History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 124 Rewards and Punishments
Zhang Ji's family had fallen on hard times and she was used to the kindness of others. She was not ashamed or angry and responded in a normal tone: "This is a Buddhist hall, and also a place to teach you your lessons. All the servants can come at any time. As for the other female teachers or my own future, that is up to Cui Academy. I only need to teach the students to sing poems and do my chores. That is my responsibility."

Hu Wuwu had been waiting for these words, and he demanded, "Has my Hu family ever wronged you? From Chang'an to Pingcheng, you haven't taught me a single poem to sing!"

"Young lady, you haven't even memorized your proper lessons yet. If you learn to sing poems on top of that, it will only delay your studies. Besides, the tunes are different in every place. If I teach you the ones from Chang'an, you'll have a Chang'an accent. Would you be willing to sing them for your new friends when you get to Luoyang?"

Hu Wu turned her face away in a huff, but when she came back, she was no longer being unreasonable. Her face was full of the grievances of an innocent young girl: "Teacher, I didn't mean to upset you. I thought you thought I was stupid. I just heard the other servants say that you taught them a lot of knowledge that you never taught me, so I felt uncomfortable."

"Come here." Zhang Jiniang pulled Hu Wuwu over. One gently stroked the other's back, the other rested her head on the other's shoulder, and the two faces, back to back, instantly turned to disgust and indifference.

Inside the stone pavilion, Xi Jiao and his companions sat chatting. Mosquitoes were plentiful this time of year, and several baskets in the pavilion held sachets of various shapes and colors, while others lay on the mats on the ground, all filled with mugwort or orchids. The embroidered patterns on the sachets were breathtaking—animals, landscapes, starry skies, pine trees, and rice stalks. Guo Yun and Liu Zhenzhu examined them one by one, finding that no two were alike!

Xi Jiao knew about sachets, picked one up and said, "This is a Pengcheng sachet, the best place to make sachets. You might buy inferior ones elsewhere, but not in Pengcheng."

“This design is interesting. I’ll take it and give it to my fellow disciple Yao.” Guo Yun held the design, one side of which was embroidered with persimmons and the other with pomegranates.

When Xi Jiao heard the other person mention Wei Yao, his heart skipped a beat. He hadn't seen Miss Wei for a while and wondered what she was doing now. With these thoughts in mind, he looked at the fishpond outside the railing. A small fish that had been spying on him turned away shyly, then peeked out again to spy on him.

Xi Jiao was delighted and pinched a pinch of bait to tease the little fish: "Little Wei, if you spy on me again and make me remember you, I won't let you off the hook!"

At this point, Cui Shang asked, "Are you participating in the elementary school football tournament in early September?"

Kong Mi shook his head first: "I'm not going."

"Why? I remember you liked Cuju (ancient Chinese football)."

Guo Yun picked up her teacup to cover her face. She knew the reason: Changsun Zhi from the Guofeng Academy was in love with her fellow disciple, Mi. Changsun Zhi was active and skilled at Cuju (ancient Chinese football), and Mi was afraid of encountering Changsun Zhi again, which would only cause him more trouble. This trouble was not because she disliked Changsun Zhi, but because Mi did not want to get involved in the uncertain future, lest she hurt herself or others.

Kong Mi replied to Cui Shang: "I'm afraid it will interfere with my studies. I almost didn't finish one question in this joint exam."

Yuan Heng stood up angrily: "I only answered one question, humph!" After he finished speaking, he pulled Yuan Zizhi and went to the wooden pavilion over there to admire the colorful birds.

Everyone laughed. They had gotten to know Yuan Heng better during this time. Although he was arrogant and domineering, he was also easy to coax.

at dusk.

Zhao Xiu came to the old palace accompanied by Huli, the military advisor of the governor's office, and two soldiers from Woye Town. This time, he went in alone, while Huli and the other two waited outside Sixian Gate.

Governor Yuan had arranged for a eunuch to guide Zhao Xiu in advance. This eunuch, named Yi Si, flattered him, saying, "Is Attendant Zhao serving the Crown Prince? What a coincidence! In April, the Crown Prince of Luoyang sent a Tiger General named Xue, and I was the one who guided him."

Zhao Xiu kicked the other person several steps away: "Stop talking nonsense!"

Eunuch Yi leaned against the wall and cried out in pain, "I can't walk anymore, you should find someone else."

Zhao Xiu grinned maliciously, grabbed the other man's hair and slammed him against the wall. With a "bang," Yi Si, looking incredulous, sat down against the wall.

"I wanted to let you die a little longer, but you insisted on being reincarnated!"

Zhao Xiu knew the palace roads and went straight to the inner palace. In his confused memory, he seemed to have been there once recently and even urinated in a certain spot... but he couldn't find it.

He walked back and forth along the narrow path of his chaotic memories twice, finding no trace of urine, and the cracks in the floor tiles didn't seem to have as many weeds as he remembered. "Could it be that I had a dream about the old palace?"

Zhao Xiu stopped his wandering thoughts, pushed open the gate to the former residence of the Crown Prince, and saw that the jar in the courtyard was still there, covered in dust, as was the outside of the jar. There were no fingerprints indicating that it had been moved. He turned back to look outside, then closed the gate, moved the jar aside, dug some soil, and breathed a sigh of relief, completely at ease. The urn containing the letter was still there, with a few wooden sticks seemingly haphazardly stuffed into its mouth, but these were actually markings made by Zhao Xiu.

There were no signs of it being touched.

However, Zhao Xiu's trip was only to confirm that the letter was safe and sound, and he did not intend to take the letter out of the palace. The Crown Prince had instructed him that the Empress had planted countless spies in the Eastern Palace, and these secret letters, which could be used to negotiate with the Empress in critical moments, were safe to leave in the old palace.

Zhao Xiu sneered and muttered to himself, "Xue Zhixiao, what do you have to compete with me? I am the Crown Prince's confidant!"

Zhao Xiu, who had gained power through his petty actions, returned by the same route. The eunuch's corpse was still sitting in the same spot. Zhao Xiu deliberately stared into the dead man's still-open eyes. He walked the rest of the way, laughing wildly, as if he were the king of the old palace.

The sixth day of the seventh lunar month.

Each elementary school announced that the joint examination day for this month will be on the morning of the 16th, and the first holiday of the month will be on the 11th.

In the empty granary of the governor's mansion, Yuan Langxi, Zhou Tai, Hai Yeren, Hu Ertiao, and other academic underachievers lined up to gather and were also informed of the exam date. They had been grinding grain and carrying sacks of grain for several days in a row, so it was impossible for them not to be tired, but when they heard that there was going to be an exam again, they immediately thought of the same thing.

Yuan Langxi: "I'd still like to push the millstone!"

Hu Ertiao: "I have plenty of strength, and I haven't even used half of it yet."

Changsun Fuming recited in the rhythm of poetry: "I wish to be in the granary, stacking grain sacks for a year, to strengthen my body and inspire my will, to inspire my will and bring me joy."

Qiu Ruizhi: "I drew a picture of July labor for my friends."

Zhou Tai, who ranked last in the Analects last month, said, "I haven't decided whether to switch to studying the Erya or poetry, so I might as well stay here for another month."

Clerk Gou and Military Advisor Hulu came over together; the former was smiling, while the latter led a tall, strong, and rare white horse.

This horse was "Piaoliang," the mount of the Yuan Dynasty governor.

The underachievers chuckled and grinned, asking the registrar, "Is there some new work for us to do?" Of course, it would be best if we didn't have to do the millstone work.

“Smart. This time you won’t work for nothing. As long as you complete the task given to you by the governor, this will be your reward.” Chief Clerk Gou pointed to the white horse.

Hiss——

A collective gasp filled the air.

"Going back on your word is the act of a dog!" Haiye Ren's mouth was faster than his brain.

From that moment on, Clerk Gou glared at the brat and said, "This task is divided into several sub-tasks. Only after completing one sub-task can you do the next one."

"Where there is reward, there is also punishment. The reward is fixed; whoever completes the entire task first gets the prize. But there are many kinds of punishments, and they are all here."

He held his arm out to the side, and in his hand was a scroll.

Xuzhou Scented Sachets: Xuzhou was formerly known as "Pengcheng," and scented sachets were formerly called "fragrant pouches." Xuzhou scented sachets were listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

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(End of this chapter)