History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 43 Quarrel
During the break, Master Duan did not leave as usual, indicating that his legs were becoming increasingly weak.

Wu Ji, Wei Jiezhi, and other boisterous students went to play in the courtyard, leaving only a few in the schoolhouse. Wei Mao called Wei Zhen out to discuss the matters they had discussed the previous night, while Wei Jing leaned over Wei Yao's desk, pushed the letter he had written to Gao Lou in front of her, and asked with a smile, "Shall we read each other's letters?"

Qu Rong's view of Wei Yao was blocked by Wei Jing.

“Okay.” Wei Yao readily took out the letter and exchanged it with Wei Jing. As she expected, Jing’s smiling face quickly turned into a bitter face.

“Fellow disciple Yao, you didn’t even write down Gao Lou’s instructions…” He lowered his voice when he mentioned “Gao Lou”.

Who was he instructing? Qu Rong, who had been eavesdropping, leaned forward, but to no avail; she heard nothing. "Hmph, I'm not listening anymore. Young Master Jing is always so loud and boisterous; he can't possibly have anything serious to say!"
Little did he know that Wei Yao was also observing him.

Wei Yao knew that Qu Rong was petty and narrow-minded; the cases of those scoundrels wouldn't implicate him, but he would definitely be a nervous wreck for a while. She decided to test him and see if her guess was right.

So she replied to Wei Jing with one sentence: "My advice to her is not to fall behind in her studies." Then she asked, "Jing, I have something to ask you. On the day of the disaster relief ceremony... there was trouble at the lantern stalls. The streets were in chaos. Do you know why?"

She lowered her voice when she mentioned "lantern stall" and returned to normal when she mentioned "trouble".

Qu Rong, who had just gotten up, sat back down with a start! Her mouth, eyes, and nose were clenched into a tight "V" shape.

Wei Jing: "Huh? You still don't know that..."

"Shh—" Wei Yao stopped the other person, saying that if she told Qu Rong who was fighting at the lantern stall, it wouldn't scare him. "The school is too noisy, you can tell me in detail later."

"Okay, hehe." Wei Jing grinned from ear to ear. To be honest, Yao's mischievous appearance was really handsome... Oops, who was walking without watching where they were going? They bumped into him and almost made him bite his tongue!

It was Wei Mao who deliberately bumped into him as he passed by from behind. Wei Mao had already finished talking to his fellow disciple Zhen and reminded Wei Jing, "Lesson is about to start, aren't you going to the outhouse?"

"Oh right! This is my letter, it's finished." He tossed it to Wei Mao, and as he ran, he stumbled and almost knelt in front of Master Duan's desk. He quickly added, "Master, wait for me to come back before we talk about it."

Master Duan was amused.

Qu Rong felt like he was sitting on pins and needles during the next class and didn't learn anything. What made him even more uneasy was that after class, Wei Yao, Young Master Jing, and the others didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave; they were all acting mysteriously.

Is it related to the Disaster Relief Association?
Qu Rong suddenly became righteous and said, "So what if it's related? If the government suspects our family again, how could my sister not know? She's pregnant, and my brother-in-law usually doesn't care about the Qu family, but how could he not care now?"
Having gained power, Qu Rong had already forgotten how he used to despise his elder sister for being a concubine.

Only Wei Yao and three others remained in the schoolhouse, so Wei Jing spoke his mind: "You know, that Master Du's reputation is terrible now, hehe, I wrote it all in the letter, Gao Lou will definitely feel relieved when he sees it."

Seeing that Yao and Jing's letters were both very thick, Wei Zhen pouted and asked, "Then what should I write?"

Now she is so preoccupied with what her fellow student, Chou Mao, said about "everything being tested" that she can't concentrate on writing a letter carefully.

Wei Mao suddenly felt a sense of boredom when interacting with children. He said, "Actually, you don't need to write to Gao Xiaoniangzi. You can just send a message to the caravan and ask them to take good care of Gao Lou on the road."

Wei Yao sensed a hint of weariness in these words, not because she was exceptionally perceptive, but because she deeply empathized with them. As a reborn person, her true age far exceeded that of all her fellow disciples. Therefore, every day at the academy, every moment she interacted with them, she had to feign innocence similar to theirs, and pretend to share the same topics and interests.

Therefore, she understood this weariness. Wei Mao wasn't tired of his fellow disciples Zhen or Jing; he simply needed to change his growth partners. Conversely, Wei Jing would also prefer to change partners, otherwise he would soon find Wei Mao boring.

After finishing their business, the four went their separate ways home. Wei Mao was heading to Yingju Bookstore, so he walked with Wei Yao. Wildflowers were in full bloom along the roadside. Wei Yao had just picked three different colored blossoms when she saw Wei Mao had already gathered a large handful and was holding them to her face. "Here you go!"

Such a kind gesture, yet his face betrayed a sense of impending doom, as if accepting the bouquet or not would result in a beating. No one wanted to be treated this way, so Wei Yao took the bouquet and snapped, "Go look in the mirror! With that fierce look, anyone would think I'd uprooted your flowers!"

"Yes, this land does belong to my family."

Huh? Wei Yao wisely suppressed her argumentative temper.

Wei Mao continued, "My father said that flowers and plants grow naturally and are meant for passersby to see; anyone can pick them."

"Oh."

"I'm not naturally good-looking, you don't need to remind me to look in the mirror!"

Wei Mao went from being magnanimous to turning hostile without any transition. The last three words made all of Wei Yao's hair fly up, and he left her behind with a fierce look.

The next day, Wei Yao was prepared and arrived early, but she was still late. Her desk was covered in ink stains, even the four legs were stained. Wei Mao sat alone in the dimly lit study, engrossed in writing. He truly didn't want to deprive himself; candles were lit on both sides of his desk.

The light shifted between light and shadow as she approached. "Good morning, Mao Tong."

"Good morning, fellow disciple." Wei Mao glanced at her only once, well, he didn't dare to look at her more than once, but her radiant smile dispelled three parts of his annoyance.

He continued writing.

After putting down her book box, Wei Yao wiped the teacher's desk as usual. Once back in her seat, she hesitated, deciding not to wipe the ink stains immediately. Should she apologize now? He was probably still angry; perhaps she should wait?
She realized her mistake the moment she angered Wei Mao yesterday. He has a naturally fierce appearance, and any emotion he expresses is easily misinterpreted as hostility. He must have been misunderstood a lot growing up, right? He's only ten years old. Has anyone ever apologized to him after he's been wronged?
Wei Yao felt that instead of hesitating and wasting time, she should first memorize the opening preface of the Book of Songs.

Behind him, Wei Mao stopped writing and stared blankly at her.

Why is she only growing taller and not stronger? She's thinner than all the Xianbei women his age he's ever seen. The light is dim, she can't read, is she lost in thought? What is she thinking about? Is she regretting how she insulted him yesterday? He scribbled on her desk, why doesn't she clean it?
Lost in thought, Wei Mao began to doubt himself. Had he misunderstood yesterday's unpleasantness? Had she really been mean when she criticized his fierce appearance and hurt his pride? Or perhaps she was just annoyed by his attitude, not by his appearance?
“Lieutenant…”

“Master Mao.” Wei Yao sat back.

Wei Mao replaced the "Wei" that had just slipped out with a fake cough, waiting for her to continue.

"I was impolite yesterday and asked for your forgiveness, Fellow Disciple Mao." Wei Yao bowed and sincerely admitted her mistake.

Wei Mao, whose expression had just softened, turned cold again, because this apology proved that she had indeed been sarcastic towards him yesterday! He didn't like meaningless apologies.

Wei Yao took out a notebook from her book box and placed it on his desk, saying, "I made an extra set of notes on 'Junzi Yangyang' last night. You can take a look if you'd like..."

"I don't want to watch it."

Wei Mao really looked in the mirror carefully when he got home yesterday, so the contemptuous expression he made was as obvious as it could be.

"Well, okay then." Wei Yao pursed her lips and awkwardly put the notebook back.

(End of this chapter)