Fang Daniu hurried back to the yard and harnessed the shaft of the cart.
Many students were worried. Chang Wanxu asked, "Fang Yun, don't you want to think about it?"
Fang Yun said calmly, "When facing a storm, I retreat bravely. When facing an army, I retreat three steps. This is my way of knowing how to retreat and how to be reasonable. When a friend is seriously injured and his father has just passed away, I go to offer condolences. This is also my way of knowing how to advance and how to be compassionate. The two are not contradictory, so there is no need to think too much."
"Since he is your friend Fang Yun, he is also our friend. Let's go together."
Everyone nodded.
Soon, seven cars left from the gate and headed towards Qian's house together.
The Qian family was a wealthy family in Yuhai City, and many carriages were parked in front of the gate. After getting off the carriage, the group walked to the gate, and the Qian family servants led Fang Yun and others in.
The Qian Mansion was in a desolate mood. Many people were already in mourning, and some even had red eyes from crying.
"Fang Yun Fang Maocai is here!" After the servant said this, many people hurriedly made way. Most people were very moved. They did not expect Fang Yun to come at this time.
The mourning hall had been set up. Fang Yun went to pay his respects to Qian's father first, and then was led by Qian's family to Qian Boshang's bedroom.
The maid at the door whispered, "The eldest young master just woke up, but he doesn't look well. The doctor said there's nothing serious, but..." The maid didn't say anything else.
Fang Yun nodded and pushed the door open.
"Brother Qian."
Fang Yun walked to the bedside and looked at Qian Boshang, whose face was gloomy, and was speechless.
The candles in the room flickered. Qian Boshang leaned against the head of the bed with a pillow behind him. A smile appeared on his pale face. He said, "Sit down."
Fang Yun sat on a chair nearby.
"How did you know? I told others before I left not to alarm you."
"Since you're here, don't ask this. I didn't expect you would also participate in the literary fight." Fang Yun's tone was very heavy.
Qian Boshang said, "I didn't want to go in the first place. I thought they would leave naturally when no one cared about them. But... their words were too harsh and I couldn't help it. It's nothing. I have no hope of passing the imperial examination. I will join the army in a few days. I may not be a literary hero, but I still have the literary talent, talent and gift from heaven. I am still much better than a scholar."
"Are the people of Qing really so much stronger than our Jing country?" Fang Yun asked.
Qian Boshang said seriously, "Yes. If we judge the strength of the ten countries by the number of scholars, Wu will be in the top three, and Qing will be in the top five. My Jing country doesn't even have enough land for four states, and which of Qing and Wu doesn't have more than ten states? One country is equivalent to three Jing countries, and the population is more than five times that of our country. How can we compare?"
"Well, that's true when you think about it. Qing Kingdom selects thousands of candidates every year, but my Jing Kingdom has less than 300. There is far from comparison." Fang Yun said.
Qian Boshang looked worried and said, "Fang Yun, now everyone can see that Jingguo is declining, you should find a way out for yourself. You'd better disclose the identity of your mentor, or just leave Jingguo."
Fang Yun shook his head and said, "Master has never mentioned this matter, so I can't say it either. As for leaving Jingguo, I haven't thought about it yet. After all, if I leave now, I will have a permanent stain on my loyalty, courtesy, trustworthiness, and courage, which is equivalent to giving up these four holy ways in the future, and I will be worse than the left prime minister."
Qian Boshang said: "That's why the left prime minister is the most cunning. The reason why he can make things happen in Jing State is probably because he has long since joined the semi-saint family headed by the Lu family. He has various skills, so as long as he can convince himself and does not betray the human race, nothing will go wrong."
Fang Yun thought of the past and said, "Last year, the Kingdom of Jing was defeated, and the Left Prime Minister was the one who interfered. I'm afraid it was the Miscellaneous School and the Diplomats who instigated it, right?"
"We scholars don't know the details. We just heard that there are disagreements in the Saint Academy. Some of the Saint families insist on exterminating the demons and slaughtering the barbarians, but some families such as the Miscellaneous Family and the Diplomatic Family believe that they should win over the barbarians and unite the barbarians to destroy the demons. If they can accomplish the feat of uniting the barbarians, I'm afraid a new sub-saint will emerge. This matter should be led by that person."
Fang Yun naturally knew that he was talking about the semi-saint of the Za family, but the semi-saint was too strong, and if he mentioned his name, the other party would definitely sense it.
"Half-saint, sub-saint, saint, one step at a time. If we can really unite the barbarians and become a sub-saint, then all the efforts and all the losses will be worth it. The problem is that the difficulty of uniting the barbarians is equivalent to producing another Confucius, but its achievement cannot make a saint. In case the barbarians fail and the losses are too great, the sainthood of those half-saints who support the barbarians will probably be shaken." Fang Yun said.
"So there is a lot of opposition, but others can do nothing about the Miscellaneous School and the Diplomats. After all, the Miscellaneous School and the Diplomats are the most powerful among the civil servants of various countries. Unfortunately, the temptation to become a sub-sage is too great, and that person will not give up. Since you don't want to leave Jingguo, you must be careful everywhere. If the Left Prime Minister uses the power of the Miscellaneous School or the Diplomats to target you, as long as it does not violate the rules of the Holy Academy, it will be difficult for the Holy Academy to intervene."
"I'll be more careful. You don't have to worry about my affairs. Is there no possibility of repairing your literary talent?"
Qian Boshang smiled calmly and said, "No way. Since I have decided to participate in the literary duel, I am prepared to have my literary courage shattered. As long as you can be safe, no matter what happens to Jingguo in the future, it doesn't matter. You can die at the hands of the monsters, but you can't be destroyed at the hands of the people of Qingguo!"
"They can't destroy me." Fang Yun's tone was extremely firm.
"I believe you!" Qian Boshang said with a smile.
"Since Brother Qian is awake, I will take my leave. I will definitely come on the day of your father's funeral. You just lie down. There's no need to see me off." Fang Yun said as he stood up.
"Then I won't send you off."
Fang Yun walked to the door, turned his back to Qian Boshang and asked, "Who hurt you?"
After a long while, Qian Boshang said helplessly: "Xi Molu."
After bidding farewell to Qian Boshang, Fang Yun walked towards the gate, and his expression turned from calm to gloomy. Naturally, he couldn't be too excited in front of Qian Boshang.
After walking a few steps, Fang Yun heard a noise coming from the courtyard near the door.
"This is too much! This is too much! It's bad enough that the people of Qing country bully us at our doorstep, but they even want to humiliate the women of Jing country! I can't stand it anymore, I'm going to the Academy of Literature now!"
"Despicable and shameless! In order to lure out Fang Yun, he actually used such a despicable method!"
"But that man is a juren. As long as he is not guilty of a serious crime, he must be handed over to the Holy Court for trial. The Jingguo government cannot deal with him at all! He is hiding in the Wenyuan now. Apart from a literary duel, there is nothing we can do to him."
"Damn it! He ripped the dress of a woman from Yuhai City in the street, and then called Fang Yun a coward. This is really too much!"
"That woman was innocent. After being humiliated, she jumped into the river in anger. Fortunately, someone saved her, otherwise I would have killed that person!"
"That kind of person is simply a scum. I heard that he even boasted that this was a military tactic, saying that this was a method of provoking the enemy, and that it was 'conquering the enemy without fighting'! Damn it, it's so damned!"
"Let's go! Even if we die, we must splatter the blood of the Qing people!"
Fang Yun was furious. He thought the other party was just fighting with him, but he didn't expect him to use such a dirty trick. This had really exceeded his bottom line.
Fang Yun strode out and came to the courtyard at the door, where he saw many people walking out, including his classmates from the State Academy of Arts.
"Everyone, Fang will also go to the College of Literature!" Fang Yun's voice was not loud, but it seemed to have magical power, making everyone stop and look back at him.
Some people were ecstatic when they learned that Qingguo was coming to compete in literature. They were waiting for this moment. Ever since Fang Yun won the Dragon Boat Festival and won the first place in the Book Mountain, many scholars in Jiangzhou have regarded Fang Yun as the leader of Jiangzhou's literary world. Fang Yun has almost become their spiritual sustenance.
Others were mixed with joy and worry, fearing that Fang would be transported.
Fang Yun's classmates looked worried.
"Fang Yun, are you really going? It's not that we don't trust you, but the scholars coming from Qing Kingdom this time are all top talents from various prefectures, and the candidates are all top candidates from various states. The key is that they have all been famous for several years and have studied in the Book Mountain."
"It's okay. I know what I'm doing." Fang Yun said as he walked.
One person shouted excitedly: "Then let's go together! Teach the villains of Qing country a lesson!"
"Yes. Fang Yun, since you can go to the Three Mountains and Three Pavilions, even if you don't pass and don't get the Wenxin, you are better than those people! We believe in you! If you can write poems to protect the country, you can definitely write good war poems."
"Right! You don't have to write a legendary war poem. Just an ordinary war poem will do. You will definitely be able to beat them!"
Everyone surrounded Fang Yun and walked out.
One person whispered, "There are three items in the literary contest, namely poetry, talent, and literary courage. Fang Yun is a scholar, without literary courage, so naturally he cannot compete. Fang Yun has always been famous for his poetry, what if they don't compete with Fang Yun in poetry? He just became a scholar this year, and no matter how talented he is, he can't compare with those scholars in their twenties, so they will definitely compete with Fang Yun in talent."
"Indeed, this is Fang Yun's weakness."
"We'll see when the time comes. Since Fang Yun has made it to such a high level in the Book Mountain, even if his talent is not solid enough, he shouldn't lose too badly."
Everyone got on the carriage and headed to Wenyuan Street in the night.
On the tenth night, the sky was bright with a bright moon and sparse stars, and the Wenyuan Street in Yuhai Prefecture was brightly lit. A large number of scholars gathered here, and everyone had a ball of anger in their hearts that they had nowhere to vent.
Fang Yun got out of the car and immediately felt the depressing atmosphere here, which was like a big firecracker that could explode at any time.
Fang Yun looked around, and the words "sadness and anger" seemed to be written on everyone's face.
Many people were talking in low voices.
"If these bastards walk out of the academy safely, I will imitate Jing Ke and assassinate them!"
"Don't be impulsive. My Jingguo only needs to win one game."
"It's impossible. They are the talents selected from more than a dozen states. We can't possibly compete with them. I'm not afraid of losing, but they insulted the people of Jing like this, and their blood will be spilt within five steps!"
"well… "
Fang Yun hadn't taken a few steps when someone suddenly shouted, "Fang Yun is here! Fang Yun is here! The best scholar in the world is here!"
The entire Wenyuan Street gradually became quiet from near to far. No matter what they were talking about or doing before, they all looked towards where Fang Yun was.
Fang Yun bowed to everyone, his expression solemn, and strode towards the Palace Academy of Literature.
Everyone gave way, and the people behind immediately followed, as if a torrent rolled forward.
More and more people joined in, and the torrent soon turned into a tsunami. Led by Fang Yun, a surge of courage seemed to break through the sky and pressed towards the Academy of Literature.
"Fang Yun will win!"
"Fang Yun will win!"
"Jingguo is undefeated!"
"Jingguo is undefeated!"
The crowd chanted slogans over and over again, venting the resentment and anger that had been pent up in their hearts for the past few days. (To be continued...)
ps: I spent a lot of time today organizing the follow-up outline. The next chapter will be updated later, around 23:00. Sorry. There will be three updates tomorrow.