History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 38 Each Leaves the City
Wang Ji: "Alright, let's begin the exam. I will only ask two questions. If you both answer them correctly, the exam will be judged based on your vocabulary accumulation and neat handwriting."

He took out a piece of paper with the words "filial piety and brotherly love" written on it. "The first question is...to recite the second chapter of the 'Xue Er' chapter, and explain the original meaning of filial piety and brotherly love. Then write down which classic text and which sentence expresses the same idea about 'filial piety and brotherly love'."

Wei Yao listened attentively, then began to write: "Youzi said, 'A person who is filial and respectful to his elders, yet likes to defy his superiors, is rare indeed. He does not like to defy his superiors...'"

Zhou Tai was in high spirits. He knew this chapter, and he wrote: "Confucius said..."

Seeing Zhou Tai happy, Wang Ji, who set the question, was also in a good mood. Zhou Tai was a sharp-tongued and sarcastic person, and Wang Ji did not want to be resented by him because of a joke-like literary contest.

Unfortunately, no matter how simple the questions are, they won't reach the hands of students who are academically weak.

Zhou Tai wrote "Youzi said" smoothly, and even narrowed the character "曰". He thickened the left and right outer frames of the original character. Hey? Pretty good.

Then I started to wonder: what was that "filial piety and brotherly love" thing in the following content?

Among the few words between “曰” and “孝弟”, he was only certain that there was a “人” (person). Regardless, putting the first sentence together, he wrote: “有子曰，人要孝弟” (Youzi said, “People should be filial and respectful to their elders”).

Students who don't do well in school often fidget. Zhou Tai adjusted his posture and continued writing: "Insolent..."

"No!" he muttered to himself this time.

Because the sound was very soft, Wang Ji pretended to be deaf.

Wei Yao pretended to be deaf.

The other three students from the other side pretended to be deaf.

However, his companions, who were closely watching Zhou Tai and pinning their last hopes on the Analects, could not pretend to be deaf.

There are signs of total annihilation! If we lose the verbal battle, then what's the point of the physical battle? Will we have to parade through the streets with a tattered painting full of holes, cursing ourselves?
Xi Jiao went outside for some fresh air. For him, fulfilling the bet later was nothing; what bothered him was that his knowledge was so much worse than Wei Yao's! How did he compare to Cui Shang? How did he compare to Cui Zhi and Kong Mi, the disciples of Confucius? If one day all the top three in the joint entrance exam were gathered together for a special joint exam, could he also get into the top three?
Furthermore, he didn't have as many students as he did in Pingcheng, so what about after he arrived in Luoyang?
"Are you really going to hold up that tattered painting later?" It was Changsun Wuzhuo, who had also come out.

"You think Wei Mao deliberately provoked you and made the bet because of your 'waiting for Wei'?"

"Hehe, Ah Jiao, you tell me first, am I talented or not?"

"Have."

"Then why is Wei Mao here?"

"To save Lady Wei's face, he invited her to help Lu Baozhen, worried that if she won the literary contest, we would use her non-noble birth as an excuse. If you don't believe me, look at the betting agreement. It doesn't mention your duel with Lu Baozhen at all, but it clearly lists all the people who participated in the exams on both sides. So, according to the betting agreement, this is just three literary tests that everyone voluntarily competed for, and it has nothing to do with any of the rules of the duel you and Lu Baozhen agreed to before."

Changsun Wuzhuo pounded his chest, trying to comfort himself: "It's alright, I'm not angry, I choked on my food at lunch." As he spoke, he leaned his head on Xi Jiao's shoulder, his expression shifting from dejection to anger, "Ajiao, even if I'm not by your side anymore, the grudge remains! Remember, don't let that bastard Wei Mao get away with it!"

Xi Jiao smiled and hummed in agreement.

Just then, Hai Yeren shouted from inside the room: "Zhou Tai, write it! What's the use of all this nagging!"

Xi Jiao and the other looked back suspiciously. What's wrong?
Zhou Tai retorted, "Whether I write it or not is none of your business. Can you even understand the question and yet you're giving me pointers?"

Hai Yeren: "I don't understand. I told you to write 'filial piety and brotherly love'! Filial piety and brotherly love are the foundation of benevolence!"

Fei Hai was also erudite; the "Ren" in his name was taken from this article, and he couldn't help but shout it out when he encountered something he knew. Because of this, he violated the rules, leading to Zhou Tai's immediate dismissal. Only Wei Yao remained in the Analects exam, winning the third round ahead of schedule.

Hai Yeren only realized he'd been tricked by Zhou Tai when his companions started criticizing him. Ah, so it was clearly the other person who couldn't answer the question, but it became his fault! Hai Yeren, used to using his fists to argue his point, rushed over and swung his arm, initiating the first punch in the infighting within Changsun's group. "Jinji" restaurant was having an unlucky day; everything these spoiled brats could move was smashed as weapons.

After the brawl, the bet still had to be honored. Changsun Wuzhuo was beaten black in the eye and had one cheek swollen in the melee, but no matter how badly he was beaten, Lu Baozhen wouldn't let him off the hook.

Losing all three literary duels is tantamount to losing the entire martial arts duel. Changsun Wuzhuo turned his head to look at Lu Baozhen with one eye and shouted out the words of surrender that they had agreed upon: "I can't beat Lu Baozhen, so I dare not fight Lu Baozhen anymore. From now on, I will take a detour when I see Lu Baozhen. Hehe, is that alright?"

"Two more takes."

"Ouch—my mouth hurts, can I finish it another day?"

"Hmph." Lu Baozhen was kind-hearted after all.

The noisy parade of posters might seem interesting to others, but Wei Yao found it utterly disruptive. Fortunately, Wei Mao was preoccupied with the joint exam questions for this month and didn't argue with Changsun and his group.

The fight finally ended today. Wei Yao, Wei Mao, and Wei Jing bid farewell to Lu Baozhen and hurriedly headed to Yingju Bookstore. Leaving aside their journey together, let's talk about how Lu Baozhen and He Rong also parted ways, only to be caught up and stopped by that fellow Changsun Wuzhuo.

She gripped the whip warily: "What? You're still not convinced?"

Changsun Wuzhuo waved his hand, and the servants behind him led the ten warhorses forward. He asked, "Are you going to live in Luoyang?"

Lu Baozhen first muttered "dog ears" under her breath, then asked, "Where did you hear that from?" The Lu family had many enemies, and the Rouran bandits had appeared near Pingcheng a few days ago, so she didn't tell many people the specific date she was going to Luoyang.

Changsun Wuzhuo's injured eye hurt even more than before, and he could only squint to see the other person clearly. His serious tone was completely different from his usual one: "These ten horses are a gift for you. You saw them today. If you encounter danger, they won't panic, and at least they won't lead you towards the enemy."

For a moment, Lu Baozhen couldn't tell whether the irritation she felt was genuine or a little touching. She declined, saying, "My family also has warhorses; I don't want yours."

"Yes."

Lu Baozhen shuddered, taken aback by the boy's sudden childish tantrum: "Changsun Wuzhuo, have you been beaten senseless?"

“My father has just taken office as the military advisor of Pingzhou. I left this city before you. Baozhen, we will be separated by thousands of miles in the future, and I am afraid that we will never see each other again in this lifetime.”

"Pingzhou? Isn't that in the far northeast? That's so far away!"

Yes, it's so far.

Lu Baozhen took the ten horses and watched Changsun Wuzhuo's departing figure. She wanted to tell him, "Don't be willful in unfamiliar places. There are no Xi Jiao or Zhou Tai to protect you there."

Take care.

Wei Yao and the other two arrived at Yingju Bookstore. Wei Mao had sent a servant to her house in advance to inform her that they would be returning later, so that they could focus on discussing the joint examination this month. In addition, the bookstore had just received more than a dozen large boxes of books from Xinye County today, which Wei Yao found very interesting. Perhaps there was a "Shuowen Jiezi" among these books, and she could shamelessly copy it back.

Filial piety and brotherly love: The original meaning of "filial piety" refers to the attitude of children in supporting their parents. "Brotherly love" here is pronounced tì, and its pronunciation and meaning are the same as "brotherly love," which originally refers to the attitude of younger brothers respecting their elder brothers.

Cangcao Canjun: An assistant official in charge of managing the granaries of a prefecture. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, this position was an assistant official to the prefectural-level local officials.

Xinye County: In the novel, it is now the 22nd year of Taihe. Xinye County, which originally belonged to Yongzhou of the Southern Qi, was captured by the Northern Wei and has been under the control of the Northern Wei ever since.

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(End of this chapter)