The human race values madmen.
After Fang Yun cursed Marquis Lu Men, many young students in Zhucheng expressed their support at the junction of South City and North City, believing that they could not convict him based on poetry and prose. As for cursing Marquis Lu Men, it was a private vendetta at a literary gathering, not an official matter on the battlefield, and Marquis Lu Men should not be confined for taking revenge on a private person.
Many scholars in the State of Chu began to speak out, hoping that the King of Chu would show leniency in his sentence. After all, Zhang Longxiang had been imprisoned for ten years and was repeatedly suppressed right after he was released from prison. He must have been filled with grief and indignation, and it was understandable that he occasionally acted unruly. However, if a scholar did not even put up a bit of resistance after being suppressed, he was not worthy of being a scholar.
However, the voices in Chu State supporting Zhang Longxiang were suppressed, and calls for punishment grew louder and louder.
As time went by, the King of Chu was slow to express his position, and the Prime Minister, the highest-ranking civil official under the King of Chu, and the Grand Marshal, the highest-ranking military official, also never spoke formally. It was rumored that the Grand Marshal had fought side by side with Zhang Wankong and liked passionate scholars the most. Zhang Longxiang's arrogant behavior was very much to the Grand Marshal's liking.
The Prime Minister of Chu, on the contrary, was always polite. However, after hearing about Zhang Longxiang's son education a few days ago, he personally praised Zhang Longxiang for his gentlemanly demeanor.
The prime minister and the general did not speak out, and other officials did not pursue the matter relentlessly. Only the censors of the Censorate kept submitting petitions, as this was their primary job.
Scholars from all over the country speculated on the intentions of the court's top brass and soon found out that, no matter what, Zhang Longxiang was suspected of treason, and his other words and deeds were nothing more than speaking out against injustice. For someone of the status of Marquis of Zhujiang, this was not a crime, so even the King of Chu did not come forward to convict him.
Later, these scholars also realized that Zhang Longxiang did this not only to vent his emotions, but more importantly to gain fame as a writer and make the King of Chu and other hostile forces afraid to act rashly. If the Holy Academy intervened, the King of Chu would surely lose all his wisdom, and if other countries intervened, he might even be forced to abdicate.
Things gradually cooled down, but many scholars wanted to know Zhang Longxiang's current situation, so the scholars in Zhucheng continued to spread the news about Fang Yun.
"Marquis Zhujiang lives a hundred feet away from the Marshal's Mansion. He has been under house arrest for three days and has not made any unusual movements."
“On the fourth day, there were no signs of anything strange either, but several generals had a conversation with him across the wall.”
"Something happened! A strange vision that could protect the country! There were bursts of sad sounds. Unfortunately, Zhang Mingzhou didn't seem to want people to know what he wrote. There were only strange visions, but no poems. Not even on the list of literary figures. It seems that he didn't know what poem he wrote, but he didn't put down the last stroke, so the poem didn't appear in the world!"
The literary community immediately fell into a heated discussion, and everyone wanted to know why Zhang Longxiang was sad.
Because the articles published on the list were sought after and hotly debated, several young scholars in Zhujiang City actually came to Fang Yun's residence every morning and borrowed tables and chairs from the homes of nearby military households and sat there.
Most of them were reading, and occasionally they would put down their books to chat, discuss poetry and essays. Once there was any unusual movement in Fang Yun's residence, they would immediately hold the official seals and report what had happened to the discussion board as soon as possible.
After all, after posting useful information on the forum, there is a chance to get literary rewards, which is quite useful.
Time passed day by day, and on the eleventh day after Lu Menhou issued the house arrest order, not only those scholars, but also many scholars in Zhucheng were waiting outside the door.
The door creaked open and Fang Yun's special carriage slowly drove out. The scholars present suddenly became excited, their eyes widened, afraid of missing something, and some people hurriedly posted on the discussion board.
"The house arrest order is over! Zhang Mingzhou's carriage has come out and stopped in front of the main gate. It looks like he will be out soon!"
"Ten days have passed, and Zhang Longxiang has come out! However, his eyes are dim, his face is pale, and he got on the carriage!"
"Zhang Mingzhou is so miserable. Not only was he framed for ten years, but he was also guarded like a thief. In the end, he was even punished for writing a few poems. My great Chu State... Alas..."
"If Zhang Wankong is really a traitor, even if the King of Chu doesn't take action, the Great Confucian Hall will. If the Great Confucian Hall doesn't take action, the Saint Academy and the Saints will also take action! Someone on the discussion list has analyzed it clearly. The possibility that Zhang Wankong is a traitor is less than 10%, and Zhang Longxiang is definitely not a traitor!"
"When Grand Secretary Wankong was here, what was our Pearl City like? Grand Secretary Zhang could have easily recaptured the entire South! When he disappeared, Lianshan Pass was immediately breached by the barbarians. A few years ago, the barbarians were still showing off their might outside of Pearl River City. What can we do to them?"
"Yes, so the people in Zhucheng still believe that someone is persecuting Grand Secretary Zhang Wankong. When Grand Secretary Zhang was here, Zhucheng was peaceful and clear. Now... Haha, let's not talk about it!"
"Zhang Mingzhou, there is a great injustice!"
Everyone sighed.
Under the gaze of everyone, Fang Yun got on the carriage with a rather disappointed look on his face.
The carriage drove towards the north of the city.
Many people followed.
The carriage moved forward slowly, and soon stopped by the Pearl River in the north of the city.
Fang Yun got off the carriage and slowly walked towards a pier.
Willow trees are planted in neat rows on the banks of the Pearl River. Behind the willow trees is the flood control embankment with stairs between the embankments. Fang Yun walked down the stairs and saw the vast river in front of him. The water was green, with waves of white waves and occasionally a few green duckweeds drifting with the waves.
The aquatic creatures have withdrawn, and ships are traveling on the river. Looking ahead, you can still see Pengcheng on the opposite side.
Fang Yun turned his head and looked to the right. There was the estuary of the Pearl River, commonly known as Lingdingyang.
Fang Yun came to a pier, rented a small black-sailed boat, and asked the boatman to take him to the Lingdingyang.
The boatman was delighted to receive the five taels of silver. Without saying a word, he used the wooden paddle to push the boat against the dock and move it away from the river bank.
The boatman rowed the boat farther and farther away, and Fang Yun lay on his back in the boat with his eyes closed, enjoying the sunshine, listening to the sound of the river, the paddling of the oars, and the fine and dense noises in the distance, and his expression slowly relaxed.
After a while, a slight curve appeared at the corner of Fang Yun's mouth.
The boatman was very happy to see the guests happy and he was also very happy to have collected so much money, so he sang the songs of the boatmen and fishermen loudly.
The scholar who followed Fang Yun stood on the shore, looking at the black-sailed boat going farther and farther away, hesitant.
Soon, the four scholars joined forces to rent a black-sailed boat and asked the boatman to follow Fang Yun's boat from a distance.
Someone took the lead, and others followed suit. Dozens of black-sailed boats sailed towards the Lingdingyang.
The black-sailed boats soon left the Pearl River and entered the Lingdingyang area.
On the clear water, between the blue sky and the blue sea, a black-sailed boat moves forward, followed by dozens of other boats, as beautiful as a painting.
Fang Yun had been lying on his back on the water, enjoying the rare tranquility.
An hour later, the wind suddenly blew, and then the sky was covered with dark clouds, and the waves became more violent.
"The wind is blowing, I'll go back," said the boatman.
"Okay!" Fang Yun said.
Afterwards, the boat turned around and headed towards the dock.
A quarter of an hour later, there was a loud thunder in the sky and the rain started to fall.
Fang Yun still lay there, letting the rain fall on his face.
"well… "
After a while, Fang Yun sighed, sat back in the black-sailed boat, and looked outside with a somewhat dazed look.
Many scholars noticed that Fang Yun looked gloomy, sighed, and talked in low voices.
(To be continued.)