History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

She did it on purpose!

Wei Yao was annoyed by him; she definitely closed the courtyard gate on purpose!

Xi Jiao's grievances kept welling up from the depths of her heart, as did her feelings of liking.

All emotions had to be severed at this moment, turning into tears of reluctance that welled up in my eyes.

He took half a step forward, pressed himself against the door, and silently swore an oath to Wei Yao, using the courtyard gate as a shield: "I found out too late, that I am your elder brother. The Xi people do not recognize you, but I do. Even if we meet less often in the future, I will never forget you and will always care for you like family! If others are good to you, I pray that they will be good to you for the rest of their lives; if others are evil to you, then I will use many times more evil to clear away the obstacles for you!"

Returning to the neighboring house, there was nothing left to tidy up. Xi Jiao led the dog away from Quanxue Lane, recalling his father's warning.

“You already know all about the past grievances. Cui Rusheng offended too many high-ranking officials back then. We cannot be implicated by Wei Yin’s family.”

"There are some things I didn't want to tell you, but I have to now, lest you unknowingly get involved with the Wei Yin family. Back then, many powerful figures hunted down Cui Rusheng, not so much to avenge the murder of their descendants, but because Cui Rusheng inherited Cui Hao's talent for divination!"

“Decades may separate life-and-death feuds, but the world must never produce another Cui Hao who senses the will of Heaven and is skilled in divination! Because such a person… will steal the fortune of all those who practice divination! He will grow stronger with each divination! And we will grow weaker and weaker!”

"For the sake of our kinship, I will guard the Divine Department and prevent those with ulterior motives from using curses to harm Wei Yin's family. But that's all I can do. The price is that you must put away your thoughts, Jiao'er. From now on, you and Wei Yao can only be fellow disciples, and you must not take any further steps together!"

Looking back at the passage of exhortation to study, Xi Jiao's sadness had faded, replaced by determination and defiance: I am about to learn divination. I will immerse myself in this art and see for myself whether human ability determines the accuracy of divination or whether talent is more important!

Zhao Zhi and Wei Yin returned home to find their daughter, Wei Yao, had already swept the yard, set out the feast and food, and was boiling water in the kitchen. Wei Yao obediently fetched water for her parents to wash their faces. "Hee-hee—"

Wei Yin took the handkerchief and deliberately asked, "Yao'er, why are you smiling so happily? What's the good news?"

Wei Yao pouted coquettishly and went to pour water, also teasing her father by pretending to splash water on the orchids by the wall.

"Oh dear, this child!"

"Woo—" Wei Yao drew out the strange sound, stopped the basin of water, and turned around mischievously: "I almost spilled it."

Zhao Zhi smiled broadly, pulled her husband to sit down, and called to her daughter, "Come and eat." On the way home, she had already told them about the emperor's bestowal of a marriage and her being impeached by court officials, so the family ate their meal and talked only about everyday matters.

Wei Yin instructed Wei Yao to give a lecture at the academy in the afternoon. Wei Yao understood that her parents were afraid that she would be shy and wanted to talk about some engagement details in private.

For children, the greatest happiness in the world is that their parents are willing to worry about them.

Wenya Academy built a school in the southern suburbs of Luoyang last year, and now it has more than 200 disciples. The number of Confucian scholars who come to listen to the lectures is countless.

The afternoon lecture will be held at 1:30 PM, two quarters before the appointed time.

A disciple came to inform the Confucian scholars that the originally planned "Classic of Poetry" would be changed to "Fangyan" (a type of classical Chinese dialect), and the lecturer would be changed to Wei Yao. Those who only wanted to hear the "Classic of Poetry" should not occupy a seat here.

The Confucian scholars were overjoyed!
Who's stupid? They won't leave even if you chase them away with a stick!
The Fangyan belongs to the field of philology, but unlike the widely circulated Book of Poetry, it cannot be bought in bookstores. In particular, the version annotated by Guo Pu was lost and scattered due to wars and the migration of aristocratic families, making it difficult for ordinary Confucian scholars to read the original.

Fortunately, they came today. This is the first time that Wenya Academy has taught this subject! And it will be taught by Wei Yao, the first female civil official of this dynasty!
He Lan arrived early and was very excited. When she was studying poetry with Li Yin, she learned from him that even nobles who possessed the book "Fangyan" did not necessarily have Guo Pu's annotations.

The discussions of the Confucian scholars around her reached her ears.

"I've heard that the palace has all sorts of rare ancient books. Lady Wei must have learned knowledge in the palace and then spread it to the common people. Her merits are immeasurable."

"Don't say things like that at the end. Being praised too highly isn't necessarily a good thing." "I agree with that. Back when I was in the Hongchi Poetry Society, some people had ulterior motives and praised Miss Wei as the most knowledgeable philologist in all of Luoyang. Upon closer examination, I realized that such praise was clearly malicious, so I stopped going to that poetry society."

"Look, isn't it Lady Wei here? It must be her. All the disciples in the academy call her Senior Sister."

"I'm so envious. When will I be able to pass the exam and become an apprentice at Wenya Academy?"

The academy not only recruited many apprentices, but also hired two local teachers. After exchanging greetings with the teachers and students, Wei Yao sat down in the lecturer's seat.

When she first started lecturing on Fangyan (a dialectal text), she showed no signs of nervousness. It was only after a student reminded her that it was already past midnight that she began to teach this philological subject.

"The first dialect word is pronounced 'dong', meaning to understand or be clear. It is written as 'tang' in 'neighborhood hall'."

"The second dialect word is '晓', which means 'to know'."

The third dialect word is '哲', which means wisdom.

"These three words form a group, and all of them mean 'know,' meaning to know or be aware of."

"The first two dialect words were used in the ancient Chu state, during the founding period of the ancient Chu state... scope..."

Most Confucian scholars did not possess precocious talent, so why were they willing to listen to Wei Yao's lectures? It was because she spoke entirely in plain language, allowing them to understand without referring to classical texts and to accurately record what she said.

The more one craves knowledge, the more one hates the fleeting nature of time.

An hour passed after only two sets of words were spoken.

The Confucian scholars bowed respectfully to Wei Yao, who returned the bow. Her gaze shifted to the side, and she saw her parents coming to pick her up, talking to Confucius.

Wei Yao didn't rush over. Instead, she answered the questions from the disciples of the academy one by one. The scholars who squeezed over listened carefully and recorded all the questions and answers.

After all that was done, the sun had set behind the wall, and it was getting dark.

He Lan chased after Wei Yao and called out, "Miss Wei, my name is He Lan. I've met you before. Do you remember me?"

Wei Yao: "I don't remember. Please tell me what you need, young lady."

“I have attended every lecture by Lady Li Yin. I know she doesn’t care, but I am very grateful. I know someone is acting underhandedly and trying to harm you. This person is Ji Ledao, a disciple of the former Imperial Censor Li Biao. Lady Li Yin didn’t want to compete with Lady Li Yin in poetry before, but it was Ji Ledao who encouraged her behind the scenes. Now he is spreading rumors in the Hongchi Poetry Society, saying that Lady Li Yin leaked palace classics for her own reputation.”

Wei Yao: "Thank you for informing me, Miss."

He Lan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Ji Ledao often associates with two jailers in the county office named Zong Yin and Feng Xing. The two jailers like to drink and boast. Once, when I accompanied Miss Li Yin to see Ji Ledao, I heard the jailers mention the girl's name. I couldn't find out the reason, so I could only remind the girl to beware of villains."

Wei Yao nodded and called over an apprentice, instructing her: "She is Miss He. When Miss He comes to study, save a seat for her."

He Lan was overjoyed! It was worth enduring her disgust for the Li family and Ji Ledao, and following them all the way. Finally, she waited until the Li family was in dire straits, so dire that they took their anger out on Wei Yao. In particular, Ji Ledao actually wanted to follow Li Biao's method and think about harming Wei Yao so that Li Yin, who was of equal talent, could take Wei Yao's place!
He Lan sneered coldly. Li Zhi and Li Yin, brother and sister, are both stupid! Why won't they admit that the Li family is finished even now?

Wei Yao walked quickly, unconcerned about what Ji Ledao and Zong Yin were plotting. Instead, she hoped the sneaky villains would act quickly, so they could strike at the heart of the problem! (End of Chapter)