History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 32 Wei Mao has a unique skill
After listening to Yuan Heng's ramblings, Xi Jiao felt he had given him enough face. It was one thing for him to dislike Wei Yao, but it was quite another for someone to belittle his fellow disciple to his face!

"How's the injury?" he asked Yuan Heng first, then pressed down on the most severely injured spot on the man's buttocks.

"Ah—" Yuan Heng arched his back as if he were a hot carp, "Be gentle!"

"Be more careful when you criticize my fellow disciples in front of me in the future!"

In the short time it took to walk from the trench ground to the earthen rampart ground, the two men turned on each other.

Yuan Zizhi, who was behind them, saw everything. He came to the stretcher and advised Yuan Heng, "We're here to help. Changsun Wuzhuo doesn't care if Miss Lu has one more or one less person, so please don't..."

"You think—you think I'm really after her because of her crybaby background? Let me tell you, the day I stole the exam questions, I ran into her as soon as I stepped out of the teacher's residence. I knew then that I was in for trouble, and I was right!"

"You can't blame Miss Wei for this."

"Hmph, I can't explain it to you. Just you wait and see, things aren't going smoothly today... Ah! Yuan—Zizhi, you..."

Yuan Zizhi pressed his hand on the spot where Xi Jiao had just pressed. "Does it still hurt? Stop talking."

The horses for the second round of competition were quickly selected by both sides and needed to be compared in order.

The rules are that each team sends one person who cannot touch the horse but can only guide the horse to jump over three earthen obstacles on its own, and then let the horse climb a steeper earthen slope to reach the finish line on its own.

The losing side starts first, and the winning side then gives the signal.

Changsun Wuzhuo, with his belly protruding and hands on his hips, looked at Lu Baozhen with a smug expression. Only when she was about to curse him did he smile and shout, "Release the horses!"

The woman leading the horse was Lu Baozhen's half-sister, Lu Baohuan. It was a brown horse, too timid, and had been frightened by the big tiger. It wouldn't listen to the commands from the start.

Lu Baozhen, not wanting others to laugh at her younger sister, took the initiative to stop it.

The rest is pretty much a foregone conclusion.

Horses bred in comfort prove they can only roam in comfort. Horses tempered on the battlefield, however, charge forward against the weak and bravely face the strong!

Lu Baozhen's team lost again, and everyone returned to the camel farm.

The third round of competition was a test of riding skills, with each side fielding four riders and their remaining four horses.

The route is a dirt road outside the camel farm fence, and you have to run three laps.

Changsun Wuzhuo was overjoyed and urged, "You guys should send your men first, hurry up!"

Since they were going to lose no matter what, Lu Baozhen didn't want to waste any more time. With a wave of her hand, her friends stepped forward, namely Lu Zhengpin, two young men from the He family, and one young man from the Mu family.

Taking the opportunity, Changsun Wuzhuo mocked Wei Mao: "Huh? She invited you here just for this game, right? Are you sure you're not going?"

"Why should I play if it's a losing proposition?"

"Haha, this is rare, the first time I've heard you, Wei San, admit defeat. But I don't like winning too easily, it's boring. How about this, don't say I'm bullying you, Wei Mao, as long as you go on the field, and you run three laps without falling off your horse to the finish line, it's a tie... and you win! How about it?"

Wei Mao also laughed: "Didn't you notice we're missing Lu Baoyou? I sent him to the streets to call people from the neighborhood to come to the garden to see the tiger. Do you think Governor Yuan will be furious when he finds out his tiger is being used in this kind of trick? Will he ask who instigated Yuan Heng?"

His gaze, naturally fierce, shifted to Xi Jiao, and he slowly added, "And then take away the cub's right to be tamed? Heh heh heh—"

"What nonsense!" Yuan Heng cursed.

Knowing that Yuan Heng hadn't understood, Xi Jiao said to her friend, "Wu Zhuo, stop wasting your breath on them."

Among Changsun's group, if we're talking about who hates Wei Mao the most, it's actually Zhou Tai. He made a harsh statement: "Don't even think about winning a single match." Lu Baozhen chimed in: "Whether we win or not isn't up to you! Changsun Wuzhuo, what are you dawdling for? Hurry up and send someone out. If you can't choose, I'll choose for you!"

Changsun Wuzhuo knew the Lu family's younger generation like the back of his hand. He quickly changed the partners who came on stage, and then pointed at Lu Zhengpin and proclaimed: "Have you all not seen him much before? Let me tell you, this little bear with a chapped face is just there to make up the numbers. His name is Lu Zhengpin. He even needs to be carried to get on the horse, hahahaha."

"Dog chop..." Enraged! Lu Zhengpin was about to fight back, but Lu Baozhen covered his mouth with one hand and pulled him with the other, dragging him all the way to the horse and forcibly lifting him onto its back.

The jeers grew even louder, annoying the camels in the arena.

Following the order to "start running"—

The whip cracked.

"Roar, roar!" The tiger roared.

The four warhorses of the Changsun team galloped at full speed.

The Lu family's four horses also ran wildly at full speed. Fortunately, Wei Mao had instructed Wei Jing to be on guard, and the two of them immediately mounted other horses and intercepted the young men.

During this process, some excited people came to the garden to see the tiger. Yuan Heng had taken several state soldiers with him when he went out today, so he quickly ordered the soldiers to stop them.

At the same time, the four young masters of Qingwang, acting as the impartial party setting the questions for the literary contest, met at the "Jinji" restaurant outside the garden. This was the location for the afternoon's literary contest. As agreed, the groups of Changsun and Lu were to arrive before noon. If only Xi Jiao, Wei Mao, and a few other main inviters showed up, it meant that one side had won the martial arts contest and there was no need for the literary contest.

Of course, this possibility is unlikely.

The four youths exchanged pleasantries briefly and then sat down. Cui Zhi played chess with Wang Ji, while Cui Shang and Zheng Zun reminisced about old times.

Zheng Zun's speech, like his appearance, always carried a mature air that was both funny and absurd: "Ah Shang still laughs like a child. Ah Mao came to our school last month, and he has really changed a lot."

Cui Shangzan said, "He made it into the top three in the second joint exam, which really surprised me. Well, you have to give up something to gain something; it must have been due to reducing riding training."

"If I remember correctly, there was a horse riding competition in the martial arts event this morning?"

"Don't worry, have you forgotten? Amao has another special skill."

Zheng Zunyang smiled and nodded: "Yes, it can indeed be called a unique skill."

From the time Wei Mao could run, he was constantly chased and beaten by his elders, which honed his various escape skills such as climbing onto rooftops and leaping far away. Therefore, if he wanted to help Miss Lu win a round, he would definitely choose the "super distance" competition.

Cui Shang inquired about the important matter: "How many questions have you prepared for the literary contest?"

Zheng Zun was reading the Erya. He replied, "Three books should be enough. Amao told me that most of them study the Book of Poetry."

Cui Shang glanced at Wang Ji, then looked back at his friend.

Zheng Zun understood that A Shang was very curious and it was not appropriate to ask Wang Ji directly on their first meeting, so Zheng Zun first introduced, "Young Master Wang is reading the Analects."

Both being quick-witted, Wang Ji signaled to Cui Zhi to pause the game of chess, and then spoke about setting the questions: "I was invited by Zhou Tai. When he approached me, he said that one question would be enough, two questions would be sufficient, and three questions were unnecessary."

The more seriously he repeated Zhou Tai's words, the more amused Cui Shang found it: "It's like this, to be honest, Mr. Wang, I've inquired about both sides in today's duel, and only Zhou Tai is studying the Analects."

Wang Ji said "Oh," pondered for a moment, and then hesitated before asking, "Will my question be too difficult?"

Cui Shang laughed even more heartily: "Hurry up and revise, otherwise if we stump Zhou Tai, we'll be completely wiped out."

Cui Zhi spoke up: "On the contrary, we can make the questions from the Book of Songs more difficult and prepare more of them."

(End of this chapter)