All large-scale literary gatherings have some fixed procedures. It is impossible for Fang Yun and Zhang Longxiang to compete in literature from the very beginning at this Mid-Autumn Literary Gathering where millions of people gathered.
There are many customs for the Mid-Autumn Festival, which have gradually been integrated into literary gatherings.
The opening ceremony of the Yueyang Tower Mid-Autumn Literary Festival was the "Moon Worship Dance" performed by dancers from Kongcheng.
The dancers in Kongcheng are all picked from hundreds and are the best among human beings. When the Moon Worship Dance began, everyone was attracted and watched attentively.
The scholars were fine because most of them had seen this kind of high-level dance. However, few ordinary people in Baling City could see this level of dance and were fascinated by it.
The water fairies in the distance were also moved by what they saw. Some of them even lost themselves in the water and danced gently in the water, responding to the dancer.
Fang Yun returned to his seat, facing the stage, listening to the music and watching the dance.
After watching for a while, Fang Yun felt something approaching. He turned his head and saw a big rabbit half a person's height walking towards him with a smile, raising its two front paws and bowing to Fang Yun.
Fang Yun smiled slightly, glanced at Li Fanming, and then smiled and said: "It's been many years since we last met, you have gained weight again."
The big rabbit grinned and patted its round belly with its paw, walked to Fang Yun and lay down, then drooled at the fruits and delicacies on the table. The food at banquet A was much better than that at banquet C.
Fang Yun smiled and took out a piece of exquisite mooncake and handed it to the big rabbit.
The big rabbit immediately chirped twice to express its gratitude. Then it held the mooncake with its two paws and started eating it quickly with its three-petal mouth, making a smacking sound.
Looking at the big rabbit, Fang Yun recalled the Kongcheng Mid-Autumn Festival when he entered the Holy Ruins, and recalled what happened in the Holy Ruins, so he took out a thumb-sized red fruit from the Swallowing Sea Shell. This fruit is called Red Jade Fruit, which is unique to the Blood Mang Realm. It is still a little short of a divine object, but it contains a lot of heaven and earth vitality. People can absorb it directly by eating it. It is the highest-end fruit below the divine object.
Fang Yun usually used this kind of fruit to entertain friends of great scholar level, and often gave it to Nunu. Now, seeing the big rabbit so well-behaved, he gave it one.
The big rabbit immediately gave up the mooncake and stared at the red jade fruit with his nose twitching.
After staring for three full breaths, the big rabbit took a step back and looked at Fang Yun seriously, shaking his head.
"Why, you don't want to?" Fang Yun asked.
The big rabbit nodded vigorously, indicating that it was too valuable and he could not accept it. However, two lines of saliva at the corners of his mouth revealed his true thoughts.
The people nearby couldn't help laughing when they saw the big rabbit drooling.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "We haven't seen each other for many years. You are also a friend of Nunu and me, so I will give you a fruit. Eat it. I have plenty here."
The big rabbit hesitated for a moment and shook his head gently, indicating that he still didn't want it.
Fang Yun's face darkened and he said, "If you don't want it, I'll throw it away!" After saying that, he pinched the red jade fruit and was about to throw it out.
But the big rabbit rushed forward, rolled up the red jade fruit with its tongue, and swallowed it into its stomach in one gulp.
But then the big rabbit stayed where he was, his eyes wide open, and he smacked his lips hard. Unfortunately, after smacking his lips for a long time, he couldn't taste anything. He sighed softly, regretting that he had eaten too quickly.
The people around laughed. They didn't expect that the rabbit was so funny.
Fang Yun knew that the big rabbit would not accept the food if he gave it again, so he took a fruit plate and placed it in front of the big rabbit. The big rabbit immediately forgot what happened just now and started to eat happily. While eating, he watched the dancers on the platform, and when he was happy, he even moved his two big ears.
After a while, Fang Yun suddenly said to the big rabbit, "There is a part in this moon worship dance where you can see the Jade Rabbit. You can go up and circle around them."
When the big rabbit heard this, he became excited. He nodded vigorously, jumped onto the platform, and began to run around the singers, jumping to the rhythm of the music.
People in the distance didn't know that this happened suddenly, and thought it had been prepared long ago. It didn't seem abrupt, but made the moon-worship dance more lively, so they cheered.
It's just that some people find it funny, as if the rabbit is just like a happy puppy.
Li Fanming, who was drinking in the distance, almost spit out wine when he saw the big rabbit come on stage. In the end, he guessed that it was related to Fang Yun and could only smile and shake his head.
As the music ended, the dance stopped, and the big rabbit returned to Fang Yun and continued to enjoy the food.
The opening moon-worshipping dance is performed by a dancer, while the second dance is a moon-chasing dance performed by a man.
The first half of the hour was spent dancing, after which some famous writers came on stage, either painting with large brushes or playing the zither to liven up the gathering.
An hour later, Dong Wencong walked to the literary stage and began the most common part of the literary gathering: composing poems on the spot and competing for the title of the gathering champion.
Many young scholars are working hard and are eager to try.
As there were too many people participating in the literary gathering, Dong Wencong decided that each country would send five people, and they had to be young people under the age of 20 with a Jinshi degree or below. They would go up on the platform together and draw lots to decide the type, rhyme or theme of the writing.
Some people urged Fang Yun to participate, but Fang Yun just smiled and said nothing.
Soon, five people were selected from each country and Kongcheng, and a total of fifty-five young people walked onto the stage.
When Dong Wencong announced the rules, Qing Jun, who was several feet away from Fang Yun, said, "Fang Xusheng, I am very optimistic about our Qing country's young poet Ge Yu. He is very likely to be among the top three in this literary gathering. Why don't you also pick a young man from Jing country to compete with Ge Yu? You and I will each put in a prize, and the winner will take the prize. How do you think?"
Fang Yun smiled and said, "I'm not fooled. Although I wasn't in Shengyuan Continent last year, I also know that this young scholar made a big splash. He reached the second level of calligraphy at a young age and won the calligraphy championship in the regular script group of young scholars. By the way, I still remember that he used the Liu style."
Qing Jun was most proud of the Four Friends Literary Gathering last year. When Fang Yun mentioned it, he laughed and said, "Yes, it's this young scholar. And the person standing behind him is the young man from your Jing Country."
Fang Yun nodded slightly. Ever since the emergence of Liu style and Yan style, the scholars of Jing State have been studying these two fonts in depth. As a result, the championship was won by a person from Qing State who also wrote in Liu style. This caused heated discussions in Jing State. Many people were indignant and vowed to defeat Qing State in the next Four Friends Literary Gathering.
Qing Jun smiled and said, "I was also present at the calligraphy competition for young scholars. It's strange that when young scholars from other countries wrote, our Qing audience watched quietly, but when young scholars from your Jing country wrote, the people of Qing country booed. Why do you think that is?"
Although Qingjun did not speak eloquently, as the two were quite far apart, Qingjun's voice was very loud, and could be heard not only by the people at Seat A but also by the university scholars at Seat B.
After Qing Jun finished speaking, everyone at Seat A and Seat B stopped looking at the platform and instead looked at Fang Yun or Qing Jun.
Many people realized that Qingjun finally couldn't bear it anymore and started to attack.
This is the formal Mid-Autumn Literary Gathering, not the previous Dongting Banquet. Fang Yun did not say "only talk about love and romance" and did not set any rules.
What's more, everyone believed that Zhang Longxiang might appear at any time.
.(To be continued.)