CH 194

During the first talent display of the "Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao" strategy, Fang Yun simply attacked the barbarian tribe in a normal manner, marched normally, and finally besieged the city normally.

Throughout this process, Fang Yun noted down every single detail.

When Fang Yun entered the "Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao" talent display for the second time, he immediately issued a series of strict orders.

At the beginning of the attack on the barbarian tribe, Fang Yun suddenly initiated a beheading operation, concentrating all the high-ranking officials and Demon Barbarian private armies on his side, killing a barbarian marquis, two barbarian generals, and two rebel scholars, completely disabling the strongest barbarian of this tribe.

When the heads of the three strongest individuals and two rebel scholars of this tribe were held up in front of the army, the morale of the barbarians completely collapsed. Some fled, some surrendered, and a few who chose to fight to the death were annihilated.

The entire process took less than an hour, with less than a thousand casualties.

Fang Yun led the remaining army towards the City of Dong. The soldiers who went to the rescue today not only outnumbered those of yesterday by a full three thousand, but even the departure time was half a day earlier!

This time, Fang Yun slightly increased the marching speed because he found that these soldiers still had spare energy yesterday. However, he still did not force march, as they still had to besiege the city.

A day later, the team arrived at the City of Dong.

At this moment, the City of Dong, just like yesterday, had been taken over by the local barbarian army, and the king was killed.

The battle of Dong City had just ended not long ago. The barbarian army was far more exhausted than Fang Yun's human soldiers. The vitality of the barbarian marquis, generals, and soldiers was greatly depleted, with their strength only remaining half of their usual. On the other hand, all the scholars on Fang Yun's side were full of vigor.

Upon Fang Yun's order, one by one, the Presented Scholars, Imperial Scholars, and Hanlin Scholars used their life span as a price to use the "Bleeding Heart", doubling the power of all scholars' War Poetry.

With the experience of the previous siege, Fang Yun's command this time was even better. He attacked the exhausted barbarians with a slightly tired army, gradually expanding the battle results and gaining the upper hand.

In the end, Fang Yun led the troops to break the city, and the battle entered street fighting. Fang Yun climbed up the city gate and looked at the City of Dong filled with the sounds of killing.

"If this battle is to protect the king, then the army and the king will perish together. If it is to abandon the king, then the army will win. One loss and one win, it's a draw, it's an unbeatable battle."

Afterwards, Fang Yun pondered the meaning of this talent display.

"Standing on the side of 'Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao', I understand. Once I use 'Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao', if the enemy has the courage to abandon 'Wei' and confront me directly with a slow march, that will be the final test. Therefore, 'Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao' not only requires choosing the right 'Wei' to save, choosing the right timing, making sure 'Zhao' is saved, giving the opponent an illusion that 'it can be saved', but also having the strength and preparation to face the opponent head-on!"

Fang Yun understood the intention of this talent display's role reversal. He felt relieved.

"This time, the quick beheading was greatly aided by the Demon Barbarian private army in the army. Now that the thousand-year treaty has ended, the human nations can only compete in literature and cannot wage war. However, if two families have a feud or a dispute of interest, they can summon the Demon Barbarian private army, bet on land, shops, etc., and let the private army fight to the death. After I become a Presented Scholar, I need to slowly look for a Demon Barbarian private army."

In the early morning of August 14th, the "Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao" talent display ended. The Path of the Saints of Wisdom was incorporated into the military strategy written by Fang Yun, and then it was included in the Book of Wonders, further enhancing the "Thirty-Six Strategies".

Fang Yun went to sleep peacefully, with two strategies at hand. It was safer to enter the Holy Land.

This time, Fang Yun didn't wake up until the sun was three poles high, faintly hearing the sound of heated discussion in the hall.

Just as Fang Yun was about to leave his bedroom, he found that his official seal had received many letters, so he quickly read them.

There was one from Princess Zhao Hongzhuang. She and Fang Yun left one after the other, and they missed the farewell. However, neither of them cared.

There was one from Li Fanming, saying that he knew he was at Zhou's house and wanted to visit.

There was also one from Yang Yuhuan sent through the literary institute, saying that she and her maid missed Fang Yun and wished him well.

After reading the letters from others, Fang Yun walked outside, opened the door, and the sun was shining brightly. He had to squint his eyes and look towards the hall on the left.

"Young Master Fang is awake!" Mr. and Mrs. Wei shouted in unison, and the conversation in the hall suddenly stopped. Then someone laughed and said, "You finally woke up, I was just about to invite you for a drink!"

Fang Yun knew it was Li Fanming as soon as he heard it. He saw more than a dozen young men of different appearances but excellent temperament walking out of the hall, all of them dressed in black Presented Scholar robes.

"This is Fang Yun Fang Zhenguo, and these are my classmates from the Confucius Academy." Li Fanming said with a smile, and those Presented Scholars bowed their hands in salute one after another, and Fang Yun immediately returned the salute.

Afterwards, Li Fanming introduced these people to Fang Yun one by one. There were a total of sixteen people, ten from prominent families and six from noble families. In Jing Kingdom, this would be enough to shake the entire capital, but on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Literary Meeting in the Holy Land, in the City of Confucius, it didn't seem so exaggerated.The Wei couple were extremely cautious. So many scions of prominent families and accomplished scholars had come to visit Fang Yun, a mere talented scholar. This indicated that Fang Yun had already earned the right to associate with the offspring of Semi-Saint families. Even if they were just the younger generation of these families, they were still figures that were out of reach.

Most of these people wore smiles on their faces, appearing kind and humble. However, a few of them had somewhat forced smiles, and two people didn't even manage to squeeze out a smile.

Fang Yun pretended not to notice, greeting each of them with full courtesy. However, he noticed that aside from the scions of the prominent families who seemed to be the direct descendants, the rest from the other families were all from the collateral branches. None of them were the direct descendants or the eldest grandsons. But such figures would not go to the City of Confucius to study, they would directly enter the Holy Academy.

Li Fanming, who was always straightforward, said, "I heard yesterday that you were here, so I came to see you. I didn't expect you to be contemplating something and not receiving guests, so I planned to wait until noon to leave. This morning, I met with them, planning to attend a literary meeting at noon and a Mid-Autumn literary meeting in the evening."

"Isn't today the fourteenth of August? Isn't the Mid-Autumn literary meeting tomorrow?" Fang Yun asked in confusion.

Li Fanming laughed and said, "The Mid-Autumn literary meeting in the Holy Land is a grand literary meeting of the ten nations, of course it will be held on the fifteenth tomorrow. But the Mid-Autumn literary meeting in the City of Confucius can't also be tomorrow, right? So it has to be advanced to the fourteenth of August. We discussed the famous scholars of the past decade and found that this literary meeting can't be without you. So we came together to invite you. With so many of us inviting you, you have to give us some face, right?"

"Well... since you all think highly of me, I will accompany you." Fang Yun agreed freely.

"See! I told you that Fang Yun is not arrogant. Even after being featured on the front page of 'The Path of the Saints', he is still so approachable. Every time I tell people that I know Fang Yun, I feel my face glowing." Li Fanming joked.

"Don't tarnish my reputation." Fang Yun laughed, and the others also laughed along.

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"Please, everyone, come inside." Fang Yun gestured towards the main hall, and everyone entered the house together.

The Wei couple busily brewed tea, and everyone chatted while drinking tea.

"Like you, we are all going to the Holy Land. It's fate that we can gather together today. As soon as tomorrow night arrives, we will have to compete with each other. Let me toast you all with tea instead of wine, hoping that after the Holy Land, we can gather together again and enjoy ourselves with wine." Li Fanming said with a smile, as if he was talking about a very ordinary thing.

The atmosphere in the main hall changed. Everyone silently raised their tea cups and took a sip.

There are no fathers and sons in the Holy Land.

In the Holy Origin Mainland, there is the Holy Academy to maintain the grand ceremony of the ten nations, but there is nothing in the Holy Land.

Li Fanming seemed oblivious to the atmosphere of the crowd, and said, "This time I go to the Holy Land, I am just planning to have a tour. If I happen to find a great treasure that allows me to become a saint, I will be very happy. If not, I won't be angry. After all, we all care about our reputation. After coming out of the Holy Land, we still have to live in the ten nations. Isn't that right, everyone?"

"Brother Li is right, there is no order in the Holy Land, but we have our own principles."

"We grew up reading the classics of all the saints. There are things we can do, but there are things we can't do even if we die." Someone said.

"That's natural."

Some people were firm in their attitudes, some were vague, and some didn't speak at all.

Li Fanming continued to smile and said, "Fang Yun is someone my uncle's family values. Even my grandfather likes him very much. Now there are rumors that the Ji family and him are in some kind of relationship. If something happens to him in the Holy Land, it won't look good for the Ji family."

Everyone became solemn, realizing that Li Fanming had noticed the bad attitudes of a few people. He immediately clarified the Ji family's and his own attitude towards Fang Yun, implying that anyone who dared to harm Fang Yun in the Holy Land would no longer be friends in the future. As for what the Ji family would do afterwards, according to the rules, the hatred in the Holy Land could not be brought outside. But the Ji family, being a Semi-Saint family, would always find a way to retaliate.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Fang Yun smiled and said, "Fanming, your words make me feel flattered. I didn't expect even the head of the Ji family to know about me. From now on, my face will also glow."

Everyone laughed, and the matter was dropped. But everyone would remember Li Fanming's words.

As it was nearing noon, a heavy sound suddenly came from outside, and the ground began to shake.

Fang Yun's face changed, because the sound was very familiar. It was the same sound that the Demon Barbarian private army made when they were running on the night of the tenth of August. The impression was too deep.

Fang Yun sat in the main hall, looking at the tightly closed front door.

The other presented scholars also looked curiously, as the sound of the Demon Barbarian private army grew louder and louder.

A presented scholar suddenly said, "From the sound, it seems to be a team of heavy cavalry. The only ones who dare to move heavy cavalry in the City of Confucius, apart from the city's guard, are those who have been making a big splash these days."

Everyone immediately realized who he was talking about and looked at Fang Yun. The news that the Tyrant wanted to exchange Han Xin's commander platform for the treasure in Fang Yun's hands but was refused had already spread.

A few people showed a look of regret, because the Tyrant was very ruthless, and even those Empty Sage prominent families were helpless, let alone a Fang Yun.Li Fanming suddenly sneered, "This is the City of Confucius!" He stood up as he finished speaking.

Fang Yun sat steadily in his chair, saying, "The guest hasn't arrived yet, let's wait a bit. I haven't been out these past few days, what kind of stir has someone caused?"

Li Fanming sat back down, saying, "Nothing much, just that a Treasures of Literature Military Marquis carriage has appeared."

Fang Yun's heart sank.

The Military Marquis carriage was a special treasure made in collaboration with the Mohist school, based on the experiences Zhuge Liang had summarized after studying the wooden ox and flowing horse. It looked like a large chair with a big umbrella on top, but it was actually a wheeled vehicle, about eight feet square, containing powerful mechanisms from the Mohist and Gongshu families. It was an extremely powerful war chariot.

The production of the Military Marquis carriage was extremely limited, with only a dozen or so said to exist.

Ordinary Military Marquis carriages could not be infused with the talent of scholars, but if they were used by or kept around a Semi-Saint for a long time, and baptized by the Semi-Saint's talent, they could become a Great Scholar's Treasures of Literature. (To be continued.)