History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 152 Wei Mao's Heart-wrenching Words
The disadvantage is that when hiding in the hiding tank, the spoils and weapons must be placed two steps away from the outer edge of the tank.

“Yes, no rush. We need to be more vigilant, especially in situations like this.” Wei Yao responded to her partner, slowing down even further and taking only half a foot’s distance with each step.

chap——

Another horse manure pit.

This time, the pit was located to the side of Wei Yao's left foot; she once again avoided the wound-inducing trap. Outside the earthen wall to her right, the sounds of running and shouting arose simultaneously: "Enemy soldiers! Be careful, they have... ugh, ugh—"

"You have been killed in action."

"Yes, if you two say another word, don't blame us for being ruthless!"

"Great! We got three more flags! We're so lucky, haha."

Wei Yao remained hunched over, holding her breath along with Liu Zhenzhu. Their location was quite far from their own team's starting point, and based on their conversation, it was clear that the force that had reached the adjacent passageway was definitely the enemy's.

Sure enough, two shouts echoed across the military exercise field.

"The soldiers were killed in action."

"The soldiers were killed in action."

Immediately, soldiers from the garrison came down on wooden ladders and pulled the two "fallen" students to the top of the ladders. They then quickly retreated from the battlefield from above the low wall.

From this point on, cries of "fallen in battle" could be heard from time to time from every corner in the distance, and the temporary battle situation was quite clear: more soldiers of the A rank were "killed" than soldiers of the B rank were "killed".

Yu Yao finally arrived at the hiding place safely. Liu Zhenzhu decided not to hold her partner back any longer: "Yao, take the flag with you. If the enemy also takes this route, I will try my best to hold them off."

“Okay.” In fact, both of them had a premonition that someone else was also walking through this grassy passage, perhaps at the entrance they came from, or perhaps at the exit that Wei Yao was going to.

They gave each other a final hug.

"See you in victory."

Wei Yao set off alone with nine flags. Fortunately, the grass gradually thinned out, allowing her to see further. Wei Yao tried walking along the base of the wall, but it didn't work. As she expected, there were also horse manure traps buried at the base of the wall.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, the path turned a corner, and the grass grew denser again.

At this moment, two flags appeared at the end of Wei Yao's line of sight, one blue and one white. Above them was a wooden ladder that ran across the earthen wall, and it seemed that the two flags had been thrown down by passing soldiers.

Wei Yao was very cautious. She used the cloth strips she was issued to tie the nine flags tightly and tucked them under her armpits. She held a short knife in front of her chest and took half a step at a time towards the two flags.

A few steps later, Yuan Jingrong's voice suddenly came from outside the left wall.

Wei Yao stopped.

Yuan Jingrong: "I know I'm no match for you. Before I die, I have a question for you."

"explain."

Wei Yao's brows furrowed. Although the other party only said one word, she recognized it as Xi Jiao.

Yuan Jingrong asked, "Wasn't Feiming, the servant at Dongyue Flower Shop, your former attendant?"

Xi Jiao: "If you can't speak properly, I'll kill you right now! What happened to Fei Ming?"

While listening carefully, Wei Yao also kept an eye on the bushes ahead.

Yuan Jingrong: "Hmph, he's having street thugs spread rumors about Wei Yao everywhere."

"This rumor... even fellow disciple Wei knows about it?"

"What do you mean? So you know about this? No wonder! How could a lowly servant be so bold if you hadn't condoned it? Ah!" Yuan Jingrong suddenly cried out in alarm, cursing angrily, "Xi Jiao, you bastard!"

"You'll learn to speak properly from now on."

"Ugh—I'm so angry!" Yuan Jingrong could only shout angrily, "The soldiers have fallen."

Wei Yao turned her attention back to her path ahead. Once the passage next to her was quiet, she calmly addressed the bushes in front of her, "No need to hide anymore. To avoid infighting among our own team, let's fight face to face." There really were people there.

The bushes parted as they drew closer, revealing the person hiding there—it was none other than Wei Mao!

Overjoyed, he noticed Wei Yao's wary expression and quickly showed her his shoes, which were covered in mud, not horse manure. He also wore a red cloth pouch, a trinket typically worn by armored soldiers, proving that he indeed belonged to the same unit as Wei Yao.

Wei Yao feigned a sigh of relief and asked him, "You came in from the other direction?"

"Yes, it's just ahead, but that's just a fork in the road. The path through the bushes leads further, and there's bound to be another flag there. Follow me."

Wei Mao turned his back to her, and only then did Wei Yao truly lower her guard.

Wei Mao picked up the two flags and used them to push through the grass as he walked, saying, "The person on the other side of the wall just now was Xi Jiao. The Fei Ming they mentioned is that wicked servant who talked back to you at the ranch before the New Year."

"Ok, I know."

"We'll discuss the rumors after the military exercise concludes."

Just as Wei Yao responded with "Okay," she saw Wei Mao twist his ankle. Oh no, he had stepped right into the center of the trap. Wei Mao turned around with a wry smile, threw the two flags to her, and said regretfully, "I wanted to help you scout the way, but I didn't expect to be so useless."

"Don't say that. Traps are inherently difficult to avoid."

Wei Mao shook his head: "You should hurry up and remember, the first fork in the road is where I came in. Xi Jiao is nearby, so you'd better not go out from there." After saying that, he took out a strip of white cloth, jumped to the base of the wall, and used it to tie up the foot that had stepped into the trap.

Wei Yao said guiltily, "I didn't mean to abandon you, I just felt I couldn't carry you on my back."

"What are you thinking about? Don't waste time, let's go. Wait, some people are ruthless. If you encounter one of those people, you'll be killed. Don't be reckless."

"I know, then I'm leaving."

Wei Mao smiled at her and made a urging gesture.

Wei Yao's gaze inadvertently drifted over the trap he had stepped into, and instantly, her whole body tensed! She rolled away on the spot!
It's grass scraps!
He didn't step on horse manure!

She had just tilted her head back when Wei Mao pounced on top of her, pressing an arrow against the side of her neck. "You've found out?"

"Hmph." Wei Yao was extremely unwilling. How could she be so unlucky? There were only two grass pits in the whole area, and this guy stepped on one of them. All the flags she had obtained before were going to be given to this guy! "Kill him quickly if you want to kill him."

“If you call me fellow disciple Shengmao, I’ll let you go. Ouch, you’ve got a strong grip.”

Wei Yao pinched his arm harder, both angry and ashamed: "If you keep talking nonsense, believe me or not..."

"Hey, what do you mean, 'believe me'? Aren't I your fellow disciple? What's wrong with calling me a fellow disciple, hmm?"

The words weren't wrong, and his body was pressed against the ground beside her, not touching her, but his face was too close to hers; every breath he exhaled stirred her hair. "Get off me!"

With a smug look on his face, Wei Mao sat up and, under her angry gaze, plunged the ash-covered end of the arrow into his own heart.

Wei Yao: "You..."

He died in battle?
Hmph, did she think she'd be satisfied with "committing suicide and dying in battle"? Wei Yao kicked the other man once, and seeing him deliberately baring his teeth, she kicked him again. After getting up, she slapped his shoulder before picking up all the flags and leaving.

"Heh heh." Wei Mao chuckled twice and announced, "Soldier B is dead!"

He didn't care which team won or lost. He came to the military exercise field just to meet Wei Yao. Heaven was really on his side. With his wish fulfilled, he smiled and watched Wei Yao leave. However, his smile quickly disappeared. His obsession with her was so intense that he wanted to turn it into a raging fire and burn away all the grass that was blocking her way!

The bugle call finally sounded, and the military exercise ended.

Wei Yao was dragged onto the wooden ladder by the soldiers.

The credits were tallied, and her faction lost. Although she had captured many flags, almost all of her soldiers had perished, making it difficult to offset her losses.

Wei Yao saw Guo Yun and Liu Zhenzhu, and the three of them reunited. While they were searching for Yuan Jingrong and the others, Wei Yao saw Wei Mao walking away.

The other person seemed to sense something, turned around, and made a heart-piercing gesture towards her.

(End of this chapter)