History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

South of the city, in the lane of encouraging learning.

Zhao Zhi, who had returned home, was finally able to remove her armor. She lay down on two long benches and let her husband, Wei Yin, loosen her hair. He then used a ladle to scoop up rice water and poured it over her hair from the roots, over and over again, changing the water five times before finally cleaning off the dust and scabs.

This feeling of being home...it's so reassuring, so wonderful.

Zhao Zhi still felt an itch on her head and was about to scratch it when Wei Yin took her hand away and teased her, "General Zhao, you're even taking over the job of the hairdresser!"

"You're getting on in years." Zhao Zhi wanted to laugh, but held it back. After saying this, her thoughts immediately returned to her youth. When she first met Wei Yin, and until she fell in love with him, everyone thought she was the one who fell in love first. But in fact, it was Wei Yin who started first. At that time, he only had one book, which he wore out. He followed her wherever she went, telling her stories about the sky, the ground, the deep mountains, and the rivers.

She was reluctant to part with the story first, and then she was reluctant to part with the bad scholar.

It was only later that I learned that the book in his hand had nothing to do with the many stories; it was all made up by him.

“Speaking of hair-washing men, let me tell you about a hair-washing man in Luoyang. This man has a peculiar habit: he collects the hair that falls out of the hair-washing men…” Wei Yin noticed that his wife was lost in thought and, fearing that she would recall the cruelty of the battlefield, he made up another story.

Zhao Zhi fell asleep, but woke up after only a short while and asked, "What time is it?"

Wei Yin: "It's still past noon."

He moved very gently, pouring rice water into one spot on her hair with his cupped palm, kneading and washing it thoroughly with his fingertips before moving down. Seeing that she was awake, he dried his hands and pressed on her forehead and temples to relieve her fatigue. After pressing for several dozen times, he slightly raised his hand and pressed on the back of her head.

An old servant entered the room to change the hot rice water and reported, "The academy has sent students. They said that the teachers will not be lecturing this afternoon; they will all be at the Imperial Academy discussing the knowledge inscribed on the stone tablets."

Wei Yin: "Report back to him, my wife has returned home..."

Zhao Zhi tugged at his arm.

Wei Yin changed his mind: "I'll go later."

After the old servant left, Zhao Zhi said, "The Emperor is worried about Prince Rencheng and has asked me to keep an eye on him. Prince Rencheng is probably at the Imperial Academy today. After you finish bathing, let's go there."

Wei Yin bowed: "Listen, General Zhao..."

Before he could finish saying "de," Zhao Zhi pressed a finger against his forehead. Luckily, Wei Yin was experienced and managed to keep the stool from tipping over.

Zhao Zhi smiled, then felt a mix of joy and disappointment, and said, "After the Emperor summoned me, I went to Xibai Hall to see Yaoyao. I used to worry that Yaoyao was too young and might suffer in the officialdom, but seeing her today, I realized that she no longer needs my care, and I felt a pang of bitterness in my heart."

“Yaoyao wrote to me last time, telling me to go back to Beijing without worry. Now I understand that she left the easiest thing to me, her mother.”

"The emperor often sits in the Buddhist hall chanting scriptures, I don't know where his compassion has gone. He only uses his ministers, there is no affection between old friends. He mentioned to me that Wang Xian was 'invited' to Yangzhou by the Prince of Pengcheng, and asked me what I thought about this matter. I replied... Wang Xian is the governor of Xiangzhou, how could he go to Yangzhou without an imperial edict?"

"Before I even asked the emperor whether I should lead troops to Yangzhou to demand Wang Xian's return, the emperor said that Wang Xian was indeed guilty and ordered me to select a military general to go to Yangzhou and strangle him. If the emperor is so ruthless to his old ministers who have taken care of him, what will he do to the rest of his officials?"

Wei Yin listened quietly, and after his wife finished speaking, he washed her hair. While drying it, he said, "The emperor hopes that his ministers will prioritize loyalty to the emperor over the country. But you and Yao Yao hope for an emperor as wise as Emperor Xiaowen. The more the emperor fails to achieve this, the more he avoids comparisons between his ministers. I heard from Yao Yao that after the emperor recovered from his illness, he showed displeasure whenever ministers mentioned Emperor Xiaowen's achievements. Also, he doesn't really believe in Buddhism; he just wants to appear as if he is a living Buddha through chanting scriptures, so that his subjects will see him as a living Buddha and use this method to compete with the Prince of Pengcheng for the hearts of the people."

He added, "Fortunately, the Four Gates Elementary School has already accepted students for teaching, and Prince Pengcheng is very powerful. Otherwise, with the construction of Buddhist temples all over the capital, the revival of Confucianism in recent years would have been replaced by Buddhism."

Zhao Zhi feigned sudden realization: "So, the Prince of Rencheng went to the Imperial Academy to deliberately appear in front of the people?"

Wei Yin grunted and said, "To promote Confucianism, the first step is naturally to win the hearts of scholars across the land."

Zhao Zhi liked to see Wei Yin being unusually serious, and she also liked to see him clumsily carrying a basin of water, as if he were struggling to lift a stone.

When it came to physical labor, Wei Yin was indeed clumsy. He splashed water into the yard, causing the copper basin to slip from his hand and make a loud, jarring noise.

To save face, the husband turned around and said, "The three of us in the family are all smart. If you include Yuanmao, well, we've split our intelligence three ways." The couple exchanged a few more jokes and then went to the ruins of the Imperial Academy.

After taking office, Feng Yu, the governor of Henan, was very diligent and even found several pieces of Xiping stone classics engraved with the Book of Rites.

The scholars of Wenya Academy gave lectures in front of the new stone classics. In front of the stone tablet where Prince Yuancheng of Rencheng listened to the lectures, the speaker was Master Xie Zhi.

Whether it was because of this prince or Master Xie, who was famous in Luoyang for his erudition, the stone tablet was surrounded by Confucian scholars. Some even climbed trees and rooftops to listen to the lectures, which annoyed the birds, who came and went, chirping incessantly, throwing mud or scurrying about in order to drive away these people who had taken over their territory.

Yuan Cheng has a big head, and a pile of bird droppings fell on the top of his head.

Just then, Master Xie caught a glimpse of the scene of dropping manure, and Xie Zhi smiled and lowered his head.

Yuan Cheng misunderstood, his heart skipped a beat, and his face instantly burned. He took out his waist fan and fanned himself vigorously, but the more he fanned, the more sweat he produced.

At this moment, his attendants squeezed through the crowd and whispered in his ear, "General Zhao Zhi wishes to see the King."

Yuan Cheng let out a long breath and quickly left the crowded and sweltering place.

Even in places far from the stone tablet, local scholars displayed their literary talents, passing on their knowledge in twos and threes. No matter how well they spoke, there were always scholars who would stop to listen.

At this moment, the thirst for knowledge and the desire to teach are so strong, which is a sign of the flourishing of literature in Luoyang!
Zhao Zhi and the Prince of Rencheng exchanged greetings. With guards protecting the civilians, they could speak freely.

"After General Zhao returned, did he see the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat?"

From this one sentence alone, Wei Yin understood that among the guards of the Prince of Rencheng's mansion, there were the emperor's spies. Who the spies were was not important; what was important was that the other party was not a secret guard arranged by Wei Yao.

So before Zhao Zhi could speak, he put a sour fruit into her mouth.

This is a code word used by the Wei family: "Sour fruit" means you shouldn't speak freely.

Zhao Zhi knew what was going on, and feigned a complaint: "I've met her, but she's too busy, so we didn't exchange more than a few words."

Wei Yin then put another sour fruit into her mouth.

Zhao Zhi pondered anxiously, wondering if there was anything wrong with her answer just now. Then she realized! When she was in the capital, she would be perfunctory and speak very little when talking to her colleagues, especially the imperial family and ministers. Although she didn't say much when replying to Prince Rencheng just now, it still showed that she was hiding something.

This is the cutthroat world of the imperial court! It's nothing like the clear-cut factions on the battlefield.

Prince Rencheng: "It's been a while since I've seen Master Wei. Does Master Wei have any thoughts about entering officialdom? The national examination is about to begin, which is a perfect opportunity to enter officialdom."

Wei Yin: "I dare not. I still have much to learn. If I hold the official seal in one hand, I will have one less hand to hold books."

"Haha." Prince Rencheng laughed and praised, "Master Wei's words are brilliant. If those scholars who only collect salaries and neglect their education heard this, they would feel neither shame nor remorse."

Wei Yin said "I dare not" again, looking back at Zhao Zhi with affection in his eyes.

Zhao Zhi also looked at her husband.

The Prince of Rencheng's smile turned awkward, and he said, "It was my fault for not being tactful in reuniting with you two after so long. General Zhao, let's discuss this in detail at Xibai Hall tomorrow morning."

However, that very night, Zhao Zhi and Prince Rencheng met again, both of them being urgently summoned to the palace. (End of Chapter)