History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 87 Xiurongchuan, Erzhu Rong
At this moment, a group of people were traveling through Shuozhou at night. They were also carrying hundreds of fine horses and an equal number of camels. The camels were all loaded with grain sacks, while the horses were empty.

The leader, nearly fifty years old, named Xinxing, was the chieftain of the Qihu tribe, whose surname was Erzhu, the place where his ancestors lived. Accompanying him was his only son, Erzhu Rong, who was only six years old.

These Erzhu warriors set off from Xiurongchuan in Sizhou, their destination the second garrison of the Hengzhou Hunting Corps... Wuchuan Town, the Southern Garrison Camp.

Not everyone dares to appreciate the mountains and rivers under the moonlight. The timid may find the mountains like demons and the lakes terrifying, while the bold may wish they could reach out and grab the mountains and hold the lakes in their hands.

The Erzhu warriors all belonged to the latter category.

“Father, if we present the fine horses to the court, His Majesty will reward us for our loyalty. However, those high-ranking officials in the court are only superficially friendly with us; they look down on us at all. Why did you insist on going to Wuchuan Town to deliver the horses this time?”

"Heh, you're not sulking with me anymore?"

"I'll ask for clarification before I continue to act out of spite."

"Stop pouting. If you keep pouting, your lips will be longer than a camel's hump." Erzhu Xinxing changed his tone and, after ordering the group to slow down, said, "I'm getting old, and you're my only child. There are some things I can tell you."

If it were any other child, they would have quickly said something like "Father is in his prime," but Erzhu Rong would have listened attentively with a solemn expression.

"The Crown Prince has just been established, but coincidentally, his birth mother died on the way to the capital. His Majesty is skilled in both literature and military strategy, but he is also too kind and sentimental."

"Does Father suspect Empress Feng?"

"It's not my place to suspect anyone, but a hen crowing at dawn... I've heard that His Majesty's health is often unwell, alas, these are not good omens. Therefore, I am willing to sacrifice some fine horses to befriend the governors of Shuo and Heng prefectures, so that I can obtain useful information as soon as possible when chaos strikes."

Erzhu Rong was very handsome; the more he frowned, the more endearing he became. "Father..."

Erzhu Xinxing waited patiently for the child to ask questions.

"What do you mean by 'poor chicken is heavy'? Aren't poorer chickens lighter?"

“Oh dear… this is the second reason I went to Wuchuan Town. I’ve inquired and found that among the people participating in this Hengzhou Grand Hunt is a great Confucian scholar from Lu, Confucius. I would like to ask Governor Yuan to allow you to meet this famous teacher.” Then, Erzhu Xinxing explained to the boy what “a hen crowing at dawn” meant.

Erzhu Rong memorized the message while pondering his father's meaning. Oh no! Did he intend to send him to school in Pingcheng? Humph, he would never go!
The next morning, as yellow sand filled the air around Huluhai Lake, the Hengzhou warriors set off again for their hunt.

Today, Wei Yao tried riding a horse herself. When she was extremely nervous, she was able to break through the constraints and improve her riding skills to a new level.

Meanwhile, Xi Jiao, Yuan Zizhi, and the others, still fuming from the night before, remembered the location where the Cui clan had gathered, so they easily joined the surging tide of Cui's forces. Xi Jiao thought that with eight people on their side and such a long journey during the day, they would surely find an opportunity to take revenge. However, during the chase, they discovered that the soldiers protecting the Cui clan all had similar builds, identical uniforms and hoods, making it impossible to distinguish which one was the one who had stolen the bracelet. They had no choice but to swallow their anger from the previous night.

Upon reaching the southern foothills of Yinshan Mountain, one could see lush trees and verdant hills overhead, with abundant green grass beneath one's feet. It was precisely because of this fertile land that the Rouran people had coveted it year after year. The hunting party moved westward along the plains at the foot of the mountain, with the distance between the head and tail of the party growing ever longer.

But the warriors' wild songs remained loud and clear, echoing along the route and startling all the birds south of Yinshan into flight.

"A man who aspires to be strong need not have many companions; hawks soar through the sky, while sparrows fly in two directions across the waves."

"Let the horses graze in the great marshland, where the grass is good and the horses are well-fed, with iron badges and iron bridles, and helmets and eagle tails."

Zhao Zhi was familiar with the route and controlled the horse's speed, arriving at the South Garrison Camp of Wuchuan Town on the afternoon of the third day of the fifth lunar month.

Wuchuan Town has a unique landscape, with plains and pastures where the fields meet the horizon.

"Mother, this place is so wonderful." Wei Yao looked around, feeling as light as if she could fly.

Zhao Zhi smiled along with her daughter, thinking to herself that it wouldn't be good to stay here for too long.

"Oh dear, haha." Kong Mi arrived as well, dismounted, and stepped in horse manure.

"Hey—" someone shouted enthusiastically from afar. "Hey—"

"Hey—" Many people followed suit, and Wei Yao couldn't help but get excited, so she also opened her throat and shouted loudly.

Zhao Zhi instructed, "You just stay and play around nearby, I'll go find Director Cui and the others."

The conversation is divided into two parts.

Cui Academy in the west of Pingcheng.

Hu Wu stared at the sun on the courtyard wall, hoping it would set quickly. Today was her second day at Cui Academy, and she had been troubled for two days. The choir room had just been built, and the rooms where the servants lived were the last to be painted. Every night when she closed the door to sleep, the smell gave her a headache.

And then there's Xu Jiaoqing, the young lady from the Ling family of Pingcheng. She's slow at reciting poems, lazy at work, shy around strangers, has a soft and timid personality, and likes to cuddle when she sleeps—a whole host of nasty habits! So annoying!
“Dangdangdangdangdang…”

It was Zhang, the female teacher, chanting Buddhist scriptures and striking the wooden chime. Hu Wuwu rolled his eyes. What was this island barbarian slave girl doing, pretending to be so knowledgeable about Buddhism? She really thought she was a teacher! Every time something could be done in one go, she would never explain it clearly. After the servants finished doing it, Zhang Wenzhi would point out this was wrong and that was wrong.

"Ah—" someone screamed from the outhouse.

The sound of the chime didn't stop; instead, it was struck even faster.

Hu Wuwu sneered at the Buddhist hall and hurried toward the outhouse. He had no choice; only one person had gone in earlier—Xu Jiaoqing.

"What's wrong with Sister Xu?"

"Ugh, I'm not staying here anymore, I want to go home."

Hu Wu squinted his eyes to the smallest slit and peered into the pit, then understood. "You probably thought... but it's not... this is something all women deserve..."

After a few words of explanation and comfort, Xu Jiaoqing hugged Hu Wuwu, tears streaming down her face: "Wuwu, you're so good to me. You have no idea how scared I was just now."

How annoying! Hu Wuwu hates it when people only call her by her name.

East City.

Qu Rong walked calmly into Yingju Bookstore on Zhuji Street in the Sifang District. He had heard his elder sister mention it several times; Yingju Bookstore had a very complete collection of books. However, he had never dared to come before. Now that Young Master Mao had left the city to hunt, Qu Rong finally decided to come.

This place is wonderful; stacks of books and bamboo slips are everywhere, and even the smell of them is intoxicating.

Qu Rong felt she had understood her elder sister's meaning correctly. She said that Young Master Mao would go to Luoyang at the end of this year or the beginning of next year and would not come back.

Yingju Bookstore is doing so well that it won't be rented out just because Young Master Mao left. If Sister gives birth to a son, who will also be a son of the Wei family, then will the bookstore become the property of her nephew? If it becomes the property of her nephew, wouldn't that be equivalent to the property of the Qu family?

As dusk fell and the light dimmed, Qu Rong emerged from the bookstore.

The lame Feiming, who had just left Dongyue Flower Shop, was passing by. Before the hunt, Xi Jiao arranged for this servant to learn how to work at the newly opened flower shop opposite the Ink Pavilion.

Feiming felt this was not a good thing; he worried that the young master wouldn't take him with him when he went to Luoyang.

Two people with unspoken worries bumped into each other.

"You have no eyes!"

Qu Rong and Fei Ming, two people with similar personalities of fearing the strong and bullying the weak, met just like that.

(End of this chapter)