Chapter 45

In the entrance of the old stone alley, a group of students were talking with great enthusiasm.

The country of Jing had not produced a state-stabilizing poem or essay in decades, but now not only had two appeared in succession, but one had been born right before their eyes, leaving them all emotionally stirred.

Even the children of the scholar-gentry were praising Fang Yun without end. In the face of a state-stabilizing essay, the gap between the poor and the gentry no longer existed, leaving only the respect of scholars for the path of literature.

"This man's talent can only be described as shocking and unconventional, truly full of knowledge and wisdom."

"Fortunately, he wrote this here. If he had written it by the sea, the line 'Water need not be deep, with a dragon it becomes spiritual' would surely have alarmed the Dragon Palace, with unpredictable consequences."

"Those dragons are different from ordinary demons; they love talent and fame. When Sword-Eyebrow Gong injured a dragon's grandson, the latter was not angry but praised Sword-Eyebrow Gong while running away, saying he would challenge him again someday."

"If the spirits of Zhuge Liang, Yang Xiong, and Confucius, the three sages mentioned in 'Inscription of a Humble Abode,' knew of such a successor, they would surely be very pleased."

"As scholars, we have the sages in our hearts and a thousand troops in our bellies. How could our dwelling be humble! That Yan Yue truly has the eyes of a dog!"

"Will is the root of literature. This young man has set his aspirations in a humble abode, standing shoulder to shoulder with the three sages, his grand plans unfolding like a tiger gaining wings. His talent and literary palace will surely be deeply rooted."

"Confucius the Sage also underwent many years of refinement before achieving success. Fang Yun comes from a humble background and has studied hard for many years. With the emergence of 'Inscription of a Humble Abode,' he naturally stands out, like a sharp cone emerging from a bag and sounding its presence to the world."

"Our country of Jing...大胆! Who is driving a carriage recklessly in the city!"

"Shh, didn't you see that it's the state criminal bureau's carriage?"

"That... That doesn't mean it can run so fast in the city. What if someone gets hurt?" The man's confidence waned by nine-tenths.

"There must be a big official inside, at least a juren. He wouldn't let the carriage hurt anyone. Hey? There's another fast carriage behind, it looks like the inspection bureau's? Both the criminal and inspection bureaus' big officials are here, just one law bureau away from a full set. Could it be that an official has gotten into trouble, forcing all three bureaus to come out?"

"Bad! There are also city guard carriages on the other side. It looks like they're surrounding us. Could they be here to arrest us?"

"If I could be surrounded and arrested by so many big officials, I would die without regret."

"That looks like the prefect's carriage."

All the scholar-candidates stopped discussing 'Inscription of a Humble Abode.' Many, who had done nothing, felt guilty. This scene was too frightening, even capturing a demon in the city would not be as intimidating.

The fast carriages were getting closer. Suddenly, from the east, came six extremely high and clear neighs, and all the horses trembled, with a few even kneeling on the ground.

The galloping carriages immediately slowed and stopped. All the horses were out of control, terrified and leaning against the walls, making way.

Six silver-white large horses, each a head taller and three feet longer than ordinary steeds, appeared, pulling a carriage. The six large horses were haughty, not even glancing at the other horses.

Unlike ordinary horses, these six had thick silver-white scales instead of horsehair.

"The only six-horse dragon team in Jiangzhou, how did Sword-Eyebrow Gong come here too!" a scholar-candidate whispered.

The people on the carriages started cursing.

"Lord Academy, how impressive! Those who know you think you're a university scholar, those who don't think the Sage has arrived!"

"Li Wenying! Do you still have any feelings for your former comrades?"

"Hmph, if Sword-Eyebrow Gong didn't want to lose face and compete with me, a mere juren, for a piece of paper, I would certainly yield."

One by one, high-ranking officials got out of the carriages, all the real power holders of Dahuang Prefecture gathered.

The fourth-rank chief of the state criminal bureau, the fifth-rank prefect of Dahuang Prefecture, the fifth-rank vice-prefect of the prefectural academy, the fifth-rank vice-prefect of the prefectural army, the sixth-rank deputy general of the city guard, and others were all present.

The scholar-candidates present were dumbfounded. Were these the officials who usually maintained a harmonious facade? How could they all be so confrontational, each with a look of resentment towards Li Wenying?

At this moment, these people had completely abandoned their official identities and appeared as scholars.

The dragon horses could scare the other horses, but they could not scare these juren and jinshi.

The six dragon horses had to stop, snorting loudly, their hooves moving restlessly, eager to fight. Each dragon horse could single-handedly battle a scholar-candidate, and they only submitted to Li Wenying.

Li Wenying, who looked to be in his early thirties, lifted the curtain and walked out, looking around and smiling, his sword-like eyebrows making him even more heroic.

"Are you all well? My dragon horses are quite temperamental, please bear with them," Li Wenying said with a smile.

The six dragon horses, upon receiving praise, immediately neighed loudly, raising their heads high.

Prefect Sun said righteously, "I heard that you took the original manuscript of 'The Pillow Record' from Zhou the clerk and got to annotate 'The Three-Character Classic,' gaining both fame and profit. How can you still be unsatisfied?"

For a fifth-rank official to question a third-rank grand scholar was unimaginable before the rise of the Holy Academy, but now everyone found it normal, thinking that Prefect Sun had the spirit of a scholar.

Li Wenying said calmly, "A state-stabilizing and courage-boosting essay is a rare masterpiece that appears only once in a hundred years. I am the head of the state academy, a teacher to millions, and a grand scholar. It is only right that I take the lead. If 'Inscription of a Humble Abode' can help me become a great scholar, it would be a win-win situation."

"You are mistaken. Who doesn't know of Sword-Eyebrow Gong's great talent? Sage Chen once said that you would become a great scholar within twenty years. Why must you compete with us juren for this essay?"

Suddenly, the sixty-year-old chief of the inspection bureau, Zhu, said, "I am a juren, can't I compete?"

"Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue. Don't misunderstand, Lord Zhu. Don't fall for Li Wenying's tricks. I have always admired your impartiality. If I get 'Inscription of a Humble Abode,' I will let you see it first," Prefect Sun said.

"What do you mean 'if you get 'Inscription of a Humble Abode'? Our lord sent a message from Yuhai City, saying he is determined to get 'Inscription of a Humble Abode'!" the sixth-rank deputy general said.

The state government and academy were in Dahuang Prefecture, but the state army was stationed in Yuhai City, mainly to guard against sea demons.

"Everyone, stop arguing. Let's deal with Sword-Eyebrow Gong first. If he sees Fang Yun, we won't have a chance at all," another person said.

The internal conflict stopped, and everyone looked at Li Wenying.

"This essay is of great use to me, I cannot let it go to you!" Li Wenying stood at the front of the carriage, dressed in official robes, his tone firm.

"Why don't you give up the original manuscript of 'The Pillow Record' and the annotation of 'The Three-Character Classic'? We will leave immediately. You eat the meat, but you should give us some soup, right?"

Li Wenying said, "Hmph, not one of you has the ability to annotate 'The Three-Character Classic.' As for 'The Pillow Record,' who has ever forced me to give up what I have taken? Enough talk. 'Inscription of a Humble Abode' belongs to Fang Yun, and he will decide who to give it to. I am not a person who takes things by force. I have prepared something to exchange with him."

As he spoke, Li Wenying took something out of his sleeve.

It was a two-finger-thick, half-foot-long ink stick. Unlike ordinary ink sticks, this one was covered with fine red blood veins, like jade and fire, seemingly flowing. At the top of the ink stick was a carved dragon head, vivid and lifelike.

"Dragon blood ink stick!" a scholar-candidate exclaimed enviously.

Chief Sun said, "Your dragon blood ink stick is made from the blood of a demon king's dragon grandson, which is far inferior to the blood of a great demon's dragon son, let alone a dragon sage. The original manuscript of 'Inscription of a Humble Abode' can last for a thousand years, and while it may not be of great use to Fang Yun, it can help our country of Jing produce more Hanlin scholars. A low-grade dragon blood ink stick is not enough to exchange for it. If you take out the dragon bone and dragon whisk pen, we will not compete anymore."

Li Wenying coldly snorted, extremely displeased. The dragon bone and dragon whisk pen were obtained through great effort from a demon king's dragon grandson, far more valuable than the dragon blood ink stick. If refined into a literary treasure, its power would be even greater, and he was unwilling to give it away.

"Your dragon blood ink stick can enhance battle poetry by two or three tenths, but it won't last for many years. I have a juren literary treasure that can exchange with Fang Shuangjia."

Li Wenying said, "Just a juren literary treasure. I have a jinshi literary treasure, the 'Demon-Slaying Pen,' which can only kill demons but not hurt humans. This pen can enhance the power of battle poetry by one tenth."

Everyone fell silent. Their positions were not low, but they were far inferior to Li Wenying and could not offer a jinshi literary treasure in exchange.

Prefect Sun said unwillingly, "Fang Yun is just a child scholar. He needs to become a juren to use a jinshi literary treasure. It's useless to him now."

"How far is it from him becoming a juren? One year or two?" Li Wenying countered.

Prefect Sun had no answer. The possibility of Fang Yun becoming a juren in a short time was too high.

At this moment, Vice-Prefect Wei of the prefectural academy suddenly said, "Since this essay is so important and Fang Yun has no use for it, why not donate it to the court and keep it in the Jingguo Academy? Following the example of the Holy Academy, let meritorious officials read it. Isn't that a win-win solution?"

Many people looked at Vice-Prefect Wei with disgust. Although he was in the academy, he was a lackey of the left chancellor. His words clearly showed his ulterior motives, not wanting Fang Yun to benefit.

Li Wenying's face darkened, "That is Fang Yun's property. He can donate it if he wants, but no one can force him. From the tone of Vice-Prefect Wei, it seems you want to exchange with Fang Yun. What does the prefectural academy have to offer?"

Vice-Prefect Wei puffed out his chest, "This essay is extremely important to our country of Jing. Since Fang Yun is a scholar of our country, it is his duty to donate it to the court."

Prefect Sun mocked, "Vice-Prefect Wei, your family has hundreds of thousands of silver, tens of thousands of acres of good land, and countless treasures, all of which are important to our country. Since you are a scholar of our country, why don't you donate them to the court? If you can do it, I will immediately persuade Fang Yun to donate 'Inscription of a Humble Abode.'"

"You... You are being unreasonable!" Vice-Prefect Wei said angrily.

Li Wenying's sword-like eyebrows twitched, his gaze as cold as ice, and he said slowly, "Before I get angry, you better get lost. Tell that old dog, the left chancellor, if he dares to touch Fang Yun, I will slaughter his entire family!"

The surroundings fell into a deathly silence. This was Sword-Eyebrow Gong, who would tolerate anything as long as it was reasonable, but he was never lenient with those who incited trouble and plotted against Jingguo's talents.

The scholar-candidates were frightened and hurriedly lowered their heads, thinking that Sword-Eyebrow Gong, who had almost slain a dragon, was truly terrifying, daring to threaten the first chancellor of the court.

The officials, however, were relatively calm. Although Li Wenying's rank was lower than the left chancellor, his ambition was to fight demons, not to be in the court. Both were grand scholars, and while the left chancellor might have more talent, if they fought to the death, Li Wenying had a higher chance of winning.

The storm sword poet Li Wenying had the power to threaten the left chancellor.

Vice-Prefect Wei, realizing he had offended Li Wenying, was scared and slunk away, not even sitting in his carriage. His right fist was tightly clenched.

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