The setting sun shines on the earth, adding a touch of gold to the chrysanthemums, making them even more brilliant.
After handing out the prizes, Minister of Culture Jiang Hechuan stood up and toasted everyone. After that, the venue entered the **, and tens of thousands of people toasted and chatted, making it very lively.
After drinking for only a quarter of an hour, Jiang Hechuan and other senior officials went to the seat where the old man was sitting to toast. Then the Hanlin or above people present left one after another. Their status was too high, and each of them had a lot of affairs to deal with.
The young and middle-aged people from each family are still here, and the Double Ninth Festival Literary Festival is still lively.
Yang Yuhuan was drunk after drinking three cups, while Nunu had been snoring after eating the magical monkey-head fruit, and her whole body was emitting a strong smell of alcohol. The smell of alcohol she emitted was not intoxicating, but rather particularly sweet, and was extremely comfortable to inhale into the nose.
Fang Yun was chatting with several family heads at the same table when he heard someone behind him say, "Lord Wenhou, I would like to toast you."
The name sounded familiar to Fang Yun, and when he turned around, he saw that it was Chang Dongyun, a Jinshi who was also studying in the academy and had visited him once at Shangshe.
Chang Dongyun's face was slightly flushed, his eyes were clear and he was in high spirits.
Fang Yun stood up, raised his glass with a smile, and said, "Then let's have a drink with Brother Dongyun to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival together."
The two men did not clink their glasses, but instead pushed them forward slightly and then took them back to drink.
After finishing a glass, Chang Dongyun left and Fang Yun continued to sit down. After chatting for a few words, more than ten people came to toast him. It turned out that they were students from Jiangzhou who were studying at the academy. There were even members of the Lishan Society of Jiangzhou Academy of Literature. They were from the same hometown and society as Fang Yun, which meant a deep relationship in the officialdom.
Fang Yun immediately stood up, without any airs of Wenhou, and drank with everyone with a smile. Then he chatted with these people and told them about the recent events in Jiangzhou, which made these fellow countrymen very excited.
While Fang Yun was talking to these Jiangzhou scholars, more people came over one after another, each bringing their own cups and wine.
At first, there were only a few people, about a dozen, but then more people came, gradually more than a hundred, and a long line formed, filling the aisle in the middle.
Later, more people noticed this scene and couldn't help but line up.
The dozens of people who didn't win the championship joined the queue with a sly smile.
"I may not be able to beat him, but I will definitely make him drink till he falls down!"
At first Fang Yun was very honest and drank one cup after another, but later he found that there were too many people toasting him, so he could only drink it sip by sip. There were already several dogwood wine jars piled up around him, and the servants who delivered the wine kept pouring wine into the wine pot, while Yang Yuhuan and Zhao Hongzhuang took turns to use the wine pot to pour wine for Fang Yun.
Two beauties served on the left and right, which made all the scholars in the audience envious, and more people came to toast them.
"We must make Fang Yun understand the anger of being single!" A small group of unmarried scholars hurried forward.
At first, only scholars came, but later even women came with their families.
Some people even brought their children to point at Fang Yun and said that the man in front of them was the hero of Jing State, and told their children to never learn from those evil people and attack him.
The right seat where Fang Yun was was crowded, and the left seat was also quite lively. But compared to where Fang Yun was, it was like a winter field, with a sense of desolation.
Several people who hated Fang Yun gathered at a table, including the young Duke of Kang Palace, Jian Ming from the Jiansheng family of Wu State, Lei Yuanting from the Lei family, and the disciples of the left prime minister Liu Shan.
They had been using their literary talents to block out the noise and drinking together. They would occasionally glance in the direction of Fang Yun, but they could never see Fang Yun himself because he was blocked by too many people toasting.
Drink to the end. The young Duke looked at Lei Yuanting with hazy eyes, playing with the cup while saying: "Brother Lei, since your Lei family wants to retaliate against Fang Yun, you must have thought of everything. Even if Fang Yun wins the championship, you will not stop there. Can you take action now?"
Lei Yuanting's face was gloomy. He looked in the direction of Fang Yun, sneered, and drank another glass of dogwood wine.
"Although his winning the championship was beyond our Lei family's expectations and will have a certain impact on our subsequent methods, this is just the beginning! What you said just now is right. He doesn't have a big family behind him and cannot make any mistakes. The last time he gave up the exam was an example. If he hadn't faked his giving up, his reputation would have been ruined by now. Our Lei family has to give face to the Dragon Clan. We can't take him down with lightning speed, but we have various ways to slowly disintegrate him! Of course, our Lei family is not immoral. As long as he kowtows in front of the graves of the dead Lei family disciples and admits his mistakes, we will forgive him."
"As expected of the Lei family! With what you said, I believe Fang Yun has no choice but to kneel down and admit his mistakes to save himself. I heard that your Lei family even has the ability to prevent someone from being canonized?"
"Of course, Lei Zu..." Lei Yuanting suddenly shut his mouth and looked at the young Duke warily.
The young Duke smiled calmly and said, "Brother Lei, don't worry too much. My mother is from the Jiansheng family after all. You can ask Ming Ge'er. Many of us have heard about your Lei family. In the past, a great scholar tried to snatch food from the Lei family. Later, your Lei family spoke up, and the great scholar heard something and came to visit and apologize in person. Later, there were rumors that your Lei family has a very powerful divine object, which is as powerful as a grown-up fog butterfly and can even threaten a semi-saint. It is said that it was given by the dragon clan."
Lei Yuanting suddenly smiled mysteriously, shook his head and said nothing.
"Isn't it a gift from the dragon clan?" The young duke was even more surprised.
Lei Yuanting continued to smile without saying anything.
"I really want to see the hidden treasure of your Lei family. Since Brother Lei won't tell me, I won't ask any more questions." Xiao Guogong said.
Lei Yuanting smiled and said, "In fact, even I don't know what the divine object is, so I can't tell you. However, since my Lei family has stood for hundreds of years, even the Confucius family treats us with courtesy, so there must be a reason! Fang Yun, let alone the chance to become a semi-saint, even if he suddenly becomes a semi-saint tomorrow, it will not affect my Lei family at all! In short, you will never know how close the relationship between our Lei family and the dragon clan is."
Jian Ming lowered his voice and said, "I heard something, but I don't know whether I should tell you about it or not."
"Just say it." Lei Yuanting said.
"I heard that the demon race was going to send several sub-saints to attack Liangjie Mountain. The dragon race got the news and wanted to flee the four seas. They didn't care about the human race in Shengyuan Continent, but decided to take the Lei family with them in the end. Although most of the demon race's sub-saints were dragged away afterwards, and only one was sent out, the dragon race did not flee, but is it true that the dragon race is willing to stand together with the Lei family?"
"Many members of the Lei family know about this, it's no longer a secret. Yes, it's true. If the Shengyuan Continent is conquered by the demon world, the dragon clan will take us, the Lei family, away from the world together." Lei Yuanting said proudly.
The others looked at each other with surprise on their faces.
"What is the relationship between the Lei family and the dragon clan?" The young duke looked at Lei Yuanting, even more confused.
Lei Yuanting chuckled and said, "Don't ask me, I don't know either. I can only say that the relationship between our Lei family and the Dragon Clan is far more unusual than what is said by the outside world. So, let alone Fang Yun, even if the Confucius Family wants to touch our Lei family, they will have to bear the consequences of a complete break with the Dragon Clan!"
"Fang Yun has offended the Lei family. It's like a birthday star hanging himself. Come, let's drink a toast to the Lei family!" The little duke said, and everyone raised their glasses. Lei Yuanting happily accepted.
After Lei Yuanting finished his drink, he turned his head and looked at Fang Yun with contempt, saying, "We originally wanted to make trouble when he went to Lingyan Pavilion. Since he is so ignorant and doesn't know how to respect our Lei family, and instead makes our Lei family bear a stigma because of Nangong Daru, then tonight I will let him know the consequences of offending the Lei family!"
"Brother Lei, what exactly do you want to do?" asked the young duke.
"How about I go to your Kangshe tonight to participate in the literary gathering, and then follow me to the door of the first dormitory where Fang Yun is to watch the show?" Lei Yuanting smiled.
Everyone's eyes lit up, guessing a possibility, and the young Duke immediately said, "Okay! Come, fill up Brother Lei's glass, I'll toast Brother Lei again."
After everyone finished drinking, they laughed in unison, feeling extremely happy, as if they could step on Fang Yun under their feet at the next moment.
As the sun was setting, the people queuing up to toast dispersed, and the heads of several families who had sat at the same table with Fang Yun had also left. Zhao Hongzhuang sat over and found that Fang Yun had drunk a little too much.
Zhao Hongzhuang whispered, "Fang Yun, go home and sober up and have a good sleep. Tomorrow, the tenth day of the lunar month, is the day to enter the Lingyan Pavilion. If you can't even pass the three pavilions, someone will definitely challenge you to compete for the position. If it's an ordinary Juren or even Jinshi, it may not be a problem, but I'm afraid that there are a few people who used to be Shangshe who will compete with you!"
Fang Yun sobered up immediately and said, "Those people are all chosen by the gods. They didn't even compete with me for fame in the Double Ninth Festival Literature Competition. Are they really going to force me to lose and then clean toilets for a month?"
"It might have been impossible originally, but with the Lei family, Prince Kang and Zuo Xiangruo joining forces, it's hard to say. You didn't notice, but I have been observing the young Duke and his men. I suspect they are trying to deal with you, so I remind you to be careful." Zhao Hongzhuang said.
"Well, let's go home now." Fang Yun said as he stood up and swayed slightly. Yang Yuhuan immediately reached out to support him.
Zhao Hongzhuang stood up and said, "You know everything about Lingyan Pavilion. If six out of ten people in the upper house ask to go to Lingyan Pavilion together, you have to be ten times more careful!"
"This... doesn't happen once in ten years. Could it happen tomorrow?"
Zhao Hongzhuang hesitated for a moment and said, "After all, you have just arrived in the capital and don't know much about the situation in the capital and the Ten Kingdoms. I can only say that they have the power."
Fang Yun had no doubts. Although he had read all the "Holy Way" and "Literary News" over the years and could accurately find out which sentence was on which page, he had not been in Shengyuan Continent for a long time after all, and could not obtain any intelligence information about the royal family of a country or the holy families. He was in a state of extreme information asymmetry. In this respect, he was far inferior to Zhao Hongzhuang who lived in the palace.
Fang Yun nodded and said, "If I go to the Lingyan Pavilion alone, I am not afraid. If I go to the Lingyan Pavilion together, those experienced people don't care, but for me, who has never been to the Lingyan Pavilion, it is equivalent to being disturbed everywhere. Let's go home. There can't be any mistakes tomorrow."
As the sun set in the west, Fang Yun first went to the outhouse on the mountain to relieve himself, and then went down the mountain with Yang Yuhuan and Zhao Hongzhuang.
Fang Yun took a nap in the car. When the car arrived at the palace and stopped at the door of the first dormitory, Fang Yun woke up immediately. He was full of energy and spirit. Except for his slightly red face, he was no different from usual.
Zhao Hongzhuang said, "This morning I have sent many books or notes, all of which contain the skills and experiences of passing through Lingyan Pavilion. You can read them tonight."
"Okay." Fang Yun looked at the sky. Dark clouds were coming in the distance, and autumn rain was coming. (To be continued...)