There are tens of thousands of people living in Jingguo Academy, which is like a small city and is very lively even at night.
The outer dormitory area is like an ordinary two-story inn, densely packed together, with four people sleeping in each room. Various sounds can be heard one after another, including some chatting, reading, grinding their teeth, snoring, talking in their sleep, etc.
If there are people grinding their teeth, snoring, talking in their sleep and sleepwalking in the same room at the same time, it will definitely become a scene in the academy, and there will be a constant stream of new students coming to visit at night.
If there is a phenomenon of multiple people talking in their sleep, there will definitely be many more "eavesdroppers" on the next night.
The people in the outer dormitory are the closest and most lively, but also the most antagonistic and indifferent, just like those outside the academy.
The houses in the inner house are similar to those in the outer house, except that only one person lives in each house.
The people who live here are the most polite. Once they gather together, it is extremely lively, but it quickly becomes quiet after they disperse.
The Shangshe area is a series of independent courtyards with green grass and bamboo outside the courtyards and rockery and flowing water inside the courtyards, which are elegant and unique.
The ten upper houses are always bustling.
Each upper dormitory is a symbol of the academy, a holy place for students, and a banner of the academy.
If the people from the ten upper houses unite, they can even usher in a new era for Jingguo.
It is better to stay in school for three years than to be the top scholar in your lifetime - this is the most common saying heard by students at Jingguo Academy.
The seating arrangements for people of the same literary rank in Jing State were not based on official rank or age, but on the residences they lived in in the Jing State Academy.
If you don’t enter Jingguo Academy, or have never studied in Confucius Academy or Shengyuan, you can only be at the end.
This is true in all countries. If a low-ranking official leaves a high-ranking official speechless at a dinner table, it is often because the former's residence ranked higher in rank back then.
Shangshe is the farthest dream that an ordinary student in a country can see.
The carriage slowly slowed down and Zhao Hongzhuang stuck her head out of the window on the other side.
"You all misunderstood. The three-point residence is to encourage us to strive for the top ten residences. We don't think Fang Wenhou is not qualified to live in the upper residences, but we think Fang Wenhou should participate in Lingyan Pavilion with us."
"Don't flatter him here! Passing the Lingyan Pavilion is not an ordinary literary competition. It is not just about writing ordinary poems and essays. Even if Fang Zhenguo is a genius, he can't surpass those Jinshi without honing his skills for a year or two. He is not qualified to live in Shangshe!"
"Nonsense! Fang Yun has made great contributions to the Kingdom of Jing and the human race. His poetry and prose are the best among all the scholars of the time... No, the best among all the scholars of all time!"
"How ridiculous! You Ming Society people praise Fang Yun to the skies on a daily basis, so why don't you dare let him enter the Lingyan Pavilion?"
"Despicable! He is just a new student in the imperial court and has never even seen the Lingyan Pavilion. How can we let him pass?"
"The residence is originally based on the Lingyan Pavilion ranking. Since he can't enter the top ten of the Lingyan Pavilion of Jingguo Academy, he naturally shouldn't be in the upper residence! If he doesn't have a Wen Palace, can he be called a Tongsheng? If he doesn't have a fluent speech, can he be called a Juren? You people can't distinguish between public and private. You seem upright, but you are actually filthy!"
"That's right! The people of Shangshe will lead our country to participate in the Imperial Academy's literary competition. Fang Yun is just a Juren. How can he compare with the people from the other nine countries and the Confucius Academy? In the past, there was Gu Kingdom after our Jing Kingdom. Do you want our Jing Kingdom to be at the bottom of the Imperial Academy's literary competition this year?"
The door of the first dormitory suddenly became quiet, and even those who supported Fang Yun were speechless.
"Alas... I believe that if Fang Yun continues to hone his skills for another two years, he will surely shine in the academy's literary competition. He will allow my Jingguo Academy to enter the top three, but he is still young. Letting him live in the upper dormitory will do him more harm than good."
"That's wrong. Yi Zhishi can be said to be the best in the past hundred years. Even the four great talents could not suppress him. He led the Wu Kingdom Academy to challenge the top of the ten kingdoms many times, but he failed in the end. He was defeated by Qi Kingdom, Shu Kingdom or Confucius Mansion Academy in turn. The academy's literary competition does not rely on the strength of one person, but the strength of the whole country, relying on many people working together. No matter how high one person's score is, he can only get ten points. No matter how low one person's score is, he can only get five points. Even if Fang Yun is the incarnation of Wenquxing, he can't get eleven points. What can he do in the end?"
"Well, let's just concentrate on studying. When Fang Yun becomes a Jinshi in the future, I hope to have the opportunity to participate in the imperial academy literary competition with him and try not to drag him down. I won't dream of being the first, but I will be satisfied if I can be among the top three in the eleven academies."
"Fang Yun shouldn't be in the first dormitory."
"Eh? Isn't that the Grand Princess' car?"
Fang Yun and Zhao Hongzhuang retracted their heads at the same time and smiled at each other.
"Get out of the car." Fang Yun got off first.
Zhao Hongzhuang's eyes moved. She thought Fang Yun's behavior was a bit rude, but then she smiled calmly. No one is perfect, so there is no need to worry about such unimportant details.
Zhao Hongzhuang opened the door curtain and was about to get off the carriage, but she found Fang Yun standing by the shaft, raising his arm to signal Zhao Hongzhuang to hold him.
A blush crossed Zhao Hongzhuang's face, and she almost wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. Her little heart moved slightly, but she quickly calmed down. She looked at Fang Yun with an exceptionally gentle gaze.
Fang Yun's arm was unusually steady. Zhao Hongzhuang placed her hand on it and slowly got out of the carriage. She couldn't help but think of how she had jumped off the carriage in front of Chen's house before. She didn't expect that Fang Yun would be so considerate.
Thinking of the word "thoughtful", Zhao Hongzhuang's heart beat faster again.
"Thank you Fang Wenhou."
Fang Yun put away his arms, then walked towards the students with Zhao Hongzhuang.
"But the Princess and Marquis Fang Wen?" someone asked loudly.
"It's me and Hong Zhuang." Fang Yun clasped his fists to everyone.
Regardless of their previous stances, dozens of people on the opposite side all bowed to Fang Yun at this moment. Some of them were extremely happy, some were flattered, and some were flustered and looked frightened.
Zhao Hongzhuang restrained her smile and said loudly: "Master Jiang ordered Fang Yun to enter the upper residence, which is what the people of Jingguo want. If there is dissatisfaction, you can ring the Master's bell nearby, beat the palace drum in the middle, or ask for the emperor's judgment from afar. A group of old students in the academy gathered in front of the new students and shouted for fighting and killing. You have lost all the face of scholars!"
Those who opposed Fang Yun lowered their heads in shame. People from other places might look down on Zhao Hongzhuang, but no one in the academy dared to be rude to her, not because she was a princess, but because Zhao Hongzhuang was admitted to the inner quarters without any talent!
It is well known among the students of Jingguo Academy that if Zhao Hongzhuang had talent, she would definitely be one of the ten best dormitories.
"Senior Zhuzhen is right." A scholar sincerely admitted his mistake.
But one person mustered up his courage and said, "According to the Lingyan Pavilion, it is the custom of the Ten Kingdoms to choose a residence, and Fang Yun cannot break it."
Zhao Hongzhuang lowered her eyelids slightly and asked, "Why, does anyone want to use the 'Zheng Shang She' on the other party?"
The man trembled with fear and whispered, "I dare not."
"If you don't dare, then shut up! Go find someone who dares! How could such a great country like Jing produce such trash like you? You criticize others with the tongue of a saint, but when it comes to your turn, you retreat like a turtle. Get out!" Zhao Hongzhuang held her chest high, put her left arm behind her waist, and glared at the students.
"Junior takes his leave." Those who opposed Fang Yun left in disgrace.
The others also seemed to be a little afraid of Zhao Hongzhuang and left one after another.
"Since Fang Wenhou is fine, we will take our leave."
"It's only natural that Fang Zhenguo should live here."
…
Fang Yun looked at Zhao Hongzhuang curiously. He didn't expect that this princess had such a domineering side. She could actually scold the best students of Jing Kingdom and make them look humiliated. If she didn't have enough ability and prestige, she would never be able to do it.
After those people left, Zhao Hongzhuang turned to look at Fang Yun and smiled, "Why are you looking at me?"
"Your Highness the Princess is majestic." Fang Yun said with a smile.
"You're not serious!" Zhao Hongzhuang smiled coquettishly, her eyes wandering.
The door of the first dormitory opened and a head popped out. Fang Daniu looked at Fang Yun, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Master, you are finally back. The students in the capital are so vicious. I am scared to death..."
As Fang Daniu was talking, he saw two shadows, one white and one silver, rushing out of the door. The little fox climbed up along Fang Yun's robe, and finally squatted on Fang Yun's shoulder, first rubbing Fang Yun's neck with its head, and then looked at Zhao Hongzhuang. He tilted his head, as if recalling something.
"Nunu, do you still remember me?" Zhao Hongzhuang asked.
The little fox nodded hesitantly, then looked at Zhao Hongzhuang's hand.
Fang Yun and Zhao Hongzhuang laughed together. Zhao Hongzhuang said, "I didn't bring you any snacks today, but I will definitely bring you lots of delicious food tomorrow."
The little fox immediately smiled, jumped onto Zhao Hongzhuang's shoulder and rubbed her, then jumped back onto Fang Yun's shoulder.
The door of the first house was opened, and the palace lady-in-waiting Lan, Yang Yuhuan and others came out together.
"Welcome to the Grand Princess." All the women bowed and knelt.
"Don't be polite when I come here in the future. Yuhuan!" Zhao Hongzhuang walked towards Yang Yuhuan with brisk steps, and then the two of them walked into the house hand in hand, talking and laughing softly from time to time, like the sound of silver bells.
The two men forgot Fang Yun outside the door.
Nunu gently swept his big tail, Fang Yun turned his head and saw that Nunu's eyes were full of pity.
Fang Yun stretched out his hand and pinched her nose, and said with a smile: "You don't need to pity me, I am the head of the family!"
"Oh, oh." Nunu shook his head, looking reluctant, and patted Fang Yun's hand with his little paws to comfort him.
"Let you be naughty!" Fang Yun said as he held Nunu in his arms and tickled it.
“Oh, oh, oh, oh…” Nunu rolled around desperately in Fang Yun’s arms, laughing non-stop.
The little meteor circled around Fang Yun for a few circles and then flew straight into Fang Yun's arms, as if it also wanted to play with Fang Yun. Fang Yun slapped the little meteor against the wall, then carried the little fox into the room.
The little meteor flew over angrily and spun around Fang Yun quickly, trying to seek justice, but was slapped away by Fang Yun again.
After a while, the little meteor flew over and followed Fang Yun obediently.
Fang Daniu walked over quickly and handed over a large wooden box, which was full of letters and invitations and was a foot high.
"Master, these are the invitations for today. I didn't expect that there would be so many in just half a night. I'm afraid there will be even more tomorrow." Fang Daniu said.
Fang Yun took the wooden box and flipped through it. Most of the letters were invitations to literary gatherings at the academy, followed by invitations to literary gatherings of various families, and there were more than ten visiting cards.
Fang Yun sighed helplessly. There were more wealthy families in the capital than in other states combined. Most of the elites of Jing Kingdom gathered here. In the future, the number of invitations and visiting cards would only increase, not decrease. The accumulated amount would be enough to last a winter.
"Well, go get busy first."
Fang Yun glanced around the house.
The school building is not as big as a mansion. It only has a courtyard, but it is very large. There is a small flower bed in the courtyard. There are two-story wooden buildings on the east, west and north sides. Such a large place cannot be bought in the capital without 40,000 taels of silver. The housing price is seven or eight times that of Dayuan Mansion.
"The academy candidate is here to see Fang Wenhou. My friend is in trouble, and I have a long history with Fang Wenhou. I have no choice but to disturb him." A voice sounded outside the door. (To be continued...)