"I heard that the Book Mountain has ended. Congratulations on passing the fifth mountain. You should be on your way to the capital now. What a pity, otherwise you could have participated in the Chen family's wedding and met Jingguo Junyan."
Fang Yun smiled slightly after reading it and replied, "I am already in the capital."
Not long after, Zhao Hongzhuang sent another letter, and joy burst out between the lines: "Really? Very good! Have someone send you to Chen's house in the inner city immediately."
"If it's not an important banquet, I won't go."
"Chen Jing's wedding."
"But is it the genius Chen Jing from the Chen Sheng family?" Fang Yun asked.
"Of course it's him. Originally, you could come or not, but this wedding is valued by Madam Chen. Madam Chen is the grandmother of the current head of the Chen family, and she is also the granddaughter-in-law praised by Chen Sheng many times. Even the empress dowager has to visit her in person instead of letting her enter the palace to meet. It's fine if others don't come, but if you, a role model of scholars in the capital, don't come, I don't know how many people will gossip about you. I heard that you have a good relationship with the Chen family, so you should come. Hurry up, it's not too late now, I haven't entered yet, I'm waiting for you at the door."
When Fang Yun heard that it was Madam Chen from the Chen Sheng family, he was filled with admiration. Back then, Chen Sheng was trapped in an ancient land and had not been seen for ten years. Coincidentally, Chen Sheng's family encountered a major crisis. In the end, it was Madam Chen who managed to keep the family going with her superb skills. After Chen Sheng came back, he immediately gave her a twenty-year-old longevity fruit.
Fang Yun originally wanted to tidy up the house before leaving, but Zhao Hongzhuang sent another letter: "Come quickly. Mrs. Chen is about to die, and Chen Jing's wedding is just for the purpose of bringing good luck, hoping that the old lady can live a little longer. It will be too late if you wait any longer."
"Okay, I'll go right away." Fang Yun was not afraid of other people's gossip, but he had to appreciate Zhao Hongzhuang's kindness.
Fang Yun found Lan, the female official sent by the palace, and explained his intentions. Lan immediately ordered a carriage to take Fang Yun away.
Fang Yun sat in the carriage and observed the environment through the window.
Jingguo Academy is the largest institution of learning in Jingguo and is built entirely according to the standards of a small city.
All I see are scholars.
Not only are there outstanding juren and jinshi from all over the country, but also a large number of tongsheng, xiucai and juren from the capital gathered here. At the same time, there are juren and jinshi from all over the Ten Kingdoms who study and live here temporarily.
The architecture here is very peculiar. There is no fixed style. Every time you go to an area, it feels like entering another country. There are rough stone houses, stilt bamboo houses, floating pleasure boats, cave dwellings on the hills, and all kinds of buildings. There are many but not chaotic, complex but not complicated, just like a painting of ten countries. It makes people feel very comfortable.
Unlike other places, there are female students in Jingguo Academy, but they are all girls from wealthy families. Because women cannot obtain talent and literary status at present, these girls mainly come to gild themselves. Scholars from wealthy families like to marry female students the most.
Fang Yun looked at the female students who were talking and laughing, and sighed softly. It is better to be able to study than not to be able to study. The human race has been making progress.
Fang Yun looked out the window. The atmosphere in the academy was exceptionally pure. Whether they were arguing about the meaning of the classics or comparing poems, chasing and fighting or fiercely debating, it was much purer than outside. Joy was pure, and hatred was also pure.
The carriage left the academy and entered the city of Jingcheng. Fang Yun immediately felt the oppressive atmosphere coming towards him. It was completely different from the academy, making it unclear which world was real.
Faced with the hustle and bustle of the city, Fang Yun missed the atmosphere in the academy.
But the scenery in the capital is also good. It is much more magnificent than Yuhai City and Dayuan Prefecture. It is worthy of being the capital of a country. It is quite impressive and always brings freshness to Fang Yun who comes to the capital for the first time.
Fang Yun remembered that he had not prepared any gift, so he searched among the Yinjiangbei.
Cheap things are too expensive, but other things are too valuable, such as Moon Lotus, Purple Dry Wood, Dragon Breath Stone Carving, etc. They are all priceless treasures. The worst of all the treasures is also a cultural treasure of a Juren, with a market value of at least 100,000 taels of silver. The key is that it is a spare cultural treasure and it is impossible to give it away casually.
As for the treasures that can be given as gifts, they have all been deposited in the Holy Temple.
Finally Fang Yun decided to give a banknote, which was a bit tacky but it didn't matter.
The academy was close to the inner city, and the carriage had the royal emblem, so it had an unimpeded journey and soon arrived at the famous Chongsheng Street, where there was a lot of traffic and a large number of carriages coming and going.
The sun is about to set, and the streets are decorated with lights on both sides, making the streets as bright as day and extremely lively.
Soon, the driver turned around and said, "Lord Wenhou, the eldest princess's carriage is right there. There is a small sword woven with red rope hanging on her carriage. It is the easiest to spot."
"Thank you." Fang Yun took out a tael of silver to thank the coachman, then walked towards Zhao Hongzhuang's carriage.
Fang Yun went forward and no one recognized him. When he approached the carriage, a guard who had been to Yuhai City with Zhao Hongzhuang discovered Fang Yun and hurriedly knocked on the window outside.
Zhao Hongzhuang lifted the door curtain and walked over. She was wearing a scholar's robe and holding a folding fan. She jumped off the carriage nimbly, then waved to Fang Yun, her eyes full of joy of reunion after a long separation.
Fang Yun took two steps at a time and was about to call her princess, but when he saw that she was dressed as a man and looked very heroic, he changed his words and called her by her pseudonym: "Brother Zhuzhen, how are you?"
The smile on Zhao Hongzhuang's face became even brighter. She liked this title more than being called princess.
"You've come at the right time. The wedding banquet will start in a quarter of an hour at most. Come on, I'll go in with you." Zhao Hongzhuang did not avoid suspicion and walked towards Chen's house with Fang Yun, with the carriage following behind.
Fang Yun looked at the carriages coming and going and said, "I didn't expect there are so many carriages here."
Zhao Hongzhuang smiled and said, "It has been like this since noon. Look at these carriages that have left. Their owners are not eligible to participate in the wedding banquet, but the Chen family is the number one family in Jingguo today after all. Even if they are not invited to the wedding banquet, they must send some gifts."
Fang Yun whispered, "Is it okay for me to give you 10,000 taels of silver? I came in such a hurry that I didn't prepare any gifts."
"Ten thousand taels of silver is not a small amount. It's okay. Let's go." Zhao Hongzhuang and Fang Yun walked in front, followed by several palace guards carrying gift boxes.
When they reached the door, the two handed over the gifts and walked in together.
There were big red lanterns hanging everywhere in the Chen Mansion, and the atmosphere was full of joy.
As the two walked inside, people kept greeting Zhao Hongzhuang.
"Hello, Grand Princess."
"Brother Takema!"
"Red makeup..."
When Zhao Hongzhuang met her peers, she would just smile slightly, and when she met her elders, she would politely return the greetings, without any airs of a princess.
Fang Yun has been with Zhao Hongzhuang, but no one knows him and no one asks him about anything, so the journey is quite peaceful.
The Chen family mansion was a garden covering a vast area. After walking for a long time, Fang Yun finally arrived at a large and spacious courtyard with many tables and chairs. There were far fewer guests than in the previous courtyard.
After entering the Chen family compound, Fang Yun immediately discovered that this place was different from other places. The black-clothed juren uniforms had become extremely rare, while the white-clothed embroidered sword uniforms of the jinshi and the white-clothed ink plum uniforms of the Hanlin suddenly increased, and there were even the figures of the blue-clothed university scholars.
Such scenes could not be seen in Jiangzhou, and Fang Yun thought of his days in Kongcheng.
In addition to the official uniforms, many people here wore yellow robes, obviously members of the Zhao family's royal family.
Before the two of them could stand firmly, many members of the Zhao family called Zhao Hongzhuang over.
Zhao Hongzhuang smiled helplessly, as if she was very reluctant to talk to those people, and said, "I'll be back soon, please wait."
Fang Yun watched Zhao Hongzhuang leave without caring. He glanced at the main hall in front of him. The people inside were even more unusual, there were even two great scholars in purple robes.
Fang Yun was just about to find a place to sit down. Suddenly he noticed someone was looking at him, so he looked at that person. He was wearing the same black clothes as himself, with red lips and white teeth. He had a fair complexion and was very handsome. He looked to be in his early twenties, but his eyes were very steady. If you only looked at his eyes, you would have thought he was a middle-aged man.
The young man nodded slightly to Fang Yun, who also nodded, and then found an empty corner to sit down, waiting for Zhao Hongzhuang.
The courtyard was noisy, but Fang Yun ignored what others said. He poured himself a glass of wine and drank it slowly.
Not far away, the young man who was watching Fang Yun suddenly asked the white-robed scholar beside him, "Brother Yi, who is that person, and why is he so close to Hong Zhuang?"
The scholar in white robe had originally been indifferent, but after hearing this, a hint of suspicion flashed in his eyes, and then he looked at Fang Yun.
"I don't know him, but he looks okay. He has an outstanding temperament despite his young age, and seems to be an extraordinary person. Young Duke, do you know him?" asked the young man named Yi.
The Duke of Xiaoguo said, "I don't know him either. But you and I both know the outstanding disciples of the Saint Family and the geniuses of various countries in recent years. This person is probably a rising star in the capital, and he is well-versed in classics. That's why Hongzhuang brought him to such an important wedding banquet."
"He is younger than Hongzhuang, he can't be a member of your Zhao family."
"Mingtian, how could I not recognize a member of the Zhao family? What's more, Hongzhuang is too close to him, they don't seem like relatives." The young duke glanced at Yi Mingtian, his eyes flashed slightly, and he lowered his head to drink.
Yi Mingtian asked: "Has anyone seen this person?"
Everyone at the table looked at Fang Yun and shook their heads one after another.
“I have never met him.”
"He should be the son of a wealthy family in Jing Country."
"He is definitely not from the Saint Family. I wonder where he came from." A scholar in black sneered.
The others laughed, but kept silent.
Fang Yun noticed that many people were looking at him, so he turned his head to look where they were, and discovered that the handsome young man who had looked at him before was smiling and had no ill intentions, but the sturdy scholar in white next to him was vaguely hostile, and the scholar's uniform in white was slightly different from that of Jing State, so he was obviously from Wu State.
Fang Yun didn't hear what those people said, nor did he care what they said, so he turned his head and looked elsewhere.
Yi Mingtian snorted, sat steadily on the chair, and said: "I see this person has extraordinary character and appearance, I want to make friends with him, who can help me invite him over?"
"I'll do it!" The scholar who had just passed the imperial examination stood up immediately.
"Thank you, Brother Zhuang." Yi Mingtian said.
"You're welcome."
Mr. Zhuang walked to Fang Yun's desk with a smile, bowed, and said, "Hello, brother. Brother Yi saw that you are of extraordinary character and appearance, and wanted to make your acquaintance. I wonder if you would do me the honor of coming?"
Fang Yun asked: "Which one is the Jinshi of Wu State or the Juren of Jing State?"
"Jinshi." Mr. Zhuang smiled reservedly, with a hint of arrogance hidden in his smile.
"Oh, not interested." Fang Yun didn't want to get to know someone who was inexplicably hostile to him.
"Do you know who he is? You are so ungrateful. Do you know the price of angering him?" Mr. Zhuang said bluntly.
"Oh? Then do you know the price of angering me?" (To be continued...)