"Why do they all think I gave up the exam?"
Fang Yun thought about it carefully and realized that the information these people had obtained had been passed on several times. It should have changed from the original "Fang Yun might give up the exam" to "according to inference, Fang Yun will definitely give up the exam" and finally evolved into "Everyone saw Fang Yun give up the exam."
The Queen Mother's words were very clear. It seemed that the Queen Mother was very angry at first, but later she used her power to check and found that he had not given up the exam, so she said it was close. However, the Queen Mother was obviously still unsure, after all, there were many people outside the examination room, and she needed to wait for the results to come out before she could make a final conclusion.
Fang Yun looked at the letters again and found that Cai He did not mention giving up the exam at all. Dayuan Prefecture is very close to Ji County, so it seems that the information Cai He received is relatively accurate.
So Fang Yunxian replied to Cai He: "I finished the test paper early and left. Some people reported that I gave up the test, but everything is normal. As for the inside story, I can't tell you. Everything will be clear after the results are announced."
"I see. Actually, there is nothing wrong with you leaving early. I am afraid that someone will use this opportunity to attack you for disrespecting the Holy Way and the Semi-Saint examiner. If I am right, tomorrow the Ten Nations will surely make accusations, and they will intensify. Even if you can pass the exam in the end, they will still accuse you of disrespecting the Semi-Saint!"
Fang Yun's expression became extremely grim, because before Cai He reminded him, Zong Wude said that some people from Qing country had united to attack his literary reputation and had even begun.
Fang Yun did not reply immediately. He stood on the dim street and thought quietly. After a moment, he sent another letter to Cai He.
"Thank you, Lord Cai, for reminding me. I didn't want to say more about this matter, but since some people think they can slander and attack me at will, they are totally wrong! Don't they want to stir up trouble? Then I will help them add fuel to the fire! Lord Cai, how about you do me a small favor?"
"Oh? How can I help?"
"They said they broke up with me because I gave up the exam, and spread the news that I had to leave the exam room early, and the reason I said I had finished the exam was to cover up my lack of knowledge!"
After a long time, Cai He came with a letter.
"I vaguely understand what you mean, but are you sure you can make a strong counterattack?"
"Since I dare to do it, I am absolutely sure!"
"Okay! Then let's imitate Zhou Yu's attack on Huang Gai and use a self-torture strategy! Leave this to me and I'll make sure it's done perfectly. Let's wait for good news together on the fifth day of the New Year!"
Fang Yun thanked Cai He and began to think about how to send a letter to the Queen Mother. It was his first time to contact the Queen Mother, so he couldn't be careless even if it was just a letter. So he recalled the books he had read before. After confirming the Three Kingdoms, he began to call the Queen Mother "Your Highness".
"Your Highness, I, Fang Yun, studied hard day and night, and was blessed by the grace of the Holy Spirit to take the imperial examination. I am grateful in my heart, and I have no disrespect for the imperial examination, the semi-saint, or the holy way. It's just that my essay today was favored by the semi-saint, and the test paper has been finalized, so I just left the examination room. I originally wanted to be a saint, but the villains of the enemy country formed a group and slandered me, and there is no law to punish such villains. I discussed with Cai He, the magistrate of Ji County, and used a self-torture plan to punish the evildoers and warn the world."
It was a long time before Fang Yun received the letter from the empress dowager.
"I know."
Afterwards, Fang Yun gritted his teeth and continued to implement his own self-torture plan. Except for the letter sent to Li Wenying, the letters sent to everyone were the same.
"I gave up the exam. I want to be alone."
After delivering the letter, Fang Yun changed his direction and no longer went to his uncle Fang Shouye's house. Instead, he went to his own house in Dayuan City. Although he had not lived there for many days, he had hired someone to take care of it and could move in at any time.
Along the way, Wenhou Jinyin kept receiving letters, and Fang Yun read them one by one.
"We will all return to Dayuan Mansion tomorrow, wait for us!" Li Fanming's reply was extremely simple, yet full of power.
"See you tomorrow." Yan Yukong's answer was even simpler.
Friends in Shengxu responded one by one, in a simple and warm manner.
Fang Yun felt guilty for deceiving them, but remembering that his poem had been leaked in the Holy Ruins, he could only harden his heart and continue with his self-torture plan, and he would apologize to them when it was accomplished.
The rest of the people responded one after another. Fang Yun thought that those who were familiar with him would be furious or disappointed with him, but he didn't expect that their answers were surprisingly consistent.
"Don't think about anything. Just take a bath and have a good sleep."
"Have a good sleep, and we'll talk tomorrow."
"I gave up the exam for three years, and only later did I get it. Your problem is nothing. If you want to have a drink with someone, remember to call me!"
"If we meet, I still won't beat you. I'll try to get you a little eagle demon from the royal family. If possible, I'll try to get one from the holy family, but don't expect it." Fang Yun secretly laughed at Zhang Poyue's poor way of comforting people.
After reading all the letters, no one blamed me.
Fang Yun felt relieved and guilty, thinking that if the final result showed that his plan succeeded, he must apologize together.
Fang Yun returned to his house in Dayuan Prefecture, chatted with the people who came to view the house for a while, and then ordered the door to be closed and no one to be seen.
An hour later, the number of letters sent by carrier pigeons to the official seal reached a small peak again, and Fang Yun received important news one after another.
"The Queen Mother summoned all the ministers overnight to prepare to take away your title, and will issue a letter to rebuke you soon."
"Although the civil servants of the left prime minister's faction expressed regret on the surface, many were secretly happy."
"The Queen Mother was extremely angry. She ignored the objections of all the ministers and decided in just two quarters of an hour to revoke your title! Take away your noble title! And she sent Wen Xiangqin to capture you and take you to the capital, and confine you to the academy for three years!"
"It is said that His Majesty was frightened and cried. Many officials of the Left Prime Minister's faction found an excuse and started to curse, saying that it was you who made His Majesty cry."
"Qingguo students have already taken action overnight and started writing all kinds of crooked poems and essays to attack you."
"The people of Wu State have also gathered together and are holding a literary gathering overnight. The group of people with broken literary courage in Juwen Pavilion are planning to slander you tomorrow."
"I didn't want to tell you this news, but in order to prevent you from getting into trouble due to ignorance, I'll tell you the truth. I hope you can bear it. A wealthy family in Shu Kingdom has declared a boycott against you, believing that you disrespected the semi-saint examiner, and has even set off to the Saint Academy to ask for severe punishment. The father of this family head is the great scholar Sai Xiaoyu. I'm sure you know who his mentor is. You must be prepared, as this matter may escalate."
After reading the last letter, Fang Yun was stunned at first, then he clapped his hands and laughed, then stood up and bowed in the direction of the Holy Academy.
"Thank you for the help, Saint."
The great scholar Sai Xiaoyu is the disciple of the Half-Saint Mi Fengdian of Shu Kingdom, and Mi Fengdian is the Half-Saint examiner of today's imperial examination!
Fang Yun never expected that the Semi-Saint would actually help him. It seemed that the Semi-Saint could not stand seeing those people jumping up and down. Those three "甲" characters might have been written by Mi Fengdian.
Fang Yun was all smiles. With Mi Fengdian's help, this matter could be said to be foolproof, everything was ready, and only the final results were missing.
Various letters came in one after another. Although those people did not want to tell him the serious news, they all understood that it was better to tell him sooner rather than later. If Fang Yun was unaware of the situation and something happened, it would be even more unimaginable.
Fang Yun knew that his friend was probably very anxious now. The Queen Mother asked the Minister of Literature to arrest him, which was the most severe punishment. Because the Minister of Literature was a great scholar, even a traitor would not be sent out. Sending a great scholar to take action was obviously a lack of trust, thinking that he might escape.
Not long after, new news came.
"The Yuhai Prefecture's army has received an order to put you under house arrest immediately!"
After Fang Yun received the news, he thought that the empress dowager was amazing and had thought of every detail. Even if he and County Magistrate Cai performed the self-torture trick until they were exhausted, it would not be as effective as a few words from the empress dowager and Mi Fengdian.
Fang Yun could already imagine how excited those writers who usually slandered him would be. He might not even be able to sleep. Tomorrow morning, there would definitely be a lot of comments or poems attacking him.
"Write it. The more brutal the better. Show the most despicable things in your heart! Wait until the fifth day to announce the results. The result will be clear!"
Fang Yun walked out of the bedroom, came to the courtyard, and looked up at the stars in the sky.
On the second night of the Lunar New Year, the moon is invisible, but the sky is full of stars that shine like gemstones. The Wenqu Star in the sky is even brighter.
Looking at Wenquxing, Fang Yun couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity.
After a while, Fang Yun thought of Yang Yuhuan, walked into the study, took out his writing brush and ink, and started writing.
"When will the bright moon appear? I raise my cup to ask the sky... I wish you a long life, and we can share the beauty of the moon even though we are thousands of miles apart. I also cherish Yuhuan."
Talent attracted the vitality of heaven and earth, the paper pages burned, and a bright full moon appeared in front of him, like a round gate.
Through the door of the full moon, Fang Yun saw Yang Yuhuan playing the zither with her eyes closed, the little fox was lying on her legs listening quietly, and a small meteor was spinning in the air like dancing.
Nunu's ears moved, and he looked forward suddenly, and saw Fang Yun walking out of the round moon gate. At this time, Fang Yun's body was made up of translucent moonlight, and he looked very handsome, like a god descending from heaven.
"Oh oh!" Nunu suddenly pounced into Fang Yun's arms, then rolled around and acted coquettishly.
Yang Yuhuan was delighted at first, and stood up quickly, then asked in surprise: "Xiaoyun, why are you here? Aren't you taking the imperial examination now? Aren't you in the examination room? It's impossible for you to come to see me with this poem."
Fang Yun smiled and said, "I have finished the exam, so I came to see you. But there are some surprises, you have to be prepared, and you will know the results on the fifth day."
"Well, you are very lucky and talented, so naturally you will take the exam faster than others. What unexpected things will happen?" Yang Yuhuan asked with a smile.
"This is a long and complicated story. You will know when the results are announced on the fifth day of the new year. Don't go out these days, just stay at home. If anyone suddenly treats you badly, take note of it. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Although Yang Yuhuan was confused, she still nodded and obeyed.
Fang Yun stroked Nu Nu and said to Yang Yuhuan, "Pack up your things at home on the fifth day. You don't have to go to Dayuan Mansion. If nothing unexpected happens, I will pick you up and go to the capital together."
"Okay, I'll get ready. I heard that the capital is very cold and windy, so I have to be prepared."
"The sandstorms outside the city are stronger than in Jiangzhou, but there is a holy temple inside the city, so there won't be any sandstorms."
"We have to prepare for that, just in case. I'll ask people who have lived in the capital before, and get everything I need. I'm unfamiliar with the capital, and I'm sure I'll be in a rush when I first arrive."
"You have the final say on family matters. The power of this poem is about to run out. I'm going back now. You should go to bed early."
"You go to bed early too."
Nunu happily waved his paw at Fang Yun. (To be continued...)