While everyone was having lunch at the Fang family, the Fang family's housekeeper sent Fang Li back to Ji County.
Fang Yun completely solved Fang Zhongyong's problem and gave the child prodigy a new life.
After the meal, Chen Xibi sent a letter saying that Guan Chang Yu had been captured and was being held in the prison of the government army awaiting trial, but his legs were broken by the soldiers inside.
Later, Fang Yun received news from Zeng Yuan, saying that his position on the Demon Clan Grand Scholar Hunting List had risen to eleventh.
Fang Yun was helpless. He could not suppress the vision of the three rainbows guiding people. The vision of educating the people in the national article "The Story of Zhongyong" was also beyond his expectations. It seemed that before becoming a Jinshi, he should write less articles and more poems. As long as he did not compete in poetry, it would be difficult for his ranking to rise.
Some books such as "Fox Rhymes" and "Fang Family Instructions" have to be postponed again, but it is a good idea to write some novels to enrich the reading life of the human race. At the same time, it can also increase the talent of the Shengyuan Continent and slowly strengthen the human race. You will not be remembered by the demon race even if you have made great contributions.
Fang Yun was chatting with everyone when Mr. Tang, the manager of Xuanting Bookstore, came to visit.
As soon as Fang Yun and Manager Tang entered the study, Manager Tang asked, "Is your manuscript ready?"
"This... can it be delayed for two days?" Fang Yun didn't know why, but he found that the shopkeeper Tang, who was urging the manuscript, looked a bit hateful.
"Your literary reputation is at its peak right now. If you publish a new work now, sales will increase by at least 20%! Do the math yourself! Money is a minor matter, the main thing is that it will make your literary reputation even greater."
"Let me think about it." Fang Yun said.
Manager Tang said, "Your "Legend of the White Snake" is excellent, suitable for all ages. Now many storytellers use your book as a storybook. "The Pillow Book" is too educational, but the story is good. Do you want you to write a similar one?"
Fang Yun looked at Tang Dazhang in surprise, thinking that he was indeed a state manager with a sharp eye. The ideas of "The Pillow Book" were borrowed by later generations, the most famous of which are "Nan Ke Ji" and "Nan Ke Taishou Biography", which can be said to be the predecessors of later time-travel novels.
Fang Yun said: "Then I will write a story similar to "The Pillow Book". But it is more tortuous, called "The Story of Nan Ke Magistrate", and it is longer."
"How does the word count compare to The Legend of White Snake?" asked the shopkeeper Tang.
"As good as."
"How about it being better than The Romance of the West Chamber?"
"As good as."
"Then write another one." Manager Tang said firmly. In his eyes, there was no such thing as a Wenhou role model, only the author of the manuscript.
Fang Yun remembered that he had been delaying submitting his manuscript for a long time and felt embarrassed to refuse, so he thought about it carefully.
Needless to say, there are too many changes to the big books like the Four Great Classics, which are not suitable for writing now, and there are too many things that are not suitable for writing now. It is still suitable to write short and medium-length articles such as Tang legends.
A light bulb went off in Fang Yun's mind. Although "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" was written in the Qing Dynasty, it is in the same vein as the Tang Dynasty legends, and is even better than the original. It has extremely high literary value, and many of the stories in it are popular and well-known to everyone.
Fang Yun thought for a moment and said, "Then I will write another novel called 'Nie Xiaoqian', also known as 'A Chinese Ghost Story'."
Manager Tang immediately said, "Let's call it "A Chinese Ghost Story"! This name will attract more readers. It will sell better than the previous one!"
Fang Yun said: "Then you go to the hall and chat with them. I have been thinking about these two stories for a long time. With my ability to write quickly, I can finish them before the celebration banquet."
Manager Tang was stunned. He bowed and said, "As expected of Fang Zhenguo, you read two books a day and write countless poems. Then I won't bother you and will have tea and chat with them."
After Tang Da, the shopkeeper, left the study, Fang Yun first closed his eyes and carefully analyzed "The Story of Nan Ke Magistrate" and "Nie Xiaoqian" in the world of strange books, eliminating the texts that were not suitable for Shengyuan Continent and retaining the essence and principles of the books.
The original "The Story of Nan Ke Magistrate" and "Nie Xiaoqian" had too few words, so Fang Yun added some plots that the people of Shengyuan Continent loved to see.
Not long after, a new "The Story of Nan Ke" and "A Chinese Ghost Story" appeared in the world of strange books.
Then, Fang Yun took out a "Pingshan Inkstone" from the Yinjiang Shell. The Pingshan Inkstone is a Jinshi Wenbao Fang Yun obtained from Shengxu. The inkstone pool that holds the ink is in an irregular mountain shape. There are natural patterns in the inkstone pool, just like the stones and plants in the mountains, which is very unique. On the top of the inkstone beside the inkstone pool, a famous craftsman carved a landscape pattern, making the Pingshan Inkstone even more exquisite.
On the side of the inkstone, the two characters "Pingshan" are engraved in official script.
Fang Yun placed the Pingshan inkstone on the table, then opened the bottles of ink in the study one by one, there were more than a dozen bottles, and poured them all into the Pingshan inkstone.
The Pingshan inkstone is only the size of a palm, and the inkstone pool looks like it can hold at most half a bottle of ink, but it can actually hold dozens of times more ink.
Fang Yun chose a pure wolf Beiwei Juren Wenbao pen suitable for writing small characters, took out a large stack of manuscript paper, calmed down, and picked up the pen to write.
Rustle, rustle…
With his talent and excellent writing skills, Fang Yun's writing speed can only be described as terrifying. He can finish a line in the blink of an eye, and it is neat and tidy, with no difference from when he writes one stroke at a time.
Fang Yun has reached a new level in calligraphy. Every time he finishes writing a character, the ink dries up quickly, making the handwriting clearer, more condensed, and more magical.
Fang Yun wrote as fast as he could with his right hand, and kept changing papers with his left hand. In just one hour, he finished the newly compiled "The Story of the Magistrate Nan Ke" and "Nie Xiaoqian", which totaled more than 30,000 words.
In the article, Fang Yun wrote the names of Li Gongzuo, the original author of "The Story of Nan Ke Magistrate", and Pu Songling, the original author of "Nie Xiaoqian", as a tribute and gratitude.
After Fang Yun finished writing, he took the dry manuscript and walked out of the study and walked towards the hall.
The shopkeeper Tang was telling the story of selling "The Legend of White Snake" and other works, and everyone was listening with great interest.
"Wait a moment, let me have some tea first... Eh? Fang Wenhou, have you finished writing? I just drank six pots of tea!" said the shopkeeper Tang.
"Fang Yun, are you writing "The Story of the Magistrate Nan Ke" and "A Chinese Ghost Story"? Manager Tang just said that he didn't know the specific content. Let me take a look!" Li Fanming put down the teacup in his hand and walked quickly towards Fang Yun.
However, Jia Jing'an stood up calmly, blocking Li Fanming behind him. Just as he was about to move forward, Han Shoulu stood up to block Jia Jing'an.
"You..." Jia Jing'an snorted in dissatisfaction. Han Shoulu wanted to take a look first with a smile on his face, but Yan Yukong, who was sitting at the door, stopped Han Shoulu and put his hand on Fang Yun's manuscript.
Fang Yun laughed and shook his head.
"You are so good, Yan Yukong. No wonder a half-saint disciple didn't even sit on the main seat, but secretly moved to the last seat halfway. Just now I thought you were so humble. You are indeed a role model for us. I didn't expect that you had already made a plan after telling Manager Tang your purpose of coming!" Li Fanming said angrily.
"Every failure makes you wiser. I feel ashamed for you that you have forgotten such a big lesson." Yan Yukong looked like an old man who was disappointed in his son, but in fact he was younger than everyone else.
Manager Tang shouted, "Whoever dares to touch the manuscripts of my Xuanting Bookstore will be killed! Even if he is a half-saint disciple, I will fight to the death! I will fight to the death!" After that, he took out the brush he carried with him and pointed it at Yan Yukong.
Yan Yukong didn't take it seriously and said calmly, "Master Manager Tang, don't judge others by your own standards. I just wanted to have a sneak peek. After I'm done, I'll have to share it with the rest of the people. You should be careful of Li Fanming. He's capable of anything. It's not impossible for him to dig three feet into the ground and take away all the dirt that Fang Yun stepped on."
Li Fanming nodded and said, "Well, thank you Brother Yan for reminding me. I will dig up the pebbles on the ground of Fang's house when I have the chance. When Fang Yun becomes a great scholar or a semi-saint in the future, I will sell one pebble from Fang's house a month, which will be enough for me to drink wine every day until I die."
Everyone laughed.
Yan Yukong lowered his head and flipped through "The Story of Nan Ke Magistrate". After finishing a page, he immediately gave the first page to Han Shoulu who was standing beside him. He passed it on one after another.
When the first page of the manuscript reached Li Fanming, the shopkeeper Tang smiled and said, "The Ji family has invested money in Xuanting Bookstore. Who in the Ji family is in charge of the money? You know better than me. If you dare to grab a page of the manuscript, you will see how that person will deal with you."
Li Fanming's face immediately fell, and he said, "Who said I wanted to steal Fang Yun's manuscript? I won't waste my words with you. I want to read the text!"
Everyone passed the pages around and read them.
"Hurry up in front!"
"Be careful with your words!"
"I am anxiously waiting."
"Shut up!"
In order to be the first to see the works, these scholars lost their good tempers. Some read quickly, some read slowly, and some read the new words over and over again, not showing them to the people behind them, causing chaos in the hall.
Manager Tang was the last one to look at it, but he was the most satisfied one among them, with a smile on his face the whole time, because from the reactions of these scholars, it can be seen that Fang Yun must have written it well and it will definitely be a best-seller.
After reading half of "The Story of the Magistrate Nan Ke", someone couldn't help but comment.
"Although this article is similar to The Pillow Book, it is about a person dreaming of a strange experience, but one is about a dream in an inn, in which he dreams of wealth and glory, but later he sees through fame and fortune, devotes himself to the holy way and finally becomes a great scholar. The other is about entering Huai Kingdom as a consort, but ends up in a miserable way. After waking up, he finds that the two countries in the dream are actually two ant nests, which is even stranger than a dream of a yellow millet."
"This one has more words. The Pillow Book is closer to a chronicle and the text is concise, while The Story of the Governor of Nan Ke is more detailed and the narrative structure is more ingenious. Although the articles are similar, they each have their own merits. Not bad, not bad!"
When they saw "A Chinese Ghost Story", no one commented on it, and no one urged them to forward it. They just watched it silently and waited for the next one. Everyone was attracted by the story of "A Chinese Ghost Story".
The original version of "Nie Xiaoqian" had less than 3,000 words, which did not suit the tastes of readers in Shengyuan Continent, so Fang Yun expanded it to 20,000 words.
The new "A Chinese Ghost Story" tells the story of a student named Ning Caichen who came across a dilapidated academy on his way to the city to take the imperial examination. It was said that the academy was haunted, but he didn't care. Later, a Jinshi named Yan Chixia came and the two had a great conversation.
Afterwards, Ning Caichen met Nie Xiaoqian, and they fell in love. Nie Xiaoqian betrayed her grandmother for Ning Caichen. Finally, with the help of Yan Chixia, she defeated the tree monster.
When writing this, the number of words was not enough, so Fang Yun brought out the Black Mountain Old Demon, but everyone was defeated and was about to be killed. A great scholar named Pu Songling came, subdued the Black Mountain Old Demon, and used his subtle words and great righteousness to reshape Nie Xiaoqian's human body.
Finally, Ning Caichen brought Nie Xiaoqian back home, had children, and became a couple that everyone envied. (To be continued...)