The green jade dragon carriage pulled by eighteen horses slowly stopped in front of the Fang family's door.
People who were delivering gifts at the Fang family's door hurriedly moved out of the way and lowered their heads respectfully. Everyone in the capital knew that this carriage was the Prime Minister's carriage. It usually drove on the streets and could even fly in an emergency.
"Fang Yun, come with me to the Xuemei Literary Meeting!" The voice of Minister of Literature Jiang Hechuan came from the carriage.
"The students will be out soon."
Soon, three women, a dragon, a fox and a small meteor followed Fang Yun.
Ao Huang was extremely excited. This was his first time attending a human literary gathering, but he had promised Fang Yun not to talk nonsense. He gritted his teeth and just rolled his eyes around.
The eighteen dragons pulling the carriage were originally full of energy, but after Ao Huang appeared, they were so scared that they all lowered their heads, not daring to breathe, their legs trembling slightly, and two of the dragon horses were even frightened to the point of peeing.
The carriage of the Minister of Literature was much larger than ordinary carriages. Fang Yun boarded the carriage first, looked at Jiang Hechuan, whose hair and beard were all white, and bowed, saying, "I greet the Minister of Literature."
Jiang Hechuan stood up and said with a smile: "Are you moving?"
"Well... From the women to the foxes to the little bad dragon, everyone in our family is talented. Let's take them to see the world." Fang Yun said.
"You... Benlong won't speak!" Ao Huang spoke angrily outside the car.
Fang Yun said to the car door: "Come up quickly and meet the Minister of Literature."
Yang Yuhuan, Zhao Hongzhuang and Su Xiaoxiao came up one after another. Nunu jumped down from Yang Yuhuan's arms. The three women bowed in greeting, but Nunu stood up and bowed like a scholar.
Jiang Hechuan was amused by the little fox and smiled happily. He stretched out his hand and called Nunu over.
Nunu shook her head, hid behind Fang Yun, hugged Fang Yun's legs, and stuck her head out to secretly look at Jiang Hechuan, feeling a little shy.
Jiang Hechuan laughed loudly and said, "Fang Yun, your little fox really won't admit his fault. Last time he ate my Monkey Head Divine Fruit, this time he turned his face and refused to acknowledge me."
Nunu became even more shy and hid behind Fang Yun, not daring to come out.
"Old man with white beard, I'm here!" Ao Huang jumped into the carriage, looked around and shook his head, as if to say: What a broken car, so poor, it's far inferior to my home.
Jiang Hechuan smiled and said, "Hechuan meets Prince Huang."
"You're welcome, just treat me as Fang Yun's younger brother. We real dragons never show off." Ao Huang said. He flew to the table in the carriage and began to taste the cakes and fruits, then acted as if the food tasted okay.
Fang Yun was too lazy to pay attention to Ao Huang and sat down with Jiang Hechuan.
As soon as Jiang Hechuan sat down, the smile on his face disappeared and he said, "Have you thought of a poem to praise the plum blossom?"
"There is some clue."
"That's good." A smile appeared on Jiang Hechuan's face.
"Lord Minister of Literature, the dispute over plum blossoms and snow happens every year. It doesn't matter if I don't write about it this year."
"You are still young. If you had experienced the disastrous defeat of the Plum Party fifty years ago, you would not have said that. That year, the snow fell especially heavily, and the plum blossoms were especially bright..."
Then, Jiang Hechuan recounted the tragic battle between snow and plum blossoms that year. At first, the poems about snow and plum blossoms were on par with each other on the literary list, but later on, the poems about snow rose to prominence and finally occupied the top eight of the snow and plum blossom literary list! A bloodbath of plum blossoms!
Fang Yun listened silently. He vaguely guessed that Jiang Hechuan must have participated in the Xuemei dispute that year, but was suppressed by the Xue Party and became a painful memory. That's why he always attached great importance to the Xuemei dispute.
Fang Yun looked serious on the surface, but he was laughing secretly in his heart. He didn't expect that such a great scholar also had a past that was too painful to recall.
After telling the story of that year, Jiang Hechuan quickly regained his composure and stared at Fang Yun.
"Fang Yun, the Mei Party depends on you!" Jiang Hechuan said earnestly.
"Don't worry, I'll do my best." Fang Yun didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Wen Xiang looked like he was entrusting him with an important mission.
Jiang Hechuan glanced at the carriage, pondered for a moment, and said, "This time, the demon saint wolf killed Jing, and my Jing country is basically helpless. We are waiting for the results of the holy temples and the imperial edict of Chen Sheng. Now we are recalling officials from all over the country. We will discuss this matter at the morning court tomorrow, and you, the top 50 Jinshi, will hold a court meeting outside the palace together... Look at me, an old fool, you are different from them. You are now walking in the cabinet, and you should be ranked last among the third-rank officials, in the palace."
Fang Yun hesitated. Although he had studied hard for many days, he had never experienced the cruel political struggle personally. It was not appropriate for him to express his opinions casually in the court, especially since he was about to be officially conferred the title of Virtual Saint. He should be careful in what he said and did.
Zhao Hongzhuang snorted coldly and said, "The one who will be most happy about the Demon Saint's order this time is probably the traitor Zuo Xiang."
Fang Yun glanced at Zhao Hongzhuang. She was right. He had been worried about this matter.
The reason why the power of the Left Prime Minister Liu Shan expanded, besides his superb means, the most important thing was that he had the Qing Kingdom and Zong Sheng standing behind him, while the Jing Kingdom was in danger, and many officials had to rely on the Left Prime Minister for the sake of their future.
A few days ago, Liu Shan was repeatedly suppressed by Fang Yun, and his power suddenly decreased to less than 40% of its original power. However, the appearance of the Demon Saint Order was equivalent to encouraging the Zuo Xiang Party.
Cao Man attacked Jing State with all his might. The result was undoubted. Jing State would be divided up by Qing State and Wu State. No matter how loyal these officials were, they had to find a way out for the future.
Zuo Xiang, who is friendly with Qing State, and King Kang, who is friendly with Wu State, are the first choices. However, King Kang is only a juren and a relative of the royal family of Jing State. Once Jing State is destroyed, Wu State will not be able to attach too much importance to King Kang. However, Zuo Xiang has the talent of a great Confucian scholar and has close relations with the sage of the Miscellaneous School. By joining him, one will surely have a place in Qing State in the future.
"My Jing country... still has a glimmer of hope." Jiang Hechuan said.
Hearing this, Fang Yun sighed in his heart. Even the Minister of Culture said such words. The future of Jing State was too bleak.
"Am I going to watch Jing Kingdom fall apart a year from now?" Fang Yun thought.
Jiang Hechuan whispered, "I have long been prepared for the destruction of Jing State, but the destruction of Jing State is just the beginning. I am afraid that the Miscellaneous Family will use the destruction of Jing State as an excuse to change their tough strategy towards the barbarians and use soft means or even pay tribute like Gu State to win over the three barbarians. Of course, the premise is to force Lang Lu to leave Shengyuan Continent or kill him. I have read your "On the Six Kingdoms". Although the situation of the six kingdoms and Qin is different from today, the principle is the same!"
"I am worried about this, too." Fang Yun became more and more unwilling to accept this. He had clearly written the astonishing "On the Six Kingdoms". If there was enough time, he might be able to make the Miscellaneous School give up the use of appeasement to ally with the barbarians. But now the Cao barbarians wanted to destroy the Jing Kingdom. A year later, the Jing Kingdom was destroyed, and the Gu Kingdom that paid annual tribute was still there. The "On the Six Kingdoms" had lost its basis for establishment.
Whether it was killing the two Barbarian Saints who resisted the alliance or letting Langlu attack Jing Kingdom, it was in the interests of the Miscellaneous Family and the Sect Saint. Fang Yun even suspected that it was the Sect Saint who was secretly pushing all this. If so, then the Sect Saint was too terrible and was far more resourceful than imagined. He was completely playing with Jing Kingdom and Cao Man in the palm of his hand.
Fang Yun felt the chill penetrate his bones, but slowly, he clenched his hands.
"There is still a chance! As long as Jingguo still exists, there is a chance! I will use facts to prove that Zongsheng, you are wrong!"
The carriage slowed down, and the driver outside the door whispered, "We're almost at the Plum Garden." (To be continued...)