History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 257 The Tragic Gong Ai
The slaves, incited by the chaos, scattered and fled. Their wooden shackles proved even more effective in the darkness when they could not see the road clearly. They all fell down on their own after running only a short distance. However, when people fight with their lives on the line, their strength is terrifying. There were too few officials left to guard the post station. They were busy chasing the fugitives in the east and could not spare the ones who ran to the west. Those who were caught fled to the left, while those who ran in other directions had already disappeared.

Xiao Zhuozhuo's dull gaze suddenly turned fierce. She shoved Yang Miaoqian aside and ran as fast as she could in the direction where the big shadow had disappeared.

"Ah Xiao—" Yang Miaoqian panicked. She couldn't tell if she wanted to chase after Xiao Zhuozhuo or if she wanted to run away herself. In any case, she followed behind him. She was too scared and could only feel the wind rushing past her ears.

The shouts from near and far in the woods gradually subsided.

Xiao Zhuozhuo tripped over a tree branch.

Yang Miaoqian stopped in fear.

In front of them, at the edge of their field of vision, a huge black figure carrying a bow and arrow walked towards them.

This strange man was Gao Cong, a criminal from Pingzhou who had fled to Luoyang.

He appeared exceptionally tall and strong because he wore a cloak made of feathers and animal hair, tightly bound with human hair, which showed how many human and animal lives he had taken in the past few dozen days!

"Are you slaves?" Gao Cong's teeth were red when he opened his mouth!

Xiao Zhuozhuo replied, trembling all over, "Yes. Please don't kill me. I want to follow you. Can you take me as your disciple? I'll do anything."

Gao Cong grinned maliciously: "You dare to do anything? Then kill her."

Yang Miaoqian's energy and strength finally returned to her body, but it was too late to escape. Gao Cong grabbed her and threw her at Xiao Zhuozhuo's feet, repeating the order: "Kill her."

Yang Miaoqian cried out, "Ah Xiao, don't listen to him, run!"

Xiao Zhuozhuo trembled even more violently, but she grinned and, mimicking Gao Cong's smile, said to her former fellow villager, "I've always hated you, didn't you really never know?"

"Ah Xiao?"

"Shut up! I hate all of you! In the war in Qixing County, so many families were destroyed and people died, all because the generals and soldiers of Xiao Qi didn't fight! It was Xiao Qi who ruined me, not me who ruined Xiao Qi!"

Xiao Zhuozhuo angrily rebuked, "It's not like I betrayed the people of the county, so why does my cousin keep telling me about her hatred all day long? It's as if I could get revenge just because I participated in her stupid scheme. But what was the result? The result was that she kept dragging me down, causing me to be expelled from the palace school, have my head shaved, and suffer all kinds of hardships!"

"She's thick-skinned and not afraid of being ridiculed, but I can't! Every word of their ridicule hurts like a knife scraping my flesh! I can't stand it!"

Yang Miaoqian explained, "None of this has anything to do with me..."

Xiao Zhuozhuo finally had a chance to vent all her grievances. She wouldn't listen to any explanations. One stone after another fell, and amidst screams, she continued to strike, her teeth clenched: "What kind of lousy idea was that again? Raising those poisonous lice? Utterly useless! Good thing she deserved to be beaten to death by Changqiu Temple. Why didn't you die with her? Aren't you the most righteous? Aren't you the most reasonable? You're always involved in arguments, and now I've been exiled, and you're still trying to reason with me! I'll teach you to talk, I'll teach you to talk..."

Gao Cong squatted to the side, using a straw to divine the future, muttering to himself, "Strange, the divination actually warns me that I must set off immediately."

Xiao Zhuozhuo crawled over and pleaded, "Master, I still want to kill one more person. It won't take much time." Seeing that the other person hesitated, she immediately added, "I know her temperament. She must be hiding nearby."

"Nearby?" His cloak collar was open, revealing a few strands of hair missing.

Gao Congzhi was exceptionally intelligent. He scanned his surroundings, calculating the location of the group of criminals from before, and then headed straight in one direction.

Gong Ai screamed and emerged from behind the tree. The wooden yoke was too cumbersome. She ran a few steps and fell. When she got up and ran again, she was hit hard in the back and was shot by an arrow.

This time she couldn't struggle anymore.

"Don't kill me, sob—I want to live, please, don't kill me." Xiao Zhuozhuo kicked Gong Ai in the stomach, mocking, "Now you know to beg me? Why don't you beg your lecturer Wei anymore? Did Wei Yao ask someone to take care of you? From Sizhou to Xiangzhou, you've had it easy, not being bullied at all. Keep begging Wei Yao..."

Gong Ai screamed and fell silent after only a few kicks, about to lose consciousness, when she was jolted awake by the sight of the cloaked man suddenly snapping Xiao Zhuozhuo's neck.

Gao Cong kicked Xiao Zhuozhuo's corpse aside and said disdainfully, "So long-winded. This stupid maid thinks she can use him just by calling him 'Master'? The only one in this world who's worthy of using him is the Emperor!"

"Crack!"

With a cracking sound, Gong Ai breathed her last.

Gao Cong cut off her hair and sat down next to the corpse, tying the accumulated feathers and animal hair to the collar of her cloak.

Gong Ai's hair tie had a braided pattern. Although the tie was dirty, the pattern was still novel and beautiful. Gao Cong used this tie as a tie for his cloak collar.

After he left, the woods became a feast for wild animals.

The poor souls he killed, ignored by heaven and earth, will forever wander in the wild forests.

South of Luoyang City.

In the section on encouraging learning.

Only when the night was deep and quiet, and she was extremely tired from reviewing her lessons, would Wei Yao ponder her doubts about her past life by pacing back and forth.

Why did Changsun Wuzhuo leave Pingzhou and return to Pingcheng?

She persisted in this question for two reasons: first, to find a solution; and second, to hone her thinking skills. Seeking the truth came last, since the real reason was irrelevant to her life.

Wei Yao thought that Changsun Wuzhuo was at an age where he was striving to make a difference, so traveling such a long distance to Pingcheng must not have been to visit a friend.

It can only be official business!
Considering the other party's age and background, it can be inferred that the official business Changsun Wuzhuo was carrying out was neither very important nor very dangerous, and it is very likely that a large group of young nobles were accompanying him.

Then the scope of official business can be narrowed down.

They were either apprehending fugitives or clearing roads to suppress the unrest.

When Wei Yao recalled the cases Zong Yin had handled, there were two cases in which he had mentioned "Pingzhou." Both times he mentioned it mysteriously, trying to entice her to ask him questions and to make her admire him.

The first case involved the murder of the notorious scourge Zhao Xiu, which implicated countless criminals. Zong Yin was transferred to handle the case, and at the time he said, "Do you know how powerful some people are? They ran all the way from Pingzhou to the capital without committing any crime. Many criminals said that he was close to Zhao Xiu, but no matter how many people implicated him, it was useless. The authorities just wouldn't arrest him."

The second case occurred a year after Zhao Xiu's death, when another powerful figure in the palace was executed, implicating countless criminals. After finishing his trial, Zong Yin returned home and said, "How envious! From a favored minister to exiled to Pingzhou, he secretly returned to Luoyang and is now even more successful than before! Ah, how prestigious it would be if I could work for someone like him!"

Upon recalling this, Wei Yao was certain that Zong Yin had mentioned the same person twice. This person had been exiled to Pingzhou for committing a crime, and then secretly escaped from Pingzhou and fled to Luoyang.

If we work backwards from the timeline, can the timeframe during which this person fled Pingzhou match the timeframe during which Changsun Wuzhu left Pingzhou?

Once the drowsiness subsided, Wei Yao paused her thoughts, sat back down at her desk, and continued reciting. As she turned the candle flame brighter, she straightened the brush box that had been bent askew, and then casually smoothed the red string binding the box.

This red string was a gift from Gong Ai. Gong Ai said that the pattern was woven by her mother herself, and no one else in the world had ever woven it before.