History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 178 White Horse Street

The onlookers at the fishing pond had all dispersed, and the boy who jumped into the river was none other than Zong Yin.

The woman standing beside him, both angry and crying, was his mother, Hun Yu Niang.

Seeing that he had frightened his mother, Zong Yin asked in a huff, "Are you going to keep pressuring me? If you keep pushing me, I won't hide in the West City so easily for you to find me, hmph!"

The fisherwoman angrily punched her son.

Zong Yin's next words were even more outrageous: "I won't jump into the river in the middle of the city. I'll find a small well in the middle of the night, jump in headfirst, and even if I'm rescued, I'll be dead!"

"I'll teach you to talk nonsense again! You're not ashamed enough, come home with me!" Seeing her son stubbornly refusing to move, Hun Yu Niang softened her tone and scolded, "How can we discuss the marriage proposal if you don't go home? There are many women with the surname Wei in Pingcheng, what if the matchmaker goes to the wrong house?"

Traveling several states to propose marriage was extremely troublesome for Xiao Fu's clan, because there were only a few matchmakers in Luoyang County, and even if they were paid double the price, it was impossible for them to abandon their official duties and travel to Pingcheng, which was so far away.

The experienced matchmaker gave the clan a suggestion: the clan should hire a skilled private matchmaker and a trusted relative of the clan, along with a travel permit issued by the Luoyang government office, to go to Pingcheng. After arriving in Pingcheng, they should hire a matchmaker from the Pingcheng government office. This would be considered a respectful formal proposal from the woman's family.

On October 18th, when the main family arranged for a matchmaker to set off, the elementary school in Heijo was about to start its term.

Baima Street in Xicheng takes its name from the poem "You Ke" in the Songs section of the Book of Songs. Besides being famous for its treasures and tea, Baima Street also sells goods from small kingdoms and tribes in the Western Regions, such as Tuyuhun, Khotan, Kucha, and Sangluofu. Whether it's felt, leather, cloth, or jewelry, most of them are brightly colored.

White Horse Street was bustling with countless peddlers from both the north and south, as well as the Seven Treasures Pavilion, which had been in business for decades. The "Seven Treasures" referred to valuable items such as gold, silver, and agate. Of course, these large shops were all owned by the powerful and wealthy Xianbei nobles of the north. No matter how wealthy the foreign merchants were, they could not afford even a small, permanent shop on White Horse Street.

Chengjing Pavilion is one of the most famous of the Seven Treasures Pavilions, and its owner was Wei Yi, the father of Wei Mao. On the viewing platform on the second floor of the pavilion, four noble ladies were seated: Wei Mao's mother, Lu Luo; Lu Luo's sister, Lu E; Cui Shang's mother, Lu Gengnan; and Cui Shang's aunt, Cui Fu.

Cui Fu was the mother of Zheng Zun, a student at Zheng Academy.

Wei Mao, Cui Shang, and Zheng Zun, the three teenagers, sat at a separate table in a corner of the viewing platform. With their elders present, the three teenagers spoke little, listening carefully to the elders' questions so they could answer immediately.

Today, there's a stationery fair on White Horse Street, and almost all the shoppers are scholars and students. With the start of the new school year approaching, the more spoiled and academically challenged a student is, the more they love collecting stationery. The vendors are all putting in their best efforts, with shouts of price gouging and haggling rising and falling. Lu Luo, Cui Fu, and the others peek through the railing, and the conversation naturally turns to academic matters.

Cui Fu asked Lu Luo, "Amao is going to Luoyang at the end of the year, have you found him a school?"

"Several members of our clan who are studying are in Luoyang. After Mao'er goes there, they will teach him individually, just like he would study at a school. I heard that Cui Academy's training school is considering moving to Luoyang. Is this true or just a rumor?"

Only Lu Gengnan knew about this matter, and she nodded: "But we'll have to wait until we finish studying the Lesser Odes section of the Book of Songs."

Lu Gengnan said to Cui Fu, "I know you are not going to Luoyang, but Zun'er can participate in the Xunyi Academy's long journey next year. They will finish explaining the entire 'Ya Song' during their journey."

Lu Luo said regretfully, "Oh dear, Mao'er will have to miss out on such a good thing. I heard from Mao'er that the head lecturer of Xunyi Academy is Kong Wenzhong, a famous scholar from Lu County. Is Confucius also going to Luoyang?"

Lu Gengnan: "Yes, after arriving in Luoyang, the Xunyi Academy will open another academic course on the *Erya*, taught by Confucius. The transmission of the *Classic of Poetry* will be handled by Confucius's three direct disciples, each establishing their own lecture halls. Confucius will no longer accept disciples specializing in the *Classic of Poetry*." Lu Luo: "Three direct disciples? Whose children are they? How old are they?"

"The eldest disciple is Kong Mi, a cousin of Kong Wenzhong. The second disciple is Cui Zhi, Shang'er's cousin and the younger brother of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel." Lu Gengnan smiled and pointed to Wei Mao. "The third disciple is a young lady named Wei Yao, who is in the same school as your Mao'er."

Lu Luo was overjoyed: "Wei Yao? A girl from our Wei clan? Then her father is..."

Before his aunts could speak, Wei Mao said, "It's Master Wei Yin, who teaches the Book of Rites at our Wei Clan University."

"Oh." Lu Luo thought about it seriously, then remembered. She shook her head, not because she regretted Wei Yao's background, but because she was genuinely moved: "I admire girls who are studious. What's wrong with a poor background? As long as you study hard enough, you can definitely stand on your own two feet in this world!"

Wei Mao remained expressionless, appearing to others as if he and Wei Yao were just ordinary fellow disciples. Wei Mao knew very well that if his mother knew he liked Wei Yao, all of Wei Yao's virtues would become her unpleasant flaws!
But his composure crumbled upon seeing Wei Yao's figure. He tried to hold back on his face, but the impulse in his heart tore him apart tenfold!
It felt as if a thorny tree had suddenly sprung up in his heart, its branches pricking him haphazardly. He stood up and bowed to his mother and the others, saying, "My fellow disciples are on the street; I'll go and see them."

Cui Shangzao got tired of sitting, so he hurriedly bowed, grabbed Zheng Zun, who looked like a little old man, and went downstairs with Wei Mao to join him in the bustling street.

After the children left, Lu Luo and the others gradually opened up. The four of them had known each other for many years, and Lu E had even saved Lu Gengnan and Cui Fu in their early years, so there was nothing to hide in their conversation.

“You don’t know my sorrow. My husband and I originally wanted to bring Mao’er to Luoyang later, but the child didn’t tell us and recognized Governor Yuan as his godfather. I’m not saying that Governor Yuan is bad, but how can we listen to the child in such matters?”

Lu E explained to Lu and Cui, "I just found out too. Sigh, Amao has a strange temper, and he's still not close to me. If I don't look for him, he won't even remember that I'm his aunt."

She then turned to scold her eldest sister: "You shouldn't have always beaten him when he was little! Now that I think about it, at most he would climb on the roof, piss in the well, or cut off the cow's tail. Let him make a fuss. Look at him now, he's still studying poetry seriously. I heard he's also good at horseback riding and archery."

Cui Fu laughed: "This is the heart of parents all over the world. It's wrong to let children run wild, but it's also wrong to interfere too much."

Lu Gengnan: "Actually, it's not just children who need to learn how to be a person and how to do things; we also need to learn how to be good parents."

Lu Luo: "You all know, Ah Bao and Ah Jin are so well-behaved, they both came from my belly, how come Ah Mao is so naughty! These days I've been thinking, Ah Mao's personality is strange, it's not his fault, it's my fault. When I was pregnant with him, I caught a cold and was sick for a long time. I didn't know that at the time, I drank a lot of cold medicine. Medicine is three parts poison, it irritated my precious child's head."

Lu E chuckled: "Come on, if you're going to blame someone, blame your brother-in-law. You caught a cold, and he still wouldn't behave himself."

Lu Luo spoke up for her husband: "We weren't thinking that sweating it out would help you recover faster."

Trevor stopped him: "Stop talking! Luckily the children are all downstairs. Listen to what you two are saying, aren't you ashamed?"

Lu Gengnan pointed to several schoolchildren in front of the stationery stall and said, "Look, that girl in the red blouse and green skirt is Wei Yao."

(End of this chapter)