CH 68

Mr. Xiao hurriedly said, "Can you explain it more clearly?"

Fang Yun had to take the pen and, using Lu Yu's painting as an example, drew out the light and shadow, gray tones, and projection with a very unfamiliar technique, and gave a detailed explanation.

Lu Yu and the other five couldn't understand it, but Mr. Xiao stared at it intently. At first, his eyes shone, but then he fell into deep thought. His expression kept changing, but his gaze grew increasingly dim. Finally, Mr. Xiao's eyes were vacant as he stared blankly at the painting.

Fang Yun was puzzled and thought, "Could it be that this set of painting theories is not applicable to the Holy Land?" It couldn't be.

The other five talented scholars also looked at Mr. Xiao curiously, wondering why he was in a daze.

Mr. Xiao remained in a daze for a full fifteen minutes. Suddenly, he showed a look of wild joy and shouted, "I have attained enlightenment! Today, I will definitely enter the second realm of painting!"

With that, he turned and ran to the lectern, picking up his brush to paint.

Fang Yun and the other five talented scholars stood up and walked over to watch Mr. Xiao paint.

The six of them watched silently as Mr. Xiao painted the sun, a small river, reeds, and finally a green bird.

At first, there was nothing special, but soon they noticed Mr. Xiao's talent slowly pouring into the painting. The entire painting was covered in a faint white light, and they could see the water flowing and hear the sound of the wind. Even the reeds that had already been painted swayed with the wind.

"Indeed, he has entered the second realm of painting!" Lu Yu whispered.

Li Yuncong immediately glared at him, forbidding him from speaking.

As Mr. Xiao finished his brushstroke, they heard a clear bird call, and a semi-transparent green bird flew out of the painting, flapping its wings in the air and chirping loudly. It finally landed on Mr. Xiao's shoulder, using its sharp beak to preen its feathers.

The green bird in the painting disappeared.

Mr. Xiao, a middle-aged man who rarely smiled, grinned and carefully watched the bird, afraid that it would fly away.

The image of the green bird became increasingly faint, and it exploded with a light sound after a while. Then it turned into ink and fell on the reeds, returning to its original form as a green bird. The flowing water stopped, and the white light on the painting disappeared.

Mr. Xiao burst out laughing, rolled up the painting, and put it in his arms. Then he looked at Fang Yun and said, "You are indeed a child scholar of the Holy Land, a rare talent in a century! If you focus on painting, you will definitely be able to join the Holy Academy's painting society and surpass the 'Painting King,' one of the four great talents of the past!"

"You flatter me, Mr. Xiao," Fang Yun said.

"Don't be modest! I will write an article about 'light and shadow, gray tones, and projection' today and present it to the Lord of the Academy. This article will definitely be published in the Path of the Saints! And there will be more people in the ten countries who will enter the second realm of painting. I will list you as the first author and myself as the second. As for the Holy Page or other rewards from the Path of the Saints, they will all be yours!"

"Please don't do that, Mr. Xiao. I just spoke my mind and cannot be the first author."

"Don't refuse! I am also benefiting from your talent! This article will probably take a day to write. Three days later, you can go to the library, and I will give you a pair of battle paintings. As a presented scholar, I should be able to paint a demon soldier after entering the second realm, but unfortunately, my brushwork is not stable yet, so I can only give you a painting of a demon race for now. When I consolidate the second realm, I will give you a painting of a demon soldier! See you in three days!"

Mr. Xiao left quickly.

Fang Yun sighed lightly. He never thought that he could have a new article in the Path of the Saints just by saying a few words, and he would even be the first author.

Suddenly, Lu Yu covered his face and said, "I want to die."

"I also want to die!" Ning Zhiyuan said with a distressed expression."Fan Yun, seeing you makes me realize what a true talent is! You not only write poetry and prose, but also create your own painting techniques, and all of it has been published in 'The Path of the Saints'. If you don't become a saint, then surely the God of Literature has gone blind," Li Yuncong exclaimed.

"Don't flatter me!" Fang Yun joked.

Du Shudai said seriously, "Fang Yun will definitely not be inferior to Yi Zhishi. When Yi Zhishi became a Grand Academician, he triggered the God of Literature's movement. Fang Yun can certainly do it too!"

"Yes, definitely! Maybe he will even trigger the God of Literature's movement when he becomes a Hanlin Scholar and become the number one person of the era!"

"When Yi Zhishi became a Grand Academician, the God of Literature moved once. If Fang Yun becomes a Hanlin Scholar, he might move twice."

"It's highly possible."

Fang Yun hurriedly said, "I have no grudges with anyone, please don't praise me too much."

Lu Yu laughed, "You have another article published in 'The Path of the Saints', don't you want to show it off? Let's go to Wangjiang Tower, the boneless fish in the Yangtze River there is the most delicious, I've never tried it before."

Fang Yun had also heard of the boneless fish and was happy to go, so he said, "Let's go now!"

"Fang Yun is a true gentleman!" Ning Zhiyuan exclaimed.

The six of them went to Wangjiang Tower, had a big meal, and then returned home. They didn't drink today, only ate and chatted, and also mentioned the upcoming demon-slaying event.

Fang Yun didn't let Fang Daniu follow him, only bringing Tan Yu with him and walking home.

Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original.

It was already past six in the evening, the sun was setting in the west, and the sky was glowing with colorful clouds.

When they arrived at Minghui Street, their large mansion was in front of them. Fang Yun noticed many people looking towards their doorstep, and there were two carriages parked there with several servants around them. A senior dressed in fine clothes was standing under the main entrance, and beside him was a door panel with a person lying on it.

The person's back was facing upwards, and there was a pool of blood around their buttocks, as if they had been beaten severely.

The person didn't face Fang Yun, so he couldn't see clearly, but he had a vague guess.

Fang Yun walked forward, and the neighbors around him greeted him warmly. When he arrived at the door, the senior looked over with a puzzled expression, while the person lying on the door panel, Zhuang Wei, turned his head and looked at Fang Yun with a look of fear in his eyes, then whispered, "Father, he is Fang Yun."

Zhuang's father immediately lifted his robe and was about to kneel to Fang Yun, but Fang Yun quickly stopped him and sternly said, "If you dare to kneel, I will consider you to be slandering my reputation!"

Fang Yun was a bit annoyed. In this Confucian society, forcing an old man to kneel to a young man was not a good reputation.

Zhuang's father quickly stood up and explained, "Please don't misunderstand! I have no intention of harming you! I just brought my unfilial son to apologize to you! I had him beaten forty times and didn't even give him medicine! I'm now leaving him with you, whether you want to punish him or not is up to you. I beg you to spare his wretched life. I'm an old man with only one son."

The people around were amazed. They knew of Fang Yun's literary talent and immense potential, but to reduce a Presented Scholar to a "wretched life" was too domineering, and at least required the power of a Prefecture Governor.

Fang Yun carefully examined the injuries on Zhuang Wei's buttocks. His pants were torn apart, and there was blood and even flesh visible. If it were an ordinary person, they might have been beaten to death, but Zhuang Wei was a Presented Scholar and couldn't die, but he would need at least half a month to recover.

Fang Yun knew that the Zhuang family was afraid of Li Wenying and feared being targeted by the officials of Jiangzhou, so they came to him to resolve the problem at the source.Fang Yun smiled and said, "Uncle, you are being too polite. Zhuang Wei was kind enough to help me revise my poem, it's just a pity that he made a mistake. It's not a big deal. Let's quickly send him back and apply medicine to his wound so it doesn't get infected. Even a Presented Scholar can't withstand such torment. I'll go in first, you can go back."

Seeing that the situation was getting worse, Zhuang Wei's father hurriedly grabbed Fang Yun's sleeve and begged, "Young Master Fang, please spare our Zhuang Wei. I have already decided to let him resign from his position as a student and study hard at home for five years. He will not be allowed to participate in the capital examination within these five years, and he has also sworn a poisonous oath that if he breaks his promise, his Courage to Write will be shattered!"

"Oh?" Fang Yun glanced at Zhuang Wei, not expecting him to dare to swear with his Courage to Write, and not to take the Imperial Scholar exam within five years, which would have a huge impact on the future of a Presented Scholar, although Zhuang Wei's chances of becoming an Imperial Scholar were not very high.

"Whether you want land or a shop, our Zhuang family will compensate you. We only ask that you spare Zhuang Wei's life," Zhuang Wei's father pleaded bitterly.

Fang Yun said, "Uncle, you misunderstand. This matter really has nothing to do with me. He tried to humiliate me for the sake of the Liu family, but I haven't blamed him. If you want to blame someone, blame the Liu family."

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Wei's father understood and scolded, "Unfilial son! What are you still doing? Hurry up and swear with your Courage to Write that you will never help the Liu family again! Do you want me, an old Child Scholar, to send my own son to his death? How old is the Left Chancellor, and how old is Fang Yun? Even I, an old Child Scholar, know that Fang Yun will go further than the Left Chancellor, how can you not see it!"

Zhuang Wei really wanted to say that this would only happen decades later, and many geniuses had fallen halfway, but he dared not speak. After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "God of Literature and all the Saints above, I, Zhuang Wei, swear with my Courage to Write that I will never actively help the Liu family in this life! If I break this oath, my Courage to Write will shatter, and my literary palace will crumble!"

The neighbors not far away heard the poisonous oath and began to discuss.

"If this gets out, the reputation of the Liu family will be tarnished, and anyone who wants to associate with the Liu family in the future will have to think twice."

"All of the Liu family's relatives have left, and the Liu family members must be furious."

"If the Left Chancellor finds out, his face probably won't look good either. It's not a big deal for a Presented Scholar to abandon the Liu family, but it's not a small matter either."

"This Fang Yun, so young, but his methods are quite ruthless."

Fang Yun naturally understood what "not actively helping" meant, but he didn't care. He bowed to Zhuang Wei's father and said, "Uncle, you can go back. I will take the initiative to explain this matter to the Prefecture Lord, and I believe he will understand that this is a misunderstanding and will not vent his anger on Brother Zhuang. Brother Zhuang, you must take good care of your injury and never do anything foolish again. I won't be able to save you next time."

"Thank you, Fang Shuangjia! Thank you, Fang Anshou!" Zhuang Wei's father thanked him repeatedly, then lifted Zhuang Wei onto the carriage and left.

Fang Yun then entered the house, where Yang Yuhuan and her maid were standing behind the door.

After entering the house, Fang Yun told Yang Yuhuan the ins and outs of the matter, and then returned to his room, rewrote Li Wenying's poem "Early Plum Blossom," but changed the line "last night a few branches bloomed" to "last night one branch bloomed." Using "one" instead of "a few" better emphasized "early." Fang Yun believed that this one word would make "Early Plum Blossom" reach the Prefecture.