Fang Yun nodded and said, “I have heard of this person’s talent. After becoming a Presented Scholar, he not only passed the third mountain and obtained The Heart of Literature, but also passed the fourth mountain and stopped before the fifth mountain. I suspect he obtained a middle-grade The Heart of Literature.”
Zhao Zhuzhen worriedly said, “If he only has one The Heart of Literature, I’m not too concerned. I suspect that after his Half-Sage mentor took him to travel the world, he went to other sacred places and obtained a second The Heart of Literature. If that’s the case, he will be difficult to deal with.”
“Presented Scholars have two The Hearts of Literature?” Fang Yun was very surprised.
“Others may not be able to, but the Four Great Talents can definitely do it. Some geniuses from the prominent families of the Half-Sages can also do it. But don’t worry, once you become a Presented Scholar, you will definitely be able to obtain a The Heart of Literature on your second visit to Book Mountain.”
Fang Yun nodded without speaking. He didn’t know how Book Mountain would test people, and he felt uneasy about it.
After discussing with the others, Qian Presented Scholar walked over and said, “Fang Shuangjia, we have already discussed it. You will be the last one to go. We need to leave now and prepare for the dragon boat race in Hezhong Prefecture.”
“Alright, let’s go together.”
Zhao Zhuzhen said, “Then let’s go to the painting boat below. We can see more clearly from there.”
Fang Yun held Yang Yuhuan’s hand and they left Yuhuan Tower together, heading towards the place where the boat was docked on the riverbank.
Along the way, there were vendors selling things and it was very noisy. Zhao Zhuzhen saw that Yang Yuhuan didn’t have anything, so he bought some colorful threads and cheap accessories for her. Yang Yuhuan thanked him one by one.
There were many young ladies and maidservants who rarely went out, and the air was filled with fragrance. The group squeezed their way to the riverbank. Yang Yuhuan and Zhao Zhuzhen had fine beads of sweat on their foreheads and they gently wiped them with handkerchiefs.
Pushing aside the hanging willow branches, they arrived at the dock by the riverbank. Fang Yun and the others took a small boat to the sandbar in the middle of the river, while Zhao Zhuzhen, Yang Yuhuan, and their servant boarded the painting boat and stood at the side, watching Fang Yun and the others’ boat sail towards the sandbar.
“Ying ying!” The servant called out loudly in Yang Yuhuan’s arms, waving its little paws towards Fang Yun.
Fang Yun heard the sound and turned back, waving his hand at the servant. As a result, the servant suddenly jumped out of Yang Yuhuan’s arms and into the river, swimming towards Fang Yun’s boat at a very fast speed.
Fang Yun couldn’t help but laugh and cry. When the servant approached, he pulled it out of the water.
The servant immediately shook its body vigorously, splashing water everywhere, causing the people on the boat to laugh and dodge.
“How did you come over here?” Fang Yun asked.
The servant looked at Fang Yun in confusion, pointing at Fang Yun’s hand, as if to say, “Didn’t you wave your hand for me to come?”
“You… forget it, just stay here.” Fang Yun said.
The boat stopped on the sandbar, and many people were already standing on it. They greeted familiar faces in a hurry and then went about their own business.
Fang Yun’s gaze swept over the crowd, and finally noticed someone who was extremely peculiar.
That person was only seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a loose white robe, with black hair flowing behind him like black jade. He didn’t look like a polite scholar, but more like a wanderer. His eyes were empty, as if reflecting the heavens and the earth, but there was no trace of a person.
It seemed that everyone in this world was not worth his attention.
The person suddenly blinked his eyes, turned his head slowly, and looked at Fang Yun carefully for a moment, then turned his head again and continued to gaze at the sky.
Fang Yun felt that this person was really strange. He was clearly looking at him, but his gaze was extremely empty, as if it passed through him to look at a distant place.
Fang Yun ignored him and looked around. There were a total of five dragon boats here, each one painted with the pattern of a yellow dragon on the outside. The boats were narrow and about two zhang long, able to accommodate more than ten people.
Each dragon boat had a raised dragon head at the front, and there were numbers on the neck of the dragon head.
Qian Presented Scholar brought Fang Yun and the others to the side of the second dragon boat.
There was a big drum behind the dragon head of that dragon boat, and a flag was erected on the drum. Qian Presented Scholar said, “We don’t need to beat the drum ourselves. We will invite a strong young man to beat the drum, showcasing our might. This is a tradition passed down from previous dragon boat races. We only need to sit in the boat and write poetry and essays. The more talent we display, the faster the boat will go. Look at that tall black-tiled building over there, the Prefect and the Court Gentleman are both there.”
Fang Yun looked over and saw many officials standing on the building, looking towards this direction. Fang Yun only recognized Feng Zimo, the Court Gentleman of the Prefecture, and the General who escorted him, Li Wenying. The others were unfamiliar, and Li Wenying was not there.
Fang Shouye, who didn’t care about formalities, waved at Fang Yun and Fang Yun returned the gesture.
The strong man in charge of beating the drum held a red flag and walked to the bow of the boat. After tying the flag, he stood there with a drumstick in each hand. The same was done for the other four dragon boats.
However, Qian Presented Scholar and the others did not board the boat. They walked towards the position where the first dragon boat was located, and the people near the other dragon boats followed suit, standing behind Qian Presented Scholar and the others, watching the people by the first dragon boat.
The people by the first dragon boat were all from Qing Nation.
Qian Presented Scholar said, “Fellow literary friends, there are still two quarters of an hour before the race starts. We will stick to the old rules. Is there anyone who objects?”
A confident Qing Nation Presented Scholar with a smile said, “Naturally, we will stick to the old rules. The dragon boat literary meeting will write poems and essays related to the Dragon Boat Festival. Let’s not waste words and decide on the poems and essays first. I will represent Qing Nation and decide first. In this dragon boat poetry and essays, no mention of weapons or boats is allowed.”
A talented scholar behind Fang Yun muttered in a low voice, “Using this trick again, coward!”
Fang Yun also knew that deciding on the poems and essays meant selecting the content that should not be mentioned in the poems and essays. Qing Nation, which was more warlike than Jing Nation, would likely be defeated if the battle scenes were combined with the Dragon Boat Festival poems and essays. Therefore, Qing Nation always restricted this aspect in their poem and essay selections.
Qian Presented Scholar said, “Then I will decide next. In this poem and essay, no mention of contemplation or ancient people is allowed.”
These words made the faces of the Qing Nation people turn worse. The Qing Nation’s style of killing demons and barbarians was not as good as Jing Nation’s, but their literary style was far superior. If they were not allowed to write poems and essays expressing emotions and reminiscing about ancient people, the Qing Nation people would be greatly restricted.
The Qing Nation Presented Scholar smiled and said, “Since we can’t write those poems and essays, we can only write about romance, beautiful scenery, and pleasant moments. That’s fine. Today is a festival, so it’s appropriate to write about these. But don’t worry too much, no matter how hard you try, it will be the same as the past seventeen years, losing to Qing Nation!”
“Don’t be too arrogant, Qing Nation!” someone couldn’t help but shout.
Qian Presented Scholar stopped that person and said, “Shi Dehong, as a disciple of the Poet Master, you haven’t learned much from your master’s great talent, but you have learned his arrogance!”
“Hahaha, I am already satisfied to have learned my master’s arrogance. Thank you, Qian Brother, for the praise. Although I am arrogant, I am only arrogant towards the talented scholars and presented scholars of your enemy nation. When I meet the imperial scholars of your esteemed nation, I still treat them with respect. But your people are so arrogant that they can’t even see the Sage, and yet there is a young man who barely made it to the top among them who dares to compare himself with my master. My master is already displeased, so why should I be polite to you? See you at the dragon boat race!”
Except for the person with disheveled hair who remained indifferent, the other five Qing Nation people walked towards their dragon boat with anger on their faces.
Fang Yun was stunned and thought, “Is this person talking about me?”
The others also returned to their respective dragon boats.
When they reached the edge of the second dragon boat, Fang Yun couldn’t help but ask, “Qian Brother, fellow literary friends, did I say that I wanted to compare myself with the Poet Master? I didn’t even say that I wanted to push him out of the top four talents. How did it turn into this?”
Qian Presented Scholar didn’t care and smiled, “Don’t worry, it’s just someone spreading rumors that the Qing Nation people heard. They took it seriously. Besides, the Poet Master has only written one poem for the nation, and he has written more poems and essays than you in Dafu and Mingzhou. He has only become a Grand Academician in his twenties, but he is not much stronger than you. Why can’t you compare yourself to him?”
Another talented scholar said, “You’re right. The Qing Nation people really have no tolerance. They take idle gossip seriously and can’t even take a joke. Fortunately, the Poet Master is just the Poet Master. If he became the first Poetry Sage in history, if we said something, wouldn’t he want to exterminate our entire family?”
“Well said…”
Everyone defended Fang Yun one after another. Fang Yun laughed and cried. It seemed that these people were being suppressed too harshly by Qing Nation. They finally had a person from Jing Nation who became famous, and they couldn’t help but compare him to the Poet Master.
Fang Yun didn’t blame them. People who defended their own kind were always better than those who harmed their own kind, like Tong Li.
There were inkstones, ink, paper, and inkstones on the boat, so there was no need to prepare anything.
After Qian Presented Scholar finished speaking, he turned to Fang Yun and said, “The rules of the competition are very simple. After the race starts, there will be half an hour for each person to write a poem, essay, or song. When the half hour is up, the talent of each dragon boat will be revealed. The more talent a dragon boat has, the faster it will go. After the boat starts moving, each person can write another poem or essay. This second poem or essay will test both talent and artistic conception, as the ‘Sea of Learning’ also emphasizes the artistic conception of poetry and essays. Qing Nation people are too cunning. Since we can’t write about boats and weapons, we won’t be able to express the artistic conception of competing in the race. However, they will also be in a difficult position without the ability to write about emotions and ancient people.”
Fang Yun nodded, understanding the intentions of both sides. He said, “I understand, but this is my first time participating in a dragon boat race. Can you tell me what type of poems and essays are best to write?”
Qian Presented Scholar said, “You can write about the Dragon Boat Festival scenery or the atmosphere of the festival. That way, there won’t be any mistakes.”
“Alright, let me think.” Fang Yun lowered his head in contemplation, occasionally looking up to observe the surroundings and the crowd, pondering.
Seeing that Fang Yun was ignoring it, the servant found it boring and called out twice before jumping into the water, happily swimming towards the painting boat where Yang Yuhuan was.
Fang Yun smiled and looked towards the painting boat, nodding gently at Yang Yuhuan and Zhao Zhuzhen who were there.
At ten o’clock, Fang Yun immediately felt a change in the vitality between heaven and earth. He looked towards the place where the officials were, and saw Feng Zimo, the Court Gentleman of the Prefecture, and another person holding official seals. The talent surged from the seals, forming a strange power that enveloped the river section between the sandbar and the Dragon Head Bridge.
The crowd on both sides erupted into thunderous cheers.
“May Jing Nation be blessed!”
“Jing Nation will win!”