Fang Yun knew that the transportation of goods was a big business, but he didn’t expect that a sixth-rank official would send an invitation so quickly, without caring about the Left Chancellor.
Fang Yun asked, “Is Zhao Tongjian’s relationship with the Left Chancellor strong?”
He Yunong smiled and said, “You don’t know. The transportation of goods is the lifeline of the country. It has always been the royal family who serves as the governor of transportation of goods. Now, it is the wine and meat prince who holds the position. When he is drunk, he curses the Left Chancellor and is extremely unreasonable. The Left Chancellor can only avoid him. But apart from his love for food and drink, he is almost impeccable. The imperial censors of the Supervisory Office don’t want to bother with him, and they can’t impeach him every day for drinking and causing trouble.”
Fang Yun couldn’t help laughing. There were many stories about the wine and meat prince in Jing Kingdom. Although most of them were absurd, they were not boring, and he had done many seemingly confused but fair things.
“Since Zhao Tongjian is following the royal family’s path, there’s no harm in meeting him.”
As soon as Fang Yun finished speaking, there was a knocking sound at the door.
“But what about the Fang Family?”
The two looked at each other, and Fang Yun went to open the door again. It was still a servant who came.
“This is an invitation from my master. I hope you will honor us with your presence.”
Fang Yun took the letter and saw that it was an invitation from Gong Sizheng, the magistrate of the Jiangzhou court, a fourth-rank official. The Criminal Court was responsible for arresting people, while the Judicial Court was responsible for trying cases. This Gong Sizheng was also a powerful official in Jiangzhou.
Fang Yun opened the invitation and saw that one of his sons had just hired an accomplished scholar as a teacher and was holding a thank-you banquet, inviting Fang Yun to attend.
Fang Yun asked He Yunong, “What is his relationship with the Left Chancellor?”
“He is from the same county as the Left Chancellor.” He Yunong’s expression was a bit strange.
Fang Yun said, “He invited me to attend his son’s thank-you banquet, and it seems that he wants me to teach his son. But why isn’t he afraid of the Left Chancellor?”
“He is from the same county as the Left Chancellor, and he cannot betray him. The Left Chancellor trusts him. But people all have their own selfishness. You have a great reputation now and are very good at teaching students. He naturally wants his son to receive the best education. After all, he is not young anymore and has to think about his descendants. As long as the Left Chancellor doesn’t personally target you, he can pretend to be confused. The Left Chancellor is just using him. Even if he knows his little tricks, he can’t do anything about it. After all, he has helped the Left Chancellor a lot in Jiangzhou. If someone else takes his place, it would be a mess.”
“You are very clear about the court.” Fang Yun said.
He Yunong smiled and said, “We scholars are all ‘tongue-tied elders’ and ‘street lords.’ We all want to achieve something in the future, so we have been paying attention to politics. After listening for a long time, we understand what’s going on.”
“I have to work hard and don’t want to be involved with the Left Chancellor. I can’t go to this banquet.”
“That’s great. When you move to your new mansion, remember to hire a doorman. At that time, your invitations will come like snowflakes. Half of the Jiangzhou government offices are here, plus the officials of the Dayuan Mansion and the famous families. Even if more than half of the officials are intimidated by the Left Chancellor and don’t invite you, there are still enough people to keep you busy.”
“Really? Are there so many people inviting me?”
“Why not? First, you won the Saint’s Double Armor, then the Three Poems in the Path of the Saints, and then the Inscription in the Shabby Room, which was protected by the Sword Eyebrow Duke. Of course, many people will invite you. To say something that everyone knows, in the next ten years, it may be the Left Chancellor’s world in Jing Kingdom, but in ten years, you can at least contend with the Left Chancellor, or even surpass him. Your potential is the best in Jing Kingdom!” He Yunong looked deeply at Fang Yun.
“Ten years is too long.” Fang Yun sighed lightly.”Yes, ten years is too long. Otherwise, the Left Chancellor’s faction wouldn’t target you, and the Liu family would actively seek peace. So, I advise you to wait until you pass the Talented Scholar exam, then have your uncle, General Fang Shouye, send you an invitation to the ‘Poetry Gathering to Suppress Demons.’ Then you can stay in Yuhai City until you are sure you passed the exam and return to participate in the state exam in Dayuan Prefecture.”
“Is the Left Chancellor’s power weak in Yuhai City?”
“More than weak. Yuhai City has been under military control for over a hundred years, and officials from the Hanlin Academy can enter, but anyone under the Left Chancellor who goes there will be unlucky. The Left Chancellor can only give up on that place. As long as you go to Yuhai City, even if the Liu family has a hundred times more courage, they won’t dare to provoke you. There is a saying in Jiangzhou that the judge controls the academy, the general is crazy, and the governor has been thinking about which general it is. That general is Zhang Poyue, the commander-in-chief of the state army. He is crazy, but he is also brave and loyal, and is highly respected by the soldiers in Jiangzhou. As a Hanlin scholar in the military, he loves talents and will not let anyone harm them. If Liu Zicheng dares to trouble you in Yuhai City, it won’t be as simple as burning down their pawnshop.”
“Thank you for reminding me, Brother He. It is said that after becoming a Talented Scholar, if you want to enhance your talent, it is best to go and kill demons and barbarians. Not everyone can write great works, but every Talented Scholar can kill demons and barbarians.”
“Yes, that’s why every state is a place where talents emerge, no less than the Hanlin Academy. Once officials from the Hanlin Academy feel that their talents are difficult to improve, they will try to break through by suppressing demons. After all, we scholars cultivate the courage to write, and killing demons and barbarians is also a part of it.”
“Have you also killed demons and barbarians, Brother He?”
He Yunong proudly said, “I once cooperated with soldiers to kill hundreds of demon civilians, more than ten demon soldiers, and even assisted in killing a demon general. You may not know that demons are very strong. The body of an ordinary demon civilian is stronger than that of a Child Scholar, and a demon soldier can fight a Talented Scholar one-on-one without losing. As for the demon general, I just secretly used the assassin’s move from ‘Yi River Song’ to stab it.”
“Brother He is a role model for us.” Fang Yun said, knowing that ‘Yi River Song’ was actually ‘Jing Ke’s Assassination of the Qin King.’
Unexpectedly, He Yunong said with a guilty conscience, “Actually, I fought against sea demons with gritted teeth. Later, I completed the minimum military merit and qualified to become a ninth-rank official, so I hurried back to Dayuan Prefecture.”
Fang Yun nodded. He knew that a Presented Scholar or higher-ranking official could directly become an official, but a Talented Scholar must go through killing demons and barbarians and have basic military merit to take office.
He Yunong sighed, “Actually, there are too few war poetry handed down through the ages, and even fewer that Talented Scholars can use. I am dull-witted and it took me three years to master ‘Yi River Song,’ ‘With My Comrades-in-Arms,’ and ‘The Superior Man in Battle.’ Only ‘Yi River Song’ can kill people, but its range is limited to five zhang. As for the other two poems, one boosts morale and strengthens armor, and the other comforts soldiers to prevent them from becoming tired or discouraged. They are not as good as those Presented Scholars who can write ‘The Song of Canglang’ and ‘The Song of the Great Wind,’ which are truly capable of suppressing demons. However, I hope you can create more powerful war poetry when you become a Talented Scholar, so that our human race can lose fewer lives every year.”
“I will do my best.” Fang Yun had long thought of creating rich war poetry, but he was not yet a Talented Scholar, and he could not verify his work even if he wrote it.
When the two were chatting with the door open, someone came again, but this time it was not an invitation, but a greeting card.
Fang Yun opened it and saw that it was written by a patriarch of a prominent family in Dayuan Prefecture, inviting him to inform him when he had time, and that he could come at any time.
Fang Yun hurriedly closed the door and said, “I have a bad feeling about this.”
He Yunong joked, “I feel the same way. You will be drowned in invitations and greeting cards today. The other day you wrote ‘Inscription of a Shabby Room,’ it spread yesterday, and now you have so many invitations and greeting cards. It’s a pity that no one is posting your portrait everywhere, otherwise you would be recognized wherever you go.”Fang Yun said, “He Brother, don’t joke around. You know that I’m preparing to participate in the Prefecture Examination to become an Accomplished Scholar in June. I need to master the War Poetry to deal with Liu Zicheng as soon as possible. I only sleep for two hours a day now. I don’t have time to see these people.”
“You’re so hardworking? Oh, as long as you keep taking the Dragon Palace Blood Ginseng, it’s not a big deal to sleep for two hours a day. After all, that thing is what dragons eat,” He Yunong said enviously.
“He Brother, you are knowledgeable. What method should I use to avoid seeing these people?” Fang Yun immediately asked.
He Yunong immediately said, “Usually, getting sick is enough, but you have the Dragon Palace Blood Ginseng and nothing important to do. You can’t suddenly get sick.”
Fang Yun laughed and said, “What do you mean nothing important to do? I was sickened by the Yan family and Liu Zicheng!”
He Yunong looked at Fang Yun speechlessly for a long time, and finally said, “Offending you is really unlucky. Now those who can’t invite you will remember Yan Chongnian together. The Yan family will have a hard time. I’ll write a sentence and hang it in my study when I get home. It will say: Never offend Fang Yun.”
“Do you need me to write a calligraphy for you?” He Yunong laughed.
The knocking on the door sounded again, and the footsteps indicated that there were three or four people.
Fang Yun lowered his voice and said, “He Brother, it’s up to you now. Go to the Fang family and find Yu Huan. Tell her not to look for a house anymore and let her go to receive the mansion that the Yan family sent me.”
“But the house deed needs your signature. Are you willing to give her the nearly ten thousand taels of property? If she signs it, the house will be hers,” He Yunong said.
“Yu Huan has taken care of me for so many years without any complaints. What does it matter to give her a house? I’ll tell Da Niu to tell the people outside that I’m sick, and then tell Yu Huan. Remember.” Fang Yun said, then quickly returned to his room.
He Yunong secretly praised Fang Yun as a true gentleman. He was not only good to his attendants, but also to The Child Bride. If he became his subordinate in the future, he would not be treated as a discarded pawn.
“If he goes to the Yu Hai City and fights against the sea monsters, it will be very dangerous. I’d better take a chance and follow him! If he becomes a Sage in the future, our family can become a Clan of Saints, become a prestigious family, or even a wealthy family!”
He Yunong clenched his fists, made up his mind, and then went outside to help Fang Yun collect the invitations and tell the people that Fang Yun was sick and might need a few more days to go out.
After giving instructions to Da Niu, Fang Yun continued to study, not paying attention to the outside world. After studying for an hour, Fang Yun rested, but his mind was full of thoughts of War Poetry and famous works.
“Special famous works in this world have great power. It is said that The Spring and Autumn Annals written by Sage Confucius is the most magical. Most of my previous poems only had literary talent, and even The Inscription of an Old Cottage is a short piece. What if I write a long piece?” Fang Yun thought for a moment, then picked up a pen and wrote on the paper.