Chapter 67

Zhuang Wei's hands were trembling.

He knew he had acted out of impulse. He originally thought that even if he were countered by Fang Yun, it wouldn't lead to unpredictable consequences, so he came to cause trouble for Fang Yun, to vent some anger for the Liu family and make his wife and the Liu family happy.

But who could have thought that a university scholar would actually let a mere child student modify his poem!

That was Li Wenying's poem, a scholar who almost slayed a dragon, an official who dared to directly kill a juren, and a madman who cursed the left chancellor as an old dog.

Zhuang Wei knew that even if this poem were defaced, Li Wenying would laugh it off, after all, it was a misunderstanding, and Li Wenying wouldn't bother to take action against a juren student. But Li Wenying's former students and disciples wouldn't laugh it off, nor would all the officials in the Academy of Literature, nor would all the scholars in Jiangzhou.

Those people would find ways to make things difficult for him. Once they caught him, they would use the harshest punishments without hesitation. A slight misstep could result in him being barred from the imperial examinations, and Zhuang Wei certainly didn't have the ability to be chosen by the emperor.

The few people who had been closely following Zhuang Wei quietly left. This wasn't abandoning an old friend, but rather, the wise adapt to the times.

A lecturer who had always admired Li Wenying couldn't help but curse, "A disgrace to scholars, a pest in the Academy of Literature, a juren destroying a child student, disgracing the face of all scholars! Self-inflicted disaster cannot be lived with!" He then left with a dark face.

Many people, after experiencing surprise and ridicule, looked at Zhuang Wei with a bit of pity, knowing that he was finished.

Fang Yun continued eating as if nothing had happened.

Lu Yu said with a wicked smile, "Aren't you going to say a few more words?"

"The joy of a full meal is better than kicking someone when they're down," Fang Yun smiled and continued eating.

Many students nodded in agreement; this was the kind of magnanimity a scholar should have.

Many people only admired Fang Yun's talent and didn't know much about his character, especially the children of noble families. Upon learning that Yan Yuewen's palace was shattered and Liu Zicheng had knelt to apologize, they thought Fang Yun was too ruthless. But now their attitude toward Fang Yun had greatly improved.

"Truly a great talent who can write 'In Praise of a Humble Abode,' his resolve in a humble abode is commendable, and his tolerance is even more so."

"From now on, I won't look down on students from humble backgrounds; this kind of magnanimity I cannot match."

"Jiangzhou has finally someone who might rank among the four great talents; we must not destroy him ourselves. If anyone defames Fang Yun's literary reputation in the future, remember to help him."

"Of course." Everyone nodded in agreement.

Zhuang Wei, hearing these comments, felt ashamed to the point of death. This time, not only did he fail to harm Fang Yun, but he also helped Fang Yun gain a reputation in the State Academy of Literature.

He no longer dared to stay and hurriedly left.

The others also gradually left.

After the meal, Fang Yun and a few others left to return to the Ink Fragrance Hall to study.

In the afternoon, the first and second classes were still taught by Mr. Wang, but the last two classes were different, being painting classes. Fang Yun was initially surprised by the name of the class, then realized that here it couldn't be called "Chinese painting," so there was no concept of "national painting."

Ancient national paintings often used cinnabar red and blue, hence the term "danzheng" (painting).

In the Academy of Literature, every ten days, on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th, the last two classes in the afternoon were for painting, ancient music, calligraphy, and chess, respectively.

The better one's calligraphy, the stronger the power of battle poetry, which was a required skill for all scholars.

Painting, ancient music, and chess were optional, as they were more difficult and required significant cultivation.

Ordinary ancient music and chess had no power; only when they became literary treasures did they possess great power.

Painting didn't require literary treasures but needed demon blood ink to bear the power of talent, and it often took over ten years of practice to reach the basic "poetic sentiment" level, which had some offensive capabilities. It was extremely difficult to cultivate. Currently, only detailed brushwork could be used in battle, while freehand brushwork couldn't stimulate the power of talent.

However, the power of ancient music, chess, and painting was far inferior to battle poetry. For the same amount of talent, the power of ancient music, chess, and painting was only one-third that of battle poetry.

While the power of ancient music and chess was not strong, the advantage was that they could continuously attack.

Paintings could be preserved for a certain time, while the only way to preserve battle poetry was through "sacred books." Except for semi-saint families, anyone who wanted to obtain a "sacred book" could only do so through the Book Mountain, and only one or two books would appear in a hundred years, making them rarer than the treasures of great scholars.

Fang Yun had already decided to focus on calligraphy. If he spent time on ancient music, chess, and painting, it wouldn't be worth it, but to master the basic usage of ancient music, chess, and painting, he needed to know how to use literary treasures. Currently, it wasn't advisable to delve deeply into painting.

Fang Yun had read some books before, and in the Holy Yuan Continent, calligraphy was the first to be valued, while ancient music, chess, and painting were not. In the past two hundred years, they had gradually developed, but even a few decades ago, battle poetry was considered a minor path, and ancient music, chess, and painting were even more so. Even with some talented scholars working hard to study ancient music, chess, and painting, their development was still slow.

"Take painting as an example. Although it has developed somewhat, only a few university scholars like Gu Kaizhi have a reputation for painting, and later masters like Wu Daozi have not yet been born. Some techniques known to later generations, such as the eighteen brushstrokes, texture strokes, and various dotting and shading methods, have only partially appeared."

As Fang Yun was thinking, Mr. Xiao, who taught detailed brushwork, walked in. He was not a lecturer but a seventh-rank official in the State Academy of Literature, who was very fond of painting but had little interest in calligraphy.

During the break, Fang Yun learned from Li Yunchong and others that Mr. Xiao had long reached the first realm of painting, "poetic sentiment," and had been trying to break through to the second realm, "lifelike," but had not succeeded.

Mr. Xiao was a man of few words. He walked to the lectern, and Fang Yun and the other five students stood up to greet him. He nodded, signaling them to sit down.

"You are Fang Yun?" Mr. Xiao's expression was stiff, but his tone was very kind.

"Yes," Fang Yun replied.

"Have you studied painting before?"

"Never."

Mr. Xiao thought for a moment, expressionless, and said, "I can't delay the others' classes for you. I have a teaching manual here; you can take it and study it on your own. If you have any questions, you can ask me after class. I am usually in the library, and if there are no classes, you can come to me anytime."

"Thank you, Mr. Xiao." Fang Yun gratefully walked forward, took the teaching manual, and sat down to study it.

As Mr. Xiao began his lecture, Fang Yun flipped through the teaching manual. It first explained the knowledge of brushes, ink, paper, and pigments needed for detailed brushwork. As Fang Yun read, a book titled "Detailed Brushwork Teaching Manual" by the famous detailed brushwork artist Yao Mingkui automatically appeared in his mind, with many texts that Fang Yun could compare.

Mr. Xiao's teaching manual mentioned many unique pigments and materials of the Holy Yuan Continent, including demon beast hair and demon blood. As Fang Yun read silently, a book would naturally form in the Strange Book World.

Fang Yun finished reading the basic knowledge and encountered problems when it came to painting techniques. The teaching manual in the Strange Book World was more accurate than Mr. Xiao's, so Fang Yun had to abandon Mr. Xiao's and read "Mr. Yao's."

Fang Yun gradually became engrossed, mainly reading the teaching manual in the Strange Book World and rarely flipping through Mr. Xiao's.

Mr. Xiao glanced at Fang Yun several times during the lecture, noticing that he hadn't turned the page for a long time, looking like he was daydreaming. He sighed inwardly, disappointed that this great talent had no interest in painting.

A few students noticed the problem and secretly looked at Fang Yun, wanting to remind him, but he was looking down and couldn't see their hints.

Time passed, and Fang Yun read the "Detailed Brushwork Teaching Manual" in the Strange Book World very quickly, finishing it before Mr. Xiao finished his lecture. He found explanations for some terms he didn't understand in other books, giving him a great understanding of detailed brushwork and even sparking his interest.

"Unfortunately, I can't be distracted now. I should focus on calligraphy and read the classics of the sages. I'll find time to learn painting after at least passing the jinshi examination."

Fang Yun's mind left the Strange Book World, and he began to read Mr. Xiao's teaching manual.

This time, he wasn't studying but comparing it with the "Detailed Brushwork Teaching Manual," flipping through it quickly and finding many flaws and errors.

Mr. Xiao noticed Fang Yun's quick page-turning and frowned slightly but said nothing.

After the lecture, Mr. Xiao said, "Fang Yun, since you've read today's lesson, let me ask you, what's wrong with Lu Yu's peony painting?"

Fang Yun, unaware that Mr. Xiao had misunderstood him as not studying, thought it was a normal test and turned to look at Lu Yu's painting on his desk, saying casually, "First, let's talk about the leaves. The tips of the leaves are drawn too thickly, while the roots are drawn too thinly, violating the basic principles of light and shadow."

Mr. Xiao couldn't help but widen his eyes and quickly walked over, saying, "You actually saw his problem at a glance! Light and shadow? My teaching manual doesn't mention that. Can you explain?"

The five other students looked at Fang Yun, and Lu Yu said, "Fang Yun, you can't possibly know painting too, can you? You just said you've never painted. Could you have new insights just by reading Mr. Xiao's teaching manual?"

Fang Yun, seeing the looks on their faces, hurriedly said, "I was just talking casually; don't misunderstand."

But Mr. Xiao, with a stern face, said, "What, now that you're a child student who has served as a prince's tutor, you look down on me, a seventh-rank official who teaches painting?"

Fang Yun knew that Mr. Xiao was being serious. If it were Mr. Wang, he could have fudged it, but Mr. Xiao was too rigid and couldn't be vague.

Fang Yun was anxious inside. He had to say something, and it had to be reasonable. After a few moments of silence, he had an idea. When he submitted "The Fox Rhyme" to Zhou Zhubu, he had mentioned sitting by the river and thinking, which Zhou Zhubu praised as "enlightenment by the river."

"Although I haven't learned how to paint, I often thought about poetry by the river when I was young. When I got tired, I would pick up a branch and draw in the sand, not knowing anything. After reading Mr. Xiao's teaching manual, I suddenly had an insight."

"Are you really reading my teaching manual? Then explain what light and shadow are?" Mr. Xiao's expression softened.

Fang Yun knew he couldn't avoid it, so he had to explain the "yin-yang light and shadow" theory in Chinese painting and the "three surfaces" theory in sketching, pointing to the painting and saying, "Light and shadow have three surfaces: the light surface, the gray surface, and the dark surface. Adding the shadow can show the light, making the leaf more... realistic." Fang Yun almost said "three-dimensional."