Several scholars from Minggu Mansion came out and carried Chen Zhiyuan away with the yamen runners.
Whether it was Fang Yun's friends from Shengxu or the officials sent by Yuhai City, they were all outside the Academy of Literature watching the results being announced. When they saw this scene, they felt sorry, but everyone understood that Fang Yun and the Queen Mother were playing a trick, and no one was angry, but was extremely relieved.
Yan Yukong sighed, "Before Fang Yun said he would give up the exam, many people wanted to launch slanderous attacks, but we had no way to fight back because it was impossible to find those people one by one. You and I are not half-saints, and we may also criticize you from thousands of miles away. However, Fang Yun used the Saint Pen to fight back, good."
Jia Jingan said: "It is difficult for the heaven's will to recite the text, because it must meet two conditions, one of which is to publish important attacking remarks against Fang Yun in this imperial examination. But if Fang Yun did not use the self-torture strategy, those people would definitely wait and see, and at most just verbally insult him, and it is impossible for them to write an attacking article before the announcement of the results. But Fang Yun's self-torture strategy succeeded, and they fell for it. In order to compete for literary fame, they must take the initiative to act."
"The second is that they harbor deep malice. If the malice is not deep, the will of heaven will never come. That is 'criticism', not 'slander' or 'attack'. Fang Yun said that he gave up the exam. Those people, for fame and fortune, for the sake of their country, or for jealousy, will inevitably become more indulgent and no longer restrain their malice towards Fang Yun. They will feel happy about other people's misfortunes, and it will be impossible for them not to be recited by heaven."
Yan Yukong nodded and said, "That's why I didn't criticize Fang Yun's self-torture tactics, because although he used tactics, he didn't touch the knife. Like Chen Zhiyuan, there were two knives that broke his Wen Palace. One was the fair recitation of Heaven's Will, and the other was his own knife that chopped at Fang Yun! If he didn't point his knife at Fang Yun, he would never have faced this recitation of Heaven's Will."
"Fang Yun has shown mercy by using the Heaven's Will Recitation, because it gives people a chance to repent. As long as they admit their mistakes in advance, they can avoid a disaster. Although the price to pay later is that once the other party has murderous intentions, his palace and courage will be shattered. But it is better than failing now."
"That's right. Fang Yun left them a glimmer of hope. If they don't seize it, they will be courting death. It has nothing to do with Fang Yun."
Yan Yukong smiled when he heard the word "show mercy".
Li Fanming thought carefully and said, "Do you still remember what the head of the Sai family, a wealthy family in Shu, said? He personally wrote an article to attack Fang Yun. Now think about it, the head of a family would never make such a big mistake. It seems that the great scholar Sai Xiaoyu may have instructed the head of the Sai family to pretend to attack Fang Yun."
“So that’s how it is. Sai Xiaoyu’s mentor is Mi Sheng. It seems that there are several semi-saint examiners…” Sun Naiyong stopped talking halfway.
Han Shoulu chuckled and said, "I don't know how many literary talents have been broken and how many literary palaces have been cracked today!"
Yan Yukong said: "This matter... is far more complicated than you think. Fang Yun's intention is not just to break the courage of the people."
"how do I say this?"
"You will know within three days."
On the dragon carriage, Fang Yun looked in the direction of Qing Kingdom with a smile on his face. This was just an appetizer, the real feast was about to be served!
The capital of Qing Kingdom, the clan garden.
As the most outstanding young generation of the Zong family, Zong Wuyuan became a Hanlin at the age of 29, and ranked very high on the Monster Clan Hunting List, enough to be ranked in the top 30 among humans under the age of 30.
This person is also the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites of Qing State. He has become a third-rank official at the age of only 29, which is rare in other countries.
Zong Wuyuan is the second son of the head of the Zong family. He is deeply versed in the various schools of thought and is unmatched among the younger generation of the Zong family. Even his younger brother Zong Wude is far behind him. He is also the only one among the younger generation of the Zong family who has been praised by the Zong Saint and is hailed as the future pillar of the Zong family.
With Zong Wuyuan's identity, even if he hated Fang Yun to the core as a generalist, he shouldn't have personally written an article to accuse Fang Yun, but Zong Wuyuan did.
Not for anything else, but for my sixth brother Zong Wude.
He was very optimistic about his younger brother, who was as talented as himself. Although he did not follow the eclectic path and specialized in Confucianism, he also had a bright future. It would be fine if he was with Yan Yukong, because Yan Yukong was, after all, a disciple of a semi-saint and a branch of a sub-saint family, so his relationship with the main family was not in conflict with that of the main family.
But now, Zong Wude was actually with Fang Yun and others! Moreover, since leaving the Holy Ruins, he always mentioned Fang Yun.
Just a year ago, my younger brother still admired me very much, but in just one year, my position in his heart was replaced by someone from the enemy country! Moreover, he was an enemy who blocked the great plan of the Miscellaneous Family Saint Path, and was even a stumbling block that prevented the Zongsheng from stepping into the sub-sage!
Zong Wuyuan was very heartbroken.
In order to help his brother return to the right path, he angrily wrote "A Book on Establishing Virtue" yesterday, criticizing Fang Yun's various behaviors.
Zong Wuyuan was wearing a white and black plum dress, sitting in a brown fragrant wood square armchair, looking at the sky outside the glazed window.
"After today, Fang Yun's literary reputation will definitely be damaged. If he is smart, he will keep a low profile. If he is not careful, he will never recover! No matter what, Wu De will definitely turn over a new leaf."
Zong Wuyuan was thinking about this as he stood up, cleaned up the desk and prepared to go to the Ministry of Rites. Suddenly he heard someone shouting "Rainbow" outside, but he didn't pay any attention to it.
Soon, a faint voice sounded in his ears.
"Fang Yun's policy is unparalleled, and his evaluation by the divine pen ranks him among the top three candidates."
Zong Wuyuan's body went limp and he fell into a chair, his eyes blank as he muttered to himself.
"Didn't he give up the exam? How could he be rated by the Holy Pen? A self-torture trick? Lure the snake out of its hole? What a cruel method!" Zong Wuyuan suddenly woke up and immediately bowed in the direction of Zongjia Town.
"I, Zong Wude, have realized my mistake. I beg you to save my life!"
No response.
Zong Wuyuan's heartbeat suddenly quickened, the hairs on his body stood up, and he quickly took out a jade dragon pen holder from the Yinjiangbei.
This jade dragon pen holder is light green in color, and is carved with two lifelike dragons playing in the water. The undulating dragon bodies serve as a place to rest the pens, and it emits precious light.
Zong Wuyuan held the Jade Dragon Pen Holder tightly and looked up at the sky. A pair of eyes were approaching slowly.
The Jade Dragon Pen Holder emitted a faint and clear light, like invisible water waves constantly washing over the eyes. After ten full breaths, the shadows of the eyes finally disappeared.
"Click..."
The Jade Dragon Pen Holder cracked, and the cracks became more and more, until it finally broke into powder and covered Zong Wuyuan's right hand.
Zong Wuyuan looked at the jade powder, the corners of his mouth twitched, his eyes were bloodshot, and his sadness became even deeper.
"If I admit my mistake, I will have no hope of becoming a great scholar. Now, I have lost the gift of my ancestors, which is equivalent to destroying my life! My brother has been led astray, and today my ancestors are dissatisfied with my recklessness. In the future, I will settle all the new and old grudges with you!"
Zong Wuyuan sat in the chair and thought for a long time, and suddenly shouted: "Someone, contact those scum in Juwen Pavilion for me!" But then he was startled and restrained his anger.
The door opened and a middle-aged man in his forties walked in with an honest face.
Zong Wuyuan forced a smile and said, "Uncle You, please come here. I want to host a banquet for a few friends in Juwen Pavilion whose literary talents have been damaged."
The middle-aged man said slowly: "If you want to invite friends whose literary talents are damaged, you can invite a few people yesterday. After today, it may be dozens of people."
Zong Wuyuan was stunned, a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes, he held the armrest tightly, and said with a smile: "It's up to you to handle this matter."
"I will go right away."
Xun County was the fief of the Xun Sheng family.
Just last night, the various families that were attached to the Xun family sent people to hold a grand imperial examination literary meeting at the Mingyue Restaurant in Xun County, and even used a cultural treasure of the Xun family to temporarily expand the space of the Mingyue Restaurant tenfold.
This is a literary gathering that is rarely seen in recent years, and the number of participants even exceeds that of the Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival literary gatherings.
Poems and essays like snowflakes were born here, and 90% of them directly pointed to Fang Yun.
Last year's Qing Dynasty top scholar Ji Mengxian was here and became the popular star.
Before the results of the imperial examinations were announced in various states, hundreds of candidates for the imperial examinations, jinshi and hanlin gathered in Mingyue Tower, sitting around the table drinking or chatting.
Everyone was in high spirits, waiting for the results to be announced before toasting together.
However, what they waited for was a three-colored rainbow across the sky. Everyone rushed to the window or out the door and looked up at the sky.
Then, the voice announcing the Holy Pen rating appeared.
"We've fallen into a trap!"
"Asshole! This is all Fang Yun's trap!"
"The people of Jing are the most shameless!"
A black-robed scholar threw the cup to the ground, and a Xun family scholar overturned the table on the spot.
After the loud crash, there was deathly silence.
Everyone felt the invisible rope thrown by Fang Yun around their necks, making it hard to breathe.
If they don't admit their mistakes, at least two hundred of the three hundred people present will face the recitation of God's Will!
For an essay that is rated as a semi-saint, at least a Grand Secretary would be able to barely pass the divine recitation. Even a Hanlin would have a 90% chance of having his literary courage shattered!
After a dozen or so breaths of silence, a Hanlin suddenly bowed in the direction of the Holy Court and said, "I forgot the talents of the human race because I cared about Qing Country, and neglected benevolence and righteousness because I valued family ties. This is wrong. Since Fang Yun has been evaluated by the Holy Pen, his writing is naturally superior to ours, and I am convinced. From now on, I will never criticize Fang Yun's poetry and writing."
When the people in Mingyue Tower heard this, they cursed inwardly that he was worthy of being a Hanlin. He first made excuses for his reasons for attacking Fang Yun, then said that he was convinced because it was the review by the Holy Pen, and finally said that he would not criticize Fang Yun's poems and essays, but he could occasionally say a few words about Fang Yun's faults in other aspects, but he could not attack him too aggressively, otherwise his literary courage would inevitably be affected.
This Hanlin was a man of many eruditions, and was an expert at avoiding the important and focusing on the trivial.
However, even the Hanlin admitted his mistake and gave the Jinshi and Juren a way out. Many people were grateful to this Hanlin.
"The students' hearts are for Qingguo... I will never say anything bad about Fang Yun in the future!"
"There is no doubt about the Holy Pen's evaluation. I... the other party is in awe."
Many people bowed and admitted their mistakes. In the beginning, they almost all imitated the Hanlin, but in the end, they did not dare to avoid the important issues like the Hanlin, but were determined not to become an enemy of Fang Yun.
No one knew whether the divine will recitation would suddenly change and befall them, and some people whose attacking luck was not very strong were so scared that they bent down and admitted their mistakes.
Hundreds of people admitted their mistakes one after another. The scene was extremely spectacular. However, the elites among the literati felt a chill to their bones.
The literary talents of these people were saved, but a gap that could never be filled had been created in the "literary talents" of Qing State!
Fang Yun's literary power overwhelmed a state, which only shook the "literary courage" of Qing State. It would recover after a while, but after today, 99% of Qing State's literati would feel guilty when discussing Fang Yun! This is the most fatal thing for scholars.
"Fang Yun is so vicious! The Queen Mother of Jing is so cruel!" Ji Mengxian said gritting his teeth.
Before Fang Yun left Jiangzhou to go to the capital, he completely destroyed the arrogance of the Qing Kingdom, which was separated by a river. (To be continued...)