Only after Nangong Leng flew away did everyone come to their senses.
Right Prime Minister Cao De'an looked at the left seat, held up the ink dragon brush washer in his right hand, held the dragon's blood inkstone in his left hand, and said, "You two, can you give it to Fang Yun?"
"Hmph!" Tong Luan grunted heavily, and without waiting for the Chongyang Literary Gathering to end, he left his seat and hurried down the mountain.
As the second-in-command of the Ministry of War, Minister Tong had many followers. Five or six scholars dressed in white robes and sword suits immediately followed him. Then people from the second and first floors followed Tong Luan down the mountain. Together with their family members, there were more than a hundred people in total.
Jian Ming looked at the Mo Jiao Pen Washer with a pale face. Losing a Hanlin literary treasure was nothing. At most he could just leave like Tong Luan. But his fourth uncle had already said that if he lost the Mo Jiao Pen Washer, he would not be allowed to enter the Jian family.
This means that he will be expelled from the main family and demoted to a side branch.
Jian Ming sat in the chair silently without saying a word.
The young Duke stepped back slightly, away from Jian Ming, but soon approached him again, sighed, and isolated himself from the surroundings with his literary courage, and whispered: "Brother Jian, don't be discouraged. No matter what, I will treat you as a good friend. Fang Yun may win temporarily, but not forever. You still have a chance!"
Jian Ming nodded and said nothing.
The young Duke walked to Lei Yuanting, who was staring at the table in a daze, and also used his literary courage to isolate the people around him, saying: "Brother Lei, there is a misunderstanding between our Kangwang Mansion and the Lei family, and I shouldn't have said anything. But don't be discouraged, the Dragon Clan will never fall, and your Lei family will never fall. Why do this for a Dragon Ascending Stone? What's more, the head of the Lei family is extremely wise. I'm afraid he has guessed that Nangong Daru might give up the literary pressure on Fang Yun, so he wants Fang Yun to win twice. Fang Yun will definitely lose in Lingyan Pavilion next! We always have a chance! Although Fang Yun is incredibly talented, he doesn't have three heads and six arms, and he is not from a big family. He lacks the foundation, and he can't make a single mistake! Once he makes a wrong step, he will be doomed."
"Hmph. Since it's not your Dragon-ascending Stone, of course you don't care." Lei Yuanting said.
As soon as the young Duke saw Lei Yuanting speak, he knew that his aversion to the Kang Palace was at least lower than Fang Yun's, so he smiled and said, "How dare we, the Kang Palace, compete with your Lei family. Even if the number of places for the human race to ascend the Dragon Platform this year is higher than in previous years, it will not exceed ten. Not to mention our Kang Palace, no one in the entire Jing Kingdom can get it. What's more, how can a mere scholar like him guard the Lei family's Dragon Stone?"
"Oh?" Lei Yuanting raised his head and looked at the young duke carefully. He didn't expect that this handsome duke, whose voice sounded like that of a young boy, actually discovered the key.
The young duke smiled and said, "You probably already know. Even if he wins the Dragon Stone, so what? A Dragon Stone can create a genius in a family. The Lei family's Dragon Stone is even more extraordinary, and it can even add another great scholar! Those powerful saintly families don't care, but those declining families can't help but covet it. They may want to exchange it fairly with Fang Yun, but we just need to fan the flames a little..."
"That's right. The saintly families have the power to pardon sins. For a great scholar, a declining family would not only offend Fang Yun, but even if they offended a living semi-saint, it would not be a big deal. As long as they did not violate the iron law of the Saint Academy, the semi-saint would only suppress them slightly. Especially those families that are close to the sub-saints or even the Confucius family, ordinary semi-saints can do nothing to them. Besides, a semi-saint will not live more than 200 years. For example, Chen... cough, this guy from Jingguo, no one is afraid of him anymore."
A trace of panic flashed in the eyes of the young Duke. A semi-saint is not an ordinary scholar. Even if the name of a semi-saint is mentioned quietly from hundreds of thousands of miles away, it will be sensed. If there is a desire to kill a semi-saint, even if the name is not mentioned, it will be exposed.
The Kangwang Mansion is the third largest force in Jing State and seems powerful. If Chen Guanhai takes action, he can uproot the Kangwang Mansion immediately.
Without a noble family, you will always be just a vassal.
Lei Yuanting smiled slightly and said, "Speaking of the misunderstanding between the Lei family and the Kang Palace, it is a grudge between the older generation. We young people don't need to care too much. I heard that you are quite famous for your literary talent. Today, Kang Society will definitely hold a literary gathering. Can I have the honor to participate?"
The young Duke was overjoyed and said excitedly: "If Brother Lei can participate in the Kang Society's literary gathering, our Kang Society will flourish and will surely suppress the arrogance of the Liufeng Society!"
Lei Yuanting looked hesitant.
The young Duke hurriedly said, "This is a friendship between you and me. It has nothing to do with Prime Minister Liu, the Qing Kingdom, and the Xun Family."
"Well, I'll go take a look, but I can't stay long."
"That's enough, that's enough!"
The two smiled at each other, but there seemed to be something hidden behind their smiles.
Jian Ming, who was standing aside, looked at the young Duke, a hint of anger flashed across his face. The Jian family had the closest relationship with the Kang Palace, but as soon as he left the host family, the young Duke had lost his former enthusiasm. He only said one sentence to him, but was getting along very well with Lei Yuanting.
"Fang Yun!" Jian Ming turned his head and looked at Fang Yun. Being forced by Fang Yun to be demoted from the main family to the side branch was an irreconcilable hatred.
The winner had been decided. Amid the cheers of the crowd, the head of the Wei family gave the prize of this literary gathering to Fang Yun. It was a set of the four treasures of the study used by the emperor, the top-level tribute, and Fang Yun only got two sets.
Many scholars looked at them with envy. Although these four treasures of the study were not literary treasures, they could not be bought with money. Generally, only Hanlin scholars would occasionally receive a set as a reward, and putting them in the home was a symbol of status.
Fang Yun put away the four imperial study treasures and walked down the desk. Cao De'an handed the ink dragon brush washer and borneol inkstone to Fang Yun.
"This brush washer is a treasure of the Hanlin Academy. You cannot use it now as a juren, but you can use it after you become a jinshi. However, although you cannot exert the power of the ink dragon brush washer now, you can accumulate the power of the brush washer. You are incredibly talented and your talent is strong. Even if you write carelessly, the ink left over is much stronger than that of ordinary people, enough to make the ink dragon inside continue to grow stronger."
"Thank you Mr. Cao for the reminder." Fang Yun did not call him Right Prime Minister.
Cao Dean smiled happily and continued, "This dragon's blood inkstone is even more extraordinary. If someone else gets the dragon's blood inkstone, they should ask for help from the Semi-Saint family and put it in the Semi-Saint's residence, former residence or literary world for refining. However, your achievements are limitless, and you have a good relationship with the dragon clan. I'm afraid you will get a better inkstone in more than ten years at most. It's not worth asking the Semi-Saint family to spend several years refining it. So, don't be reluctant to use it like others, you should keep using it and use the dragon's blood inkstone to nourish the ink dragon."
"The students understand." Fang Yun said.
"People tend to nag when they get old. Okay, go back and sit down." Cao De'an said with a smile.
Minister of Culture Jiang Hechuan kept looking at Fang Yun with a smile.
Fang Yun stood there and looked at Jiang Hechuan seriously, and said, "Cai He County Magistrate has been with you for quite some time, right?"
"His father is an old farmhand in my family. He went to Jiang Family School with other children in the family since he was young. He was my student when he started studying."
"No wonder I felt that your action of snatching the national poem was somewhat familiar. Fortunately, you are a great scholar and you have to save face. If you had encountered this poem when you were a university scholar, you would probably have snatched it and ran away, and would never have exhibited it in the academy." Fang Yun said.
"Alas, I should have been born twenty years later." Jiang Hechuan sighed.
The people around laughed. (To be continued...)