History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 136 Comparing Xi Jiaojun
Wei Yao knew little about current affairs in her previous life, and it was almost useless in this life, so she could only analyze things as they came. The fact that the Prince of Pengcheng was alerted and hurriedly sent a letter instructing his son not to go to Luoyang for the time being indicates that His Majesty has already shown signs of serious illness. This involves His Majesty's selection of regents and the open and covert struggles between the imperial family members and court officials of various positions.

Furthermore, the contents of the letters between Yuan Zizhi and Wei Maoti imply that the two of them, due to the death of Huangfu Jing, became friends in adversity, either by force or by choice.

"What about Mr. Xi Jiao?" Wei Yao asked. Xi Jiao had originally planned to go to Luoyang even earlier than Yuan Zizhi, so why hasn't he made a move yet?
Wei Mao: "Ah, he looks even uglier these past two days than when he was just beaten up."

Wei Yao blushed, she had almost forgotten that Xi Jiao had also joined the brawl, so she followed Wei Mao's words and said, "If you see Mr. Xi Jiao, please thank his fellow disciples for helping him that day."

Wei Mao suddenly leaned close to her face, startling Wei Yao so much that she almost fell backward. She glared angrily at his reckless act, but the man looked at her slightly flushed face with great smugness. "If you want to thank someone, thank them yourself. I don't like gossiping."

At this moment, Wei Puti arrived, and the more he looked at Wei Mao and Wei Yao, the stranger their relationship seemed.

Wei Yao turned around to pack her stationery. Xi Jiao's father held the position of "Minister of the Gods," in charge of temple affairs and sacrifices, so she wanted to ask if Xi Jiao had also delayed her trip to Luoyang because of her elders' wishes. If so, then it proved that something really serious was about to happen!

Wei Yao was afraid that Wei Puti would misunderstand her and Wei Mao, and that Wei Mao would provoke her more. As soon as she unfolded the poems she was going to learn that day, Wei Mao poked her on the back of the shoulder with a rolled-up piece of paper.

Feeling helpless but unable to ignore him, she moved back an inch. He held the rolled-up paper to her earlobe and said, "Yesterday I had someone beat up Yi Xie. I drew a picture of him being beaten and apologizing. Do you want to see it?"

Wei Yao took it, unfolded it, and felt a surge of satisfaction. The more she looked at it, the happier she became. She saw handprints on both sides of Yi Xie's face in the painting, and Wei Mao had drawn an upward-sloping line from where Yi Xie's mouth was, marking it with a series of words… "Miss Wei, I'll never do it again."

Wei Zhen and Wu Ji came together, and the two of them insisted on squeezing through the door at the same time. Wei Zhen stomped hard on Wu Ji's foot, and Wu Ji exaggeratedly cried out "Ouch!" before taking big steps to catch up with Wei Zhen. Then he shoved her, and Wei Zhen almost fell onto the desk.

"You bastard!"

"Humph."

"I'll teach you a lesson!" Wei Zhen picked up the inkstone and pretended to smash it at the other person.

Wu Ji quickly admitted defeat, clasping his hands in a fist and bowing, "I will never dare to do it again."

Wei Mao watched the two of them playfully bickering with envy, unable to imagine how happy he would be if Wei Yao were willing to play around with him like that.

The friendship between the students who had gone through thick and thin together was even deeper than before. Wei Zhen asked Wei Yao, "After school, shall we go to the archery field to practice some Cuju (ancient Chinese football) before going home?"

"That's what I thought too, and that's why I brought a purse with me."

Qu Rong came into the schoolhouse with his pouch, intending to play polo at the archery field after school. However, he was annoyed by Wei Yao, so he decided to go to Zhuji Street after school instead. He had heard that a scholar named "Island Barbarian Without Roots" was writing some excellent supernatural tales, and he had been wanting to read them for a long time.

Master Song arrived.

Today's new poem is "Weiyang" from the "Qin Feng" section. Both the preface and the verses indicate that this poem was written by a nephew visiting his uncle, who then expresses his longing for his mother.

Qu Rong felt more and more moved as he read the poem. His elder sister's child called him uncle, so why couldn't the relationship between uncle and nephew in his own family be like that in the poem? To this day, he has never even had the chance to see his nephew. His father did visit the general's house once, but he came back looking gloomy, probably because he didn't see the child.

After the first class, Qu Rong really wanted to ask Wei Mao about her nephew's situation, but she hesitated and didn't dare to bring it up again.

After school, Wu Ji asked, "Where should we go to eat first? We need to eat well so we have the energy to play football."

Wei Zhen: "I made an appointment with Yan Zhen to eat outside the school. After we finish eating, I'll go to the archery range to find you." After saying that, she ran out of the school building without packing anything.

Wu Ji's good mood from the morning was shattered, and he said angrily, "I'm going home, I'm not playing anymore!" Great! Wei Mao casually suggested to Wei Yao, "How about we go to the Confucius Institute to have dinner with your father? The joint exam is the day after tomorrow, and your father definitely won't be able to come home tomorrow night."

Wei Yao readily agreed, and the two of them walked with only their respective pouches in their hands. Wei Mao then had another idea: "Let's exchange pouches. When Wei Zhen arrives, you can use her practice. This way, you can improve your Cuju skills more quickly."

Wei Yao wasn't fooled: "My father has a purse, I'll change into that later... Oh?"

Wei Mao snatched it away forcefully, shoving it into her hand. Even though he was the one being unreasonable, he acted all sulky and aggrieved, as if he had been the one who had been wronged.

"This is the only time. I won't play with you again if you try to steal the ball from me." Wei Yao said this and quickened her pace to walk ahead of him.

Wei Mao quickly pulled out a small bronze mirror to check his appearance. He wasn't faking his anger; he was just remembering what she had suddenly asked Xi Jiao about that morning. Hmph, why ask Xi Jiao for no reason? Wasn't he much more handsome than the swollen-faced Xi Jiao now?
Just as Wei Yin was about to get his meal, he saw his daughter arrive, and his face lit up with joy. He then handed the empty food container to the little boy behind him.

Wei Mao quickly took them. The cook had made braised goose legs today, and Wei Mao had ordered four of the largest ones, along with a generous serving of vegetable soup. Back in Master Wei's study, he pushed the braised goose legs toward the father and daughter.

Wei Yao handed one back to him.

Wei Mao dodged, saying, "You guys eat, I've never eaten goose since I was a child." Because of this dodging action, he inadvertently saw the embroidered pouch in the wooden box at the base of the wall.

The pouch is for protecting books, and such items are common. However, this embroidery pattern was drawn by Yingju Bookshop itself, and it was only the first batch that the embroiderers made. It was never sold to outsiders. Where did Master Wei get it?

Wei Yin reminded him, "Sit up straight and eat."

Wei Mao quickly turned around and sat up straight.

Wei Yao was sensitive and felt that her father must have realized that Wei Mao liked her, making the meal very awkward.

Fortunately, I can forget everything when practicing Cuju (ancient Chinese football).

"Catch the ball." She and Wei Mao practiced double three-kick, the bet being a piece of paper.

Wei Mao alternated his feet, quickly kicking the ball three times, the third kick going in a slightly off-center direction.

Wei Yao caught the ball, and the more difficult it was to catch, the more anxious she became in her three twirling motions between her feet. Wei Mao waited to receive the ball with a horse stance, not thinking that he could kick it in any direction he wanted with his third twirling motion, because it was already difficult enough for him to keep the ball from hitting the ground and to make it look good.

Kick him out!

Wei Mao teleported instantly and caught him.

Wei Zhen and Bu Yanzhen arrived. Instead of disturbing Wei Yao and Wei Mao's practice, the two of them practiced the rapid three kicks at a distance of three zhang (approximately 10 meters).

Bu Yanzhen couldn't catch the ball every time, but Wei Zhen wasn't anxious or scolded him. After half an hour, Bu Yanzhen caught the ball much more often.

Then the four switched groups: Wei Yao and Wei Zhen kicked, and Wei Mao and Bu Yanzhen kicked. Wei Mao was the only one of the four who had participated in formal competitions. He taught Bu Yanzhen the correct footwork and also told him which moves were illegal.

Outside the arena, Wei Yin pretended to pass by several times before returning to the schoolhouse. Looking at the two volumes of strange tales he had just finished writing in the wooden box, he smiled. He had deliberately let that brat see them; he needed to hurry and accumulate wealth to make ample preparations for moving to Luoyang.

(End of this chapter)