History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 54 Duan Shi Du Lai

But this series of questions wasn't the harshest. Wei Yao only caught her breath before unleashing her final attack: "Just now I said... if the Master didn't teach you well, was it the Master's fault or your own lack of diligence? You only pressed me on the last sentence. Qu Rong!! As a disciple, shouldn't you first defend the Master's innocence?!"

Qu Rong: "I..."

"What do you mean, 'I'?! You are unkind, unjust, and disrespectful to your teachers! You have provoked me several times without reason or evidence! Moreover, you are clumsy with words and full of mistakes! I am ashamed to be your fellow student. If you ever speak to me again, I will write down your disrespectful behavior towards your teacher in detail and post it on the bulletin board outside the school!"

Qu Rong: "I...you..."

Wei Yao added, "And then there's your act of smashing books! You have no respect for words, no appreciation for paper, and yet you call yourself studious?!"

Outside the door, Wei Zhen and Wei Puti, who had been listening for a while, exchanged bewildered glances. Good heavens, if they ever have a conflict with Yao, they should remember to take action instead of using words.

Cui Xueguan.

The five female scribes who taught poetry lived in a small courtyard in the "Guchang" bird grove. This place was far away from all the schools, and the birds sang and the flowers bloomed early in the morning. Once upon a time, there was such a vibrant scene in the palace.

It was only a quarter past dawn when all five of them finished their scripture studies. Soon, servants would bring them breakfast. Taking advantage of a brief break, Zhang asked Chen, the scribe, "Those children haven't all come every day, and they still haven't been able to sing it all the way through. Starting today, we'll be missing another Wei Yao. Scribe, should we talk to one of the heads of Cui Academy about this?"

"What's the rush? It's still early before the festival."

"Yes, there is still more than a month left, and I was too anxious. But the description of Kong Langjun carrying winter clothes and Hu Nulang carrying an axe is really inconsistent with the ancient poem, and it should be changed back as soon as possible."

"The customs of the Xianbei are different from ours, and you must learn to accept them. This is a good thing, as women can study, socialize, and fight just like men. If this continues for a long time, how wonderful it would be! But you are the one who worries me. I told you to seize this opportunity to find a way out of the old palace, and it seems you already have a target in mind. Is it Wei Yao you have chosen?"

"Yes. I've observed that she understands poetry faster than others. No wonder she was the only one to get a perfect score in the city-wide joint exam. Moreover, at the age of nine, she is already cautious in her words and actions. Doesn't she like this?"

"What's the use of that!" Chen Shushi suddenly became stern: "What's the use of her being from a poor family, no matter how well she studies, or how much others praise her! Ha, do you expect her to be full of knowledge and take the imperial examination for female historians, only to be sent to the old palace to keep you company for the rest of your life?"

The Book of Songs, Book 1.

Wei Yao felt that she might have been angered by Qu Rong, and she felt generally unwell.

Wei Mao arrived last, and as he passed by her, he casually remarked, "You're back."

She had barely uttered an "Mmm" when the guard rushed into the schoolhouse to inform her, "Master Duan fell on the way here and is unable to give a lecture."

what? !

The students were all horrified!
Besides worry, Wei Yao was also puzzled. This had never happened in her previous life, and Master Duan had never fallen! How could things that had nothing to do with her have changed?

Unless it changes because of her!

Soon, the servant came panting again to inform us: "Students, please wait a moment. Master Li from the University Hall will be here shortly to substitute for you."

The schoolchildren recited the poem "Black Robe" with restless hearts.

After class, led by Wei Mao, all the disciples rushed towards Master Duan's house. Upon entering the courtyard, Wei Yao, Wei Zhen, and the others had tears welling up in their eyes. Master Duan's living conditions were too difficult! The earthen walls of the courtyard and the main house were peeling off, and the only side room had a thatched roof. The most valuable things they saw were an ox and a wooden cart, which were still assets of Wei Academy, provided so that Master Duan could travel to and from the academy by cart.

The teacher's family was brewing medicine under the thatched shed, and they were crying as they recounted the reason for his fall that morning: "Every day we take a cart there, but these past two days Niu has been having diarrhea and couldn't pull the cart this morning, so your teacher said that the school wasn't far and he would walk there."

“My eldest son gave him to me. This fool doesn’t know how to watch where he’s walking. He didn’t even see how your teacher fell down…”

The person guarding inside was Duan Dalang, who wailed, "It's my fault—"

Wei Yao's legs went weak; with Duan Dalang crying like this, the Master's condition must be bad.

Wei Mao asked anxiously, "Teacher's wife, how is the Master now? Can we go in?"

Duan's wife nodded and followed the children inside, saying, "She hasn't woken up since we brought her back. She was talking fine this morning, and now she's like this, sigh!"

Inside the room, the schoolchildren rushed in, and Duan Dalang made way for them as sobs filled the air.

Wei Yao clutched the teacher's hand, which was as old and weathered as tree bark, tears streaming down her face. Why wasn't the teacher's hand warm? "How could this be!"

She cried out in anguish! "Master, I have been reborn, but you couldn't have left us so soon! How could this have happened? How could it have turned out like this!"
Wu Ji sobbed, "Master, I promise I'll study hard from now on, can you hear me? If you can hear me, please wake up, okay? Ah—I'm scared of you lying here like this, ah—"

Wei Jing: "Waaah... Master, you can hear me. Master, let me recite the poem we learned today for you. Ziyi, Ziyi... Waaah, I haven't memorized it. Get up and scold me."

Wei Mao wiped away his tears with his thumb and asked the distraught Duan Dalang beside him, "What did the doctor say? Did the master kowtow and hurt his head?"

Duan Dalang nodded, tears and snot streaming down his face as he did so: "Yes. I was supporting Father the whole time, and he was using his cane in his other hand. I was careless, I lost focus, and when I let go of his hand... it was too late, he had already fallen. I looked at the ground..."

Wei Jing interrupted Duan Dalang with a loud shout. "Master!!"

"Wei Mao, come quick! The Master has stopped breathing!"

"Quickly, quick, no, I'm going to the clinic, I'm going!" Wu Ji ran out.

It's no use.

Master Duan, who taught diligently, passed away suddenly, leaving no last words.

Of all the people in the room, only Qu Rong's tears came from rubbing his eyes so hard they hurt. At first, he felt guilty, thinking that Wei Yao had been right—he hadn't respected the Master as much as his fellow disciples, which was why he couldn't shed tears. But he quickly excused himself, saying that his fellow disciples were grieving because Master Duan had always been good to them, and he wasn't sad because Master Duan had always treated him normally.

In the following days, the Wei Academy provided funds and personnel to help the Duan family with the funeral arrangements. The deceased was gone, but the students' studies could not be delayed. It was not a long-term solution to have the teachers from the university take turns teaching. Five days later, Du Ling from the state academy resigned from his teaching position there and volunteered to come to the Wei Academy.

When Wei Yao learned that this fellow was going to replace Master Duan, she felt that fate was truly strange. Some things had changed, and some things were not only destined, but would also happen ahead of time.

However, the joint entrance examination in March is about to begin, and the spring examination will follow closely behind. Although Wei Yao, Wei Mao, and Wei Jing all suspect that Duan Fuzi's fall was related to Du Ling, they still have to do their best in these two examinations. Only after the examinations are over can they spare the time to conduct a secret investigation.

(End of this chapter)