"The Empress Dowager sent me a private letter, telling me to remember to pay my respects to the Imperial Palace when I visit Beijing next time," said Li Wenying.
"I remember." Yang Yuhuan's fair face flushed. She never thought that she was just a child bride, but she would have the opportunity to meet the empress dowager.
In Jing State, the Queen Mother is the idol of almost all women. When the late emperor was alive, she was a model for the country and often did good deeds. She was deeply loved by the people of Jing State. After the late emperor's death, she stabilized the situation in the court. The Queen Mother is still less than 30 years old.
Several people at the table looked at Fang Yun, then at Yang Yuhuan, who was not very talkative, and shook their heads slightly. Logically speaking, a man of Fang Yun's status must marry a lady from an upper-class family as his principal wife.
Fang Yun looked at Yang Yuhuan with a smile, without any disdain at all.
Li Wenying continued, "The Queen Mother said that ordinary gold, silver, jewelry, silk and satin will be awarded according to the rules. As for other things, Fang Yun has seen everything since he returned from the Holy Ruins, so he will not be rewarded with anything. When you go to the capital in the future, you can choose an item from the monarch's inner treasury."
People from other countries were fine, but people from Jing State gasped. This was a treatment that even the top scholar in the imperial examination could not get, because only when people from Jing State were promoted to Grand Secretary would they be eligible to enter the monarch's inner treasury to select things.
"I thank the Queen Mother for her grace." Fang Yun said.
"As for the other rewards, they are just routine matters. You will know when the time comes. They are not worth mentioning." Li Wenying said.
Prefect Dong said, "They are insignificant to you, but they are probably invaluable treasures to us. Tributes will surely be sent in large quantities, and there will be no shortage of cultural treasures."
Li Wenying said, "Oh, right, there is a pair of Wenbaoqin and Se in the gift list, and it is said that it wishes you two a harmonious relationship."
"The Queen Mother is so thoughtful." Feng Zimo said.
Fang Yun asked: "Besides discussing my reward, what else was discussed at the court meeting?"
"Your reward alone is enough to make all the officials worry about their hair turning white. How can they have time to talk about anything else?" said Li Wenying.
Zeng Yuan on the side said: "We have finished talking about the promotion. Let's talk about this gambling game. Fang Wenhou, this matter has become a big deal."
"What's going on?" Fang Yun asked.
"Mr. Meng has bet on a frost-patterned iron mine in the ancient land of Shihan."
Everyone widened their eyes.
"You didn't lie to me, did you? The Second Master Meng you are talking about is Meng Qinglin from the Mengzi family?" Fang Yun asked.
"In the whole world, apart from him, who else, Mr. Meng, has the frost-patterned iron ore in the Shihan Ancient Land?"
Prefect Dong said drunkenly, "To be disrespectful, is he crazy? That's Frost-veined Iron Ore! The reason why our human soldiers can fight the monsters without losing one-sidedly is not only because of the powerful war poems, but also because of the iron armor and sharp blades. Our human armor and weapons are mixed with Frost-veined Iron, which allows ordinary soldiers to kill monster soldiers and injure monster generals. It is one of the most important supplies for the human race. Ten countries are competing to buy it, and donating it to the Holy Academy can even gain military merit. If the Kong family has it, they would not be willing to bet on a Frost-veined Iron Ore, right?"
"Frost-veined iron ore is only found in the Shihan Ancient Land. It is completely controlled by the six sub-saint families. The royal families of the ten countries and other semi-saint families cannot even get the slag, and can only exchange various resources for frost-veined iron. I don't believe it was done by Master Meng."
Yang Yuhuan looked at Fang Yun with some curiosity. She had heard of frost iron, but did not know the value of frost iron ore.
Fang Yun explained in a low voice: "The king of Qi once wanted to exchange a state for a frost-veined iron mine, but was rejected by the Sub-Sage Family."
Yang Yuhuan understood instantly that one frost-veined iron mine was equal to one quarter of Jing Kingdom!
Zeng Yuan smiled and said, "I am just relaying the facts. As for what Mr. Meng thinks, I don't know."
Everyone fell into deep thought. This was an important signal. The second-in-command of the Sub-Saint family taking action was actually only different in name from the head of the Meng family taking action. There was no difference in essence.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "If there is a chance, I will treat Mr. Meng Er to a drink."
Li Wenying said, "It was Master Meng who invited you to drink!"
After the two said this, everyone immediately understood. Mr. Meng's actions were obviously to support Fang Yun, but he would not bet a frost-patterned iron mine. However, the hatred between Fang Yun and Xun Ye was caused by the dispute between Mencius and Xunzi on whether human nature is evil or good. Although the Meng family helped Fang Yun before, they did not give full support. It seemed unkind.
Now, Mr. Meng is betting on a frost-veined iron mine. He wants to tell the world that the Meng family is willing to use a frost-veined iron mine to support Fang Yun, and they don't care even if they lose!
But then some people chuckled. There was a story about the Frost Vein Iron Mine that could not be exchanged for a state, and now Fang Yun chose to suppress the state with his literary talent. No one would believe that Master Meng did not satirize the Xun family.
Suddenly, Zeng Yuan's smile froze, and then he looked down carefully and said, "The Xun family and the Meng family are betting against each other. What they are betting on is not the Frost-veined Iron Ore, but the Ice Wood Lake, which is more precious than the Frost-veined Iron Ore."
"Crazy! Absolutely crazy!" Magistrate Dong kept yelling.
Fang Yun heard about Bingmu Lake for the first time and asked, "Is Bingmu Lake a place where ice wood is produced? I've read in books that in some ancient places, strange water freezes and the ice grows like a giant tree, which then grows into ice wood. Ice wood is tough and hard, and not easy to wear out. It is a top-quality material for making mechanisms. The city defense equipment of Liangjie Mountain used to break down frequently, but after those easily worn parts were replaced with ice wood, they can fight for three consecutive months without breaking down."
Most people here also looked puzzled, and their expressions were very similar to Fang Yun's.
Zeng Yuan nodded and said, "Yes, it is the lake that produces ice trees. You haven't been to the Holy Academy, so you don't know much about this kind of thing. I have seen an ice tree lake once. The ice in the lake grows like a tree, with ice as branches, frost as leaves, and snow as flowers. It is magnificent."
“I’m afraid all the noble families in the research institutes will be very excited.” Fang Yun said.
Zeng Yuan smiled and said, "Look, this incident was obviously caused by Fang Yun, but Fang Yun just wanted to watch the fun. I tell you, you can't stay out of it now! Because this gambling game was initiated by me, I have already discussed with the people of the Saint Family. If you lose, the normal compensation for the gambling will be paid. If you win, everyone who bet on you to become the world's master will give you half of the profit."
Fang Yun was stunned for a moment, and said: "Yuhuan, please calculate quickly. One Bingmu Lake is equal to one state. One state has about one hundred counties. How many counties are equal to half a city?"
"Five county towns." Yang Yuhuan answered honestly.
The others laughed. Li Wenying said unhappily, "No wonder you are called the Mad King! The outcome is not yet determined, and you are busy counting money!"
Yang Yuhuan finally understood and looked at Fang Yun with a smile.
Nunu poked his head out from the table, tilted his head back, and whimpered at Li Wenying twice.
"Okay, even your little fox is against me. What about Yuhuan?" Li Wenying is usually a strict university scholar, but at this moment he showed a kind smile.
Seeing Li Wenying happy, Yang Yuhuan smiled and said, "We women don't understand these great principles, but our Xiaoyun knows everything about astronomy and geography, so it shouldn't be difficult for him to write sixteen war poems that will be passed down through the ages."
Li Wenying laughed and said to everyone, "Look at this family."
Feng Zimo said: "Jiangzhou is under the rule of Lord Li. Naturally, the people of Jiangzhou should learn from Lord Li."
"That makes sense!" said Magistrate Dong with a smile.
Zeng Yuan raised his glass and said, "Come, let's toast to Lord Li, to Fang Wenhou, and to the people of Jiangzhou who dare to speak and act!"
Everyone responded loudly and drank the wine in one gulp.
As soon as Fang Yun put down his wine glass, he found that Zong Wude had sent an urgent letter.
"It's bad! Our Zong family is betting on you to fail to become the world's master! Something bad is going to happen! I heard that the Xun family is also betting on you to fail! It seems that the miscellaneous families are collectively betting on you to lose!"
The smile on Fang Yun's face disappeared. He never expected that such a small gambling game at the banquet would involve so many saint families.
Fang Yun frowned. He thought to himself that something was wrong. The Saints would never place such a large bet just for a joke at the drinking party. It was very likely that something happened that he didn't know about, and he ended up being the fuse of the incident. Could it be that "Fang Yun's bet" in Shengyuan Continent would become the same as the butterfly effect
Those present were either Jinshi or experienced Juren. When they noticed that Fang Yun's expression was not right, they immediately fell silent.
Zeng Yuan suddenly said, "The Zongsheng family has placed a bet. The sixty-seventh city in the ancient land of the deserted city. The bet is that one side will lose."
There was deathly silence in the room.
"Things have really gotten out of hand." Feng Yuanjun said slowly.
Chen Zhiling said: "Grandfather has just decided that our Chen family will bet on the 63rd city and gamble with the Zong family."
Chen Zhiling's great-grandfather is the head of the Chen family, a semi-saint family in Jing State, and the semi-saint Chen Guanhai is in seclusion recuperating from his injuries.
At this moment, the loudest sound in the room was everyone's breathing.
Nunu rolled his eyes, quickly retracted his head from the table, and lay obediently on Yang Yuhuan's legs. Then he stretched out his claws to pull Xiao Liuxing, who was still watching the fun at the table, back under the table.
Zeng Yuan sighed, "I never thought that a small dinner party would turn into the greatest gambling game in history."
Fang Yun said: "Using this method to resolve the situation is better than killing people and causing a river of blood."
"It would be best if it can be resolved." Li Wenying said.
The atmosphere in the room grew heavy.
Prefect Dong coughed lightly and said, "No matter which side you are on, since all the holy families have come out to bet, we don't have to be so cautious. The conflicts between the families are not just one or two years, some have even lasted for more than a thousand years. It's not bad to take advantage of Fang Yun's excuse to bet on this."
"Like Master Jianmei said, it would be best if it can be resolved, but it would be terrible if it cannot be resolved. However, now is different from the early years, and the Saint Families can only solve it in this way. Zeng Yuan, what about your Zeng Family?"
Zeng Yuan smiled helplessly and said, "It's not clear yet. It's said that our Zeng family has received help from the Legalists, but the holy way within the Legalists is not unified."
"Yeah, your Zeng family is having a hard time too." Fang Yun said.
Shang Yang, a half-sage of the Legalists, was a disciple of Li Kui, whose teacher was Zeng Shen. Zeng Shen also had a disciple, Wu Qi, who was as famous as Sun Tzu. Zeng Shen was the son of Zengzi, who was a disciple of Confucius.
Mencius' teacher was Confucius' grandson, so the Zeng family should help the Meng family no matter what, and naturally should not have too close contacts with the Xun family.
Zeng Shen worshipped the half-saint Zixia, also known as Bu Zi, as his teacher. Bu Zi's family and Sun Bin's family were enemies, and Sun Bin once killed a great scholar of the School of Diplomacy. Now the School of Diplomacy has been taken in by the School of Miscellaneous School.
The contradiction between the Eclectic School and the Confucius School and the Mohist School is even deeper. When he was young, Lu Buwei once shouted a slogan "combining Confucianism and Mohism, and combining Nominalism and Legalism". Although it was not mentioned later, the highest idea of the Eclectic School has always been to combine Confucianism, Mohism, Nominalism, Legalism and other hundreds of schools of thought.
Now, the Za family wants to unite with the barbarians to deal with the demon tribe. It was going smoothly, but it was obstructed by a young man from Ji County.
Fang Yun felt a headache when he thought of this. The relationships among the Saint Families were extremely complicated. (To be continued...)