Chapter 28

Fang Yun picked up a chicken wing and placed it in Nunu's bowl, saying, "Eat it."

Nunu immediately clasped her little paws together and bowed to Fang Yun in gratitude, then happily started eating.

Fang Yun and the other three were amused by the polite little fox. Yang Yuhuan also picked up a piece of meat and placed it in Nunu's bowl.

Nunu immediately looked up at Yang Yuhuan with caution, then glanced at the piece of meat, sniffed it lightly with her nose, and continued eating the chicken wing Fang Yun had given her.

After finishing the chicken wing, Nunu licked her paws and mouth with her pink little tongue, ignoring the meat Yang Yuhuan had given her. She looked up at Fang Yun with a cute and pitiful expression, as if saying, "Give me one more, just one more!"

Fang Yun didn't expect Nunu to refuse meat from others, so he said, "You can eat that piece of meat with confidence. In the future, you should also listen to her."

Nunu reluctantly lowered her head and started eating the meat Yang Yuhuan had given her.

Fang Yun reached out and stroked her head. Nunu rubbed her head against Fang Yun's hand, ate the meat in one bite, and showed a satisfied look, no longer discontent.

Fang Yun fed Nunu while eating. After finishing, he realized that Nunu, who was smaller than a chicken, had eaten an entire chicken, and her little belly was round and full.

After the meal, Fang Yun put Nunu back in the bamboo basket. He rested for a moment and continued writing "The Western Chamber."

After writing for a while, Nunu suddenly made a "yinyin" sound.

Fang Yun turned to look and saw Nunu pointing at his desk with her little paws.

"Do you want to come up?" Fang Yun asked.

Nunu immediately nodded excitedly.

"Okay." Fang Yun picked her up and carefully examined her paws. Her paws had pink pads, which were very cute, and there was not a speck of dirt or dust on them, even though she had just eaten meat on the ground without washing her paws.

"Scholars have the protection of talent, which can keep mosquitoes away. Only when one becomes a 'Hanlin' can they achieve 'dust-free body,' meaning they won't have any dirt even if they don't bathe for decades. Perhaps demons have a similar 'dust-free body,' but their strength must be at least equivalent to a 'Hanlin.' She is clearly a young fox, so perhaps she has a special status?"

Fang Yun thought to himself and placed Nunu on the desk.

Fang Yun suddenly asked, "Do you understand our human language?"

Nunu reacted very quickly, shaking her head firmly.

Fang Yun reached up to support his forehead. "You are really smart!"

Nunu immediately laughed happily, thinking Fang Yun was genuinely praising her.

Fang Yun smiled and continued writing "The Western Chamber."

Nunu lay on the desk, looking at the words on the paper. At first, her eyes were blurry, but after a while, she figured out the characters and became very excited, staring intently. Her expression changed with Fang Yun's words.

When Fang Yun wrote about Fang Zhiyun and Cui Yingying falling in love, Nunu had a fascinated look.

When Fang Yun wrote about Fang Zhiyun helping Cui Yingying resolve a crisis, Nunu was very happy.

When Fang Yun wrote about Liu Zizheng plotting to harm Fang Zhiyun, Nunu suddenly made an angry sound and swiped at the characters "Liu Zizheng" with her paws.

"What are you doing!" Fang Yun glared at Nunu.

Nunu looked at Fang Yun angrily, still immersed in the story.

Fang Yun gently patted her head and said, "Behave yourself, or I won't let you watch."

Nunu realized she had been too impulsive, scratched her head with her little paws, and smiled shyly, showing a repentant look.

"I didn't expect my first reader to be a fox," Fang Yun said with a smile.

Nunu made an unhappy sound, as if to say, "What's wrong with being a fox?"

Fang Yun wrote for two hours and felt tired. He took some writing materials and left the east room, planning to teach Yang Yuhuan to recognize characters during his break.

Nunu obediently stayed on the desk. After Fang Yun left, she excitedly flipped through "The Western Chamber" from the beginning, occasionally twitching her ears to listen for Fang Yun's movements.

Fang Yun placed the writing materials on the table in the west room and walked to the entrance of the main house, where he saw Yang Yuhuan tidying the courtyard.

"Yuhuan, wash your hands and come in. I have something to tell you."

"Okay." Yang Yuhuan took a basin to wash her hands and then walked to Fang Yun.

"What is it?" Yang Yuhuan looked up at Fang Yun with her beautiful face.

Fang Yun took her hand and led her inside, saying, "I'll teach you to recognize and write characters."

"Okay." Yang Yuhuan felt the warmth and firmness of Fang Yun's hand and softly agreed.

Fang Yun brought Yang Yuhuan to the west room, laid out white paper, and picked up a brush but didn't write immediately.

In this era, the primary educational texts were "The Hundred Family Names" and "The Thousand Character Classic," as well as some materials compiled by local academies. There were no famous texts like "The Three-Character Classic," "The Yan Family Instructions," "The Expanded Wisdom," and "The Jade Forest of Early Learning" from later times.

Fang Yun remembered his own primary education, which involved memorizing "The Thousand Character Classic" and "The Hundred Family Names" by rote, which took a long time to remember. "The Thousand Character Classic" contains a thousand basic characters, is well-structured, and is very suitable for children to learn.

After finishing "The Thousand Character Classic" and "The Hundred Family Names," Fang Yun left primary education and went directly to a private school to study the classics of the sages, without any transition, making it very difficult to learn.

"Most children here, after finishing 'The Thousand Character Classic' and 'The Hundred Family Names,' directly study 'The Analects' and other books, which is too much like pulling up seedlings to help them grow. They should learn texts like 'The Three-Character Classic' and 'The Expanded Wisdom' before studying the classics of the sages. Since Yuhuan doesn't know how to read, I'll start with 'The Thousand Character Classic.'"

Fang Yun said, "I'll teach you the content of 'The Thousand Character Classic.' Today, I'll teach you the most basic eight characters. In the future, I'll gradually increase the number. Pay attention."

Fang Yun then wrote the first eight characters of "The Thousand Character Classic," "天地玄黄、宇宙洪荒" (Heaven and Earth are dark and yellow, the universe is vast and desolate), and explained them one by one to Yang Yuhuan.

After Yang Yuhuan勉强remembered them, he had her slowly write them, and then he returned to the east room.

Back in the room, Fang Yun looked at the desk. Everything was the same, but Nunu was smiling, seemingly trying to please him.

Fang Yun stroked her head, and this time she didn't show any reluctance but rather enjoyed it.

Fang Yun continued writing "The Western Chamber."

After finishing a page, Fang Yun was about to change the paper when Nunu suddenly made a sound and extended her furry paw to his wrist.

"What's wrong?" Fang Yun asked Nunu.

Nunu couldn't speak, but she pointed at the character "总" (zong) on the page and said, "Nunu! Nunu!" Seeing that Fang Yun didn't understand, she became a bit anxious.

Fang Yun carefully looked at the character and suddenly realized that he had written it hastily and missed a dot. He then added the dot.

"The character was wrong, Nunu noticed," Fang Yun said, quoting the saying "When the music is wrong, Zhou Lang looks back."

"Yinyin!" Nunu was extremely excited, her fluffy tail sweeping back and forth behind her.

"From now on, you should help me check carefully. In ancient times, there were red sleeves to accompany reading, and I have Nunu to add fragrance. This book has your contribution."

"Yinyin!" Nunu became even more excited, lightly leaped, and tried to jump onto Fang Yun's shoulder. Although she had gained strength from eating meat, she still lacked the power. Fang Yun quickly reached out and placed her in his chest, and Nunu landed in his arms.

Nunu happily rubbed her head against Fang Yun's chest, looking very happy.

After playing with Nunu for a while, Fang Yun patted her bottom and said, "Okay, I'll continue writing." He then placed Nunu on the desk.

Nunu blushed slightly, covered her eyes with her little paws, and lay on the desk, no longer watching what Fang Yun was writing.

After Fang Yun wrote a dozen characters, she twitched her ears and secretly looked at him. Seeing that he was normal, she slowly raised her head and continued reading "The Western Chamber," but her fluffy tail gently swayed.

Three days passed quickly, and Fang Yun finally completed the entire "The Western Chamber."

When he finished the last stroke of "The Western Chamber," Fang Yun felt a movement in his heart, closed his eyes, and entered the Literary Palace.

There were two changes in the Literary Palace.

The Literary Palace's starry sky now had six stars, one of which was much larger than the others, representing the national poem "Early Morning in Jixian."

The six stars emitted a faint light, illuminating Fang Yun's statue. A thread of talent, originally only three inches high, was now six inches tall!

Once it reached ten inches, after further refinement and a visit to the temple of the sages, the thread of talent would expand to a needle, making him a scholar.

"Others need to visit the temple of the sages to enhance their talent, but I have these famous works to nourish me. Perhaps I can become a rare scholar before the sages. It is said that a scholar before the sages is the limit, and no one except for Confucius' direct students has become a scholar before the sages."

Fang Yun left the Literary Palace, quickly read through "The Western Chamber," made a few changes, and finalized it.

Fang Yun found that the word count of "The Western Chamber" was far less than the four great classical novels, but in this era, it was already a long novel. However, as a book, it still had fewer pages.

So, Fang Yun picked up his brush and wrote a famous Tang Dynasty legend, "The Pillow Record," which gave rise to the idiom "a dream of yellow rice," more widely known than the book's title.

"The Pillow Record" tells the story of a poor scholar who, in a roadside inn, meets a half-saint who sees that he has talent but is obsessed with official positions. The half-saint gives him a literary treasure, a pillow. The scholar falls into a deep sleep, and at that moment, the inn's kitchen begins to steam yellow rice.

In his dream, the scholar achieves success in his career, rising to the position of prime minister, enjoying all the glory and wealth. However, he is falsely accused of treason by other high officials and imprisoned. After several years, his innocence is proven, and he regains his position, with a large family of successful children.

In the end, he grows old and wants to resign, but the emperor does not allow it. He sees through everything, writes a resignation letter, and soon dies.

The scholar then wakes up, and the half-saint is still by his side. The yellow rice in the inn's kitchen is not yet cooked.

The scholar realizes the futility of pursuing fame and fortune and dedicates himself to the path of the sages, eventually becoming a great Confucian scholar.

Fang Yun felt that "The Pillow Record" aligned with the mainstream ideology of the Holy Yuan Continent, so he made some adjustments to create a suitable short novel.

Both novels were punctuated and divided into paragraphs, increasing the number of pages to over 150.

By the time he finished, it was already afternoon. Fang Yun took a nap, had dinner, and then had Fang Da Niu drive him to the Zhou residence.

The state literary academy and the state government were of equal rank, with the highest officials being third-rank officials. Although Zhou Zhubu was only a sixth-rank official, he was in charge of institutions like the Literary Academy, making him very powerful and responsible for part of the state's affairs, with power comparable to a fifth-rank governor.

Tomorrow is Monday, and "The Sage of Confucianism" will have its first push on the new author list. This is crucial for both the book and me. The ranking on the new author list will determine the book's future performance, or even its fate.

I have the confidence and ability to write this book well. Can you, my fellow readers, add this book to your collection? Can you give this book your recommendation votes?

I want to make it to the new author list.

May my talent flourish.

Thank you.