The two played Go for two hours before it ended, and Zhao Hongzhuang won all the games. But starting from the second game, Zhao Hongzhuang went all out, and Fang Yun lost in the middle game, but each game lasted a little longer than the previous one.
After the last game of chess, Zhao Hongzhuang asked Fang Yun for pen and paper, listed Fang Yun's shortcomings and advantages in chess one by one, and then gave him careful guidance without holding back.
Fang Yun listened carefully, nodded and smiled occasionally. He actually had a vague sense of many things, but after all, he lacked experience. With just a little guidance from Zhao Hongzhuang, he suddenly realized everything.
Finally, Zhao Hongzhuang said, "Just reading chess manuals is not enough, and just playing chess is not enough either. The advice from the seniors may not be that great, but if you can understand the advice from the seniors, then you will avoid many detours. Your current problem is that you have more skills than principles, and you have the skills but not the hands. As long as you practice diligently and have someone to guide you, you will surely make great progress."
"Teacher Hongzhuang is right." Fang Yun said.
"Stop it! You don't look like a person who respects his teacher!" Zhao Hongzhuang rolled her eyes at Fang Yun.
Fang Yun said: "I am very curious about your master."
"Although I was young, I always followed my brother to learn. I learned everything he learned. Except for governing a country, I am not as good as him. I am not inferior to him in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry and classics. As for my teachers, you can find out by looking up the imperial teachers of previous years."
Fang Yun smiled and said, "No need to check, I remember them all. The worst one is a Grand Secretary. The last Minister of Literature taught the late emperor, and the current Minister Jiang has also taught him. With them teaching you, you will naturally be extraordinary."
"Then I'll teach you how to draw!"
Fang Yun put away the Wenbao Go board, and the two walked to the desk, where Zhao Hongzhuang began to teach Fang Yun how to paint.
There are two types of painting: meticulous painting and freehand painting. Detailed painting is easier to combine with talent, so it is popular in Shengyuan Continent.
"How much do you know about painting?"
"I already know all the knowledge of painting recorded in books. What I lack is only the specific painting techniques." Fang Yun said.
"Oh? You are indeed a mad king. Then let me test you. How many paintings has Chen Tuogong, a master of the fourth realm of painting, published?"
Fang Yun's talent moved slightly. His mind raced, and a large number of books flew around in the world of strange books. After ten breaths, Fang Yun said, "Before his painting path entered the first realm, his works could not be verified, but there were records of 230 paintings being traded, exhibited, or collected. After his painting path entered the first realm, there were a total of 1,322 paintings recorded in books from ten countries. Among them, 340 paintings were placed in the academies of literature, the palaces of learning, or the holy academies of various countries. There were 457 paintings whose owners were clear, and the Dragon Palace..."
"Stop! Are you... telling the truth?" Zhao Hongzhuang looked at Fang Yun as if he were a monster.
Fang Yun said calmly: "The Jingguo Academy has three paintings in its collection, namely "Noisy Spring", "Flying Peng" and "Chongsheng Street Scene". The royal family has collected two of his war paintings, one is "Western Expedition" and the other is "Revenge of the Barbarian King". Of course, there may be private collections that I don't know about. In addition..."
Zhao Hongzhuang showed a frustrated look and said, "Okay, I admit defeat. I admit that you know everything about painting! What I have to do now is to turn what you know into the real art of painting! Don't worry. I will never test you again in the future!"
"I heard that you also collected a painting he made when he was a Jinshi, titled 'Girl Looking at the River'?"
Zhao Hongzhuang sighed and said, "You won. You even know this. I don't know where you learned this from."
"It's recorded in the book the Queen Mother gave me." Fang Yun said.
"Start listening to the class!" Zhao Hongzhuang said loudly and seriously.
Fang Yun smiled.
An hour passed. Zhao Hongzhuang stared at Fang Yun seriously and said, "You must be lying to me! I have seen and heard of many geniuses in painting. They have superhuman abilities in many aspects, or have superb comprehension. Or their paintings are full of spirit, or their strokes are extremely steady. Only you. Half an hour ago, you couldn't even draw the basic lines accurately, but now you are extremely accurate. Not to mention the artistic conception, just the length, width and thickness of each stroke can be used as a model."
Fang Yun pointed to his head and said, "If you remember everything like me, maybe you can do it too."
"Maybe. But you're improving so fast that once I find out what's wrong, you almost never make the same mistake in your next painting."
"I'm very focused." Fang Yun said.
"You are indeed a role model for scholars. After the Double Ninth Festival Literary Festival is over, you can enter the Lingyan Pavilion on the tenth day of the second day. With your ability, you can probably pass the third pavilion and fully meet the standards of the inner house. After a year, you may be able to pass the seventh pavilion."
"Well, I will spend the next few days preparing for Lingyan Pavilion. As for the Chongyang Literary Festival, I will just let it happen naturally. Why did that great scholar Nangong come here?"
Zhao Hongzhuang said: "It is said that the Lei family invited him to do something on the tenth day of September, so he came to Yushan in the capital on the ninth day of September."
"In other words, although the Lei family and King Kang are not on good terms, they are indirectly joining forces to deal with me?"
"It seems to be the case at the moment. The Lei family... Alas, even the royal family of our Jing Kingdom can't afford to offend them. Even ordinary semi-saint families will inevitably be in trouble if they offend the Lei family." Zhao Hongzhuang said.
"It doesn't matter. If the enemy comes, we will fight him. If the water comes, we will block it. If my poems are not well written, the great scholar Nangong will at most criticize me for not writing poems with my heart. If I can't even bear this little responsibility or setback, how can I set foot on the holy path?"
"That's good of you to think so. By the way, although there are many people who support you in the Jingguo Academy, there are also many who are jealous and hostile to you. People from the two factions of Zuo Xiang and King Kang will not be on good terms with you, and these two people happen to have a pivotal position in Jingguo. There are 30,000 students in the academy, and at least 5,000 of them have some relationship with these two people."
"Why are there so many?" Fang Yun said.
"Their children and nephews are one of them, and the academies they or their children and nephews founded in the past also play an important role. They have been trying their best to win them over, but fortunately many students have backbone and will not be tempted by their small favors. Most students still have their hearts towards Jingguo and the human race."
"One out of every six people is my enemy. This academy is much more troublesome than Jiangzhou."
Zhao Hongzhuang smiled and said, "People from Liushan or King Kang account for a higher proportion in the inner and upper dormitories. Among the ten upper dormitories, three are their people. Among them is Ji Zhibai, who has the highest chance of becoming the top scholar this year. Although he has not returned to the sixth dormitories for many days, his student status is still in the Jingguo Academy. He will not leave the academy until he is officially awarded an official position. The 'Liufeng Society' he belongs to was founded by Liushan himself, and it is the second largest society in the Jingguo Academy today."
"The first university society in the academy is the 'Guanhai Society' founded by Chen Sheng, right?"
"Of course. With Chen Sheng's golden signboard, Guanhai Society will never fail."
"Ji Zhibai has a good reputation and is very successful in Ning'an County. He is the top scholar this year. When will this year's palace examination end?"
"It will definitely end before the first day of December, but the human race has changed too much this year. The Wenqu Star is moving and the Wenqu Star is shining. Many things have changed because of this, so the time of this palace examination is uncertain."
"Yeah. It's already evening, let's have a quick meal together."
Zhao Hongzhuang nodded, stood up and walked out with Fang Yun, saying as they walked, "You don't have to do anything else tonight, just looking at the invitation and visiting card is enough."
"I'm helpless! I can only refuse on the grounds that I'm passing through Lingyan Pavilion." Fang Yun shook his head.
After dinner, Fang Yunyun took Zhao Hongzhuang away, and then began to look through the invitations or visiting cards helplessly, and replied quickly with a written reply.
If it were someone who has been famous for a long time, they would definitely let their servants screen them, pick out those who have low status and shallow connections, and let the servants give polite replies, but Fang Yun did not do that.
There is no one in the world who is born noble.
However, not all of these invitations and visiting cards were well-intentioned. Fang Yun treated those that were upright, debated honestly, criticized in good faith, etc. with courtesy. But as for those that were fawning and currying favor with him, attacked him maliciously, or tried to step on him to get to the top, Fang Yun simply threw away. These people were not worth wasting any time on.
After replying to all the invitations and replies, Fang Yun carried the entire box to Fang Daniu's bedroom.
"You can deliver these slowly and get familiar with the roads in the capital."
Fang Daniu almost cried.
In the following days, Fang Yun did not formally enter the academy to study, but asked Zhao Hongzhuang to teach him painting and chess every day. He spent the rest of his time practicing the contents tested in the Lingyan Pavilion.
Zhao Hongzhuang comes every day and brings a lot of palace cakes and fruits. Nunu’s main task every day now is to eat, and then bask in the sun with his round belly. Little Meteor stays by his side like a lackey.
After basking in the sun, Nunu continued to eat, and at night, he basked in the moonlight.
Zhao Hongzhuang was proficient in zither, chess, calligraphy and painting. After teaching Fang Yun, she went to teach Yang Yuhuan and often played zither and harp with Yang Yuhuan. On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Yang Yuhuan and Zhao Hongzhuang entered the palace and met the empress dowager.
Ever since returning from the palace, Yang Yuhuan has been muttering and praising the Empress Dowager. Everyone, including Fang Yun, is so tired of hearing it that their ears are callused. Only Nunu has been listening the whole time, but she is often distracted.
The Double Ninth Festival on September 9th is coming soon.
Most literary gatherings were held at night, but in the Ten Kingdoms there was a custom of climbing high places on the Double Ninth Festival, and literary gatherings on the Double Ninth Festival in various places were held at noon.
Early in the morning, Fang Yun and Yang Yuhuan left Jingguo Academy in a carriage and headed for Yushan.
There are five small mountains near the capital city where literary gatherings are held simultaneously. However, only the one on Yushan Mountain has the highest standards. Each time, it is presided over by at least one great scholar. The great scholar attends the gathering not for the sake of the literary gathering, but for the sake of the elders who participate in it.
The Double Ninth Festival is also the Senior Citizens' Day. Many elderly literati in the capital would be invited to Yushan. Generally speaking, the king would also participate, but the king was still young, so an uncle had to take his place.
Along the way, Fang Yun received many letters.
"Be careful of the great scholar Nangong. This man either won't do it, or if he does, he will definitely stick to his holy path. I have seen this man before, and he will show no mercy to anyone who stands in his way, even if they are heroes of the human race. Back then, when he was discussing the Dao in the Holy Academy, he severely injured two great scholars in succession!" Yan Yukong sent a letter.
"It's nothing to be patient. I have been patient since I met you! By the way, if you meet any of our clan members in the future, you'd better stay away from them. My eldest brother... What a tragedy."
Fang Yun smiled knowingly after reading Zong Wude's letter. He already knew about Zong Wuyuan's affairs. It seemed that he had avoided punishment in the Tianyi recitation. Although he did not dare to attack him again, he kept inciting the scholars of Qing State. It was said that he had a close relationship with Juwen Pavilion. (To be continued...)