"Good!" praised the unknown semi-saint.
Those scholars originally felt that the second couplet was better than the first one in terms of both wording and artistic conception. If it contained poetry, it would probably be as good as Da Fu's. And when they heard Bansheng say it was good, it meant that Bansheng indirectly acknowledged that Fang Yun's second couplet was good.
Tan Yu and Nie Shi, the two long-time attendants, had been holding back for a long time. Now, when they heard the half-saint praising Fang Yun, they finally breathed a sigh of relief. Even if Fang Yun failed, the half-saint should have shown mercy and not deliberately attacked Fang Yun's Wen Palace.
Wei Yuanjun and Liu Zicheng's expressions changed slightly. For a boy to be praised as a half-saint was a supreme honor, not much worse than being praised as a double saint.
Everyone around Liu Zicheng was a little panicked. If Fang Yun really passed the imperial selection, the imperial court would definitely protect him. Going against him would be no different from committing suicide.
Guan Yaoyuan shouted in a low voice, "Why are you panicking? This is just the beginning. How can a saint only ask one question? There must be more difficult ones to come! Legend has it that a man asked the saint to choose him and answered the first question correctly, but he fainted from anger when answering the second question. The saint is fair and will never let such a thief pass the saint selection!"
Liu Zicheng glanced at Guan Yaoyuan to express his gratitude, then looked at Fang Yun, squinting his eyes slightly, wondering what he was thinking.
The voice of the semi-saint sounded again in the sky: "I am standing in the mountains at this moment, and I came up with the second couplet: Mist locks the mountain top and the mountain locks the mist. This time, I will give you a hundred more breaths to think about it."
This sentence reminds people of the fog covering the mountains, and the mountains covering the fog, which is more intuitive than the first couplet.
Wei Yuanjun was surprised and said, "It's a palindrome!"
Someone immediately wrote the seven words "Fog locks the mountain top, the mountain locks the fog" on a piece of paper. There is no difference when reading the seven words backwards or forwards, they are the same.
Those who had previously cheered for Fang Yun now had their brows furrowed in frown. This palindrome is dozens of times more difficult than reduplication of words. Palindrome couplets often require a lot of careful consideration before they can be matched properly, so no matter how quick your wit is, it will be of no use.
Wan Xuezheng looked at Fang Yun nervously. He was the examiner of Fang Yun's county exam. Ever since Fang Yun became famous, he had been trying to consolidate their relationship so that he could take advantage of Fang Yun's success. If something happened to Fang Yun, with his qualifications and connections, he would never be able to make a name for himself. Being a scholar in the prefectural academy was already his limit.
Fang Yun closed his eyes, as if imagining the scenery of fog shrouding the mountain and the mountain shrouding the fog.
After forty breaths, Fang Yun suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Mist locks the mountain tops and the mountain locks the mist; the sky connects to the water and the water connects to the sky."
"Okay!" Wan Xuezhen couldn't help but shout, and then he snatched the pen from another official and completed the couplet on the previous page.
After thinking about it carefully, the students were convinced. Even those who were good friends with Liu Zicheng began to admire Fang Yun. Answering a couplet in a short time was no easier than writing a poem.
As soon as the words of the first couplet come out, people seem to immediately see the scenery surrounded by mountains and fog. The second couplet is not only a palindrome, but the scenery is exactly the same, which immediately reminds people of the scene where the distant water and sky meet. The two scenes complement each other. Although it is a couplet, it is as beautiful as poetry and painting.
"Great!" The half-saint's voice was filled with joy.
Liu Zicheng and Wei Yuanjun looked at each other and saw retreat and regret in each other's eyes. It was possible that this unknown semi-saint would pay special attention to Fang Yun in the future, and Fang Yun would definitely settle the score with him later, with disastrous consequences.
Wei Yuanjun suddenly bowed in the direction of the Holy Temple and said loudly: "Although Fang Yun has a reputation for talent, his moral character is terrible. He is indeed a very treacherous and evil person. If you want to examine him strictly, his poetry, prose and other minor arts are not enough. You should examine the great principles of the Holy Way! Please judge for yourself, Holy One."
At this moment, even the servants and clerks were angry. The semi-saints from other countries did not want to harm Fang Yun and had already recognized Fang Yun's talent. However, Lord Wei, as a Jing citizen, actually forced the talented man of Jing to death. This was unbearable.
Wan Xuezheng said angrily: "I will definitely report you!"
The half-saint suddenly snorted coldly and said, "What a noble and righteous man, loyal and capable official for the human race and the Jing Kingdom. In order to help you, I will personally tell Brother Guanhai about this matter."
Wei Yuanjun looked ashen, his legs were weak, and he had to hold on to the table to stand.
The people around Wei Yuanjun dispersed in all directions like the receding tide. Even Liu Zicheng hurried away as if he could avoid them.
Fang Yun was thinking, isn't this just one half-saint telling tales to another half-saint? Even if this Wei Yuanjun had a hundred lives, they would not be enough to die. Not to mention that his backer is a mere Left Prime Minister, even if the Left Prime Minister, Right Prime Minister, Assistant Prime Minister and Literary Prime Minister combined, they are no match for Jing Kingdom's only half-saint, Chen Guanhai.
"You deserve it!" said Tan Yu, who was always silent, and slowly loosened his hand holding the knife.
Except for a few people like Liu Zicheng who were secretly happy, everyone else looked at Wei Yuanjun with contempt.
The semi-saint said, "I originally wanted to come up with three couplets, but since this is a test of the great principles of the holy way, I will change the third topic. You got an A in the imperial examination on the holy words, so the ordinary test questions are not difficult for you. So I will test you on how to recite the Analects backwards. I will give you one hour to recite the Analects backwards, with a maximum of three mistakes allowed."
The whole audience was in an uproar.
"Reciting the Analects of Confucius with over 10,000 words backwards? What kind of test is this?"
"I calculated the time. It would take two and a half hours to finish reading the Analects at a normal speed. Reciting it backwards would be very slow. How could you ask for an hour?"
"Even a Jinshi can't do it, at least a Hanlin can do it."
"Yeah, let alone memorizing it, even if we read it backwards, it would be impossible to finish it in one hour. After all, we understand the normal order, and we will be disturbed by reading it backwards."
The students did not care that the Half-Saint was present and expressed their opinions one after another. They said that this method was too difficult and no one present could do it.
"Reciting the Analects backwards is unheard of. How can this be considered a test of the great principles of the sage way?"
"You dare to question a semi-saint? Shut up!" said Wei Yuanjun.
"Old thief Wei, are you satisfied? If you don't die, I will curse you every day!" Wan Xuezheng's eyes were full of fire.
A scholar suddenly tore open a piece of his robe and said, "Liu Zicheng, I want to be friends with you. Although it's because of the Left Prime Minister, I also think you are someone you can be friends with. You and Wei Yuanjun have gone too far this time. From now on, you and I will sever our friendship!" After saying that, he walked away from Liu Zicheng.
Many people look down on Liu Zicheng even more.
Liu Zicheng remained calm, with a faint smile on his lips. He was extremely happy in his heart. Ordinary people didn't know, but he learned from Liu Zizhi that there was a rumor that "reciting by heart backwards" was one of the questions in the "Shushan" test, which stumped countless people. Even Jinshi had difficulty passing it, let alone a mere student.
Wei Yuanjun breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Fang Yun would certainly not be able to recite it by heart, and after the failure of the Holy Selection, the Palace of Literature would surely be broken, and Fang Yun would never be able to take revenge on him again.
Wei Yuanjun no longer paid attention to Fang Yun, but pondered how to protect his family after being dismissed from office. The more he thought about it, the sadder he felt. He thought he could gain the trust of Zuo Xiang by suppressing Fang Yun, but in the end he offended two semi-saints at the same time.
Gao Minghong at the side sighed softly and was about to persuade Fang Yun to give up, but when the words came to his lips, he felt that it was inappropriate, so he could only say in a comforting tone: "Don't listen to their nonsense, as long as your heart is sincere enough to recite it by heart, you should give it a try."
"Hmm." Fang Yun nodded and said, "Saint, can I prepare for half a minute before starting? If I recite it backwards directly, I'm afraid I won't have enough time."
"Can."
Everyone immediately looked at Fang Yun with all kinds of strange eyes. Did he really want to try? Did he really think he could pass it by heart
Gao Minghong was speechless, wondering if it was his persuasion that gave Fang Yun blind confidence
Fang Yun closed his eyes, and the book "The Analects of Confucius" immediately appeared in the world of strange books, and then all the words were reset in reverse order.
Fang Yun used his mind to quickly read the Analects in reverse order in the strange book world. After reading it several times, Wei Yuanjun immediately said, "The time is up."
"You dog official!" A hot-blooded young scholar could no longer hold back.
"Swearing at him like that is an insult to the dog!" one person said.
Wei Yuanjun's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he secretly remembered the person who cursed him.
"Let's begin." The voice of the semi-saint sounded.
Fang Yun bowed in the direction of the holy temple and closed his eyes again. The entire Analects of Confucius appeared in reverse order before his eyes and he recited aloud.
"People know by nothing, words know by no, things stand by nothing, etiquette knows by no..."
Fang Yun's speaking speed was a little faster than normal recitation, and it was extremely fluent, without any stumbling, and with ups and downs. People who couldn't understand him would definitely think that he was reciting some particularly profound scriptures of the saints.
After a quarter of an hour, Fang Yun's speaking speed actually started to speed up, and it was getting faster and faster. His pronunciation was clear, and there were no wrong pauses at all.
Everyone stared blankly, especially Wei Yuanjun and Liu Zicheng. Their brains seemed to be emptied, their eyes were dull, and they had no idea why Fang Yun could do it. Having a photographic memory is already the pinnacle of ordinary geniuses. If a student could recite something by heart, he would definitely be a saint-like figure.
After a long time, everyone became numb and their brains returned to normal, thinking about what was going on as Fang Yun recited.
Liu Zicheng winked at a scholar beside him, asking him to interrupt Fang Yun's reading, thus causing Fang Yun to fail.
The scholar gave Liu Zicheng a look that said "Do you think I'm a fool?" and stepped back, away from Liu Zicheng.
Liu Zicheng looked at another person again, and that person immediately lowered his head. He thought that no one was stupid. If he stopped Fang Yun at this time, he would definitely anger the Half-Saint. The Suiwen Palace would be the lightest punishment, and the Half-Saint would most likely utter the Holy Words and kill him on the spot.
Seeing that no one moved, Liu Zicheng could only remain silent.
At first, everyone didn't understand why the Semi-Saint would test like this, but as Fang Yun continued to read aloud, they gradually understood that completely remembering the classics of the Saints was the first step, completely understanding them was the second step, correctly utilizing them was the third step, and the fourth step was to put them to good use.
Once you make the holy scriptures your own, every word will be deeply engraved in your heart.
The test of being able to recite by heart is not about memory, but about whether one has "claimed" the scriptures of the saints as one's own.
After thinking this through, a few people couldn't help but admire Fang Yun. They felt that Fang Yun had the majesty of a semi-saint, and that it was enough for them to just look up to him.
Fang Yun was so absorbed in reciting the Analects in reverse order that his mouth became dry and his mouth became hoarse, that he had no idea that he was being misunderstood and that he could use the Analects for his own benefit, and that he was admired by so many people.
.
Talk about some off-topic things and the time for future updates.
I have been updating twice a day these days, rain or shine, even when my family members wanted to arrange a blind date for me, I said the new book period is very important, and I turned it down directly, without lying at all. I don't say anything empty words like "for the readers", I just want to write this book well and make it perform better.
But I regretted it that very day. Why didn’t I meet him in person first and talk about it
I can only laugh at myself and call myself the conscience of the industry.
Because my father came back, friends and relatives have invited our family to dinner many times recently, about seven or eight times. I only went twice in total, and that was because the restaurant was booked downstairs from my house.
I know it’s not good not to go, I know it’s not good to not give others face, I know how those relatives and friends will look at me, but I really don’t have time.
I have been disconnected from the Internet while writing, for fear of being distracted. The editor, author and readers have all said that this book is difficult to write, and they have said it more than once or twice. This book is written very slowly, and I am afraid of problems, so I really dare not rely on speed to win.
Besides, writing 6,000 words twice a day is a normal speed, not slow at all.
I always like to post two chapters in a row, and I also mentioned in the work related that at least two chapters will be posted after the work is put on the shelves. Why do I have to post one chapter each at noon and evening? I need to explain this.
Qidian.com has a “Weekly Member Click List”. Readers must log in to their account on Qidian.com, and clicks by readers with at least 500 points will be valid. There must also be a six-hour interval. No matter how many clicks there are within six hours, it will be useless.
I want this book to have a good position on the weekly rankings and perform better, so I developed the two chapters separately.
If it were just that it would be fine, but I have to say something offensive, there are some things that have been on my mind for a long time, there are some rankings on Qidian, there are "foreign aid" everywhere, there are "investments" everywhere.
I, who have no money to invest, was able to rely on my strength to get on the recommendation list with the least problems, but I was repeatedly abused on the weekly list. The higher-ups didn't care at all. What can I do? There is nothing I can do. Because of this, I just complained a few words in the author group, and the book was smeared, forcing me to quit many groups.
This is the case when I release two chapters separately. If I release both chapters together, the weekly clicks will be much less. For example, I can't even make it into the top 6 on the weekly click list, and it's a problem whether I can even make it into the top 15.
I have been holding back on talking about these things, but now that things have happened in the book review section, I can no longer hold it back.
Because the two chapters are developed separately, many readers say that I "fragmented the chapters". Please note that this means that the plot is divided by chapters.
As a result, some people misunderstood and thought that I "stopped updating" and accused me of not updating twice a day but also stopping updating. I really couldn't bear it anymore.
Before this, several readers accused me of updating only once a day. Before you accuse me, couldn't you go to the catalog page to see how many chapters I update a day
I was abused by "investors" on the newcomer list two weeks ago, in the Dream Cup, and on the weekly point list. I will definitely be abused by "investors" on the monthly ticket list in the future. My peers also tampered with the content of the book to slander me in the novel forum, and I have no way to do anything about it. Now in the book review section of this book, before readers accuse me of not updating once or not updating at all, can't they take a few seconds to check the update time and number of chapters
Accusing a book of only updating once or not updating at all will cause many people who don't know the truth to abandon the book or not read it. This is very damaging to the public's feelings, and it's impossible for me not to be depressed.
I don’t even go on blind dates, and I can’t guarantee two updates a day
Since readers don't like to read incomplete chapters, starting from tomorrow, I will update twice every night, between 8 and 9 o'clock. If something happens at home that causes a delay in the update, I will apologize and update more.
As for the weekly list, we won't fight for it, since we are really angry about that list anyway. But please continue to help cast your recommendation votes, as the credibility of the weekly list is much stronger.
Finally, I would like to ask some great masters to show some mercy. I didn’t mention any names, and I won’t argue with you. Please don’t criticize me anymore. Thank you.
My Wen Palace is very strong.
Finally, let's discuss something happily. Can you please not accuse me of missing the chapter in the book review section? Thank you.
Finally, there were 66 requests for updates yesterday and 162 requests today. What are you doing