"Your Excellency the Governor, we are examiners and are marking the papers." Zhou Zhubu said with a light cough.
"The Holy Academy will send someone to take this sutra away tomorrow, so we must study it carefully today!" said Magistrate Dong.
As Prefect Dong spoke, he spread out the four pages of the scriptures one by one, placed them on the table, and then read them carefully, word by word, with great concentration.
Feng Yuanjun and Zhou Zhubu also stood aside and read carefully. The three of them read in exactly the same way. They did not just read and memorize, but imprinted everything in their minds.
They must not only understand the content of the article, but also remember the stroke characteristics of each character. Because when an article reaches a higher level, each character contains the author's charm, thoughts and words will inevitably resonate, and others can also resonate with the original author by reading the text.
In the process of trying to memorize the text, the talents of the three examiners were gradually exhausted.
Zhou Zhubu was a juren and his talent was exhausted first. Soon, Feng Yuanjun began to rest, but Zhifu Dong persevered to the end.
"You can come and take a look too." After saying this to the other candidates from the Academy of Literature, Magistrate Dong walked over to Zhou Zhubu and Feng Yuanjun to rest.
Prefect Dong sighed and said, "I used to think Fang Yun was only gifted in poetry, but not necessarily in other areas. After reading his interpretation of the classics, I finally understood how terrifying this person is. Although his opening remarks were clever, they were still just a summary of the past. But when he discussed the future etiquette, every word was like a star, shining in the sky, and fully captured the beauty of etiquette."
"What impressed me most was his writing. A few months ago, I said that his writing had the style of a master but not the substance. Now, his calligraphy has reached the threshold of the first level, while I am no more than that," said Zhou Zhubu.
Feng Yuanjun nodded and said, "His words and meaning are very deeply integrated. Especially when talking about the future ceremony, I felt similar to the prefect, as if I were in a starry sky. The stars are the great righteousness of the holy way, and the black night sky is also the truth of the holy way. And Fang Yun seems to be a person who picked the stars at will."
"Indeed. We are juren and jinshi, but we cannot understand the handwriting of the semi-saint when we go to the holy land. Fang Yun's article is more important to us than the semi-saint's original work. This Fang Yun is really strange. How old is he? His article actually has a sense of 'spreading stars'. This is really terrible."
"Starry sky? I just realized it when you said that! Indeed. It is said that this is the meaning of writing that can only be achieved by a semi-saint who flies to outer space and wanders in the starry sky. The stars are used as words. The article is as exquisite as a chess game. One word, one world. One article, one universe. Fang Yun seems to know the secrets of the starry sky at such a young age. It is really amazing."
"Perhaps, this is his talent. But it's too early to call it a streak of stars. He probably doesn't understand the streak of stars yet. It's just that he has some understanding of the trajectory of the stars and is unconsciously influenced by it, so that the layout of the article has the shadow of a streak of stars."
“That makes sense!”
Zhou Zhubu smiled coldly and said, "Now that I think about it, Inspector Geng was not stupid, but just too unlucky. He had the support of Qing, Wu and the sub-saint family, and thought that even if he was discovered by a semi-saint, he would not be severely punished for harming a genius. However, he never thought that Fang Yun wrote this article in a layout similar to 'star-studded'. The three semi-saints observed a million students, not missing a single one. They must have discovered Fang Yun's article first and spread it around the world, and then immediately covered it up. Even we were deceived."
"At that time, who could have thought that someone's interpretation of the sutras in the prefectural examination would be known throughout the world? It is impossible to connect the shock in the Academy of Literature with Fang Yun's success in writing. However, I suddenly want to laugh. Think about it, Fang Yun had just written a few words when a strange phenomenon occurred, but it was hidden by the saints. He must have thought something was wrong. How do you think he feels now?"
The others laughed.
"The saints are blinded to the secrets of heaven. As long as this article that has spread all over the world does not reach the Saint Academy, it will not increase Fang Yun's talent. He probably still doesn't know how the meaning of this scripture is written."
Zhou Zhubu said: "I know Fang Yun very well. He has always been cautious. I'm afraid he is still suspicious now. He will never relax until the results are announced tomorrow."
"What a shame! I really want to see him look frightened. This kid is better than us in every way. We finally have this opportunity, we can't miss it! Let's go out together before the results are announced tomorrow."
"It's a deal!"
While the three unscrupulous examiners were planning to see Fang Yun in a good mood, the family dinner at the Fang Mansion had already ended. Fang Yun drank a lot of wine today and did not read at night. He lay on the bed and thought about random things.
"Alas, there must be something wrong with that sutra. If there is nothing wrong, it will definitely appear in my Wengong Starry Sky, but until now, it has not appeared in my Wengong Starry Sky, just like the ordinary sutras I wrote before. It seems that there is really something wrong."
While daydreaming, Fang Yun fell into a deep sleep.
The next day was the day of the announcement of the results, Fang Shouye came specially, Qian Juren and others wanted to come, but were persuaded by Zhao Hongzhuang to leave. Zhao Hongzhuang did not come this morning either, and went to the Shengyuan in advance, knowing that Fang Yun was upset and did not want to see anyone.
At around nine o'clock in the morning, the group arrived at Wenyuan Street. Like every time they came here, it was crowded and extremely noisy.
Fang Yun held Yang Yuhuan in one hand and held Nunu in the other as they walked towards the entrance of the Academy of Literature.
Fang Shouye was following nearby, and if anyone dared to attack Fang Yun too much, he would definitely take action.
Mr. Pang followed at a distance, glancing at the people around Fang Yun from time to time. He was very alert in his heart, but on the surface he seemed to care nothing.
Before he even reached the entrance of the Academy of Literature, Fang Yun was recognized. Everyone was still enthusiastic towards him, but many students who were waiting for the results to be announced couldn't help but show regret and began to talk in a low voice.
"What a pity. I heard that Fang Yun had a problem with his sutra yesterday and was humiliated by Shi Dehong and Tong Li."
"Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, you can't blame Fang Yun."
"The problem is, if Fang Yun cannot pass the top ten of the scholar exam, he will not be able to go to the Book Mountain, which is equivalent to losing. He will inevitably destroy his own literary palace, which is a pity."
"But it's hard to say for sure. Maybe Fang Yun is fine."
"Alas, as a Yuhai native, who wouldn't want him to be better? But I heard yesterday that Shi Dehong and Tong Li had already celebrated in advance."
Fang Yun walked forward silently. Although these people sympathized with him and did not ridicule him for this matter, he still felt a little upset.
Yang Yuhuan held Fang Yun's hand tightly and leaned against him tightly, hoping to soothe him.
Nunu also noticed Fang Yun's mood, so she stopped playing around and just accompanied him silently, occasionally licking Fang Yun's hand with her tongue.
The entire Yuhai City was paying attention to Fang Yun's book mountain gambling game, and the students who were taking this year's exam were even more well-known. So as soon as Shi Dehong and Tong Li spread the news yesterday, all the students from all over knew about it.
"Fang Yun, we believe in you! Don't let those villains seriously injure you!"
"Yes, we believe you have great talent!"
Some students who did not want to see Fang Yun fail encouraged him one after another. Some of them were so excited that they did not believe that Fang Yun could not even pass the examination to become a scholar.
Fang Yun could only force a smile and nod to express his gratitude to these people.
Those students tacitly made way for Fang Yun, allowing the two of them to quickly walk to the wall where the gold list was posted.
This was almost the most crowded place, but the people around were very polite and made some space for Fang Yun and Yang Yuhuan. This was the only way for the students of Yuhai Mansion to express their gratitude.
"Brother Fang, I heard that you are very good at writing the interpretation of the scriptures. At least in Mingzhou, you are the most talented person in Yuhai Prefecture this year!" A familiar voice suddenly sounded at the side.
Fang Yun turned his head and looked at Tong Li with cold eyes.
Tong Li continued loudly: "Congratulations, Fang Maocai! If I'm not mistaken, from today on, your new nickname will be changed to Fang Wujia! Wow, this is unprecedented in the Ten Kingdoms! When the day comes when you become the number one scholar, you will definitely become the famous Fang Quanjia."
The students beside him could tell that Tong Li was mocking Fang Yun. One of them couldn't help but yelled, "Tong Li, how can you be so shameless? You teamed up with the people of Qing to harm the people of Jing. Do you still have any conscience?"
Tong Li asked in surprise: "My dear brother, are you a spy sent by the demons to sow discord among the human race? The ten countries used to fight each other, but since the millennium non-war agreement with the demons expired, our ten countries are not allowed to fight each other. We can only occupy each other's territory through literary competition. It can be said that the ten countries are of the same blood. In recent years, Qing country has also sent troops to help my Jing country kill the demons. Now I am learning from Brother Shi, how can I be shameless?"
"You..." Tong Li's face turned red with anger. Although Tong Li's words were just sophistry, they made sense. Qing and Jing had a national feud, but that was decades ago. The Holy Academy has been playing down the conflicts between the countries and trying to unite the human race before the monsters invaded in large numbers so that they can exert greater power.
Therefore, even though Tong Li and Shi Dehong had frequent contacts, many Jing people of high literary status were reluctant to rebuke Tong Li, in order to avoid being accused of sowing discord among the human race.
"Brother Fang, isn't that right? I, a native of Qing, have traveled thousands of miles to get here just to cooperate with your country's literati to fight against the monsters and barbarians." Shi Jun's disciple Shi Dehong said with a smile.
Fang Yun was in a very bad mood. He looked at the two people but did not say anything. It was obvious that the two people were trying to induce him to speak and then make him angry. Once the list was released, they would deliver the most fatal blow.
At this moment, the main gate of the academy opened, and many officers in black clothes came out from inside to separate the crowd and isolate a passage leading to the place where notices were posted.
After a while, several officials came out of the Academy of Literature.
Among a group of people in official uniforms, a young man in casual clothes stood out with his outstanding temperament, like a crane standing out among chickens. There was a hint of desolation between his brows, which did not look like the demeanor that a young man should have.
Everyone was very respectful to the young man, except for a few officials who were extremely fawning. However, the young man did not even look at those fawning officials.
Many people did not know this person, but Shi Dehong looked happy. He glanced at Fang Yun and others with pride, then walked towards the man with his head held high.
Tong Li hurried over and asked, "Brother Shi, do you know this person? This person has such an extraordinary temperament, he must be a Hanlin, right?"
"Hanlin? You underestimate him. He was already a Grand Secretary four years ago, one step ahead of my teacher."
"Why are you comparing him with Shijun? Don't let your master hear it." Tong Li advised kindly.
"Hahaha, I'm not comparing him to my mentor, but my mentor always says he's not as good as this guy." (To be continued...)
ps: Three updates.