The three Great Scholars exchanged glances without saying a word.

Zhao Shou, the dean, took the folded paper and slowly unfolded it, then fell into a long silence.

Sensing Zhao Shou's abnormality, Zhang Shen tentatively asked, "Dean?"

But the dean ignored him, muttering to himself and being immersed in some kind of emotion, unable to break free for a while.

After a while, Zhao Shou stroked his beard and smiled, "What a great poem! I will personally engrave this poem in the Yasheng Hall and make it a part of the Yunlu Academy. When future generations look back on this history, this poem will be enough."

"Tonight, the three of you come to my residence for a drink. We will drink until dawn."

The three Great Scholars found it unbelievable. How could Dean Zhao Shou, the current leader of Confucianism, lose his composure over a poem?

Even for extraordinary works like "The fragrance of flowers in the moonlit night" or "Dreams fill the boat, pressing down the starry river," the dean would only smile and praise.

"See for yourselves!" Zhao Shou handed over the paper.

Zhang Shen took it and watched it together with the other two Great Scholars. Their expressions suddenly froze, just like Zhao Shou before, immersed in some kind of emotion, unable to break free for a long time.

"Difficult is the road, difficult is the road, with many divergent paths, where am I now? The strong wind breaks the waves at times, and the cloud sails directly across the sea." Li Mubai suddenly shed tears and said with sadness:

"This poem is about our Yunlu Academy."

Zhang Shen and Chen Tai, the two Great Scholars, clenched their fists. They understood why Dean Zhao Shou lost his composure. Li Mubai was right, this poem was written for the Yunlu Academy.

Looking back on the two hundred years since the establishment of the National Academy, the Yunlu Academy entered the darkest period in history. The students studied hard by the light of the lamp, striving for progress, but in return, they were suppressed, with no place to vent their passion and no outlet for their talents.

Unable to stop drinking, unable to eat, drawing the sword and looking around, the heart is lost!

And these last two lines were simply brilliant, making the Great Scholars feel a surge of heroic spirit and intense emotions.

"Dean..."

Zhang Shen coughed and broke free from the surging emotions, whispering, "Xu Ci is my former disciple, whom I taught with great effort."

"Jinyan, you've worked hard, you've worked hard," Zhao Shou said with satisfaction.

"As the one responsible for cultivating talents for the academy, it is my duty, Jinyan," Zhang Shen said firmly.

"However, I have a small request, I hope the dean can fulfill it."

Chen Tai and Li Mubai instantly became alert.

Zhao Shou said gently, "What request?"

"When you personally engrave the poem, remember to write a few small characters after Xu Ci's signature: 'Teacher Zhang Shen, Zi Jinyan, a person from Jingzhou.'"

Before Zhao Shou could answer, Chen Tai and Li Mubai objected, "I object!"

Zhang Shen became furious, "What does it have to do with you when it's a poem written by my student? Who are you to object?"

"Nonsense!"

The two Great Scholars blew their beards and stared, bluntly exposing the truth, "What level is your student at? Do you have any confidence in him? Who wrote the poem, don't you know?"

Of course, Zhang Shen knew that Xu Ci was his student, and as a teacher, he knew his student better than anyone else.

As for how Xu Ci guessed the topic, Zhang Shen's idea was that Xu Qi'an asked for Wei Yuan's help.

"?"

A question mark flashed in Zhao Shou's mind. He waved his hand to cut off the hearing of the nearby students who were reporting, and said in a deep voice, "What did you say just now? This poem was not written by Xu Ci?"

Chen Tai snorted, "Xu Ci is good at strategy and rhetoric, his poetry is mediocre at best. How could he produce such an inspiring masterpiece?"

Li Mubai continued, "It was written by my student, Xu Qi'an."

"When did he become your student?" Zhang Shen sneered, "He is also my student, so no matter how he writes, it's not wrong to write my name."

The three Great Scholars argued loudly.

After listening for a while, Dean Zhao Shou probably understood that this poem was not written by Xu Ci, but by his cousin, who was hailed as the poetry leader in the Confucian world.

In that case, Xu Ci also cheated.

"By the way, what is our top scholar specializing in?" Zhao Shou asked.

Confucianism emphasizes personal character. The higher the level of the Great Scholar, the more they value the firmness of their character. In other words, each Great Scholar has a high level of moral integrity.

But this doesn't mean that all Confucian scholars are saints. Unless they are in a life-or-death situation, and the "life" they are choosing is that of a saint, otherwise, minor flaws can be overlooked, and it's not a big problem.

But cheating is not a minor flaw.

"Statecraft and military strategy!" Zhang Shen said. He was originally a Great Scholar famous for his military strategy.

Statecraft is a "skill" that every Confucian student must learn. Based on this foundation, Confucian students can choose 1-2 "courses" to specialize in.

Some students specialize in "The Book of Rites," some specialize in "The Doctrine of the Mean," and Xu Ci specializes in "Military Strategy."

Hearing this, Zhao Shou nodded relievedly. If he specializes in "Military Strategy," then there is no problem. It will not affect his future promotion."You don't need to argue over a poem. I think Xu Qi'an used his cousin's hand to present this poem to the academy. This is the greatest reward for us," Zhao Shou said.

"The dean is right," the three great scholars said in unison.

They will ask Xu Ningyan for his masterpiece later... the three great scholars thought at the same time.

In addition, they tacitly added in their hearts: despicable person Yang Gong!

........

The next day, the Xu Mansion held a grand banquet to entertain relatives and friends. According to Xu Xinnian's suggestion, the mansion was divided into three areas for the guests: the front courtyard, the back courtyard, and the central courtyard.

The central courtyard was occupied by his classmates and friends, and outsiders were not allowed in the back courtyard, so only relatives sat there. The front courtyard was for Xu Ershu and Xu Qi'an's colleagues.

Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

The three groups of guests were perfectly separated, enjoying their drinks and boasting to themselves. The scholars ignored the rude warriors, and the warriors paid no attention to the pretentious scholars.

"Er Lang is indeed a scholar. The arrangement is well organized," Xu Qi'an said, accompanying his younger brother to toast around, feeling emotional.

"Why didn't our teacher come to join us?" Xu Qi'an asked.

After drinking a few glasses of wine, Xu Ershu's face turned slightly red, and he exhaled alcohol breath helplessly. "The servant who delivered the invitation this morning brought back news that the teacher had a fight with two great scholars and got injured."

"Fighting again?" Xu Qi'an thought to himself, are all the scholars from the Yunlu Academy so violent-tempered?

The two brothers turned to the inner courtyard. It was filled with relatives, with their aunt and uncle staying at the banquet to accompany the Xu family members. Several well-fed children were playing in the yard, envious of the large courtyard of the Xu Mansion.

Xu Lingyin felt embarrassed to be with her little friends and ate from beginning to end without moving.

The Xu family members were overjoyed. Xu Dalang had just been ennobled, and Xu Ershu immediately became a top scholar. This was a sign that the Xu family was rising.

While the younger generation was happy, they were thinking more about relying on this big tree to achieve success in the future.

The happiness of the older generation was even more pure. With tears streaming down their faces, they said that the ancestors were showing their blessings, and the Xu family was going to become a great clan.

"Lu Er Dan," an elder of the clan stood up and patted Xu Pingzhi's back, saying with satisfaction, "You have made great contributions to the success of Dalang and Erlang. Both in literature and martial arts, you have nurtured them. You are even more impressive than those scholars. I happen to have a pair of grandsons. Lu Er Dan, can you take care of them for a few years?"

Lu Er Dan was Xu Ershu's nickname, and Xu Qi'an's biological father's nickname was Lu Da Dan.

Only the elders in the clan could call them by these names.

"Hahaha, sure, no problem. Uncle, just send those two little brats to me," Xu Pingzhi said proudly, feeling a bit conceited. He even felt that Xu Cijiu and Xu Ningyan's success was all thanks to him.

You have no contribution at all. You are just an uncultured warrior... Xu Qi'an smiled and silently criticized in his heart.

Father really has no self-awareness. You are just a crude warrior... Xu Xinnian grumbled in his heart.

No one praised themselves in the aspect of educating their children, which made Auntie very unhappy. But thinking about the past conflicts with her nephew, she felt that if she stood up to take credit, she would definitely be scolded by her nephew.

........

In the capital city, at the West Gate.

The soldiers guarding the city suddenly heard a faint and ethereal Buddhist chant, as if it came from the sky.

A soldier rubbed his ears and found that the Buddhist chant was still echoing in his ears. "Hey, did you hear anything strange..." he asked, but then noticed that his colleagues across from him and beside him were also rubbing their ears.

At this moment, someone on the city wall shouted, "Buddha's light! There is Buddha's light in the west..."

The soldiers at the city wall instinctively tightened their spears and looked out vigilantly. After a few seconds, they saw the golden Buddha's light rising slowly from the west.

It was like the rising sun... no, it was purer and more friendly than sunlight.

Unconsciously, they loosened their grip on the spears and looked at the pure Buddha's light with devout and gentle eyes, as if their souls were being cleansed.

The captain guarding the city bit his tongue hard, the pain stimulating his brain, giving him a moment of clarity to resist the "devotion" in his heart.

He staggered and pushed away the soldiers who were staring westward foolishly, picked up the drum hammer, and struck it forcefully.

Dong dong dong...

The dull sound of the drum spread throughout the surroundings, resonating in the hearts of the soldiers guarding the city and the people in the eastern city.

........

"It's here!"

Xu Qi'an, who was toasting, heard the murmurs of Shen Shu and immediately understood. They were the messengers of the Buddhist sect from the Western Regions.

Finally... the Buddhist sect from the Western Regions had arrived in the capital.

They came for the Sangbo case, for Shen Shu, the venerable monk.

The visitors were not friendly.

He had been in this world for more than half a year and was about to meet a high monk from the Western Regions for the first time.The prison warden has already shielded me from the sky, so the Buddhist monks should be unable to detect the existence of Monk Shen Shu... As the chief officer of Sangpo, I will inevitably have to deal with the monks... I've heard that Buddhism has all kinds of strange powers, such as "Mind Reading" and the like. If that's the case, can they hear my thoughts?

Xu Qi'an was on high alert.

............

PS: No way, I just glanced at the character card, and the little mare has already received 6000+ hearts? Hey, hey, don't do this. If it surpasses the male and female leads, how am I supposed to face people at Qidian?

This chapter is a bit shorter, I need to think carefully about the next plot, even though I have a detailed outline.

I'll post first and revise later.