On the way, Yang Yuhuan asked expectantly, “Xiaoyun, can we come out for a walk together often in the future?”

“Ying ying! Ying ying!” Nunu also looked at Fang Yun, her eyes shining.

“Sure.” Fang Yun agreed readily.

Yang Yuhuan smiled happily, and the lanterns on the street became dim.

As they wandered, Yang Yuhuan was frugal and didn’t spend much money, but Fang Yun forced her to buy some rouge and powder.

Nunu was different. Whenever she saw something edible, she would grab Fang Yun’s clothes with her little paws, point to the food and whine. They ate a lot along the way, and even when they were full, Nunu would sigh lightly when she saw new food.

The three of them walked back under the night sky. It was the end of the month, and the moon was very dim, but the stars filled the sky.

Fang Yun was always curious about the starry sky of this world, because there were many differences.

There was also the North Star here, but it was not the brightest star. The brightest star was the God of Literature.

Even on a full moon night, the God of Literature was clearly visible.

The God of Literature here had incredible power.

Seeing Fang Yun looking at the God of Literature, Yang Yuhuan said, “Xiaoyun, with your talent, if you become a Grand Academician, you will definitely make the God of Literature move.”

“The God of Literature moving is not that simple. Only becoming a Half-Sage will definitely trigger it. There are records of those who made the God of Literature move during their time as Great Scholars, such as Tao Yuanming, Sima Qian, Dong Zhongshu, the leaders of the Hundred Schools of Thought, and some of Confucius’ disciples. Those who had the God of Literature move during their time as Grand Academicians were only a few Sub-Sages.” Fang Yun said.

“I heard that the four great talents of the previous generation and the current number one Great Scholar, Yi Zhishi, triggered the God of Literature when they became Grand Academicians?”

“Oh, I forgot about him. He’s a madman. He said that when he is sealed as a Saint, he will definitely be illuminated by the light of the God of Literature. Among all the Saints, only King Wen of Zhou and Confucius were illuminated by the light of the God of Literature. The other Sub-Sages did not have this phenomenon. But this Yi Zhishi is really a legend. He walked 100,000 li and killed 9,000 demons. He is the most hopeful Great Scholar to be sealed as a Saint in recent years. It is said that the Yi family and the Wu Kingdom are already preparing for his sealing ceremony.”

“In a few decades, Xiaoyun will definitely be sealed as a Saint too!” Yang Yuhuan encouraged Fang Yun.

“If I can pass the Talented Scholar exam this year, maybe I have a chance to be sealed as a Saint.” Fang Yun said.

“What? Didn’t you just want to see the Prefecture Exam? Why do you have to pass the Talented Scholar exam now?” Yang Yuhuan asked.

“I changed my mind.”

After meeting Zhou Zhubu and learning that Liu Zhi was using the power of the Left Chancellor to suppress him in the capital, Fang Yun made up his mind. He must pass the Talented Scholar exam in two months and master “Paper Talks” to have the power to protect himself. Only by becoming a Talented Scholar can he break free from being powerless.

However, Fang Yun couldn’t tell Yang Yuhuan the truth and didn’t want her to worry.

“You have great talent, and you will definitely pass the Talented Scholar exam. Maybe you can even get first place and become a ‘Talented Scholar’.” Yang Yuhuan smiled.

“Getting first place is difficult. Just passing the exam is enough.” Fang Yun shook his head and smiled.During the Han dynasty, the name of Emperor Guangwu was Liu Xiu. To avoid taboos, the term “xiucai” was changed to “maocai” at that time and was later restored to “xiucai.”

During the Han dynasty, there were fewer xiucais than later, and their status was higher. Later, Wang Xizhi was the top xiucai, and a great scholar called him “the maocai of Great Han.” The story spread, and the Holy Origin continent began to call the top xiucai “maocai.”

“Don’t be discouraged, Little Yun! You have to compete not only for the maocai but also for the jieyuan, huiyuan, and zhuangyuan, becoming the legendary ‘Five Talented Scholars.’ If you can even get the guoshou, you will be the only ‘Six Talented Scholars’ in history, surpassing the four great scholars of each generation!” Yang Yuhuan said, getting excited.

Fang Yun’s slave in his arms also got excited and kept chirping, as if cheering for Fang Yun.

Fang Yun helplessly smiled and said, “Forget about the Six Talented Scholars or even the Five Talented Scholars. It’s extremely difficult just to get the jieyuan, let alone the huiyuan and zhuangyuan. In the ten kingdoms over two hundred years, only five people have gotten all three, and even if you get all three, you may not become a saint.”

“I believe Little Yun can do it!” Yang Yuhuan’s eyes were incredibly firm.

Fang Yun smiled wryly, thinking that Yang Yuhuan now had an incredibly blind trust in him.

“Okay, I’ll do my best.” Fang Yun didn’t dampen Yang Yuhuan’s enthusiasm.

The slave immediately clapped its little paws and laughed, as if Fang Yun would become one of the Six Talented Scholars soon.

Back at home, Fang Yun didn’t go to sleep immediately but continued to study and practice calligraphy.

He now read Confucius and all the semi-sages’ classics carefully because they were necessary for the exams and contained the essence of the Path of the Saints, which others couldn’t compare to.

Then he read other Semi-Sages’ and the content of the “Path of the Saints” casually, not aiming for a complete understanding but just trying to remember.

Finally, he practiced calligraphy. He copied Liu Gongquan’s calligraphy first, then copied and improved novels or textbooks.

The “Three Character Classic” was only 1,500 words, and it would be taught soon, so Fang Yun decided to copy all the most famous textbooks, including “Yuxue Qionglin,” “Zengguang Xianwen,” and “Yan Shi Jia Xun,” which was the first family education book.

“Yan Shi Jia Xun” is known as the “ancestor of family education” and records Yan Zhitui’s knowledge, experience, and thoughts, aiming to warn future generations, so it is called family education.

However, “Yan Shi Jia Xun” had to be written last because it required too much life experience.

After thinking for a moment, Fang Yun decided to compile “Zengguang Xianwen” and “Yuxue Qionglin” first. As the saying goes, reading “Zengguang Xianwen” makes one eloquent, and reading “Yuxue Qionglin” makes one capable of anything. They have extremely high practical value for young children and are the essence of textbooks.

The next day, everything was the same for Fang Yun. After breakfast, he read a text and then took a carriage to the Fang clan’s school.

At this moment, it was the first class of the Fang clan’s school. Accompanied by the students’ reading voices, Fang Yun walked into the teaching room.

The sound of chairs and tables rubbing violently against the ground sounded, and all the teachers in the teaching room stood up, reacting faster than when Dean Fang Jingtang came in.

“Is the head of the Fang clan here?”

“The head of the Fang clan is here early.””You look good today.”

The child scholars and teachers were unusually polite and enthusiastic, but Fang Yun could see that they were envious and afraid.

Fang Yun knew that what happened yesterday had spread, so he smiled and greeted them, “Good morning, colleagues.” As he spoke, he glanced at where Lu Yingnian usually sat, but it was completely empty, without even a table or chair.

The teachers stood there awkwardly, not daring to sit down.

“I am also saddened by what happened to Lu Yingnian. However, since the Lord of the Academy has ordered it, I cannot say much more. I hope that my colleagues will not be affected by this matter, and especially not let it affect our teaching.” Fang Yun finished speaking and sat down.

“Yes, yes.”

“Of course.”

“Lu Yingnian deserved his punishment.”

“Fang Xianshou, you are truly magnanimous. If it were me, I would’ve cursed him out already.”

Fang Yun smiled slightly and didn’t say anything. A mere talented scholar was not worth his cursing.

Soon, the second class was about to begin, and Fang Yun walked towards the A-class with his original manuscript of the Three Character Classic.

The teachers secretly breathed a sigh of relief and whispered to each other.

“He truly deserves to be the top of the A-class. His demeanor and breadth of mind are truly rare.”

“This matter is really strange. How could Lu the Talented Scholar be so foolish? Fang Yun is someone who can talk to ‘Sword Eyebrows Master’.”

“Before this incident, who knew that Fang Yun had such great vision? I heard about it yesterday. It wasn’t that Lu the Talented Scholar was foolish, but that it was the second madam’s fault. I heard that she knew that the Liu family wanted to suppress Fang Yun, so she wanted to take advantage of the situation. Who knew that she would reach out to Mr. Li’s desk? Isn’t that looking for death?”

“With Uncle Fang’s protection, I don’t believe that the Liu family can do anything to Fang Yun! The students of our Fang family’s academy cannot be bullied by the corrupt officials!”

“Right! If the Liu family dares to harm Fang Yun in the future, we will unite with students from other family academies and go to the state government to petition. This world belongs to the Sages, not to the Liu family!”

“Of course!”

When Fang Yun entered the A-class, it was not yet 8:15, but all the students were sitting obediently on their chairs.

As soon as Fang Yun walked to the podium, a student asked, “Teacher, are there any rewards today?”

“Yes.” Fang Yun casually replied, but he found that all the students’ eyes had changed. They were like little tigers hunting for prey, full of fighting spirit.

“That’s great! My dad said that if I don’t get a poem from the teacher within a month, he’ll beat me! Can we give way to each other today, classmates?” a child said.

“Give way? You won’t get beaten, but my butt will be beaten by my dad! Hmph, blame someone’s parents. But after getting a copy of Teacher’s ‘Spring Dawn,’ they had a big feast, which made my dad come back drunk and drag me out of bed to scold me, saying that if I don’t get a poem from Teacher, he won’t recognize me as his son.”

“Don’t blame my parents! Let’s see the real thing in class!”

“Let’s see it then. Are you scared? You only got lucky once. Can you get everything right every time?”

So, familiar children helped each other, while those who didn’t have a good relationship naturally made sarcastic remarks. But it was only verbal sparring, and no one dared to fight or curse.If it were any other teacher, they would have been angry, but Fang Yun just smiled and said, “Today I’ll give you a poem as a gift. From now on, there will be a small test every five days, and the first and most improved student will receive a poem from me. To prevent anyone from pretending to be weak, the last three in each test, even if they do better next time, will not receive a poem. And if I catch anyone cheating, don’t expect to get a single word from me in the future. Also, I will soon participate in the Prefecture Exam. After becoming an Accomplished Scholar, I will have less time to come to the clan school, so seize this opportunity.”

The classroom was silent, and all the children had a flame burning in their eyes.

“Okay, now everyone write down yesterday’s ‘Three Character Classic’ from memory.”

Except for a few children with worried expressions, most of the students confidently wrote down the text.

Afterwards, Fang Yun checked their writing and praised a few, but did not criticize those who made mistakes.

Fang Yun continued to teach the ‘Three Character Classic’, and after class, he rewarded the student who wrote the best. When he returned to the teaching room, he found seven or eight people standing at the door, all wearing Talented Scholar robes. Among them were two Talented Scholars that Fang Yun had met at the Child Scholar Literary Society in Ji County.