History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 259 Yuan Mao Catches a Scoundrel

As for Yuan Mao, starting tomorrow, in addition to walking around the palace, he will also have to perform some copying duties. Therefore, Lang Yu Deng will let him leave the palace early in the afternoon and give him a half-day rest.

He hurried to the Sizhou government office and saw the Seventh Prince Yuan Cheng in the open space where Tongtuo Street intersected with the East-West Canal.

Yuan Yu's companions were Yuan Shixian and Yuan Yongping, the son of the deceased Grand Tutor Tuoba Xiu.

The three boys' attendants, numbering in the dozens, were surrounding more than thirty street ruffians, arguing fiercely. Passersby couldn't help but stop to watch the spectacle.

As the streets were about to become congested, the patrolmen arrived. When they were arresting the troublemakers, the thugs shouted at the top of their lungs, "Why are you only arresting us?"

"Everyone can testify that we did not rob or loot, nor did we disrupt the market."

"Which government department are you from? Where are you taking us?"

Some people condemned him, saying he "deserved it," while others sympathized with him. For a time, they pointed fingers and discussed the matter.

Yuan Mao could not allow such scoundrels to spout nonsense and tarnish the reputation of the government office. He showed his official badge to the patrolmen and ordered, "Gag them all and take them to the Sizhou prison."

He then raised his voice to those around him: "Are the family members of the troublemakers here? If you want to know how to deal with gatherings to cause trouble, please go to the Sizhou Prefecture Office or the County Office for inquiries. Okay, stop blocking this place, everyone disperse!"

Of the three children, only Yuan Heng recognized Yuan Mao. Yuan Heng said indignantly, "We didn't bully them! They're all scoundrels and should all be severely punished!"

Yuan Yongping was both angry and shocked: "They are clearly being unreasonable but still trying to argue, and there are so many such scoundrels! Luckily we have power, otherwise they would have really turned the tables on us!"

Yuan Mao watched as the soldiers escorted away all the hooligans, then asked, "Why were you three gentlemen harassed by these scoundrels?"

The three children immediately chimed in, and Yuanmao understood that this matter was related to Yaoyao.

The reason was that Yuan Yongping was too restless. He couldn't sit still while listening to lectures at the Imperial Academy. He would either pick his ears or roll his brush, which naturally delayed his studies over time.

Yuan Yu was a friend of the other party, so he asked Wei Yao for a suggestion. He first found a good eunuch in the Imperial Academy who was good at counting, and had him keep an eye on Yuan Yongping during class every day to count the number of times he made small movements.

Every time Yuan Yongping made a rash move, Yuan Yu would contribute one liter of millet to help the starving people in the city.

This action meant that Yuan Yongping's daily struggles and anxieties were not in vain; they were all exchanged for grain from Yuan Yun, thus constituting a good deed.

Yuan Yongping could not take advantage of his partner, so he joined Yuan Heng in doing good deeds and contributed millet together.

Following Wei Yao's advice, Yuan Yun specifically sought out idle, notorious middle-aged men in the market to distribute grain to.

As for these idle and unruly people, they only know that the nobleman is doing good deeds, but they don't know who the nobleman is.

For the first few days, both sides were very happy. The scoundrels were extremely grateful and praised Yuan Yun and Yuan Yongping to their faces when they received the millet, saying all sorts of good things about them.

Therefore, when Yuan Yongping taught classes again, he would deliberately make more small movements, so that each of his tricksters could receive two liters of millet per day.

The good deeds he performed multiplied, and so did his academic decline.

After being repeatedly criticized by his teacher, Yuan Yongping put aside his playful nature and began to listen attentively to his studies again.

The troublemakers were made even lazier and more unruly, so of course they were unhappy!
Today, the three royal schoolchildren finally understood why the idle rogue, despite being a strong and healthy man, still couldn't get enough to eat: because he was lazy!

Moreover, lazy men like to form gangs and spend their days wandering the streets and alleys spreading the good news of grain distribution. As a result, ruffians from distant markets also come to Tongtuo Street to loiter.

Yuan Yongping scratched his face raw and rolled the brush until his palms were swollen, but the grain he exchanged was still not enough to distribute to the scoundrels. At this moment, the child's grievances poured out: "I gave them grain out of kindness, how did it become that I owe them?"

Yuan Ying cleverly replied, "But we agreed to provide three months' worth of grain."

"I'll just listen attentively in class and not fidget, that won't break the agreement."

Yuan Shixian asked incredulously, "Can you do it?"

Yuan Yongping: "I can definitely do it! Perfect, I can focus on my studies now. I've even fallen behind in my studies because I was helping a bunch of scoundrels. The more I think about it, the more I realize how worthless it was!"

Yuan Heng: "It's still worth it. In the past, when the government arrested these scoundrels, they always arrested them and then released them because they didn't have enough evidence. This time, they caused a great disturbance in Tongtuo Street and even offended..." The little guy pointed to himself, "Hehe, it's a good opportunity to wipe them out in one fell swoop and restore peace to the surrounding market."

Yuan Mao praised, "Your Highness is wise. I will certainly inform His Majesty of this matter after I enter the palace tomorrow."

Yuan Yu was overjoyed and then instructed, "Praise it as it is, but don't overdo it, or His Majesty will make me test my studies again."

Yuan Mao watched the three children leave, crossed the bridge, and turned west to reach the Sizhou government office.

Because of the appointment of the new prefect, the government office was short of staff. At this time, people were sitting at each gate, looking for jobs. Some were looking for themselves, and some were looking for their families. As long as their names were called, they could go in and register their resumes.

As Yuan Mao walked through the crowd, a woman, very wary, whispered to the gatekeeper, "This young man doesn't seem like a good person. Be careful."

The gatekeeper looked at her and said, "Shut up!"

Yuan Mao quickly washed up, changed into nice clothes, and went out through the same door again.

The woman kept giving the gatekeeper meaningful glances, then, growing impatient, she went over and said, "Didn't you see him change his clothes?"

The gatekeeper, seeing Young Master Mao turn around, also became anxious, spitting as he spoke into the woman's face: "He's the son of Prefect Yuan! The military governor's office across the street is hiring a parrot trainer, you'd better go quickly."

Yuan Mao was going to be busy, so he thought about going to the south of the city to find Wei Yao. Even if he only said a word to her, or even just saw her once, he could ease his longing for her for several days.

A refined and elegant residence.

Wei Yao rushed over, drank a bowl of water and that was it for rest. This afternoon she would recite a poem entitled "The Great Ming Dynasty".

She and her fellow students had agreed that Kong Xi would lecture on the entire "Airs of the States" section, she would only lecture on the "Greater Odes" section, Cui Zhi would lecture on the "Hymns" section, and the two fellow students would take turns lecturing on the "Lesser Odes" section.

"The poem 'Da Ming' is about King Wen, who possessed great virtue, and thus Heaven bestowed its mandate upon King Wu. The poem consists of eight chapters, and the explanation begins with the preface."

At the beginning of Wei Yao's story, more than twenty scholars, both men and women, arrived outside the fence of the study. They were all members of the Hongchi Poetry Society in the east of the city.

Among these people were Li Yin, who was as famous as Wei Yao in poetry, and the He family members who lived in the north of the city and had been scolded by Yuan Mao for being impoverished.

As fate would have it, another noble lady arrived outside the academy, accompanied by maids dressed in warrior attire. This noble lady was Yu Baoying, the niece of General Yu Lie. She had studied poetry at the Pingcheng Official School for a period of time and had not been in Luoyang for long.

Through the fence, Yu Baoying first saw a huge black bear lying in front of a thatched hut. She told her maids, "Don't be afraid. This bear is called Black Whirlwind. It is very intelligent and will not hurt people. It is very famous in Pingcheng."

Each maid was carefully selected by the Yu family; they were literate and skilled in martial arts. The most clever ones were given the surname Yu and the given name E by their master.

Yu E looked at the people from the Hongchi Poetry Society and reminded them, "Young lady, I feel that those scholars came with a fierce aura, even more ferocious than Black Whirlwind. They don't seem to be here to listen to lectures."

Yu Baoying said with a smile, "Of course I know they're not here to listen to lectures. I only came because I knew they were coming."