The people with the ugliest faces among the people in the Eleventh National Academy were not the students from Gu who were eliminated, nor the students from Shen who were very likely to be eliminated in the next competition, but the people from Qing.
Except for Yan Yukong who looked no different from usual, the other nine people looked more depressed than the other.
Although Qing Kingdom is not as big as Qi Kingdom or Shu Kingdom, it is also a medium-sized country. Since the ten-nation competition, it has never been ranked lower than eighth. But now, Xing Wanlilu has fallen out of the top eight and ranked ninth.
There are a total of eleven academies in the Ten Nations Competition, which are divided into three levels: the first five countries are in first level, the middle three countries are in first level, and the last three countries are in the last level.
Although the ninth place is only one place lower than the eighth, it is a whole grade lower. If this is the final result, it means that there will be a drastic change in the number of places in the imperial examinations in Qing Kingdom.
It also means that these top scholars of Qing State will be condemned by the people of Qing State!
It also means that even if Qing Kingdom owns ten and a half states, the number of places for scholars, juren and jinshi admitted next year may not be as many as Jing Kingdom, which only has three and a half states!
The nine Qing State Jinshi candidates all had a heavy mountain weighing on their hearts, and on that mountain were only two words written.
Fang Yun.
Xun Li watched Fang Yun leave. Just then, a team from Jia Country passed by. He looked at Lei Shisan and said, "If Qing Country falls out of the top eight after the Ten Country Competition, you, the Lei family, must give Qing Country an explanation!"
Lei Shisan stopped, and the other top Jinshi candidates from Jia State also stood still.
Lei Shisan looked at Xun Li coldly and said slowly: "I can ignore your random biting when you were in the literary world. But you keep provoking me. Do you think there is no one in my Lei family? My Jiaguo Lei family is not something that a mere branch of the family can provoke!"
Fang Yun was originally walking out with the crowd, but when he heard the quarrel between the two, he immediately turned back and looked at the two people in shock. The Qing Kingdom and the Lei Family were his number one and number two enemies respectively, so how did they start to fight each other
Xun Li's eyes were filled with anger, and he said, "If it weren't for your Lei family interfering, Yu Kong would definitely not have only scored 6.3 in the Journey of Thousand Miles! He also participated in the Ten Nations Competition last year, and his strength was far inferior to this year, but he still scored 8.7 in the Journey of Thousand Miles!"
"Xun Li, you have to speak with solid evidence. You can't slander me without any evidence. Today's matter ends here. If you continue to pester me, just ask me about the verbal sparring!" Lei Shisan looked at Xun Li with cold eyes.
Xun Li sneered, "I am too lazy to argue with you today. After the Ten Nations Competition, if my Qing Kingdom loses to Jing Kingdom, I will ask you for advice. Is your Lei family's eloquence sharper, or is my Xun family's 'Four Ways of Xunzi' stronger! Let's go!"
Lei Shisan's eyes flashed and he didn't say anything else, but the anger in his eyes became even stronger.
Yan Yukong put his hands behind his back and walked casually as usual, muttering to himself: "Brother Xun, if you want to accuse the Lei family, just accuse them properly, don't slander me! That bastard Fang Yun is a juren like me, and he got a full 10 chips. But I can only get 6 and 3, and you still said it out loud. I'm so embarrassed!"
Xun Li rolled his eyes.
Yan Yukong asked as he walked: "Which state does the Lei family live in? Is it Leizhou?"
"Nonsense!" Xun Li said unhappily.
Yan Yukong walked and said, "You two are just playing around. When I become a Jinshi, how about you accompany me to the literary competition in Leizhou? I will get six points and three points in a journey of ten thousand miles. I have lost so much face, I must at least get a prefecture to relieve my hatred, if not a county will do."
"Are you crazy?" Xun Li was shocked. Although Yan Yukong was the top scholar in the top ten countries, it was too much to go to Leizhou for a literary battle.
The people nearby were shocked by Yan Yukong's words and looked at him together.
All the Jinshi of Jia country looked at Yan Yukong in disbelief, their eyes full of vigilance. The son of the sub-sage Yan family, the first Jinshi of the top ten countries, and the tenth Jinshi of Lingyan Pavilion wanted to fight in Leizhou. It was a big event that could detonate the ten countries. It was a literary war, not Fang Yun's literary fight, the nature was too different.
"I'm not crazy. I've thought it over carefully. It's okay to bully Fang Yun. Whoever bullies him will be in trouble anyway. But if they bully me, I can't just sit there and wait for death. Well, it's decided. After I become a Jinshi, after Fang Yun finishes his literary battle in Xiangzhou of our Qing country, I will go for the literary battle in Leizhou." Yan Yukong smiled after he finished speaking, as if he had really made up his mind.
Xun Li couldn't stand the strange looks from everyone, so he pulled Yan Yukong's hand and walked out quickly, shouting, "Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding! Yukong was joking because he lost to others in the journey of thousands of miles, so don't take it seriously."
Xun Li finished speaking and whispered, "My Master Yan, whether it's a literary battle or a duel, can you wait until the Ten Nations Competition is over? We are only three points behind Jing. After the second and third rounds, Qing will definitely beat Jing! Why are you so anxious? Go! It will be bad if someone takes it seriously!"
Yan Yukong ignored Xun Li and waved to Fang Yun, saying, "Fang Yun, you and I worked together in Shengxu and have a deep friendship. When I fight Leizhou, are you willing to help me? I will try to bribe the officials of Qing State. If you help me win Leizhou, Qing State will exchange one and a half prefectures of the neighboring Jing State for land. How do you think?"
Xun Li looked at Yan Yukong stupidly, not expecting him to be serious.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "How can I miss such a good opportunity? Deal!"
Yan Yukong wanted to say something but Xun Li grabbed his wrist and quickly dragged him away.
Lei Shisan looked at Fang Yun suspiciously, not knowing whether the conversation between Fang Yun and Yan Yukong was true or false.
Qiao Juze whispered, "Fang Yun, you don't really want to join forces with Yan Yukong to take a bite out of Leizhou, do you?"
Fang Yun walked and said, "If Qing Country loses the Ten-Nation Competition, it will naturally have to find a reason. The Lei Family's interference in the setting of the questions for Xing Wanli Road is the best excuse. As for me, the Lei Family is not going to let me go anyway. Do you think it would be fun if I forced the Lei Family out of Leizhou?"
"Two lunatics." Qiao Juze shook his head, while the Jinshi scholars from Jing State behind him nodded one after another, agreeing with Qiao Juze's statement.
Fang Yun said: "Let's go back and rest first. I'll also have a good sleep. The second round of 'Reading Ten Thousand Books' will surely be even more tiring."
"I get a headache when I think of reading thousands of books. Normally, reading is for learning, but this time, reading becomes a competition. That's really hard to deal with."
"Forget it, let's not talk about this. I hope the books we encounter aren't too strange."
Everyone returned to their residence and went to sleep one after another. They woke up at noon, had lunch, and then came to the competition venue again.
Just like last night, they entered the competition area from the venue and were once again watched by billions of human beings.
The only thing missing is a Jinshi from Gu State.
Yesterday, after entering the literary world, everyone found themselves in the vast yellow land, but today was different, they came to a magnificent hall.
There are exactly one hundred rows of bookshelves in front of the hall. Each row of bookshelves is filled with books, and there is a table in front of each row of bookshelves.
Many students' heartbeats quickened, making the atmosphere in this unremarkable place even more solemn. (To be continued...)