"Excellent. In just ten days, we sold 30,000 out of 50,000 copies, and the rest were handed over to Xuanting Bookstore for sale. In a few days, 'The Story of the Western Wing' will be available in the Ten Nations. According to Tang, the sales of books in a month could reach 500,000." Fang Yun said.
"You can be called a little rich man from now on. Come on, I'll recite a poem for you to write down." Li Wenying said.
Fang Yun picked up the pen and paper on the table and waited for Li Wenying to recite the poem.
"The frozen woods are about to break, the lonely roots are warm and return alone. In the deep snow of the front village, several branches bloomed last night. The wind carries the fragrance, and the birds peek at the beauty. Next year, according to the law, I will first go to the Spring Terrace."
After Li Wenying finished reciting, Fang Yun finished writing this poem 'Early Plum Blossom', but his expression was a little strange.
The poem first describes the environment of early plum blossoms, then describes the blooming of plum blossoms, then writes about the fragrance and beauty that attracts birds, and finally writes a message to the plum blossoms and expresses the poet's desire to go to the Spring Terrace, which means the capital city.
Fang Yun thought of the court dispute last year and guessed that Li Wenying wanted to go to the capital city to meet the Left Chancellor at that time. However, Jiangzhou has the Yangtze River and Qingguo to the south, the East Sea to the east, and the Yao Mountain to the west. It is crucial, and only he is the most suitable to stay here.
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".
"You have great talent, sir!" Fang Yun praised.
Li Wenying didn't care about Fang Yun's praise, but looked at Fang Yun's words and said, "Your 'Spring Morning' is written like a dog crawling, 'Dream Record of the Pillow' is still lacking, and 'Epitaph of a Small Room' is straightforward, but still only average. However, your words today have a hint of elegance. Not bad, I wish your calligraphy can reach the level of 'flowers blooming under your pen' as soon as possible."
"Thank you for your praise, sir." Fang Yun felt much better in his heart. This meant that no one could criticize his words in the future exams, and the days of hard practice were not in vain.
"You can go eat now. Come find me when you have something to improve."
"Thank you, sir."
Fang Yun took the page and went to the canteen. He saw that Li Yuncong and others had already eaten half of their meals. He was about to get food, but he had the poem in his hand, so he walked over and put the poem on the chair next to Lu Yu.
"You guys watch it for me. I'll go get food." Fang Yun said and left.
Lu Yu picked up the poem and read it, "Fang Yun is really amazing. We haven't finished our meal yet, and he has already written a poem. Let me recite it for you."
After Lu Yu finished reciting, the other four nodded.
"Although the season is not right, it should be a poem he wanted to write last year but didn't. He suddenly had inspiration and wrote it down."
"The first sentence is excellent, describing the cruelty of the weather and the pride of the plum tree."
"The third sentence is also good, with a neat and sonorous rhyme."
"The last sentence is interesting. Let's ask him when he comes back if he is thinking of going to the capital city."
"Unfortunately, this poem has no talent. It needs some changes."
"He is not a sage, so it's impossible for every poem to be so good. It's just a pity."
As they were talking, a Presented Scholar passed by, took a glance, and left to sit at a distant table where Liu Zicheng's brother-in-law Zhuang Wei was sitting.
"How is it? Fang Yun wrote a new poem?" Zhuang Wei asked.
"Yes, I saw it. There is no talent in it, but the poem is not bad. There should be major problems in some places that make the talent not show. The words are also his, that's for sure.""Let's go and take a look. As long as there is no talent, whatever they say is right! This poem lacks talent, and anyone who doesn't attack it, even if they can write an article better than 'Inscription of a Dilapidated Dwelling,' cannot shake my courage to write! Go get some ink, and watch me 'destroy this poem'!"
So several presented scholars walked towards the group of five people. When they arrived at the table, Zhuang Wei carefully examined the poem and found that it indeed lacked talent. He also saw that it was written by Fang Yun and smiled.
At this time, someone handed over a wooden tray with ink and brushes on it.
Zhuang Wei snatched the poem from Lu Yu's hand and placed it on the table.
The five people in the group looked at the presented scholar in confusion, wondering why he was taking Fang Yun's poem.
Fang Yun happened to be carrying food and turned around to see Zhuang Wei about to write on it. He quickly stopped him and said, "Zhuang Wei, what are you doing?"
Zhuang Wei laughed and said, "Your poem is full of flaws, and I can't stand it anymore. Your biggest mistake is that the poem doesn't match the scene. It's clearly summer, but you wrote about winter, which is a big taboo. Also, the first line 'Ten thousand trees freeze and bend' is wrong. I've heard of trees being blown down by strong winds or cut down by people, but never frozen and broken. This line should be removed!"
Zhuang Wei finished speaking and drew a thick horizontal line over "Ten thousand trees freeze and bend," making it impossible to read.
When Fang Yun saw his writing being covered up, he became angry and said, "Apologize immediately, and leave this place. You can't change this poem!"
Zhuang Wei smiled and said, "As fellow students of the State Academy of Literature, it's only natural for presented scholars to help child scholars improve their poems. Why can't I do it? You think too highly of yourself."
Fang Yun didn't expect a presented scholar to use such methods. If the two were familiar with each other, it would be normal for a presented scholar to help a child scholar improve their poem or even judge it. But Zhuang Wei clearly had malicious intentions and was just doing this because Fang Yun had rejected his invitation yesterday.
Fang Yun's expression turned cold and he said, "Zhuang Wei, if you don't stop now, I'll assume you're doing this for your younger brother and will forgive you after you apologize. But if you dare to change a single word again, it won't end well for you!"
Zhuang Wei said with a smile, "I don't need you to remind me. And this second line, 'A single root warms and returns alone,' the words 'single' and 'alone' have similar meanings and shouldn't appear in the same sentence. Cross it out!" He then covered Fang Yun's writing with ink.
Li Yuncong said, "Fang Yun, don't be impulsive. This is a way of competing in literature between poor and wealthy families. It's still a literary competition. If you curse or fight, you'll lose."
Fang Yun took a deep breath and said, "Since I warned him and he didn't listen, let him destroy it!"
At this time, several members of the Lishan Society walked over. The society leader, Ye Feng, angrily said, "Zhuang Wei, keep your dirty hands off! As a presented scholar, you seek revenge on a child scholar. How shameless can you Lius be! How can a presented scholar destroy a child scholar's poem? You're bullying someone weaker than you!"
"Destroying a poem is a way of literary competition. He's a child scholar before the imperial court. His status is higher than that of ordinary talented scholars. How can he be bullying someone weaker than him? Ye brother, you're overthinking it."
Zhuang Wei was about to destroy the poem again when Ye Feng coldly said, "If you dare to move a word, I'll use my words as weapons to stop you, even if I have to take the punishment!"
Zhuang Wei's expression changed, and the people around him immediately blocked him.
Fang Yun said, "Ye brother, thank you for your kindness, but I like to watch the show. You don't need to worry. I want to see how far he dares to destroy this poem! If he doesn't do it well, I won't be happy!"
During the dispute, everyone in the cafeteria had gathered around. Several lecturers were even smiling, as they saw this as a competition and motivation. As long as no one was hurt or the literary palace was damaged, they would not intervene.
One lecturer whispered, "I actually want to stop this, but setting such a precedent would be bad. However, it might be good for Fang Yun to experience some setbacks. I believe he will overcome this difficulty. Maybe in two or three years, he will be able to redeem himself."
"Knowing shame and then being courageous is a good thing for him."
"But Fang Yun seems to be quite calm. Could it be that he has some hidden tricks?"
"It's unlikely. Zhuang Weimu has been plotting this for a long time, how could he make a mistake? That poem page indeed lacks talent."
The other lecturers nodded in agreement, thinking that this was a good opportunity to temper Fang Yun.
The expressions of the people nearby varied. Some were clearly enjoying the drama, while a few were looking forward to Fang Yun's poetic reputation being damaged. However, most people sympathized with Fang Yun, as even a Presented Scholar might not have many talented poems after writing for a year, with most being ordinary verses.
Zhuang Weimu was hesitant at first, but hearing Fang Yun's disdainful tone, he said again, "Deep snow in the previous village? It's utterly devoid of poetic charm, so plain that it cannot be any plainer. Even a three-year-old could write this. Destroy it!"
Fang Yun couldn't help but reveal a mocking smile at the corner of his mouth, finding the situation even more interesting.
Zhuang Weimu continued to destroy the poems one after another, and after destroying all of them, he drew a large "X" on the page, saying, "As a Child Scholar who ranked among the top in the examination before the emperor, you actually wrote such poor verses. It's a disgrace to the sages!"
Many people were angered by Zhuang Weimu's words, but since Fang Yun didn't speak up, they couldn't say anything either and could only watch him.
Fang Yun smiled slightly and asked, "Has the great talent Zhuang finished destroying the poems? Or do you want to destroy them for another half an hour?"
"You're quite calm. I just want to tell you that when you can spare someone, you should. Even if Liu Zicheng is not good, he is still a Talented 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 the matter of yesterday go."
Fang Yun nodded, walked up to the table, put the wooden tray down, then picked up the poem pages, folded them neatly, and put them into his pocket before slowly eating his meal.
Everyone was puzzled, thinking that Fang Yun's harsh words would have a follow-up, but he just started eating.
Seeing that Fang Yun didn't say anything, Zhuang Weimu turned and left, thinking to himself, "Zicheng and Zizhi are close brothers. If Zizhi learns about this, he will surely become even closer to me. Hmph, I didn't want to destroy the poems, I just wanted to be a good guy, but you didn't know how to appreciate it, so you can't blame me for this."
Feeling smug, Zhuang Weimu walked away, but after a few steps, he heard Fang Yun's voice.
"Brother Zhuang, please wait. I forgot to mention something just now," said Fang Yun.
"What do you want to say?" Zhuang Weimu turned around, thinking that Fang Yun was going to back down.
"Nothing much, I just wanted to say that after school this afternoon, the Dean called me to his Bright Mirror Hall and recited a poem for me to help him revise. I made a note of it, but I didn't expect it to be destroyed by you. I've forgotten the verses now, so I'll have to go back to the Bright Mirror Hall after lunch."
Before Fang Yun could finish speaking, Zhuang Weimu's face turned pale, and he was sweating profusely, almost unable to stand.
Those who had been angry for Fang Yun earlier all burst into laughter, and the two young men, Lu Yu and Ning Zhiyuan, even slapped the table and laughed loudly.
"Hahaha... this... this foolish Presented Scholar actually said that the Dean's poem could be written by a three-year-old!"
"Fang Yun, you're too bad. Why didn't you say it earlier? Hahaha..."
The lecturers looked at each other, not expecting Fang Yun to have a hidden move, and this move was exceptionally ruthless.
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