“Meng Linyu seems quite clever, knowing who to provoke and who not to.” Fang Yun said.

“Of course. He learned from the lessons of Meng Sheng in the past, not touching those Semi-Saint Prominent Families, even the weaker ones. He only targets the noble and wealthy families, and only those who are not very close to the Semi-Saint Prominent Families.”

“I see, I understand now. Thank you for your guidance, gentlemen. Let’s continue.”

After Fang Yun finished teaching all the fingerings of “Liangxiao Yin”, Pan Hanlin asked Fang Yun to play “Liangxiao Yin”. Fang Yun played it seriously, and everyone praised Fang Yun’s superb piano skills. They left one after another, and only after they had left did Pan Hanlin get up.

“Let me see you out.” Fang Yun smiled.

Pan Hanlin nodded, took a few steps, and asked, “You said you only completed the score of ‘Liangxiao Yin’ after the Qixi Festival?”

“Yes.” Fang Yun answered truthfully.

Pan Hanlin said meaningfully, “In just a few days, you were able to play ‘Liangxiao Yin’ to this level, something even a first-level pianist couldn’t do.”

“Lucky.” Fang Yun said.

“Others may not see it, but we know that ‘Liangxiao Yin’ conflicts with many aspects of today’s fingering and music style. The deeper the piano path, the less likely it is to be written. It’s more like a fingering and music created by a genius with a shallow piano path.”

Fang Yun stood there, not knowing what to say.

Pan Hanlin smiled slightly, patted Fang Yun’s shoulder lightly, and continued, “Your talent is too astonishing, you need to hide it at all times. Using the incomplete score as an excuse is a good method, we’ll take it as true. It seems that I also need to take a trip to the Enlightenment River in a few days.”

After saying that, Pan Hanlin looked at Fang Yun seriously, walked out of the Fang’s house, held his head high, hands behind his back, like a wise man who saw through everything and then left.

Fang Yun stood at the door, looking around in a daze.

“Has this become a plot within a plot? I really want to say, you guys are overthinking!” Only then did Fang Yun carefully recall the attitudes of some of the old men. They were not there for the incomplete score, they were probably suspecting that he was the creator.

Fang Yun shook his head helplessly, returned to his study to think about the Meng family’s affairs, and conducted a detailed analysis in his heart.

“Move them with emotion, lure them with benefits, and force them with power. These are the common points of the strategists and the military strategists. The only difference is that the strategists are good at making the unreal real, while the military strategists have both the unreal and the real, changing endlessly. The reason why Meng Linyu dared to confidently come to me is because he used the power of the military books. He is an Imperial Scholar, and he probably used the military books written by the Hanlin Academy. Dealing with ordinary Accomplished Scholars would naturally be easy.”

“Unfortunately, although my talent and literary position are not as good as his, I have already started writing ‘The Thirty-Six Strategies’. The power of ‘The Thirty-Six Strategies’ may not be as good as the military books written by the Hanlin Academy, but because of the successful talent performance, it is far more exquisite! His military strategy failed, he could have discovered it, but it triggered my ‘Deceive the Heaven to Cross the Sea’ strategy. He thought he had really deceived me, and his cleverness was mistaken by his cleverness!”

“In the conversation, I deliberately mentioned ‘Lord Dong Sheng’ twice. The power of a Semi-Saint is infinite, and he can hear who is calling him and even the words spoken a few moments before and after. Meng Linyu gave a vague answer the first time, and the second time he even deliberately remained silent for a moment before answering, obviously guilty, too obvious.”

Fang Yun’s eyes gradually cooled, and he exuded the chill that he only had when playing “Autumn Wind Tune”.

“The Ji family was once in its heyday, and its ancestor was a descendant of the Zhou Dynasty emperor and a master of the Yi Dao. Unfortunately, the talent has declined. In recent years, its status is even inferior to that of the Meng family. However, such a declining Semi-Saint Prominent Family must have treasures, such as that mysterious small wooden piece. The Tyrant probably had his eyes on the Ji family a long time ago, but the Ji family has always kept a low profile. He couldn’t find any opportunities, and my encounter with the Ji family gave him an opportunity. So he deliberately framed the Ji family, let me fight with the Ji family, and he took the opportunity to make a move, even under the banner of helping me to deal with the Ji family.”

“The Meng family indeed wants this beast skin of mine, but they should never, never use Han Xin’s Soldier Counting Platform to exchange it, which made me see the problem! It would be fine if I didn’t exchange it. If I got Han Xin’s Soldier Counting Platform, I would definitely become a thorn in the eye of the wealthy Han family! The pressure on him, the Tyrant, would be greatly reduced! Wait, did I underestimate the Tyrant? Although the Tyrant is fierce, he is not a despot. This can be seen from his development of the Meng family from occupying a county.”

“If he was just for his own Path of the Saints, he would avoid doing so, but he did it, probably learning from Meng Sheng’s lesson of being alone, developing his own power, and steadily becoming a saint. Yes, Meng Linyu said that my foundation is too shallow, probably hinting at me. He probably wants to use Han Xin’s Soldier Counting Platform and the Han family to force me into a dead end, and then save me in the posture of a benevolent lord, and let me join him!”

“Whether I fight with the Ji family or the Han family, he can do this! If I really fall into his military strategy, then he will have everything! What a Tyrant! His talent is probably even above Meng Sheng! Meng Sheng’s fierceness is only in occupying the master’s house and killing the enemy on the battlefield, but the Tyrant’s fierceness not only has Bai Qi’s killing, but also the greed of Lv Buwei, the Left Chancellor, to control the world with the position of prime minister! Without the ambition to covet the heavens, without the ambition to be a Semi-Saint or even a Sub-Sage, he would never target the Ji family!”

Fang Yun couldn’t help but sigh. There was the Left Chancellor who wanted to control the politics of Jing Kingdom, the strategists and miscellaneous families who intended to unite the barbarians to resist the demons, and the Tyrant who spared no effort to step on the Path of the Saints.

“This is an era of madmen!”

Fang Yun’s eyes slowly changed, finally becoming sharper than Li Wenying’s Blood-Stained Ancient Sword.

“The road leads to the sky, each takes one side, whoever wants to step on me, I will tell you, you were born in the wrong era!”

Fang Yun took a deep breath.”Endure as a Child Scholar, endure as an Accomplished Scholar, but once you become a Presented Scholar, and then an Imperial Scholar, you won’t have to endure any longer!”

Fang Yun took out the mysterious beast skin, gently stroking it. The smooth and comfortable pure black fur still had three strikingly red bloodstains on it.

Three days passed, and Meng Linyu came to visit again.

It was drizzling.

Entering the study, Meng Linyu put down his umbrella, dusted off his white Imperial Scholar robe, scattering droplets of water, sparkling and bright.

He didn’t sit down, but stood at the door with a faint smile, asking, “Has Master Fang agreed to the exchange?”

“I’ve thought about it for a long time. Thank you for the Meng family’s kindness, but even if I have the Great Scholar’s Treasures of Literature now, I can’t use them. So, I won’t exchange.” Fang Yun sat down behind the desk, also smiling.

“Oh? What do you want then? As long as our Meng family can find it, we will definitely try to get it. After all, this is related to the traces of our ancestors, and I still want to try to exchange.”

Fang Yun felt that Meng Linyu was using the power of military strategy again. Pretending not to know, he said, “To be offensive, in my heart, Han Xin’s military platform is not as important as the ‘Three Articles of Han Xin’.”

Meng Linyu’s expression didn’t change at all, but his breathing was slightly disturbed before quickly returning to normal.

“Master Fang is joking. The ‘Three Articles’ personally written by Han Xin are naturally more valuable than the Treasures of Literature. To be honest, our Meng family only borrowed the ‘Three Articles of Han Xin’ for a hundred years, and we didn’t seize it from the Han family as the outside world said. As for the military platform, it is indeed the Han family’s fault, and they compensated us.” Meng Linyu said.

Fang Yun didn’t expect Meng Linyu to have a subtle reaction after hearing about the ‘Three Articles of Han Xin’. It seemed that he wanted to cover something up. While pondering, he said, “I see, then there’s nothing we can do.”

The smile on Meng Linyu’s face faded, “Fang Yun, I came with great sincerity. If we can’t reach an agreement before the Mid-Autumn Festival, The Tyrant will be very angry.”

Fang Yun naturally understood his intention of mentioning The Tyrant instead of Meng Linyu.

“You said that day, if I don’t agree to the exchange, it’s as if nothing happened.” Fang Yun said.

“I thought you would agree.” Meng Linyu said seriously.

“I often think that others will help me.” Fang Yun’s gaze swept past Meng Linyu and landed on the drizzling autumn rain outside the door.

A cold spell follows each autumn rain.

“You should exchange.” Meng Linyu sighed, slowly bending down to pick up his umbrella.

Fang Yun didn’t speak, just quietly watching the rain outside.

Meng Linyu turned around with his umbrella, his back to Fang Yun, “You’re different from others, I’ll give you another chance.”

Fang Yun was taken aback because this voice was completely different from Meng Linyu’s previous voice.

Meng Linyu stepped over the threshold, leaving with the sound of rain hitting his umbrella.

Fang Yun kept recalling that voice, calm, broad, and absolutely unquestionable.

“Long-distance communication? A conch for communication specially made by the Mo family? Judging from the voice, it doesn’t sound very fierce.”

Fang Yun thought to himself as he walked to the door and looked at the flower bed.

“Big Bull, come here!”

“What’s wrong, young master?” Big Bull ran over along the corridor.

“Why are there no weeds in the flower bed?”

Big Bull laughed heartily, but with a hint of cunning, “It shows that we are diligent.”

Fang Yun gave him a glance, “Does Sister Yu Huan know?”

“We servants wouldn’t dare to hide it. The lady agreed, and half of the money will be handed over to her. We’re not fools, following you is worth more than earning a little money.” Big Bull said.

“People really buy those broken flowers and grass?” Fang Yun asked.

Big Bull said seriously, “Those are not broken flowers and grass, those are Enlightenment Flowers and Enlightenment Grass that have absorbed the essence of the God of Literature! Nourished by Fang Zhenguo’s reading voice every day, they have the effect of refreshing the mind and opening up wisdom, they are essential items for scholars!”

“How much did you earn?” Fang Yun suddenly asked.

Big Bull blurted out, “Not much, just over fifty taels.” After saying that, he regretted it, wishing he could slap himself. A normal servant would only earn three taels of silver a month at most.

“Oh, that’s not a small amount. Remember not to sell shoddy goods and ruin the reputation of the Fang family.” Fang Yun said.

Big Bull breathed a sigh of relief, “Don’t worry, we don’t sell much, just that much a day, and we won’t sell to anyone who wants to buy after we sell out!”

Fang Yun walked back to the study, casually saying, “That’s all. I didn’t expect you to use scarcity marketing.”

“Scarcity flute? I can’t play the flute or the zither.” Big Bull muttered to himself as he left.

Fang Yun was amused by Big Bull and laughed. He looked around the study, one side of which was doors and windows, and the other three sides were bookshelves. He picked up a copy of “Historical Records” and carefully read the “Biography of Marquis Huaiyin”.

In a few days, Fang Yun’s official seal received a letter from Li Wenying forwarded from someone else.

Fang Yun opened it and his face turned grim.

The letter was about the recent rumors in the Holy Academy. The first part said that someone heard Fang Yun slandering and defaming the Ji family, saying that the people of the Ji family were rude and unreasonable. The second part was even more serious, saying that he had obtained a secret treasure, which led to a dispute with the Ji family, and that the secret treasure was related to The Holy Land. (To be continued.)