History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 78 The Master Sends Notes

Wei Yao recalled Qu Rong's sarcastic laugh yesterday and asked, "Is it saying that I'm unsophisticated, or that I'm poor and cowardly, and that I didn't dare to look up when I entered the old palace? Or that I wasted this rare reward, and that I should have given the opportunity to copy books to someone else if I had known this would happen?"

Yan Qi nodded vigorously, like a chicken pecking at rice: "That's about right. So the young lady had already heard about it."

No. I was just guessing.

Wei Jing clenched his fist, wanting to punch someone: "Who is this from Dormitory Five? How dare they speak ill of our Dormitory One members?"

Wei Mao reminded Wei Yao: "You've only been back for two days, and the people in the Fifth Dormitory, which is furthest from us, are already talking about your trip to the old palace, saying it's as if they saw it with their own eyes. How is that possible?"

"It would be foolish of me to question each of them about where the rumors came from. The joint entrance exam is coming up soon, this is the important thing." Why question them? Who else could it be but Qu Rong! In her past life, she had figured out Qu Rong's personality. He was cunning but clumsy. He must be thinking that if the students in Dormitory 5, who live the furthest away, were talking badly about her, she wouldn't suspect him.

At this moment, none of the three, including Wei Yao, dared to imagine that a rumor among the schoolchildren would be seized upon and used by someone with ulterior motives to target Governor Yuan.

April fifteen.

All students who had taken leave due to the large-scale hunting trip have returned to the library to prepare for tomorrow's joint entrance examination.

Master Du continued his lectures with composure and seriousness, only glancing at his two disciples, Wei Mao and Wei Yao, when they were writing with their heads down. Ever since being startled by Wei Weng, Du Ling had been secretly observing every student in the school dormitory, trying to figure out who it was that had discovered his habit of always going back to the Master's courtyard to relieve himself during breaks, and then told Du Tongding about it?

Today, Du Ling was even more worried. He already felt that even if he ordered another string of pearls for Du Tong, the other party might not be satisfied. Then he received bad news: that guy had been expelled from the state academy!

This is such a hassle.

Du Tongding is from another county; what if he decides to fight to the death...?

But he couldn't take the initiative to negotiate with the other party, because that would be tantamount to admitting the old man's "nonsense." How long could he run away? Du Tongding couldn't even go to school anymore; now he might even be loitering outside the old man's academy!

Since Du Ling couldn't do anything about Du Tongding for the time being, he hated his unworthy disciple who had revealed his habits even more! Who exactly is the fifteenth disciple?
He first ruled out Qu Rong and Wei Puti, because he often tutored these two disciples, and Du Ling could tell the truth from the falsehoods by the respect they showed during the process.

Then exclude those who are outspoken and unable to keep their thoughts to themselves, such as Wei Jing, Wei Zhen, Wu Ji, Wei Jian, and Wei Jiezhi.

In the end, only Wei Mao and Wei Yao remained.

"That concludes today's lesson. Don't linger after school; remember the joint exam tomorrow. The rest of you may leave. Wei Yao, please stay behind."

Wei Mao dawdled to the door, then turned back and called to Wei Yao, "I'll wait for you in the yard."

You little brats!! Du Ling has found out what he was going to test. He is certain that it was those two wicked disciples, Wei Mao and Wei Yao, who were secretly colluding with Du Tongding. Du Tongding wanted money, and the two wicked disciples wanted to avenge that old bastard Duan Qie.

Du Ling was prepared and handed a notebook to Wei Yao: "These are my teaching notes from the two days you weren't here. Take a look at them and return them to me after the joint exam. Okay, go home now."

"Thank you, Master."

Wei Mao also bowed to Du Ling and watched him turn out of the courtyard gate.

Immediately afterward, Wei Jing ran into the courtyard from outside, glancing back furtively as he whispered, "I hid behind the wall and gave that guy surnamed Du a fright, hehe. Yao, what did he scold you for this time?"

Wei Yaoyang glanced at her notes: "They didn't scold me, and they were even extra concerned about my studies."

Wei Jing made a face: "Huh? The sun has risen in the west."

Let's test the waters. Wei Yao and Wei Mao exchanged glances: Du Ling, just wait, Du Tongding will come looking for you tomorrow with a big surprise! (State Academy)

Xi Jiao studied for an extra half hour before leaving the school. Yesterday, he received a second letter from home urging him to go to Luoyang. He replied immediately, saying that he would set off after the summer exam.

Outside the pavilion, groups of two or three young women, pretending to be passersby, cast eager glances at him. One of them mustered her courage and called out to him, "Xi Jiao—"

He leaped into the air and mounted his horse, first smiling at the strange woman who had called him, then shouting "Giddy up!" and setting off.

"That's Xi Jiao. Judging from his appearance and presence alone, he surpasses the rumors." Hu Wuwu was also here. Of course, she wasn't here to bump into Xi Jiao; she just wanted to take a look around the outer perimeter of the Eighth Branch Museum. It was truly much more impressive than the old museum; even the walls were different heights!
She wondered what the differences were in the school buildings and layout. She had heard that Cui Academy occupied the largest area in Pingcheng, and she longed to go there. She wondered if her father could ask the Pingcheng magistrate for help.

Meanwhile, when Wei Yao returned home, she saw that her mother was overjoyed. "Yao'er, this morning Confucius sent someone to deliver a large box of books to you. Quickly open it and take a look."

Wei Yao took them out one by one, unfolded them, and couldn't help but burst into tears. She told her mother, "My teacher gave me all the teaching notes for the twenty-one poems in the 'Zheng Feng' section. Look, my teacher even circled the key points for me. Waaah... My teacher knows I've fallen behind in class, and he's worried that I won't have anywhere to catch up."

Only in front of her parents could Wei Yao allow herself to become the real nine-year-old A Yao again.

Zhao Zhi's hands weren't dirty, but she wiped them on her clothes again before touching the books as if they were precious treasures. Then she put her arm around her daughter.

No one knows a daughter better than her mother. Zhao Zhi wiped away Wei Yao's tears and said, "Don't rush to Cui Academy to thank Confucius. You should study hard and do well in this month's joint examination. That's the best way to repay the Master. Leave the rest to your mother. I'll go out of the city to hunt some game and send it to the Master tomorrow."

"Huh? Leaving the city now? But it's already afternoon."

"It doesn't matter!"

Because Wei Yin was not participating in the invigilation of the April joint examination, he could return home as usual in the evening, which gave Zhao Zhi the idea to go out of the city to hunt wild animals.

The bow and arrows were found that morning. Wei Yao knew her mother had served in the army, but she didn't know her mother's bow was so big! But the wooden arrows…

"Only three?"

"Three is enough! We might not even need them."

April 16th.

When the city gate at the southwest corner of Guocheng opened, everyone, whether they were ordinary people entering or leaving the city, or soldiers guarding the gate, was dumbfounded as they watched a woman lead a huge black bear, more than three times her size, into the city in a line.

The people exclaimed in amazement, "These days, people raise all sorts of things!"
Completely unaware, the black bear grumbled: "Who understands? It was a dark and windy night, I was sleeping soundly, and someone woke me up by slapping me, ooh... They kept slapping me until I was dizzy and powerless to resist! And then I was dragged here, ugh—no, I feel like throwing up again."

At this time, the various elementary schools were already holding exams.

This time, the examiner for Wei Yao and the others is Master Li from the University Hall. The first round of the exam tests their understanding of poetry interpretation. The questions were prepared in advance and written by the students of the University Hall, one question per short document, for a total of one hundred questions.

Therefore, the time allotted for answering the questions is very tight.

Apart from the sounds of writing, the school was completely silent. Du Ling quietly rose and tried to observe his disciples' answers as silently as possible.

Both the proctors and the examiners had the right to inspect the examination hall. The previous examiner did not do so because he was not agile and moving around would affect the examination.

After walking around once, Du Ling turned back and stopped beside Wei Yao.

(End of this chapter)