"This Menglintang seems to be very smart. It knows who to offend and who not to offend." Fang Yun said.
"Of course. He learned from the lesson of Meng Sheng in the past and did not touch those semi-saint families at all, even those weak semi-saint families. He only attacked famous and wealthy families, and only touched those who were not very close to the semi-saint families."
"I see. I understand now. Thank you for your guidance, old gentlemen. Let's continue."
After Fang Yun finished teaching all the fingerings of "Liang Xiao Yin", Pan Hanlin asked Fang Yun to play "Liang Xiao Yin" again. Fang Yun played it seriously. Everyone praised Fang Yun for his superb piano skills and left one after another. Only Pan Hanlin stood up after everyone left.
"I'll take you out." Fang Yun said with a smile.
Pan Hanlin nodded, took a few steps, and said, "You said that you completed the score of "Liang Xiao Yin" after the Qixi Festival?"
"Yes." Fang Yun told the truth.
Pan Hanlin said meaningfully: "It only took a few days for you to be able to play "Good Night" to this level. Even people who have reached the first level of the zither art cannot do it."
"Good luck." Fang Yun said.
"Others may not be able to see it, but we know that many aspects of Liang Xiao Yin conflict with the current fingering and music style. The more advanced the zither player is, the less likely it is that he could have written it. It seems more like a fingering and music piece that was created by accident by a genius who is still relatively new to the art of zither."
Fang Yun stood there in a daze, not knowing what to say.
Pan Hanlin smiled slightly, patted Fang Yun's shoulder gently, and continued: "Your talent is too amazing, you need to hide your shortcomings all the time. The method of pretending to be a fragment of the score is not bad, we will take it as the real thing. It seems that I have to go to Wudao River in a few days."
After saying that, Pan Hanlin looked at Fang Yun seriously, walked out of Fang's house, raised his head proudly, and put his hands behind his back, like a master who saw through everything and then floated away.
Fang Yun stood at the door, looking around blankly.
"Could this be a trap within a trap? I really want to say, you are overthinking it!" Fang Yun then carefully recalled the attitudes of some of the old men. They were not targeting the incomplete score at all. They were probably suspecting that it was created by him.
Fang Yun shook his head helplessly, returned to the study to think about the Meng family's affairs, and made a detailed analysis in his mind.
"To move them with emotions, to lure them with benefits, to force them with power, these are exactly the common points between the strategists and the military strategists. It's just that the strategists are good at using illusions as reality, while the military strategists have both illusions and reality. The changes are endless. The reason why Meng Linyu was so confident in coming to me was because he used the power of military books. He was a Jinshi, and I'm afraid that if he used the military books written by the Hanlin Academy, it would be easy for him to deal with ordinary scholars."
"Unfortunately, although my talent and literary status are not as good as his, I have already started writing the Thirty-Six Stratagems. The Thirty-Six Stratagems may not be as powerful as the military book written by the Hanlin, but because of the successful talent and martial arts, it is far more sophisticated! His military strategy failed. I could have discovered it, but it triggered my "strategy of hiding the truth from the world", and he thought he really hid it from me. His cleverness backfired!"
"During the conversation, I deliberately mentioned 'Lord Dongsheng' twice. A semi-saint has infinite power and can hear who is calling him and even the words before and after. Meng Linyu gave a vague answer the first time, and even deliberately kept silent for a moment before answering the second time. It was obvious that he was guilty. It was too obvious."
Fang Yun's gaze gradually turned cold, and his whole body exuded the coldness that he only felt when he played "Autumn Wind Tune".
"The Ji family was once prosperous. Its ancestor was a descendant of the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty and a master of Yi Dao. Unfortunately, its talents have declined, and in recent years its status is not even as good as that of the Meng family. However, such a declining semi-saint family must have valuable treasures, such as the mysterious little piece of wood. The evil king must have set his sights on the Ji family for a long time, but the Ji family has always been low-key, so he couldn't find any opportunities. My encounter with the Ji family gave him an opportunity. So he deliberately framed the Ji family and made me fight with the Ji family so that he could take advantage of the opportunity to attack, and even used the banner of helping me to deal with the Ji family."
"The Meng family does want my hide, but they should never, ever trade it for Han Xin's reviewing platform, which makes me see the problem! It would be better if I didn't trade it. If I trade it for Han Xin's reviewing platform, I would definitely become a thorn in the eyes of the wealthy Han family! The pressure on the fierce king would be greatly reduced! Wait, did I underestimate the fierce king? Although the fierce king is fierce, he is not a tyrant, which can be seen from the fact that he occupied a county to develop the Meng family."
"If he was just doing it for his own saintly path, he would have avoided doing it, but he did it because he should have learned from the lesson of Meng Sheng's loneliness and developed his own power, so as to steadily achieve sainthood. By the way, Meng Linyu said that my foundation is too shallow, I'm afraid he was hinting at me. He probably wants to use Han Xin's review platform and the Han family to force me to death, and then save me as a wise leader and benefactor, so that I can join him!"
“He can do this whether I’m fighting against the Ji family or the Han family! If I really fall for his military tactics, then he has the best of all worlds! What a vicious king! His talent is probably even better than that of Meng Sheng! Meng Sheng’s viciousness is only in the invasion of the master’s family and killing enemies on the battlefield, but the vicious king’s viciousness is not only the killing of Bai Qi, but also the greed of the powerful minister Lu Buwei who controls the world with the position of prime minister! If he didn’t have the heart of greed, and didn’t aspire to be a half-saint or even a sub-saint, he would never point his spearhead at the Ji family!”
Fang Yun couldn't help but sigh. In front of him, the Left Prime Minister attempted to control the government of Jing State. In the back, the strategists and strategists intended to unite the barbarians to fight against the monsters. And there was also a vicious king who would do anything to trample on the holy path.
“This is an age of lunatics!”
Fang Yun's gaze slowly changed, and finally became sharper than Li Wenying's Lixue ancient sword.
"The road is wide and we each walk on our own side. If anyone dares to step on me, I will tell you that you were born in the wrong era!"
Fang Yun took a deep breath.
"You can be patient if you are a student, or a scholar, but when you become a juren or a jinshi, you have no say over it anymore!"
Fang Yun took out the mysterious animal skin and stroked it gently. It was smooth and comfortable. The three drops of bright red blood on the pure black fur were still so eye-catching.
Three days later, Meng Linyu came to visit again.
It is drizzling.
Entering the study, Meng Linyu put down his umbrella and reached out to dust off his white scholar's robe, causing water droplets to splash everywhere, sparkling and bright.
He did not sit down either. He stood at the door with a calm smile and asked, "Does Fang Banxiang agree to the exchange?"
"I've thought about it for a long time. Thank you Meng family for your kindness, but even if I have the great scholar's treasure now, I can't use it, so I decided not to exchange it." Fang Yun sat down at the desk with a smile on his face.
"Oh? Then what do you want? As long as our Meng family can find it, we will definitely go find it. After all, this is related to the traces of our ancestors, so I still want to try to get it."
Fang Yun felt that Meng Linyu was using the power of military books again, so he pretended not to know and said, "To be honest, Han Xin's review of the troops is not as important as Han Xin's Three Essays in my heart."
Meng Linyu's expression did not change at all, but his breathing became slightly disordered and then quickly recovered.
"Xiang Fang, you are joking. The Three Essays written by Han Xin himself is naturally more valuable than literary treasures. To be honest, Lintang only borrowed the Three Essays of Han Xin for a hundred years. It is not like what the outside world says that we are trying to take away the Han family's property. As for the reviewing platform, it is indeed the Han family that is in the wrong. They should compensate my Meng family." Meng Linyu said.
Fang Yun didn't expect Meng Linyu to have a subtle reaction after hearing "Three Articles of Han Xin", as if he wanted to cover up something. While thinking, he said, "Is that so? Then there is nothing we can do."
The smile on Meng Linyu's face faded, and he said, "Fang Yun, I came here with great sincerity. If we can't reach an agreement before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the evil king will be very angry."
Fang Yun naturally understood his intention of not mentioning Menglin Hall but talking about the evil king.
"You said that day that if I didn't agree to the exchange, then we would just pretend nothing happened." Fang Yun said.
"I thought you would exchange." Meng Linyu said very seriously.
"I often think that others will help me." Fang Yun's gaze swept across Meng Linyu and fell on the drizzling autumn rain outside the door.
Every autumn rain brings a chill.
"You should change it." Meng Linyu sighed, slowly bent down and picked up the umbrella.
Fang Yun didn't say anything, just watched the rain outside quietly.
Meng Linyu turned around holding an umbrella, with his back to Fang Yun, and said, "You are different from others. I will give you another chance."
Fang Yun was stunned because this voice was completely different from Meng Linyu's previous voice.
Meng Linyu stepped over the threshold and left accompanied by the sound of rain hitting the umbrella.
Fang Yun kept recalling that voice, which was calm, generous, and absolutely unquestionable.
"Thousands of miles of sound transmission? The Mo family's special sound transmission conch? Judging from the sound, it doesn't sound very fierce."
Fang Yun thought to himself as he walked to the door and looked at the flower bed.
"Daniu, come here!"
"What's wrong, young master?" Fang Daniu ran along the corridor.
“How come there aren’t even any weeds in the flower bed?”
Fang Daniu smiled innocently, but with a hint of cunning, and said, "It shows that we are hardworking."
Fang Yun rolled his eyes at him and asked, "Does Sister Yuhuan know?"
"How dare we servants hide it? Madam has agreed, and half of the money will be handed over to her. We are not fools. Following you for a long time is much more worthwhile than making small money." Fang Daniu said.
"Is there really anyone who would buy those tattered flowers and plants?" Fang Yun asked.
Fang Daniu said seriously, "Those are not broken flowers or grass. They are the enlightenment flowers and grass that have grown by absorbing the essence of Wenquxing! Being nourished by Fang Zhenguo's reading every day can refresh the mind and help one to understand the truth. They are a must-have for students!"
"How much did you earn?" Fang Yun suddenly asked.
Fang Daniu said casually, "Not much, just over fifty taels." He regretted it right after he said it, and wanted to slap himself in the face. A normal follower would get at most three taels of silver a month.
"Oh, that's quite a few. Remember not to fill in the numbers and ruin the reputation of the Fang family." Fang Yun said.
Fang Daniu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Don't worry, we won't sell too much. We only sell so much in one day. Once we're done, we won't sell it to anyone who wants to buy it!"
Fang Yun walked back to the study and said casually, "It's okay. I didn't expect there would be hunger marketing."
"Hungry Yingxiao? I can't play the flute or the piano." Fang Daniu muttered to himself and left.
Fang Yun was amused by Fang Daniu and looked around the study room, which had doors and windows on one side and bookshelves on three sides. He took a copy of "Historical Records" and read "Biography of Huaiyin Marquis" carefully.
A few days later, Fang Yun received a letter on his official seal that was forwarded by Li Wenying to someone else.
When Fang Yun opened it, his face sank.
The letter was about the recent rumors in the Holy Academy. The first paragraph said that someone heard Fang Yun slandering the Ji family, saying that the people in the Ji family were arrogant and unreasonable. The second paragraph was more serious, saying that he got a secret treasure and had a dispute with the Ji family, and that the secret treasure was related to the Holy Ruins. (To be continued...)