The whole audience stood up to welcome the two great scholars.
The white clouds quickly approached Yushan Mountain and then slowly descended.
Minister of Culture Jiang Hechuan still has his white hair scattered behind him, his white eyebrows are still as eye-catching, and his eyes are full of kindness.
The great scholar next to him was the opposite. He had jet-black hair and even fewer wrinkles on his skin than Jiang Hechuan. But if you looked at his eyes, you would feel that he was at least ten years older than Jiang Hechuan.
In his eyes, it seemed as if there were war flags fluttering and drums roaring, and a war was going on every moment.
His eyes were extremely cold, so cold that there was not a trace of emotion in them. The tens of thousands of people in front of him were no different from rocks in his eyes.
"Greetings, everyone!" Jiang Hechuan smiled and bowed to everyone.
"Greetings, Minister Wen Qiu!" Everyone quickly returned the greeting.
The moment Fang Yun lowered his head, he suddenly felt as if time was flowing backwards. He saw all the chrysanthemum petals or dogwood leaves scattered on the ground flying backwards along their original trajectories, and finally all fell back onto their original branches or calyxes.
Flowers fall and bloom again on Double Ninth Festival, and a word of peace in autumn brings spring.
Everyone looked up, looking at Jiang Hechuan with envy or admiration, and were all shocked by the power of the great scholar.
General Zhou Junhu, who was sweeping the petals all over the field with murderous intent, was even more convinced.
Jiang Hechuan stretched out his left hand, slid his wide sleeves lightly, and said, "This is the great scholar Nangong Leng of Wu State. He is passing through the capital and has come to enjoy the fun with us. Brother Nangong's poetry is ranked first among the great scholars. Today's poetry presentation at the Double Ninth Festival Literary Meeting is a great event for our Jing State."
Everyone bowed in unison again to greet each other.
"Meet the great scholar Nangong."
Nangong Leng nodded without saying a word. He glanced at the tens of thousands of people present, his gaze lingering on the faces of the woman in black veil, Fang Yun, Nunu and a few others for a moment, and soon returned to his previous expression.
The two great scholars fell under the Wentai, and disappeared after rising to prominence.
Lei Yuanting hurriedly said, "Nangong Master, please sit over here." He then gestured to the first table on the left, inviting them to sit.
Jiang Hechuan smiled and said, "Brother Nangong, please."
Nangong Leng nodded and sat at the first table on the left, and then Jiang Hechuan went to the first table on the right and sat down.
Everyone in the audience then took their seats.
After everyone was seated, Jiang Hechuan immediately turned to look at Fang Yun and asked, "Why doesn't Fang Zhenguo come to this table?"
Cao Dean said with a smile: "After you sit down, there is only one seat left at the first table. With such a beautiful lady, how could Fang Yun like to sit with old men like us?"
"That's right." Jiang Hechuan said with a smile.
The head of the Wei family, a wealthy family in the capital next to Fang Yun, stood up, walked over and chatted with Jiang Hechuan in a low voice for a few words, then walked onto the literary stage to preside over this grand Chongyang Literary Meeting.
After some opening remarks, the head of the Wei family raised a glass of amber dogwood wine and said, "The rise of the human race began with King Wen of Zhou and flourished with Confucius. Without Confucius, the human race would not be as prosperous as it is today. On this Double Ninth Festival, I raise my glass to pay tribute to Confucius."
"Cheers to Confucius!" everyone said respectfully. Even the children who did not drink alcohol held up small cups of water and drank from them like the adults.
"Respect to all the saints!"
"Three Respects Jingguo!"
"Four respects to all the elders!"
Finally, the head of the Wei family put down his cup and began to say some polite words about the Chongyang Literary Meeting. Then he asked everyone to eat and drink to fill their stomachs, and at the same time began to arrange for the literati who wanted to write poems at the meeting.
The little fox was originally sitting on Fang Yun's lap, and she also drank four small cups of dogwood wine, and after putting the cup on the table, she looked at Fang Yun with her hazy and charming little eyes, then cried softly, and hugged Fang Yun tightly.
Fang Yun smiled and touched its head, but it suddenly sniffed slightly. Its eyes rolled, and it jumped off Fang Yun's legs, swaying as if it was stepping on cotton and walking to Wen Xiang's feet.
Jiang Hechuan smiled and lowered his head. "Isn't this Nunu?"
The little fox nodded with a smile, then stood up and bowed to Jiang Hechuan.
Jiang Hechuan, as a great scholar, actually immediately bowed in return and said with a smile: "I also greet the little Nunu."
The little fox was so happy that she stood up and hugged Jiang Hechuan's legs, then stretched out her little paws and pointed at his waist.
Everyone looked over there curiously, but there was nothing there. However, Wen Xiang smiled and said, "Good little fox, are you interested in the things in my Hanhu Beili?"
Nunu covered his face with his other little paw and chuckled embarrassedly.
Jiang Hechuan reached out and touched the lake shells, took out some of his favorite fruits and asked, "Are these?"
The little fox shook his head repeatedly.
Jiang Hechuan suddenly realized and said, "I know what you want. You are such a picky person!"
“Oh oh…” Nunu still looked at Jiang Hechuan with a smile.
"It's just something prepared for making wine. It's nothing special. I'll let you try it." After Jiang Hechuan said this, he took out a small green fruit, only as big as a fingernail. It looked like a monkey head, emitting a faint light and a strange fragrance.
Fang Yun took a look and said hurriedly: "Nu Nu is back, that is the 'Monkey Head Divine Fruit' that the monkey demons in the demon world love the most, it is the raw material of the top Monkey God Wine, one piece is worth a thousand gold. If it is given to the semi-saint family of the farmer, one Monkey Head Divine Fruit can be brewed into a bottle of Huimeng Wine, which is second only to Monkey God Wine."
Nunu was slightly drunk. He turned his head and made a face at Fang Yun. Then he clasped his fists towards Jiang Hechuan, jumped lightly, bit the monkey-head fruit, and landed on the ground.
Nunu took a bite and then her body trembled from the sourness. Her little face curled up into a ball and her body leaned back involuntarily, and finally she fell on the ground with her four legs facing the sky.
"Hahaha… "
The people around laughed out loud, and Fang Yun laughed the loudest.
The monkey head fruit was very sour, but Nunu was reluctant to spit it out. She walked back while chewing it with a bitter face. Her face wrinkled with every step, which made Yang Yuhuan laugh so hard that she held her stomach.
Jiang Hechuan laughed loudly and said, "The unripe Monkey Head Divine Fruit is suitable for making wine because of its sourness. The ripe Monkey Head Divine Fruit is only suitable for making drinks to enhance one's mood."
However, Nunu seemed to particularly like the monkey head fruit. He even endured the sourness and kept chewing it. Finally, he jumped back onto Fang Yun's legs, lay down comfortably, burped, showed a satisfied smile, and fell asleep with his eyes closed.
Fang Yun scratched Nunu's little chin, and it whimpered a few times and then continued to sleep.
Jiang Hechuan said: "This thing makes people drunk but does not hurt people, it's fine."
Fang Yun said: "Thank you, Lord Wen Xiang, for the reward. I am too willful."
Jiang Hechuan smiled and said, "This was given to me by an old friend. Since it can smell it, it is predestined. It is just a fruit. We humans cannot brew Monkey God Wine, so one more or one less does not matter. However, I really hope to get a glass of Monkey God Wine... No, one sip is enough!"
Fang Yun nodded and said, "Even Huimeng Niang is extremely precious, not to mention the Monkey God Wine. If you get a pot of Monkey God Wine, you can truly have a dream. It is a rare treasure in the demon world, more precious than the longevity fruit."
"It is said that the great scholar Ji Kang, who loved drinking, hid in the demon world for five years before he got half a pot of Monkey God Wine. Later, the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove shared half a pot. They shouted that they had no regrets in their life. If they don't drink this wine, they will regret it for the rest of their lives." Jiang Hechuan felt extremely regretful.
"There are also rumors that Tao Yuanming's sacred literary treasure 'Xanadu' was actually for the purpose of brewing good wine. After all, Tao Yuanming's love of wine is well known."
Everyone laughed.
Everyone was eating, drinking and chatting, and the atmosphere of the banquet gradually became lively.
Not long after, Wei Yuhuang came over and handed Fang Yun a piece of red cardboard with a black word "文" written on the front and a number on the back. It was number 75.
Wei Yuhuang whispered, "The Chongyang Literary Festival is different from other literary festivals. All the elites of the capital gather here. Not everyone is qualified to participate in the literary festival. Our Wei family has selected seventy-four people. Most of them are people with a certain reputation in poetry and prose. If someone insists on going, we will ask them to hand in their previous poems. There are twelve such people. You are the seventy-fifth person, of course. You can also choose to be the first to appear."
"I'm not the last one, am I?" Fang Yun said.
"The literary meeting card we gave to Nangong Daru didn't have a serial number on the back."
"He can choose any time to participate in the literary meeting?"
"Yes. After all, the other party is a great scholar. No matter how the division is made, there will always be people gossiping. So it is up to him to decide. You don't seem happy?" Wei Yuhuang was a little nervous, fearing that he would anger Fang Yun at this time. If the Chongyang Literary Meeting failed, the reputation of the Wei family would face a major blow.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "I admire Nangong Daru's military achievements very much. A pillar of the human race like him, who holds a high position, must be treated with preferential treatment! The more capable one is, the more he should be rewarded! Don't worry, I won't have any objections."
"Thank you, Lord Wenhou, for your understanding. We will start the literary meeting right away."
Two quarters of an hour later, when the sun was high in the sky and everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, the head of the Wei family once again stepped onto the stage.
The autumn breeze blows gently, blowing away the midday heat.
On the red carpeted stage, the head of the Wei family announced the specific rules of the literary gathering with eloquence, and then invited the top five scholars to write poems.
Fang Yun listened carefully and found out that the poetry and prose for the Chongyang Literary Meeting was written by groups of five people on stage. The person with the worst poem in each group would leave directly, while the works of the remaining four people could be recited by the head of the Wei family.
After the head of the Wei family finishes reciting, the second to fourth people will leave, and then the head of the Wei family will invite a Hanlin or university scholar to appreciate the poem of the person ranked first, indirectly helping this person to become famous.
The prizes of the literary gathering are only given to the top three, but fifteen out of seventy-five people can get comments and appreciation from famous experts. In the eyes of many people, these fifteen places are more important.
For most literati, this is probably the best opportunity to become famous in their lifetime.
The remaining seventy-four people had been arranged to one side of the desk. Fang Yun looked there and thought they would wait quietly, but he saw four of them with sad faces, begging others in a humbly and even flattering manner.
Fang Yun was not far from there and felt strange, so he listened carefully.
"My dear brothers, if you help me with this big favor today, I will repay you with all my heart in the future!"
"Five thousand taels! No more. My family is not famous. If I ask my grandmother for help, I can only give this much. No more!"
"Don't listen to them. My father is an eighth-rank civil servant in the prefectural government office in the capital. If you help me this time, I will owe you a favor! I swear on my courage!"
"Everyone, I was fifth in the imperial examination two years ago! Can you bear to see me win nothing in this literary gathering? I will be able to be a prefect in twenty years! Helping me today is the same as helping yourselves! I beg you! If I were in the same group with Fang Yun, I would not have the opportunity to receive comments and appreciation from famous experts!"
Fang Yun finally understood why the four people begged so hard, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. (To be continued...)