“Since Liu Zicheng has committed suicide, are you willing to disguise yourself and gain experience in the army?”

Li Wenying’s message was only one sentence, but Fang Yun felt an inexplicable heaviness between the lines. He thought of The Holy Land, The Left Chancellor, Wolf Savage, the rebellious literati, and the Demon Emperor.

Li Wenying seemed restless.

“I am willing.” Fang Yun’s answer was also extremely concise.

“You have no military experience, and your talent in martial arts will inevitably fail. For the sake of future military strategies, you must enter the army as soon as possible. Your talent is astonishing, and you don’t need to spend years in the army. What you need is not to kill the enemy, but to understand the atmosphere of the army, to feel the soul of the army. Without the soul of the army, your Path of the Saints in the military will ultimately be limited. Although General Lu and Tong Shilang are good friends, they do not like The Left Chancellor, but get along well with General Chen. At least for the next three years, they will not affiliate with The Left Chancellor, and you will still be safe in Yu Huan City. You can go to Yu Xingshu, he will arrange everything for you.”

“Thank you, Lord Li.”

Fang Yun had to admire Li Wenying’s insight. Now he indeed needed the most basic experience. He did not have the experience of the army’s grassroots in the illusion, but directly led the army as an Imperial Scholar.

“In order to find a suitable reason for writing military strategies in the future, I must also go to the army as soon as possible. That soul of the army should just be Grand Academician Li’s way of encouraging me. The so-called soul of the army is the recognition and gratitude of all the soldiers in a nation. If any soldier does not recognize it, it is impossible to have the soul of the army. Apart from those Semi-Saints, even the Great Scholars of the Military Strategists find it difficult to have the soul of the army. Even Jianmei Gong himself does not have it.”

Fang Yun did not think more about the soul of the army, but told Yang Yuhuan about some things, and then went to General Dinghai, Yu Xingshu.

As he passed the courtyard flower bed, Fang Yun found that there were only three flowers left in it, and he left with a shake of his head and a smile.

The residence of General Dinghai was located in the southern part of the city, but the office of the Jiangzhou State Army was in the eastern part of the city, backed by the main city and facing the East Sea.

After Zhang Poyue left, General Lu took office silently, without causing any ripples. Everything seemed no different from when Zhang Poyue was there. Even the positions of the officers did not change at all.

General Lu’s official position was a third-grade one, commanding the Jiangzhou State Army, mainly responsible for the Dragon Clan in the East Sea, and holding heavy power.

Dinghai General Yu Xingshu was a fourth-grade official. He was General Lu’s deputy, responsible for the daily affairs of the state army. His power was immense, but he had personally gone to Dayuan Prefecture to pick up Fang Yun.

The carriage was moving in the eastern part of the city, which was the safest, most stringent, and most severe place in Jiangzhou. Even Fang Yun’s carriage, which had the mark of the state army, was checked three times.

The eastern part of the city was ostensibly dominated by the Jiangzhou State Army, but the actual highest command was held by the Holy Academy. It’s just that the people of the Holy Academy usually don’t care about things, and the superiors of these people from the Holy Academy are precisely Li Wenying. Therefore, everyone knows that as long as Li Wenying is in Jiangzhou, the Left Chancellor’s faction cannot turn the tide.

In Jiangzhou, Li Wenying’s words carry more weight than the words of the king and the queen mother. Because he can represent the Holy Academy, others cannot.

Before long, Fang Da Niu suddenly said in a low voice outside the carriage curtain, “It seems that a high official’s carriage is coming from the front, I’ll make way.”

The carriage slowed down and changed direction. Soon, Fang Yun heard the sound of a carriage passing by, which was very heavy. He lifted the curtain and saw a large carriage, six feet long, passing by, pulled by ten dragon horses.

In Jiangzhou, only three people were qualified to use ten dragon horses to pull a carriage: the Lord of the State Literary Academy, the Governor, and the Commander.

“It turns out to be the carriage of General Lu.” Fang Yun thought as he watched the outside.

Suddenly. The curtain of that carriage also opened, and an old man over fifty turned his head to look over. This old man did not look as rough and cunning as Zhang Poyue, nor as elegant and sharp as Li Wenying. Instead, he had a face full of determination, very pure.

Almost the moment he saw him, Fang Yun knew that this man could never be a lackey of The Left Chancellor, but Fang Yun’s reason told him that General Lu still had a tendency to collude with The Left Chancellor.

Fang Yun didn’t expect the first meeting between the two to be under such circumstances, and they were about to pass by each other quickly, making it impossible to greet each other formally. He could only salute and greet.

The old man looked at Fang Yun carefully, as if he wanted to imprint Fang Yun in his mind, nodded, and then put down the curtain.

What Fang Yun found strange was that there seemed to be a different sentiment in the old man’s eyes, as if he recognized him, and there was no hostility.

“Maybe it’s just an illusion.”

Fang Yun couldn’t help but think of General Lu’s faction.

“He is close to General Chen, but he is not a direct line of General Chen. As for General Chen, he is the number one person in Jing Kingdom. It is said that since the defeat of the Left Army last year, he has been living in seclusion. Some people say he was injured, some say he is in seclusion to challenge the Great Scholar, otherwise The Left Chancellor would not be so powerful. It is said that the person Zhang Poyue admires most is that General Chen.”

“The Left Chancellor, the Literary Chancellor, and General Chen are the three giants of Jing Kingdom’s civil officials, the Literary Academy, and the military. Fortunately, the latter two are there, otherwise The Left Chancellor might have already monopolized the power. And Li Wenying is the most likely to become one of the three giants. He is probably the true ‘Half Chancellor’. With him in Jiangzhou, this General Lu should not dare to target me.”

Before long, the carriage stopped outside the camp of General Dinghai. Fang Yun reported his name, and the surrounding soldiers looked at Fang Yun with surprise and admiration, but they still did not let Fang Yun in, but went in to ask for instructions. After a while, Yu Xingshu’s personal soldier came out and led Fang Yun to the central military tent.

This is a tradition of the Ten Kingdoms. The offices of military officers are all set up according to the plan of marching in the field, in order to avoid military extravagance and to remind them at all times that they are on the battlefield. However, the soldiers’ barracks are much better.

At the entrance of the military tent, the personal soldier made a gesture of invitation, and then said, “Please, Lord Fang.”

“Thank you.” Fang Yun politely thanked him and walked inside.

Yu Xingshu sat behind the desk, and did not treat Fang Yun with the usual enthusiasm, but looked at Fang Yun calmly and asked, “Are you here to be a soldier, or to experience?”

Fang Yun answered seriously, “I report to the lord, I am here to join the army.”

“Very well. You don’t need to go anywhere this month, just stay in the army and be an ordinary soldier. As for the Qixi Literary Meeting, I will give you half a day off to avoid others’ suspicion. After a month, you can serve as a clerk in the army, responsible for documents, and then you will be transferred to the place where you are good at.”

Fang Yun immediately said, “I will obey your orders.”

Yu Xingshu slid a piece of paper across the table, which flew to Fang Yun. He said, “You can leave by carriage now, go to the place mentioned on the paper. When you get there, tell him you need a disguise. He will help you. Remember to have him remove the disguise before the Qixi Literature Meeting, and find him again after the meeting. Your name is not uncommon, I’ve even met a few people with the same name. Just keep using it, the paper also clearly states where to report.”

“Yes, General!”

“By the way, the Holy Temple has recently released new Accomplished Scholar War Poetry and Strong Bow Poetry. You can learn them before getting your disguise.”

“Yes, I will take my leave.”

Fang Yun turned and left, feeling not only no resentment but gratitude for Yu Xingshu’s professional attitude.

“No wonder he is a fourth-rank general, he seems to distance himself from me. But in reality, he knows that I am at my peak due to being a role model for scholars, which is when my mentality is most likely to have problems. Yet he deliberately sent me to the lowest level of the army, the intention to temper me is too obvious. If I can maintain a calm mind when I fall from the peak to the bottom, then I won’t be arrogant or complacent in the face of any situation in the future.”

“I must keep a low profile for the next few months, except for the Qixi Literature Meeting, this state must continue until the fifteenth of August. On the fifteenth of August, I will enter the Holy Land, where there will be a grand literature meeting with talented scholars from ten nations. To enter the Holy Land, I have to keep a low profile.”

“The military hierarchy is strict, I will start as a soldier, then become a clerk. I won’t be going to the battlefield, so I probably won’t have the chance to write poetry or prose, I will probably live a plain life.”

Fang Yun first went to the Holy Temple in the academy to learn his own “Capture the King” and “Arrow in the Stone” Accomplished Scholar War Poetry, and finally arrived at Mingye Lane.

The nearby streets were deserted. Fang Yun instructed Fang Dan Niu on many things, then let Fang Dan Niu drive away. He entered Mingye Lane and came to an extremely secluded calligraphy and painting shop.

Fang Yun looked around the shop, it was dark and small, very messy, it didn’t look like a real business at all.

An old man with a goatee was sitting at the counter, he looked to be in his seventies or eighties, and was drinking from a small teapot.

Fang Yun handed over the paper Yu Xingshu had given him, saying, “I need your help, sir.”

The old man opened his cloudy eyes, took the paper and looked at it, then crumpled it up and threw it into the stove, burning it to ashes.

Fang Yun watched the old man, curious about how he would disguise him.

The old man leisurely took out a brush and inkstone, the inkstone was almost overflowing with ink, Fang Yun was afraid he would spill it.

Fang Yun felt strange, any scholar knew that you shouldn’t grind too much ink, you should only grind as much as you need. But the old man seemed to always keep the inkstone full, which was very bad.

The old man placed the inkstone, then dipped the brush into it.

Fang Yun suddenly widened his eyes, watching the strange scene in front of him in amazement.

The moment the brush touched the ink, the ink in the inkstone suddenly surged up, transforming into a graceful woman standing on the surface of the ink, about the size of a thumb.

The woman was made entirely of pitch-black ink, with a head, torso, and limbs, delicate and exquisite, even with long hair reaching her waist, her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears were all very clear, lifelike, as if a real person had been turned into ink by magic.

“Ink Woman?” Fang Yun was overjoyed, he didn’t expect to see this legendary creature.

The Ink Woman curiously glanced at Fang Yun, then lifted her delicate little foot to kick the ink, causing it to fly onto the brush.

In a short while, the brush was glowing, the Ink Woman dived into the ink, only revealing her head, curiously looking at Fang Yun.

Only the brush tip had ink, and although the brush handle was splashed with ink, it didn’t leave any ink marks.

The old man aimed at Fang Yun’s face, a few feet away, then placed the brush above the inkstone.

The Ink Woman blew a breath at the brush tip, a column of ink sprayed out from the inkstone, circled around the brush tip, then returned to the inkstone.

The ink on the brush completely disappeared and became dry.

After everything was done, the little Ink Woman still revealed her little head, continuing to stare at Fang Yun.

Fang Yun looked at the Ink Woman with envy, compared to the Ink Woman, the Dragon Blood Ink Block could be thrown away. Even the most common Ink Woman could add a layer of treasure light, doubling the power of the War Poetry.

“It’s done, there’s a bronze mirror over there, you can take a look.” The old man said weakly.

(To be continued.)