Fang Yun naturally woke up after only two hours of sleep, feeling not tired but energetic.

“The Dragon Palace Blood Ginseng is truly amazing. I must thank the Empress for giving it to me. It’s more important than giving me a noble title. I will study for twenty hours a day and I believe I can become a Talented Scholar this year!”

After washing up and quickly eating breakfast, Fang Yun began his morning reading. Like yesterday, he read various books on guiding study and decided to thoroughly understand all the examination methods before writing the classics.

Soon, someone knocked on the door and Yang Yuhuan went to answer it. Fang Yun recognized the voice as He Yunong, who went to the poetry meeting with him yesterday, so he put down his book and went to greet him.

He Yunong had a smiling face and handed some paper bags and a brick tea to Yang Yuhuan.

“He Brother,” Fang Yun said.

He Yunong blushed and said, “I don’t have classes this morning and just happened to pass by. I bought some food and wanted to see you.”

Fang Yun vaguely guessed He Yunong’s intentions and invited him into the room, deliberately keeping others away.

In the quiet room, the two scholars talked softly.

They first talked about teaching topics. Fang Yun saw that He Yunong couldn’t bring himself to speak and laughed, “He Brother, do you have something else to say today? Just say it.”

He Yunong smiled awkwardly and said, “As you know, I became a Talented Scholar ten years ago but have not been able to become a Presented Scholar since then. My courage has gradually been worn down by time. Yesterday, I read your ‘Inscription of a Dilapidated Shack’ and it awakened my courage after a long time. You can rest assured that I’m not asking for the original manuscript of ‘Inscription of a Dilapidated Shack,’ but I want you to write one for me so that I can understand its essence and strive to become a Presented Scholar with renewed confidence.”

Fang Yun immediately stood up and walked to the desk, saying as he walked, “You’re too polite, it’s just a few words.”

Fang Yun picked up the brush and wrote ‘Inscription of a Dilapidated Shack’ carefully after some contemplation.

Since it wasn’t the original manuscript, there was nothing unusual about this piece of writing.

“Let it dry first and we’ll talk later.”

“Okay.”

After a while, when the ink dried, He Yunong went over to pick up the paper and couldn’t help but laugh.

He Yunong praised, “Your handwriting is getting better and better. I really want to learn calligraphy and poetry from you. I will hang this inscription in my study and contemplate it every day. My residence is a dilapidated shack, but with this inscription, my literary palace will surely be reinforced, and I will have more talent to bear. When I take the state examination again, I will have a better chance of becoming a Presented Scholar.”

Fang Yun suddenly realized that no one had mentioned it yesterday and he hadn’t noticed it either. He had thought that ‘Inscription of a Dilapidated Shack’ itself had stirred up the essence of heaven and earth. But after hearing He Yunong’s words, he finally understood. The reason why so many people were chasing after this ‘Inscription of a Dilapidated Shack’ was mainly because the dilapidated shack and the literary palace could be perfectly combined.

The Inscription of a Dilapidated Shack was also an Inscription of a Literary Palace, which could create a moment of literary courage and move even the Grand Academician Li Wenying to tears, making him come in person.

He Yunong regarded Fang Yun’s handwritten ‘Inscription of a Dilapidated Shack’ as a treasure, carefully rolled it up, and put it in his bosom.

After everything was done, He Yunong said, “Fang Yun, your ‘Inscription of a Dilapidated Shack’ is extraordinary. If there is a chance, I will definitely repay this great favor.”

“It’s just a piece of paper, He Brother, you don’t have to worry about it. I happen to be going to the clan school. Would you like to go with me?”

“Okay.”

As Fang Yun walked out of the courtyard, the servant suddenly rushed out and stood on Fang Yun’s shoes, standing upright and holding Fang Yun’s legs with both claws, looking up with a pitiful expression.”What’s the matter?” Fang Yun asked.

“Nunu! Nunu!” the little fox called out.

“I don’t understand,” Fang Yun said helplessly.

Nunu’s small eyes turned and suddenly jumped onto the carriage, sat in Fang Yun’s usual seat, and tried to imitate Fang Yun’s posture by leaning back with her legs stretched out. But she was too small, and her back didn’t touch the back of the chair. She fell onto the chair, with a look of confusion as if to say that this wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Fang Yun chuckled. “Do you want to come with me?”

Nunu immediately sat back properly and nodded at Fang Yun.

“If you come with me, you must behave and not cause trouble, understand?” Fang Yun warned.

Nunu nodded vigorously and sat obediently on the chair.

He Yunong said, “Your little fox is very smart. It should be a hybrid of the demon race and ordinary foxes, right?”

Nunu suddenly became angry, stood on the seat, put her front paws on her waist, and shouted at He Yunong, “Ya ya! Ya ya!” Her face turned red with anger.

It was the first time Fang Yun had heard Nunu make such a sound. It seemed that she was too angry, so he picked her up and held her in his arms, gently stroking her head.

Nunu whimpered twice and stopped being angry.

He Yunong also got on the carriage and sat next to Fang Yun. Unexpectedly, Nunu jumped between Fang Yun and He Yunong, stretched out her small paws, and pushed He Yunong hard, trying to push him off the carriage with a huff.

The two laughed. He Yunong bowed to Nunu and said, “Brother Fox, I shouldn’t have said that. I apologize to you. You are definitely more noble than the demon race.”

Nunu immediately turned her anger into joy, stood up straight, faced He Yunong, pointed to herself with her small paws, and raised her head.

“What does she want to say?” He Yunong asked Fang Yun.

Fang Yun smiled. “She wants you to continue calling her Brother Fox.”

“Really? Please forgive me, Brother Fox,” He Yunong joked.

Nunu immediately looked pleased with herself and jumped onto Fang Yun’s lap, lying down.

Fang Yun touched her head, but when he took his hand away, she grabbed it tightly and pulled it up to her head, then snuggled up and closed her eyes.

Fang Yun slowly took his hand away, but Nunu reacted quickly and held his hand with her small paws, then wrapped her furry tail around his wrist, not letting him move.

“Ying ying…” Nunu pleaded softly.

Fang Yun smiled and put his hand on her head.

Nunu resumed her happy expression and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment.

He Yunong asked, “Is this a male fox?”

“I think it’s female,” Fang Yun said.

“Then why does she like being called Brother Fox?”

“I call you Brother He, and she likes it. She doesn’t understand anything, really.”

“Ying ying!” Nunu protested immediately, as if to say, “Don’t talk bad about me!”

Fang Yun and He Yunong laughed.

The two of them arrived at the clan school in the carriage. When they entered the classroom, the teachers greeted Fang Yun with smiles, but each one seemed unnatural, as if they wanted to say something but were too embarrassed to speak up. They all wanted someone else to speak first.

He Yunong cleared his throat and said, “Fang Yun is worth at least ten taels of silver now. You should all be more respectful.”

The child scholar teachers could only return to their seats, unhappy.

At eight fifteen, Fang Yun entered the classroom as usual, but Nunu stood shyly at the door, looking inside curiously.

“Little dog!”

“It’s a cat!”

“It’s clearly a fox!”

“Shh, be quiet and pay attention to class!”

The students glanced at Nunu a few times and then ignored her, because there were more important things waiting for them.A child couldn’t help but shout, “Mr. Fang, please teach us how to write poetry!”

“Yes, we want to write beautiful parallel prose like ‘Inscription of the Dilapidated House’.”

“Mm-hmm!” Many children nodded vigorously, their eyes full of anticipation.

Fang Yun was surprised, “Even you know about it?”

A child immediately said, “A high-ranking official came to my house this morning as a guest! He said that I should try to get first place in the next exam and ask you to personally write ‘Inscription of the Dilapidated House.’ Don’t worry, Mr. Fang, I won’t ask for it. Such a good thing shouldn’t be given to just anyone.”

“Right! My dad said that if we ask for poems, that’s fine, but if we ask for your ‘Inscription of the Dilapidated House,’ it will shorten your lifespan. We should know our limits as human beings.”

The children all agreed.

“Very well, it seems that teaching you the ‘Three Character Classic’ wasn’t in vain. So today, let’s continue with the ‘Three Character Classic’.” Fang Yun said.

“Ah…” The children sighed in unison.

“Mr. Fang, please teach us how to write poetry.”

“Yes, it’s fine to teach the ‘Three Character Classic’ a day later.”

The little fox on the side turned her eyes but didn’t jump onto Fang Yun’s body. Instead, she sat obediently at the door, looking up at Fang Yun like the other students.

Fang Yun smiled and asked, “Do you really want to learn how to write poetry from me?”

Before the students could answer, the little fox suddenly raised her front paws and called out in a crisp voice, “Ying ying! Ying ying!”

The students burst into laughter.

“Even the little fox wants to listen to your poetry, so you should agree.”

“Yes, Mr. Fang.”

Fang Yun said unkindly to the little fox, “You’re not allowed to interrupt during class!”

The little fox immediately covered her mouth with her paws, blinked hard, and made many children secretly laugh.

Fang Yun pondered for a moment and realized that although there were books on phonology in this era, they were not suitable for teaching these children. Then he thought of enlightenment books such as “Rhyming Dictionary,” “Training Parallel Sentences,” and “Lingua Magistrate’s Rhyme Book.” After comparing them, he found that “Lingua Magistrate’s Rhyme Book” was the easiest to understand, so he made a choice.

Fang Yun said, “To write poetry and parallel prose, you must first learn phonology and parallelism. It cannot be done in one step. So, I happen to be compiling ‘Rhyming Dictionary’ at home, and I’ll teach you a little bit first. If you like it, we can continue teaching the rest later.”

“Thank you, Mr. Fang!” The students thanked him in unison.

The little fox couldn’t help but wag her tail.

Fang Yun said, “Let’s start with the ‘Dong’ rhyme. Listen carefully: ‘Tian’ matches with ‘Di,’ ‘Yu’ matches with ‘Feng,’ ‘Da Lu’ matches with ‘Chang Kong.’ ‘Shan Hua’ matches with ‘Hai Shu,’ ‘Chi Ri’ matches with ‘Cang Qiong.’ ‘Lei Yin Yin,’ ‘Wu Meng Meng.’ ‘Ri Xia’ matches with ‘Tian Zhong.’”

After reciting it, Fang Yun asked, “Who remembers it? Raise your hand.”

Five children raised their hands, and the other children looked at them enviously.

Fang Yun said, “Yue Yunpeng, stand up and recite it.”

The little chubby boy named Yue Yunpeng immediately stood up and said loudly, “Tian matches with Di, Yu matches with Feng, Da Lu matches with Chang Kong. Shan Hua matches with Hai Shu, Chi Ri matches with Cang Qiong. Lei Yin Yin, Wu Meng Meng. Ri Xia matches with Tian Zhong.”

“Good. Now I’ll say a line, and you follow me. Tian matches with Di.”

“Tian matches with Di.”

“Ying ying ying!” The little fox’s voice was mixed in, not only not hindering the children’s memory but also adding a wonderful rhythm.

Fang Yun smiled and glanced at the little fox, then continued, “Yu matches with Feng.”

“Yu matches with Feng.”

“Ying ying ying!” The little fox was encouraged and became even happier, continuing to make sounds with the children.

“Da Lu matches with Chang Kong…”

Fang Yun, the little fox, and the children’s voices echoed in the classroom.All the children were attracted by the rhyming verses that were as catchy as the “Three Character Classic”, and they fantasized about making a national poem one day, so they recited it loudly, more enthusiastically than when they learned the “Three Character Classic”.

Soon, the dean of the clan school, Fang Jingtang, and the other teachers were attracted by the unfamiliar voices outside the door.

Fang Jingtang stroked his beard and sighed lightly, “Fang Yun teaches with fox rhymes, and it will surely become a masterpiece for generations to come.”

The other teachers nodded along, and He Yunong looked solemn and whispered, “Fang Yun’s teaching of this kind of musical rhythm may overturn the entire system of Mongolian education, and in the future, it could increase our nation’s war poetry by several times.”