The Plum Garden is located outside the capital, on the edge of the Holy Temple's power. It is a royal garden filled with various wintersweets and plum blossoms. It is open only in winter for tourists to enjoy the snow and plum blossoms. Influenced by the power of the Holy Temple, the plum blossoms here often bloom early.
Wherever the Jiao carriage passed, all the other carriages gave way to allow it to go directly to the entrance of the Plum Garden.
The plum garden is decorated with lights at night, and many luminous pearls are dotted among them.
The heavy snow on the surrounding roads has been cleared away, but the snow outside the roads is still there. The white snow and the red lights complement each other, creating an interesting winter atmosphere that is breathtakingly beautiful.
Jiang Hechuan rarely attends literary gatherings, but he took time out of his busy schedule to attend the Xuemei Literary Gathering, which immediately attracted attention. Many dignitaries sitting in carriages got off early and looked up.
Before the Eighteen Dragons' carriage arrived at the Plum Garden, someone notified everyone in the Plum Garden. Now most of the people in the Plum Garden have come outside the gate to welcome the Minister of Culture of Jing State.
Everyone looked at the Prime Minister's carriage. The door opened and the first person to get out was a white fox.
Many people were curious, but the small meteor that appeared afterwards made many people guess that Fang Yun was in the car. Then, a bright yellow dragon flew out of the car door.
Ao Huang was about to play with Nu Nu, but he realized there were too many people here and the energy of heaven and earth was shaking slightly, so he immediately stopped smiling.
"Greetings, Prince Huang!" An old official saluted hurriedly.
"Greetings, Prince Huang!" The others also hurriedly saluted. The dragon clan has helped the human race so much, so the human race is very grateful to the dragon clan.
"Everyone, please stand up!" Ao Huang raised his dragon head and waved his little dragon claw seriously.
Many scholars were at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Ao Huang was really outrageous. However, Ao Huang's name had gradually spread throughout the capital. Everyone knew that he was just a little dragon of only a few years old, so no one would bother with him.
Afterwards, Fang Yun got off the carriage and bowed to everyone in greeting.
"Meet Fang Wenhou!"
"Meet Fang Xusheng!"
"Meet Fang Zhenguo..."
There are many different ways to greet Fang Yun.
After Fang Yun returned the gift, he turned around and stood by the door. When Yang Yuhuan got out of the car, he took the initiative to reach out and hold Yang Yuhuan's hand.
"Be careful, don't slip." Fang Yun said softly.
Yang Yuhuan didn't expect Fang Yun to do this for her in front of everyone. In this world where men are superior to women, this is a shocking act. Her heart was filled with warmth. She wanted to throw herself into Fang Yun's arms and cry to tell her lover how touched she was. But she resisted the urge to cry, stepped down from the carriage gently, lowered her head, and held Fang Yun's hand tightly.
All the scholars present were shocked.
Although what Fang Yun did was not a big mistake, it was enough for the censors of the Supervisory Council to report him for impoliteness.
If the old stubborn people in the Holy Temple knew about this, they would definitely be reprimanded in writing.
Fang Yun saw everyone's expressions and didn't care.
Zhao Hongzhuang and Su Xiaoxiao showed envy. For a woman to be treated like this by a great saint, it was truly a blessing earned in three lifetimes.
Many scholars from the Xuemei Literary Society came with their families. Whether they were married women or unmarried girls, they all envied Yang Yuhuan extremely.
"Even being Fang Zhenguo's concubine is better than being someone else's wife..." a young girl whispered.
But most men looked at Yang Yuhuan, and some young men murmured in their hearts: If they had such a wife, they would treat her like this.
An old scholar not far away suddenly shouted angrily: "How disgraceful! Rites and music have collapsed, and human relations have been severed. It's better not to participate in this literary meeting!" After saying that, he turned and left.
Fang Yun looked in the direction of the voice, but he didn't recognize the old scholar. But seven or eight steps away from the old scholar, he saw a man he rarely saw but often heard of.
Ji Zhibai, this year's number one scholar in Jing State, is the favorite student of the left prime minister Liu Shan.
Ji Zhibai was smiling.
Fang Yun turned a blind eye and took Yang Yuhuan's hand and walked to the side to make way for the rest of the people in the car.
Zhao Hongzhuang and Su Xiaoxiao came down one after another, which made everyone's eyes light up again. Unexpectedly, all the women who came down from the car were as beautiful as fairies.
Finally, Minister Kang Ha-cheon stepped down from the carriage.
"Meet the Minister of Literature!"
Everyone greeted in unison.
Jiang Hechuan nodded slightly with an expressionless face, then walked towards the plum garden. Fang Yun followed behind holding Yang Yuhuan's hand, and the rest of the people followed in one after another.
After entering the door, Fang Yun looked around.
This is a very standard royal garden, with a cobblestone path on the ground and flower beds on both sides, planted with a variety of flowers and trees. Under the illumination of red lanterns and night pearls, it is magnificent, with a scene of thousands of trees making up their winter clothes with flowers and snow reflecting their makeup.
After passing the first courtyard, we entered the large courtyard inside. The courtyard was brightly lit, with tables and chairs scattered around a pavilion.
There is a table in the pavilion with the four treasures of the study on it.
Fang Yun discovered that the east and west sides of the pavilion were clearly divided. There was a small snow sculpture in the center of each table on the east side, while there was a vase in the center of each table on the west side, with a plum blossom in each vase.
Fang Yun was hesitating about what to choose when Jiang Hechuan suddenly grabbed his wrist and led him towards the Mei party's table, while Fang Yun held Yang Yuhuan with his other hand.
The people behind him couldn't help laughing. An old scholar shouted, "How could the Mei Party traitors forcibly seize the core of our Xue Party! The poem "Sending Li Wenying in the Snow" he wrote for the Xue Party has already helped to protect the country. Could it be that someone in the Mei Party doesn't know Fang Zhenguo?"
Before Jiang Hechuan could say anything, the Mei Clan members shouted, "Xue Ni, if you have the guts, take Fang Zhenguo back!"
The Snow Party scholar was silent. Li Wenying could probably do it here. Apart from Li Wenying, who in Jing State dared to snatch people from Jiang Hechuan
"The Mei Party is really unreasonable!"
The Snow Party and the Plum Party teased each other, but there was no real attack. Some people even laughed and joked. Only a few people really wanted to overwhelm the other side. In Fang Yun's opinion, these people must have painful memories of Xuemei.
Although it is cold in winter, the organizer of the Snow Plum Literary Festival, Chen Jia Daru, has already changed the local environment here to ensure that the snow does not melt and people do not feel cold during the event.
After everyone sat down one after another, Jiang Hechuan coughed lightly and said, "Regardless of the Snow Party or the Plum Party, since Fang Yun is from the Plum Party today, you should all support Fang Yun in surpassing the other nine countries in the Literature List with his poems about plum blossoms!"
"Snow Party has no borders!" someone shouted, causing bursts of laughter.
The time had not yet arrived and the literary gathering did not begin immediately. Everyone drank tea and admired the snow and plum blossoms. Scholars from all over the place were very active.
But there is something hidden deep in everyone's eyes.
Occasionally, when someone mentioned the Demon Saint Order, they would be interrupted by the people around them.
The incident of the barbarians attacking Jing was too horrifying. It was not appropriate to discuss it in detail at the literary meeting before the court had reached a conclusion.
Ji Zhibai sat in the Snow Party, and many people approached him, including officials who had distanced themselves from the Zuo Xiang Party in recent days.
Ji Zhibai, however, seemed to know nothing and was having a great time chatting with these people. He skillfully resolved the rift between the two sides.
Not long after, a scholar from the Chen family walked to the pavilion, coughed lightly, and the surrounding noises gradually stopped.
Fang Yun looked up. Under the pitch-black night sky, the entire plum garden was illuminated by red lanterns and white snow light. The two distinct colors formed a beautiful world.
Without waiting for the Chen family's Hanlin to speak, Ji Zhibai suddenly stood up and said, "Everyone, Zhibai has something I don't understand. Who can explain it to me?"
Chen Hanlin's face darkened, but he couldn't turn his face against the top scholar, so he asked, "What advice do you have, top scholar?" (To be continued...)