CH 162

For the past few months, Grand Academician Mencius, who had been under immense pressure due to his constant praise of Fang Yun, was on the verge of bursting into laughter. His seniority in the Holy Academy was deep, and he was the oldest, which earned him much respect. However, his age also indicated a lack of potential for further breakthroughs to become a Great Scholar.

Fang Yun was a hot topic in the Holy Academy, and recently, he was involved in the dispute over the Path of the Saints. Many people avoided discussing him. But Mencius, with his straightforward temperament, would always support Fang Yun whenever someone spoke ill of him. Over time, this led to him being ostracized by some, but it also earned him the praise of others, which was why he was able to persist.

Now, Fang Yun's "Three Character Classic" had been selected by a Semi-Saint to be placed in the Hall of All Saints, and he was the one who strongly recommended it. This would undoubtedly become a great achievement for him, and he might even become famous in history because of this small matter.

Most importantly, it proved his discerning eye!

Grand Academician Mencius was already over seventy years old, but he laughed like a child.

Grand Academician An breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had always adhered to the doctrine of the mean, not leaning to either side. In fact, he didn't think highly of the "Three Character Classic" either, but he liked Fang Yun's poetry and thought that Mencius was upright and honest, so he always played the peacemaker. He didn't expect to escape a disaster in the end.

At this moment, Luo Wenzong had completely forgotten the nickname that had embarrassed him. His mind and heart were filled with the "Three Character Classic".

As a Great Scholar, he had to be more composed than anyone else. Therefore, the first thing he thought of was the "Three Character Classic" itself. As for nicknames, honor or disgrace, gains or losses, they were just fleeting clouds that couldn't leave any trace in his heart.

Grand Academician Ge had regretted obstructing Fang Yun. After hearing that the "Three Character Classic" was to be placed in the Hall of All Saints, his vision darkened, and his body swayed slightly.

He stood still for a moment, blaming himself and saying in pain, "The Hall of... All Saints? Can this 'Three Character Classic' enhance the luck of our human race? Is its actual function even greater than spreading it to the world? Yes! Yes! This text is not flashy and lacks profound reasoning, so it should be like the 'Thousand Character Classic', having a great merit in education! I couldn't see through it, I'm guilty! If I knew this text had such great merit, I would never have obstructed it! I'm so stupid. Fang Yun obviously has the potential to become a Saint, how could I not see through it! Saint Dong, I ask to punish myself for ten years, whether I go to the Three Barbarians or the Two Realm Mountains, I'm willing to go!"

"That's very good."

Grand Academician Ge left the Dust Washing Tower in shame.

Grand Academician Mencius watched his retreating figure and nodded, "The same difficulty was posed to Fang Yun, but the solutions afterwards were different. The people of the Qing Nation simply left, while the people of the Wu Nation bravely atoned for their sins. The people of the Wu Nation are ultimately more spirited than those of the Qing Nation, no wonder they can resist the barbarians without falling behind."

Grand Academician An said, "Who could have imagined that the 'Three Character Classic' has such a great merit in education. Upon careful consideration, whether it's the 'Thousand Character Classic' or the 'Hundred Family Names', they are all 'characters', and the classics of All Saints that children need to learn afterwards, such as 'Analects', 'Mencius', etc., are all 'meanings'. There is too much missing between 'characters' and 'meanings'. Children should learn something else before studying the classics of All Saints."

"People have thought about it before, but we ultimately know too much and think too much, which is not suitable for compiling enlightenment readings. This Fang Yun, I'm afraid he figured these out by the Enlightenment River, and slowly perfected it after he had his enlightenment."

"Yes, I wonder what other enlightenment readings he will write. Just this one 'Three Character Classic' is enough to make his name last forever!"

Luo Wenzong sighed lightly, "I suspect that the reason why he was not outstanding before was probably because he was thinking about how to fill the gap between 'characters' and 'meanings', how to supplement the way of education, but to outsiders, he seemed to be a blockhead. After he understood this way of education, everything became clear. That's why he could make no mistakes in the Saint's Words in one day."

The two Grand Academicians nodded repeatedly, this explanation was the most reasonable, because similar things had indeed happened before.

"I hope he can continue to perfect the way of education. Even if the enlightenment readings he writes later are not as good as the 'Three Character Classic', as long as he can supplement the way of education, his merit will far exceed ours!"

Grand Academician An suddenly asked with confusion, "I checked the 'Wooden Law Code' a few days ago, and there was no record of Fang Yun's merit on the merit list. Could it be that Shang Jun's code overlooked him?"

Luo Wenzong said, "I'm afraid it's not that there isn't, it's that you and I can't see it."

Grand Academician An immediately showed a relieved smile, "I was overthinking it. The Saints would never allow his true merit to be exposed. I wonder how much more merit he has that hasn't been announced."

Grand Academician Mencius said, "I'm most looking forward to the first time his merit is announced, to what extent it will be."

"Yes..."

Everything that happened in the Holy Academy was kept secret, and everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

The day of the Qixi Literary Meeting was getting closer and closer. After the "Path of the Saints" was published on the first day of July, the line "The lotus leaves stretch endlessly in the pond, under the sun the lotus blossoms reflect a different red" became a famous line on everyone's lips. Many people believed that if no lotus poem could surpass this line in the next few decades, then this poem would surely be promoted to a national poem.

News from the military was hard to get out, but news from outside could reach the military.

This time, Fang Yun truly calmed down to be a soldier and study, and he would not leave the barracks until Qixi, nor did he care about the outside world. But because all fifteen people were sleeping and living in the same room, he still heard a lot of news.

Various places in Jiang State frequently held anti-flood literary meetings, and all the scholars and literati took turns to participate. There was even a spectacular scene where hundreds of scholars wrote anti-flood poems and verses together.The frequent flood control measures had alleviated the heavy rain, but only to a certain extent. The rain continued to fall, and it was inevitable that Jiangzhou would suffer a decrease in crop yield this year. Many officials had already begun to purchase grain from various places to prevent the price of grain in Jiangzhou from skyrocketing.

Fang Yun had heard that the scholars of the Hanlin Academy in Jiangzhou and Grand Academician Li Wenying had repeatedly taken action, each time alleviating the disaster in Jiangzhou to some extent, but they were unable to stop the heavy rain, even with the use of the Great Scholar's true text.

Soon, new rumors began to circulate. The heavy rain was said to be related to the Dragon Palace of the Four Seas, which seemed to have used some special divine object. Even the arrival of a Great Scholar would be useless; only a Semi-Saint could resolve the situation.

Time slowly passed amidst the various rumors.

In July, the weather began to cool down. The summer rain after the beginning of autumn turned into autumn rain. Looking out, the entire Jiangzhou was shrouded in dark clouds and drizzling rain.

On the evening of the sixth day of July, Fang Yun was in high spirits because he could take a day off the next day and go home.

After dinner, Fang Yun returned to his barracks to enjoy the cool evening, while the other soldiers were chatting at the entrance.

More and more people were coming over. Before long, a dark-faced soldier hurried over and exclaimed, "Have you heard? The Flood Dragon King of Qingjiang has declared that the continuous heavy rain and flooding in Jiangzhou are to retaliate against Fang Yun!"

"What? How is this related to Fang Yun? A Demon King retaliating against a Talented Scholar?"

"The Flood Dragon King said that Fang Yun ate his son's dragon pearl and demanded that the people of Jiangzhou hand over Fang Yun. As long as Fang Yun is handed over, he will stop the rain in Jiangzhou!"

"What? So, the flood these days was caused by Fang Yun?"

"How can you say that? What do you mean by 'caused by Fang Yun'? Even if you think with your heels, you should know that a Demon King wouldn't spend such a huge amount of resources just to retaliate against a Talented Scholar. Fang Yun must be a bait, there must be other reasons!"

"That's not what I meant. I mean, others might think so."

"The Flood Dragon King is trying to sow discord among us humans! Once we hand over Fang Yun, who among the Ten Nations will still regard us as humans? It's not easy for Jing Kingdom to produce a genius who is not inferior to the disciples of the Semi-Saint Prominent Families. If we hand him over so easily, it will destroy the people's morale. Who among the people of Jing Kingdom will still regard themselves as citizens of Jing Kingdom?"

"But if we don't hand over Fang Yun, many people will still blame him. Fang Yun will bear the blame for causing the disaster in Jiangzhou. Fang Yun is such a good person, he might sacrifice himself for the greater good!"

"Damn it! When did the Demon Clan become so insidious!"

Many soldiers were extremely angry.

Fang Yun stood in place, stunned. He hadn't expected the Flood Dragon King to be so malicious. But he quickly calmed down and began to form a general understanding of the situation in his mind.

"If the Flood Dragon King had said this at the beginning of the rain, the people of Jiangzhou, who had not suffered much from the disaster, would surely stand with me. As the flood worsens, it would only stir up a sense of shared hatred. But now, after suffering from the flood for more than half a month, the people's hatred for the culprit has reached its peak. If the Flood Dragon King suddenly says it's because of me, many people will resent me! Once this spreads, it will be a fatal blow to me. The Flood Dragon King couldn't possibly come up with such a vicious strategy. It's very likely that the turtle demon of the Dragon Palace, who has lived for thousands of years, is advising him."

"The most vicious part of this strategy is that unless I can solve this flood disaster by myself and completely disperse the continuous rain, even after decades, there will still be people who think I caused the disaster in Jiangzhou. This is a strategy to exterminate me. Compared to the Flood Dragon King and other demons, Liu Zicheng's attempt to harm my reputation is like child's play. If I hide and don't go out, I will bear a lifetime of infamy. If I go out and surrender myself, it means death. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place."

Fang Yun thought about it and found that he seemed to have been forced into a dead end.

Just then, a personal soldier of Yu Xingshu came. Fang Yun went over, and the two of them went to a deserted place.

The personal soldier first relayed the words of the Flood Dragon King of Qingjiang, and then looked at Fang Yun.

"I just heard about it," said Fang Yun.

Seeing Fang Yun so calm, the personal soldier breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Don't worry, everyone who participated in the last patrol was given a gag order by the general before leaving the camp. No one dares to speak out. The general has just transferred the dozens of people who are still in the army to other places. Your identity will not be exposed. When the time is right, they will all return to the Dinghai Army and be promoted."

"I know that. It's actually a good thing for them. I just don't understand how the Flood Dragon King of Qingjiang knows my name."

"Although you were disguised, you were ultimately transformed by your writing and talent. You can fool others, but you can't fool the eyes of the Flood Dragon King. Although the Flood Dragon is not a true dragon, it is one of the strongest among the Demon Clan. Since the Flood Dragon King knows your true appearance, he can easily find out who you are by asking any rebellious literati."

Fang Yun nodded.

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The personal soldier continued, "But don't worry, you have changed your name now, and all the people who know that 'Fang Bing' was once called 'Fang Yun' are not in the East Suburb. You can continue to stay here."

"Doesn't the general plan to let me solve this flood disaster?" Fang Yun asked.

"Sigh, the general doesn't even want you to participate in the Qixi Literary Meeting. Because Liu Zizhi's whole family is in mourning, they set out from Dayuan Prefecture today to come to Yuhai Prefecture. I think, you should guess who they are coming to find."

"They want to ambush me at the entrance of the Qixi Literary Meeting?" Fang Yun's eyes gradually turned cold.

"Yes, along with the first disciple of the Poetry Monarch, there are three forces targeting you!"

(To be continued.)

PS: Three more updates.