CH 52

The strict official Yan asked Liu, "Hasn't Yan Yue's literary palace been destroyed? Why... why won't they let him go?"

"Fang Yun didn't cause trouble for Yan Yue at all. I don't know why the Yan family went crazy and went to Fang's clan school to make trouble for Fang Yun, making him kneel and kowtow to Yan Yue."

Yan was shocked and cursed, "Are they crazy? Even if my cousin is stupid, he wouldn't do such a thing! Fang Yun is unstoppable now, why would they still want to make trouble for him? Why did the old lady curse the prefect?"

"It is said that Fang's clan school is preparing to expand enrollment, and Fang Yun will personally teach students how to write poetry. The old lady's grandson was supposed to go, but the Yan family went to the Fang's clan school and blocked the door, so Fang Yun refused to teach. The child cried and complained to the old lady. The old lady couldn't control the Yan family, so she took it out on her own son."

Yan's heart jumped and he said, "This is bad! If it's a small matter, it's okay, but if it causes public anger and the prefect has an excuse to intervene, our Yan family will be in trouble. How could my cousin do such a thing?"

Liu's eyes flickered, "You can guess. I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."

Yan knew it was a big deal and hurriedly left to go to the Yan family.

Halfway there, Yan found that the Yan family rice shop was surrounded by people inside and out.

"Yan Chongnian, you old turtle, you made our children unable to study and unable to pass the Child Scholar exam. Don't force us to do something drastic!"

"You Yan family has nine rice shops in Dayuan Prefecture. From today on, we'll block all nine of them! If you have the guts, kill us! Our Fang family is not a pushover!"

"You dare to harm even the former Child Scholar, you have the nerve! He is the God of Literature who came down to earth and will become the champion in the future!"

"Mr. Fang promised to teach our children how to write poetry, but you destroyed it. Even if we have to take this to the Holy Academy, we have a reason!"

Those who were watching the commotion also joined in the scolding of the Yan family.

Yan realized it was bad. The Fang family was a prestigious family, and the Fang patriarch could easily suppress the smaller Yan family. But if the Fang family leadership did not come forward and only let these children's parents come forward, it was like pushing the situation behind the scenes. Once the parents of the students really united to go to the State Criminal Court and the State Law Court, the Yan family would inevitably be criticized by the court, and even have all their titles revoked, losing their status as a prominent family.

"The signboard of the Yan family rice shop has been completely destroyed! In the hearts of ordinary people, the former Child Scholar is the pride of the entire Dayuan Prefecture, and he is also a poor student. More than 90% of the people regard him as one of their own. If the Yan family wants to harm him, they will ruin their own reputation, regardless of success or failure." Yan thought to himself, shaking his head.

Yan hired a carriage and went to the Yan family.

When Yan arrived, he saw a mess in front of the Yan family's door. Seven or eight people were cleaning up the filth, and some square bricks were placed on the ground for people to walk on.

Yan was hesitant, and several people hurried over, including two women who were wiping away tears. Upon closer inspection, they were all from the Yan family.

"What's going on?" Yan asked anxiously.

"Uncle! My mother was beaten! She said it must have been done by the Fang family and wants Auntie to be fair.""What? Sister-in-law instructed this? I should have known that my eldest brother isn't that foolish!" Yan Dianli understood his cousin Yan Chongnian's temper. Although he was harsh and money-minded, and even despicable and shameless for harming many people, he was definitely not a fool. He wouldn't provoke the big shots in Jiangzhou and even the Jing Kingdom.

"You guys wait outside, I'll handle this!" Yan Dianli covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve and quickly ran inside, stepping on the square bricks.

The Yan family is a large courtyard with three entrances and three exits. Yan Dianli ran into the third courtyard and found his sister-in-law Yan Madame kneeling on the ground with disheveled hair and clear palm prints on her face, while the head of the Yan family, Yan Chongnian, was scolding her.

"Eldest brother, the Prefect is angry, and all our rice shops have been blocked. This matter must be resolved as soon as possible, or the Yan family will be finished," Yan Dianli said urgently.

"I know, I'm trying to find a solution! This incompetent fool was instigated by someone and went to avenge Yue'er with others," Yan Chongnian said angrily.

"Who's inciting him?" Yan Dianli asked.

Yan Chongnian looked around and saw no outsiders. He cursed, "Besides Liu Zicheng, who else? His family is a famous door, with a Left Chancellor and a juren favored by the Left Chancellor. He can fight against Fang Yun. He's not afraid of Jianmei Gong, but what does our Yan family have? I have many sons. If one is ruined, there are still three left. Do we offend the Fang family and Jianmei Gong for an idiot? I'm not that stupid. You came just in time, give me an idea on how to quickly quell this matter."

"Are you afraid of the Fang family or Jianmei Gong?" Yan Dianli asked.

"Of course I'm afraid of Fang Yun making Jianmei Gong intervene. With Jianmei Gong's temperament, he dares to destroy the Yan family with a word, and who told us we're in the wrong and I don't have an official position. And there's that Fang Dayan, he's a military strategist and a Prefect General. He's just as unreasonable as Jianmei Gong."

"Then you should immediately bring a generous gift to Fang Yun's house, no, go to the Fang Clan Academy. Solve the problem where it happened. This way, you can apologize to Fang Yun and calm the Fang family's anger, and let people know the consequences of causing trouble in the Fang Clan Academy."

"Okay, that's how it will be done, but what kind of generous gift should I prepare?"

Yan Dianli thought carefully and said, "You have to bleed this time. After all, anyone who is framed and has their reputation ruined won't just let it go. If you can give him a large mansion, the matter will probably be resolved. But it should be a mansion worth at least 8,000 taels."

Yan Chongnian almost spat out blood when he heard this. He suddenly kicked Yan Madame and cursed, "You mother and son are my jinx! When my son insults others for being poor, you immediately force me to give them a house. How did I end up with you two brooms?"

Yan Dianli lowered his head and couldn't say anything. If this happened to someone else, he would definitely laugh his head off, but it happened to the Yan family, and he couldn't laugh no matter how hard he tried. It was just too frustrating.

Yan Madame remained silent.

Yan Chongnian continued to curse, "8,000 taels! This mansion was bought for just over 7,000 taels back then!"

"Eldest brother, have you figured it out?""I have nothing else to figure out. It's better to throw out 8,000 taels than to have Fang Dayan or Jian Mei Gong come and kill us! The Yang family has already moved to Yunhai, and their mansion has been priced at 9,100 taels without selling. If I go to buy it, maybe I can get a discount. You go contact Yang's nephew, who is in charge of this matter, and I will personally go to the Fang family's academy to apologize."

At this moment, Yan Shi whispered, "Buy the Yang family's mansion and let Fang Yun live there."

"You idiot!" Yan Chongnian was so angry that he was about to hit her. Yan Dianli quickly stopped him.

"Don't hit your sister-in-law. The important thing is the matter at hand."

Yan Chongnian said, "We can't let Liu Zicheng, that bastard, get away with it. Didn't he incite his cousin? Then we'll expose his cousin and make sure he can't stay in the prefecture's academy. Let's go!"

Before Yan Chongnian could leave, a servant rushed out and said, "Master, something bad happened. The transportation office confiscated our grain! Zhao Tongjian said that if his son cannot become Fang Yun's student, the Yan family can forget about using the transportation office in the future."

Yan Chongnian's vision darkened, and he almost passed out. Large quantities of goods like grain had to be transported by water. If they had to use horse carriages without the transportation office, it would bankrupt him.

"Damn it!" Yan Chongnian turned around to hit Yan Shi, but she used her hands and legs to escape, running quite fast.

Yan Dianli hurriedly said, "Big brother, we need to solve the problem with Fang Yun first."

"Right, right, right! It's just a mansion worth 8,000 taels. I'll buy it! Let's go!"

Meanwhile, Fang's wife was taking Yang Yuhuan to look at houses.

Fang Yun had been studying at home until after nine o'clock when He Yunong came to visit.

He Yunong laughed when he saw Fang Yun. "Mr. Fang has good luck. He just wrote a poem called 'Inscription on a Shabby Room' and got a mansion. If you write an 'Ode to the Imperial Palace,' won't you get a holy academy?"

"What's going on?" Fang Yun asked.

"It turns out that the one who caused trouble at the academy wasn't instigated by Yan Chongnian. It was Liu Zicheng's cousin who incited them. He did it to avenge his son."

"Liu Zicheng's cousin? As I expected. Is there any way to deal with him?" Fang Yun asked.

He Yunong proudly said, "I have already organized the parents of the students to jointly petition the state academy to revoke Liu Zicheng's cousin's enrollment in the prefecture's academy. The prefecture's academy's chancellor is the Left Chancellor's person and is probably colluding with Liu Zicheng. We cannot petition the prefecture's academy."

Fang Yun frowned. "Didn't the prefecture's chancellor get scolded by Grand Academician Li and leave? Won't he hinder me? Isn't he afraid of Grand Academician Li?"

"He is afraid, but if the Liu family gives him enough benefits and transfers him to the capital, then Jian Mei Gong cannot do anything to him. After all, the Ministry of Personnel is in the hands of the Left Chancellor. If he dares to harm you, Jian Mei Gong can use his position in the holy academy to kill him. As long as he doesn't hurt you, Jian Mei Gong can only file a complaint against him and cannot take action. Moreover, the Left Chancellor's people will try their best to attack the Wen family. You have already been labeled as a member of the Wen family. He will definitely target you."

"It seems that if I enter the prefecture's academy, life will not be easy," Fang Yun said."Yes. But it's okay. Your three poems in 'The Path of the Saints' have shone brightly, and your story has been reported in 'Wenbao'. Your literary reputation has risen greatly, and the people of Jing Kingdom all like you. Although the Prefecture Chancellor is in charge of the Prefecture Academy, other officials will certainly protect you, and most scholars will also stand by your side. Although Jing Kingdom has some spineless bones who submit to The Left Chancellor, there are also many who have a backbone!"

"Brother He must have a strong backbone," Fang Yun laughed.

"Not as strong as you young people."

At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

"Is this where Fang Yun, the author of the first proposal, lives?"

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"Yes," Fang Yun said, walking to the door and opening the simple wooden door.

A servant dressed in livery respectfully handed over a red invitation with both hands.

"This is an invitation from my master to you. Please accept it."

"Thank you," Fang Yun accepted the invitation.

After closing the door, Fang Yun opened the invitation and saw that it was from Zhao Tongjian, a sixth-ranked official from the Transportation Office. Although the Prefecture Office also had a sixth-ranked official, their actual power could not compare with that of the Transportation Office.

With many rivers in Jiangzhou and developed transportation, the Transportation Office had a particularly high status. Moreover, Duyuan Prefecture was the second most important transportation hub after Yuhai City, and the position of the Transportation Office's official was even higher than that of the Duyuan Prefect.

"Whose invitation is this?" He Yunong asked.

"It's from Zhao Tongjian of the Transportation Office."

"This person has real power."