History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 67 You Must Firmly Refuse
"But it's definitely related to Hu Niu Ba! She rushed back in a panic and almost returned the pearl string to me. It was definitely her doing, really! Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that chaos broke out in front of the brothel as soon as she went out, and that old scholar surnamed Duan fell and died? Arrest her, it has nothing to do with me."

Yuan Yu asked, "Was the person who gave you the pearl male or female? What was their height, weight, or voice like? Tell me about their appearance as well."

Du Tongding was devastated, terrified of being asked this question. "That man was taller than me, but not really very tall. He was dressed in bulky clothes, I don't know how many layers he wore, and he wore a straw hat with a tattered brim that covered most of his face. I was so focused on Pearl that I don't remember what he looked like at all! But he was definitely a man, and his voice... well, it was an act of old age. I... I really was just focused on Pearl."

Yuan Yu and Xi Jiao looked at each other. Du Tongding couldn't explain it clearly, which only proved that Master Duan was deliberately murdered.

Yuan Yu asked again, "He said he would send you the pearls after this matter was over, but did he say how to find you?"

Du Tongding: "Oh my, you actually believe that!"

"Flick his lips."

This guy's face is so swollen it looks like a braised pig's head; you can't slap him with a big hand.

After giving orders to the state soldiers, Yuan Yu discussed with Xi Jiao: "I'll go to Hexi Street for the next couple of days, but I won't disturb that dancer. She's so annoying, always staring at my crotch. I won't take her with me; let Brother Xi keep an eye on her."

night.

Wei Yao compiled her class notes into a complete vernacular explanation, first giving a copy to Wei Mao, then to Gao Lou, and after three copies, she had memorized them perfectly. As she got up to stretch, she hummed the poem "July," and when the mood struck her, she added the action of picking mulberry leaves.

After finishing the dance and singing, they sat back down to continue reviewing the poems they had read earlier.

thump—

thump—

When the midnight bell tolls throughout Pingcheng, Wei Yao extinguishes her candle and goes to sleep.

The Tingxing Courtyard now has a female manager, and Old Cui, who temporarily took over for a few days, is living in his small courtyard as usual.

A few days ago, Niulangjun mentioned the female warrior of the Lan tribe. He used his connections, but all he found was that the woman was nameless and did manual labor in the tribe. Later, she was conscripted to attack the Rouran.

Then there was no further news.

To rule out the possibility of a one in ten thousand chance, Cui Weng even had someone retrieve the household registration records of Wei Yin's wife, Zhao Zhi. She was an orphan from the Xianbei people, later adopted by a Han military family, served in the army for a year, and returned wounded. Her records for all years were complete, up to her marriage to Wei Yin, which was very clear.

Therefore, if the Lan tribe truly had a female warrior with outstanding archery skills, she should have already died on the battlefield.

During the era of the Great Wei's expansion, it was normal for warriors from various tribes to die on the battlefield. Old Cui picked up a volume of the Erya and sighed, not because he was lamenting the difficulty in finding the Lan tribe warriors, but because when Wei Yin returned the several volumes of notes, he said, "I will not study the Erya for now. I will come to visit Old Cui again when I have time."

Wei Yin's words were clearly laced with sarcasm, implying that he wouldn't be coming to Cui's school for some time, nor would he come to his place if he did.

Why is he so angry? Old Cui was puzzled. This wasn't the first time he had hidden secret letters in his notes, and he had already explained to Wei Yin to relax and treat this kind of word-interpretation as a way for scholars to exchange riddles and get to know each other. Why was he so angry this time?
The following afternoon, there was a bamboo grove.

"In June, eat yu and jujube; in July, cook mallow and beans; in August, peel dates; in October, harvest rice..."

Wei Yao and all the Han students sang and danced earnestly, but were then ridiculed and mocked by a few mischievous Xianbei nobles.

Fortunately, most of the Xianbei nobles were willing to participate in the practice. During the break, Wei Yao and Kong Yu formed one group, Guo Yun and Cui Ying from Shanyi Academy formed another group, and Liu Zhenzhu and Gao Yinyin from Wenyin Academy formed a third group. They each imitated the "All-Test" and conducted a question-and-answer session.

Soon, Changsun Zhi sat down next to Kong Mi, making Kong Mi blush with embarrassment, and he lost every question to Wei Yao.

Hu Ertiao didn't stop either. She deliberately swung her axe at these studious people, chopping trees nearby. With each chop, she secretly sneered: "All of you combined! Are you as strong as me? So what if you can recite poems! I'll drag you all onto the battlefield! To kill the Rouran dogs with poetry!"
Among the Xianbei students, Yuan Heng was the most honest. He used to eagerly await his uncle's letter, but now it's terrible! Sigh, he always wants to do well on the exams, but he gets sleepy as soon as he opens a book, so sleepy that his soul seems to leave his body. What can he do?

The five female historians sat a little distance away from the schoolchildren.

A female servant girl asked Chen Shushi, "After the festival, shall we bring the female scholar Wei Yao into the old palace?"

Chen Shushi: "No one has brought this up with me."

Zhang Xiguan: "It's better not to come to us if it's not something that benefits us."

The other officials each had their own thoughts: Zhang had treated Miss Wei quite well before, but this time when Miss Wei returned, Zhang was unusually cold towards her, which must be because Chen Shushi had given her some advice. Mentioning the reward given to Wei Yao by the prefecture, Chen Shushi said with a touch of sadness, "His Majesty promoted Han learning, and at its peak, the palace academy alone had twenty libraries, not to mention the Taiji Hall, the East and West Palaces. Now, the libraries everywhere are either emptied or completely deserted, with not even a trace remaining."

Zhang Xiguan felt apprehensive. The library of the abandoned palace school was assigned to her for management, and she hadn't been inside for a long time.

Zhang Xiguan straightened her back even more. Cui Xueguan praised her for her patience in teaching poetry and said she might keep her, as she herself might not want to go back to that awful place. Now, besides hoping that this wish would come true, she also prayed that Cui Xueguan would not keep Chen Shushi as well, otherwise, even after leaving the old palace, she would still be under Chen's control.

"Time to practice poetry!"

"Practice hymns, practice hymns—"

The students all stood up and realized that it was the parrot "Youlai" making noises; it had learned another human phrase.

Without worries or anxieties, another day has passed.

"The poem 'A Woman in a Chariot' is a satire of Hu, a satire by the people of Zheng who criticized Hu for not being seduced by Qi..."

Day after day, poem after poem.

"The poem 'There is a Fusu Tree on the Mountain' satirizes Hu, and what is praised is not truly beautiful..."

This afternoon, Wei Yao received Wei Mao's third letter, in which he said that he had found a clue and asked her to meet him at Jinji Restaurant at 9:30 am on her day off to discuss the details.

It seems the clues are incomplete, and describing them in a letter would be troublesome.

After learning the entire poem "There is a Fusu Tree on the Mountain", Wei Yao asked for leave from the afternoon's poetry recitation. She only packed up her notes and then left Tingxing Courtyard.

As soon as she stepped out of the school dormitory area, she saw Yuan Heng playing with tree branches ahead.

"Young Master Yuan." She bowed.

"Are you going home?"

"Yes."

"I have something to tell you. If anyone asks you to teach me poetry, you must firmly refuse, understand?"

"Yes."

"Let's go, let's go quickly." He impatiently shooed her away, turned around and skipped a big step, happily watching Wei Yao leave.

Wei Yao could tell, of course, that Yuan Heng was waiting for her on purpose. She had to pass through here to leave the academy without taking a detour. The only one who could control Yuan Heng and was willing to oversee his studies was Governor Yuan—ha, something even he himself dared not resist, how could she be expected to resist?
As soon as they stepped out of the pavilion, Wei Yao ran towards her mother. "Mother, I knew you'd come to pick me up again. When did you arrive? Are you in the sun? Are you thirsty? Hehe, I've filled a glass with warm water, Mother, have some."

Zhao Zhi was never afraid of the sun. She really loved listening to her daughter's little mouth chattering away. It was so crisp, soft, and so endearing.

"Mother, look at that pomegranate tree, its blossoms are so beautiful."

"What's the use? All the fruit is just seeds."

"Haha, but the juice is sweet."

The mother and daughter walked and laughed as they went, their figures gradually disappearing into the distance.

In June, one eats plum and wild grape: plum (郁) is a type of jujube, and wild grape (薁) is a type of wild grape.

In July, we cook mallow and beans. The character "亨" is the same as "烹", meaning to cook.

Gao Yinyin: Yin means quiet and pleasant.

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(End of this chapter)