Chapter 66

"Excellent. In just ten days, fifty thousand copies were sold, with thirty thousand sold and the rest entrusted to the Xuanting Bookstore for distribution. In a few more days, *The West Chamber* will be available in ten countries. According to Mr. Tang's estimation, sales in one month could reach five hundred thousand." Fang Yun said.

"You can be called a little tycoon from now on. Come, I'll dictate, and you write it down." Li Wenying said.

Fang Yun picked up the pen and paper on the table and waited for Li Wenying to recite the poem.

"Ten thousand trees, frozen and about to break, but the solitary root warms and returns.

In the deep snow of the village ahead, several branches bloomed last night.

The wind carries the subtle fragrance out, and the birds peek at the pure beauty.

If next year it follows the law, it will bloom first on the Spring Outlook Terrace."

After Li Wenying finished reciting, it took Fang Yun a while to finish writing the poem "Early Plum," and his expression was slightly unusual.

The poem first describes the environment of the early plum, then the blooming of the plum flowers, followed by the fragrance and beauty that attract the birds, and finally, it conveys a message to the plum and expresses the poet's desire to go to the "Spring Outlook Terrace," which refers to the capital city.

Fang Yun thought back to the political struggles of the previous year and guessed that Li Wenying had wanted to go to the capital to meet the Left Chancellor at that time. However, Jiangzhou was crucial, with the Yangtze River and the Qing Kingdom to the south, the East Sea to the east, and the Demon Mountains to the west. Only he was most suitable to stay and oversee the region.

"Your Excellency has great talent!" Fang Yun praised.

However, Li Wenying was not concerned with Fang Yun's praise. Instead, he looked at Fang Yun's handwriting and said curiously, "Your 'Spring Dawn' was written like a dog's crawl, 'The Pillow Record' was still lacking, and 'The Inscription of a Humble Abode' had a straightforward brush style, which could only be considered average. But today, your handwriting has a hint of a master's style. Not bad, I wish your calligraphy can soon reach the realm of 'flowers blooming under the pen.'"

"Thank you for your praise, Your Excellency." Fang Yun felt much more at ease, as this meant that in future exams, no one could criticize his handwriting, and his hard work over the past few days had not been in vain.

"Go have your meal. Come back when you have something to improve."

"Student takes his leave."

Fang Yun took the page and walked towards the cafeteria, thinking about how to improve the poem as he went.

In the cafeteria, Fang Yun saw that Li Yunchong and the others had already eaten halfway through their meals. He was about to get his food but, holding the poem page, he walked over and placed it on the chair next to Lu Yu.

"Watch this for me, I'll go get my food." Fang Yun said and left.

Lu Yu picked up the poem page and said, "This Fang Yun is really impressive. We haven't even finished our meal, and he has already written a poem. I'll read it to you."

Lu Yu finished reading, and the other four nodded.

"Although the season is wrong, it seems he had the idea last year but didn't write it then, and just now, he suddenly got inspired and wrote it down."

"The first line is excellent, depicting the harsh weather and the plum tree's resilience."

"The third line is also good, with a neat antithesis and vivid imagery."

"The last line is interesting. We should ask him if he has aspirations for the capital when he comes back."

"Unfortunately, this poem has no talent, so it probably needs some changes."

"He's not a sage, so it's impossible for every poem to be perfect, but it's a bit of a pity."

While they were talking, a scholar passed by, glanced at the poem, and then walked to a distant table where Zhuang Wei, Liu Zicheng's brother-in-law, was sitting.

"How is it? Has Fang Yun written a new poem?" Zhuang Wei asked.

"Yes, I saw it. It has no talent at all, but the poem is still quite good. There must be some major issues that prevent the talent from showing. The handwriting is his, no doubt."

"Let's go and take a look. As long as there's no talent, we have a reason to criticize! This time, if the poem has no talent, even if he writes something better than 'The Inscription of a Humble Abode,' it won't shake my literary courage! Get the ink and brush, and watch me 'destroy the poem'!"

So, a few scholars walked over to where the five students were sitting. When Zhuang Wei saw the poem, he confirmed it had no talent and recognized Fang Yun's handwriting, a smile appeared on his face.

At that moment, someone handed over a wooden tray with ink and brush.

Zhuang Wei snatched the poem page from Lu Yu and placed it on the table.

The five students stared at the scholar in confusion, unable to understand why he was taking Fang Yun's poem page.

Fang Yun, who was just turning around with his food, saw Zhuang Wei about to write on the poem and quickly stopped him, "Zhuang Wei, what are you doing!"

Zhuang Wei laughed and said, "Your poem is completely flawed and full of errors. I can't stand it. The biggest mistake is that the poem doesn't match the scene. It's clearly summer, but you write about winter, which is a major taboo. And the first line, 'Ten thousand trees, frozen and about to break,' I've heard of trees being broken by strong winds or cut by people, but never by freezing. This line should be erased!"

With that, Zhuang Wei drew a thick black line through "Ten thousand trees, frozen and about to break," making the line unreadable.

Seeing his handwriting defaced, Fang Yun was furious, "Apologize immediately and leave. This poem is not for you to change!"

Zhuang Wei laughed, "We are both students of the state academy. It's only right for a scholar to correct a child's poem. Why can't I do it? You're overestimating yourself."

Fang Yun didn't expect a scholar to use such tactics. If they were familiar, it would be normal for a scholar to help a child correct a poem or give feedback, but Zhuang Wei clearly came with malicious intent, likely because Fang Yun had refused his invitation the day before.

Fang Yun's expression turned cold, "Zhuang Wei, if you stop now, I'll consider it a favor for your brother-in-law and forgive you. But if you dare to change another word, you'll regret it!"

Zhuang Wei laughed, "I don't need your warning. As for the second line, 'solitary root warms and returns,' the words 'solitary' and 'returns' are too similar and shouldn't appear in the same line. Erase it!" He then drew a thick line over the line, covering Fang Yun's handwriting.

Li Yunchong said, "Fang Yun, don't be impulsive. This is a literary competition, a common method used between the poor and the gentry. If you insult or attack him, you'll lose."

Fang Yun took a deep breath, "Since I've warned him and he still doesn't listen, let him destroy it!"

At that moment, a few members of the Lishan Society walked over, and the leader, Ye Feng, angrily said, "Zhuang Wei, take your dirty hands away! As a scholar, to retaliate against a child for personal reasons, how can you have no shame! A scholar destroying a child's poem, how can you do it!"

"Destroying a poem is a literary competition. He is a child before the sage, with a higher status than ordinary scholars. How can it be bullying the weak? Brother Ye, you're overthinking it."

Zhuang Wei was about to destroy more of the poem, but Ye Feng coldly said, "If you dare to make another stroke, I'll risk punishment to stop you!"

Zhuang Wei's expression changed, and his companions immediately blocked him.

Fang Yun said, "Brother Ye, thank you for your concern, but I like to watch the show. Don't worry about me; I want to see how far he can destroy this poem! If he doesn't do a good job, I won't be happy!"

"Fang Yun, you..."

Fang Yun said, "Brother Ye, wait and see. I don't believe Zhuang Wei will destroy the whole poem!"

During the argument, everyone in the cafeteria gathered around. A few lecturers even smiled, seeing this as a form of competition and motivation. As long as no one was physically harmed or the literary palace was damaged, they wouldn't intervene.

A lecturer whispered, "I want to stop it, but setting a precedent wouldn't be good. However, it might be good for Fang Yun to face some setbacks. I believe he will overcome this difficulty. Perhaps in two or three years, he will avenge this humiliation."

"Knowing shame leads to courage; this will be good for him."

"But Fang Yun seems very calm. Does he have a hidden move?"

"He probably doesn't. Zhuang Wei has been planning this for a long time. How could he make a mistake? The poem page indeed has no talent."

The other lecturers nodded, agreeing that this was a good opportunity to temper Fang Yun.

The people nearby had various expressions. Some were clearly watching the show, a few were hoping for Fang Yun's reputation to be damaged, but most were sympathetic to Fang Yun. After all, even a scholar might not write a poem with talent in a year, and most of their poems were ordinary.

Zhuang Wei hesitated but, hearing Fang Yun's contempt, said, "In the deep snow of the village ahead? It's completely devoid of poetry, as white as can be, even a three-year-old could write it. Destroy it!"

Fang Yun couldn't help but smile sarcastically, finding the situation even more interesting.

Zhuang Wei continued to destroy the poem, finishing all the lines and finally drawing a large "X" on the page, saying, "As a child before the sage, to write such a poem is a disgrace to the sages!"

Many people were angered by Zhuang Wei, but they couldn't say anything as long as Fang Yun didn't speak. They could only look at Fang Yun.

Fang Yun smiled and asked, "Has the great talent Zhuang finished destroying? Do you want to destroy it for another half an hour?"

"You're quite calm. I want to tell you, when you can forgive, do so. Liu Zicheng may not be good, but he is a scholar from a prestigious family. You didn't even give him a chance to correct himself, which is too much. Remember this lesson, and let's put yesterday's incident behind us."

Fang Yun nodded, walked forward, placed the wooden tray on the table, picked up the poem page, folded it, and put it in his pocket, then slowly started eating.

Everyone was puzzled, expecting Fang Yun to have a follow-up after his harsh words, but he actually started eating.

Zhuang Wei, seeing Fang Yun not speaking, turned and left, thinking, "Zicheng and Zizhi are close brothers. If Zizhi finds out about this, he will be even closer to me. Humph, I didn't want to destroy the poem, just to be a good person, but you didn't appreciate it, so don't blame me."

Zhuang Wei walked out, feeling smug, but after a few steps, he heard Fang Yun's voice.

"Brother Zhuang, wait a moment. I forgot to mention something." Fang Yun said.

"What do you want to say?" Zhuang Wei turned, thinking Fang Yun would concede.

"Nothing much. I just want to say that after noon classes, the Dean called me to his Mingjing Hall, recited a poem, and asked me to help him improve it. I wrote it down, but you destroyed it, and I forgot all the lines. After lunch, I'll go back to the Mingjing Hall."

Before Fang Yun finished speaking, Zhuang Wei's face turned pale, and he was drenched in sweat, almost unable to stand.

Those who were angry for Fang Yun all laughed, and Lu Yu and Ning Zhiyuan, the two young boys, even slapped the table in laughter.

"Ha ha ha... This... This stupid scholar, actually said that even a three-year-old could write Sword Brow's poem!"

"Fang Yun, you're too bad. Why didn't you say it earlier? Ha ha ha..."

The lecturers looked at each other, not expecting Fang Yun to have a hidden move, and this move was not just any move.

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Recommend a friend's book: *Rebirth of a Godly Scholar*

Summary: In an interview with Time Magazine, Apple's founder and CEO, Steve Jobs, said, "There is only one person on this planet who truly makes me fear, and it's definitely not that fool Gates. This young man is called Liu Meng, from China. Fortunately, we kept him at Apple as the second-largest shareholder."

[bookid=3187367, bookname=*Rebirth of a Godly Scholar*]

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