Mr. Zhuang's face turned red and he made a soft sound in his throat. He wanted to say something but didn't dare to.
Only then did Yi Mingtian come to his senses.
Fang Yun walked towards the main hall. There seemed to be an invisible force around him, and the people who had surrounded him immediately made way for him. After walking a few steps, Fang Yun suddenly stopped and turned back to look at the young Duke.
"After we parted that day, the young duke didn't even recognize me." Fang Yun smiled and turned to leave.
The young duke's expression changed and Yi Mingtian stared at him.
The young Duke said with a bitter face: "Brother Yi, don't listen to his slander. I have been in the capital these days. Where have I seen him? If I had known that it was Fang Yun who won the favor of Hong Zhuang, I would have taken you away. No matter how stupid I am, I would not have argued with him."
Yi Mingtian looked at the young duke deeply, then smiled slightly and said, "You and I are friends, so I naturally trust you."
Suddenly, someone on the side said in a sarcastic tone: "Mr. Zhuang, do you think you can invite Fang Wenhou? Anyway, we in the Ming Society can't invite him. If all the academic societies in the capital gather together, we should be able to invite him."
"It's just a misunderstanding, brother, why do you have to be so aggressive?" Yi Mingtian looked at the scholar.
The scholar had no choice but to shut up, but a Jinshi from Jingguo beside him laughed and said, "Brother Mingtian has been famous in the capital these days, but now he is acting like a wronged young wife. Why is that?"
Another Jinshi laughed and said, "When a tiger comes to the capital, the monkeys will naturally scatter."
A scholar beside Yi Mingtian retorted: "If it weren't for Fang... Fang Zhenguo's sneak attack, Brother Yi wouldn't have been in this situation!"
The people of Jing State standing by found it funny. These Jinshi from Wu State were fearless, but they dared not call Fang Yun by his name. This showed how afraid they were of Fang Yun.
The Grand Scholar of Jing State who was not far away smiled and said, "Student from Wu State, you have misunderstood. Fang Wenhou did not use his literary courage to launch a sneak attack, but used his 'eyes like swords' to warn Yi Mingtian and let him retreat." After saying that, he entered the main hall.
Everyone suddenly realized what had happened and Yi Mingtian felt extremely ashamed.
A few non-Jing people immediately reached out to grab the official seal and reported back to their country the news that Fang Yunwen had entered the second level of minor success.
Yi Mingtian walked back in shame and anger. These days, he had surpassed many Jinshi scholars in Jing State and could even speak fluently in front of Hanlin. But when he met Fang Yun, a newcomer in the literary world, he had no intention of competing with him.
Yi Mingtian knew very well that the title of role model of literati might be exaggerated, but the reputation of being a courageous demon was real. Apart from those fearless people in Juwen Pavilion whose literary courage had been shattered, there were not many people willing to directly conflict with Fang Yun.
Fang Yun walked along the path in the courtyard towards the main hall, which was filled with bright red candles, ribbons and curtains.
Everyone inside was wearing official attire of a high rank, ranging from Jinshi to great Confucian scholars.
Zhao Hongzhuang was standing obediently beside a great scholar in a purple robe, while everyone in the main hall looked at Fang Yun with different expressions.
Zhao Hongzhuang hurried over and walked side by side with Fang Yun to the purple-robed scholar, whispering, "This is Mr. Chen Mingding, the head of the Chen family, and the other scholar is Mr. Zhang Hu from the Zhang Heng family."
Fang Yun looked humble. These two great scholars were not only highly educated, but also made great contributions to the human race. Chen Mingding was very good at war poems, and many of his war poems had reached the second or even third realm. If only war poems were compared, he would be ranked in the top ten among the great scholars of the ten countries.
Zhang Hu is a chess master. In recent years, he has been stationed in the ancient land of the deserted city. He was once attacked by the monster tribe. Before the reinforcements arrived, he relied on a set of chess tools from a great scholar. He trapped millions of monsters by himself, including the bloody incarnation of a monster saint, and his name spread all over the world.
Fang Yun bowed and said, "Student Fang Yun greets Mr. Chen. Greetings to Mr. Zhang and all the gentlemen."
Chen Mingding had a square face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, while Zhang Hu had a thin face and his eyes narrowed into slits when he smiled.
No matter what the others were doing before, they all stood up respectfully at this moment, waiting for the two great scholars to speak.
Chen Mingding smiled and said, "I already know what's going on outside. Those useless young men should be taught a lesson. But you and Hongzhuang are a perfect match. I watched Hongzhuang grow up, but I've never seen her bring any man in this door. It's good that I brought you here, but you can't let the stinky boy from Wu country snatch you away."
"Grandpa Chen!" Zhao Hongzhuang's cheeks flushed as she complained in a soft voice.
People around smiled kindly.
"Look, I was right, wasn't I? Who has Xiao Hongzhuang been embarrassed for in all these years?"
"Grandpa Chen!" Zhao Hongzhuang stomped her feet in anger, and the people around her laughed even louder, especially the great scholar Zhang Hu, who laughed the happiest.
Fang Yun coughed lightly and said, "I roughly understand why Yi Mingtian wanted to get to know me. I didn't want to make an enemy, but he misunderstood."
"Then let him misunderstand! Humph, if he does it purely for the beauty, I won't say anything. But I'm afraid that such a person has ulterior motives!" Old Master Chen Mingding said without any hesitation.
Fang Yun understood immediately. The Yi family was about to become a semi-saint family. It was impossible for Yi Mingtian to deliberately provoke anyone for the sake of women. But if it was related to Wu State's plan to annex Jing State, then it was impossible for him to allow others to get involved with Zhao Hongzhuang, not to mention that the young duke had probably instigated them a lot.
Zhang Hu laughed and said, "Today is Chen Jing's wedding. The old lady came out, so don't mention these things. I heard from Hongzhuang that Fang Yun had just arrived in the capital, so I hurried over. Let him sit aside to rest and eat something."
"That's right. Hongzhuang, you are also half a Chen family member. You should go to the second table to receive Fang Yun. Ceyu, you go to the third table."
"Yes." A Hanlin immediately left the table.
When Fang Yun saw the table, he said hurriedly, "I am just a scholar, I can just find a table at the door and sit down."
"If I say you are qualified to sit there, then you are qualified to sit there. Go ahead, or people will say that our Chen family is ignorant of etiquette." Chen Mingding said.
"Thank you, Mr. Chen." Fang Yun had no choice but to walk to the second table with Zhao Hongzhuang.
Sitting at the first table were the closest elders of the man and woman, and the two great scholars must have been there as well.
At the second table stood four university scholars, and the others were at least Hanlin scholars. No matter how close their relationship with the Chen family was, they were not qualified to sit at the second table because of their low academic status.
The people outside the yard heard it clearly and saw it clearly.
No one bothered the people from Kangshe anymore, but everyone looked at them with meaningful eyes, which made them feel very uncomfortable.
The young Duke sighed and said, "As expected of Fang Zhenguo, when he arrived, he simply outshined everyone else, not to mention us young people. Although I have some reservations in my heart, I have to admit that this person is extremely talented and worthy of sitting at the second table."
Mr. Zhuang's eyes moved, and he said, "Because it's a wedding banquet today, he can only sit at the second table. If it were any other banquet, he would definitely sit at the main table. Fang Yun's talent is the best in the ten countries, and he is a role model for our generation. I was just blinded by greed. If I had known it was him, I would never have said that."
"That makes sense. I will apologize to Fang Yun after he leaves the main hall." Yi Mingtian said.
The young Duke was stunned and said, "It's just a misunderstanding. Brother Mingtian doesn't need to apologize."
Yi Mingtian smiled and said, "It seems that Fang Yun doesn't like you."
The young Duke sighed helplessly and said, "Speaking of this, it is the fault of my Kangwang Mansion. I will confess to him in person when he comes out."
"Oh? What's that?"
The young Duke said, "Do you know that my father is preparing a gift for your father's canonization?"
"Understood." Yi Mingtian's expression softened.
"We still have a few loyal old dogs in our Kang Palace. When the head of the housekeeper found out, he ordered Steward Yu to go to Yuhai City, hoping to buy suitable treasures from the Dragon Palace. But... you also know that our Kang Palace is not on good terms with... the main owner, and there is some grudge between us and the Lei Family, so the Dragon Clan doesn't care about Steward Yu."
Yi Mingtian naturally knew that the real master was referring to the orthodox power of Jing State represented by the Queen Mother, and said: "I also know a little about your affairs with the Lei family. The Lei family is the first 'Dragon Merchant' in the Ten Countries. It is obviously a wealthy family, but it is no less than a semi-saint family."
"Captain Yu had no choice but to buy some longevity fruits as a gift when he heard that Dayuan Prefecture had longevity fruits. However, he didn't know that the longevity fruits were given to his friend by Fang Yun. Captain Yu was a fool to begin with, and he actually thought that Fang Yun didn't care about the longevity fruits. He forced Fang Yun to buy the fruits when he was taking the imperial examination, which offended Fang Yun. He was detained by the Dayuan Prefecture army and his legs were broken."
Everyone around was a smart person. After hearing this, most of them guessed that Guan Changyu must have tried to force Fang Yun to buy the ticket because he thought Fang Yun was going to be in trouble after Fang Yun gave up the exam. As a result, Fang Yun turned the tables and taught Guan Changyu a lesson.
Yi Mingtian nodded gently and said, "In that case, it is indeed the captain Yu who is wrong, but breaking his legs was a bit too much."
"That's right. If we don't break Guan Changyu's legs, we will naturally..."
A Hanlin suddenly snorted and said, "Young Duke, don't evade the important issues! I am on good terms with the governor of Jiangzhou, Gezhou. There are a few points in this matter that you deliberately didn't mention, so I will say them in public. First, the owner of the longevity fruit is half of Fang Yun's savior. In order to save others, he used his blood and loyalty to attack the Saint Clan Demon Turtle. Second, Guanzhang Yu threatened their family with that man's son. Third, Fang Yun asked Guanzhang Yu to leave, but Guanzhang Yu not only refused to leave, but also ridiculed Fang Yun for being a saint who could not save himself after crossing the river, and even threatened Fang Yun that 'the wind in the capital is strong'. If it were me, I would also break that bastard's legs!"
"He even wants to force the longevity fruit of the hero who killed the demon to buy it. He has completely lost the propriety, integrity, benevolence, justice and morality of a scholar! If Guan Chang Yu dares to be so rude in front of me, I will have him beaten to death!" said a burly man.
"Fang Yun is still too merciful. If it were me, I would at least break off another pair of his arms!"
The young duke's face flushed red, he never expected that someone would expose him on the spot. He was the son of King Kang and the duke of Jing State, equivalent to a second-rank official. His title was higher than Fang Yun's. He was completely humiliated by such an incident.
He could only cough lightly and said, "Thank you Lord Hao for reminding me. I was almost deceived by that Guanzhang Yu. If this is true, Fang Yun is indeed not at fault. I will personally apologize to Fang Yun. It is my fault that the Kangwang Mansion did not discipline its subordinates strictly."
"That's very good." An old scholar who was close to King Kang immediately praised.
The others knew that it was no longer convenient to pursue the matter further, so they stopped talking.
The little prince put his hands under the table and clenched them tightly. (To be continued...)