiaojian suppressed his anger, finished speaking, got up and left, without retaliating with further insults or leaving behind the food box to avoid further humiliation.

Xie Yi and Pei Shen's mouths formed an "Oh" shape in surprise. Good heavens, this kind of cursing could be repeated for a year.

Xie Yi asked worriedly, "Zhang Xiaojian has lost so much face in front of the lecturer. Will he go around saying bad things about the lecturer in the future?"

Wei Yao: "I lecture, she cooks. I've never even been in the kitchen, so what can she say about me? Besides, she's the one who was embarrassed just now. If word gets out, only she will be afraid, not me."

Pei Shen understood and explained to Xie Yi: "Yes, the position of lecturer and the job of cook are completely unrelated. If it weren't for Supervisor Zhang coming over today, the lecturer and she would not see each other even once a year."

"Besides, even if the lecturer doesn't scold her, does that mean she'll speak well of him? Think about it, a complete stranger asking about marriage on the first meeting—does she even deserve such a question? Who knows how long she's been scheming behind his back! What powerful young master? He might just be the adopted son of some eunuch."

"Instead of guarding against thieves every day, it's better to openly quarrel and let everyone in the palace school know that the lecturer and Supervisor Zhang are at odds! Then, if anything goes wrong with the lecturer in the future, blame her first. Even if she's not the one causing trouble, she'll still be implicated."

Wei Yao pushed the steamed bun that Pei Shen hadn't finished eating towards her: "Stop talking so much, eat your food! Give the sesame seeds you dropped to Xie Yi, and be more careful."

Both children laughed.

Kitchen.

The number of students at the palace school was considerable, but the food supply was insufficient. Coupled with the hot weather, ingredients spoiled easily, so it was necessary to fetch supplies daily from the main food warehouse at Changqiu Temple. Supervisor Zhang Jia was in charge of this task. She didn't go every time, but if someone paid attention to the times she went, they could figure out the pattern.

Every time Zhang Jia went to the Changqiu Temple food warehouse, he would encounter Liang Xuantong, a female official from the Imperial Food Bureau who was also there to pick up ingredients.

Liang Xuantong's older sister was the same Liang, the palace maid who had been beaten to death in the palace school.

Liang Xuantong believed that his elder sister was framed by Wei Yao and died tragically. At first, Liang Xuantong wanted to bribe Jiang Shunu, the former head of the palace school, and the eunuchs of the Zhai Palace to avenge her. However, the former refused her, and the latter's plan was thwarted by Yuan Song, the Left General of the Palace.

Liang Xuantong became depressed and thought that revenge was hopeless. Fortunately, there is always a way out. Several female officials died in succession at the palace school. She and her friend Zhang Jia learned that there were changes at the palace school, so they bribed the head of the Imperial Kitchen and transferred Zhang Jia to the palace school's kitchen.

We definitely can't transfer Liang Xuantong there, because everyone knows she's the younger sister of Liang Gongren.

Upon seeing Liang, the former eagerly asked, "How did things go? Did you find an opportunity to mention it to that wretched maid?"

Zhang Jia's face darkened: "This plan won't work. Let's think of another one."

Liang Xuantong became even more anxious and pressed, "If a woman marries when she's of age, this plan is foolproof, how could it not work?"

The two women had inquired beforehand and learned that Wei Yao was not engaged. This only needed to be confirmed by Wei Yao herself. Once that was settled, Liang Xuantong would find a way to leak this information to the adopted son of the eunuch Liu Teng. Liu Teng had many adopted sons, one of whom was nicknamed "Demon," a gambler and fighter who had a particular fondness for female scholars like Wei Yao. Wei Yao's family would certainly not agree to this marriage. Scholars were adept at spreading rumors in their own favor; if unfavorable opinions about Liu Teng spread, Wei Yao would become his enemy.

Even if they were friends, Zhang Jia didn't want more people to know that he was being verbally abused. "Wei Yao is very shrewd. I ask her something, and she answers me something else. Really, would I lie to you? Actually, you don't need me to try to get information out of her. Just have someone tell Liu Mozhang that Wei Yao isn't engaged."

"How can that be? What if our previous inquiries were untrue? If Liu the Demon finds out that he went to the Wei family for nothing, he'll lose face and come after me! Here's what we'll do: you go and visit Wei Yao a few more times. Even if that little brat is clever, she's only ten years old. How clever can she be? Just lie to her and make her say that she's not engaged and is willing to find a wealthy family that can afford to send her to school. Then the matter will be settled!"

"What do you mean, 'accomplish'?" Zhang Jia shook his head.

Liang Xuantong could no longer contain his anger and began to complain: "How many times has this happened! Every time you say this won't work, or that won't work!"

"I could let it go before, but this time I gave away all my savings so you could have a cook in charge. But you've been at the palace school for days now, what have you done for me? Besides, we've already discussed how to get revenge this time, and I'll handle the most difficult part! I only asked you to get a few words out of that lowly maid, and you made excuses and said you couldn't! You did it on purpose, didn't you?"

"I know, ha, you think there are too many female officials in the Imperial Kitchen and you can't get ahead, so you lied to me and spent all my money bribing the officials. You only want to become the head cook in the Imperial Academy, and you never thought about avenging me!"

Zhang Jia was trembling with anger. "Shut up! Is this the place to argue?"

The palace servants carrying the ingredients were already being watched with suspicion.

The two parted on bad terms.

When Zhang Jia returned to the palace school, Xu Shushi stopped her and said, "Zhang Xiaojian, I have something to say to you."

Zhang Jia followed behind Xu Shushi nervously. They walked all the way to the construction site of the palace student dormitory before Xu Shushi spoke: "You haven't been away from the Xi government office for long, have you?"

"Yes, I came from the palace school in this imperial palace, and then I worked in the Imperial Kitchen."

"Do you consider yourself to be diligent and meticulous in your work at the Imperial Kitchen?"

Zhang Jia nodded: "I've never slacked off anywhere. When I was doing the most tiring washing and cleaning work, I was very careful when washing vegetables."

"Yes, you've been working so diligently, never letting anyone down, and never feeling jealous of the other female officials' promotions. How could you be so foolish as to waste all your hard work on a mere Liang Xiaojian who isn't worth associating with?"

"Huh?" Zhang Jia was taken aback!
Xu Shushi said meaningfully, "We are in the inner palace, and no matter how high the walls are, there are still drafts. Zhang Xiaojian, everyone's path is different. I will not teach you my path, but I just want to remind you that those who do not cherish you, who do not see your hardships and remember them, do not deserve to be your friends."

Many days later, Zhang Jia learned that before Xu Shushi came to the palace school, he served Zheng Chonghua. Zheng Chonghua was the mother of the Seventh Prince, and the Seventh Prince had visited her on the first day that Wei Yao came to the palace school to give lectures.

August 12.

This was Wei Yao's first visit to the Imperial Academy.

Contrary to her expectations, the Imperial Academy was located in a corner of the front hall, with only one classroom and the other three rooms serving as offices for the academy officials.

I heard that the young lecturer who came for the interview today was only ten years old. There were many figures in the rooms. Wei Yao knew that these people were all PhDs, so she didn't dare to look too much and followed Hong Shunu and Zhang Gongren into the school building.