SFS Chapter 216 The Literary Battle Between the Two Academies
Chapter 216 The Literary Battle Between the Two Academies
Chapter 216 The Literary Battle Between the Two Courts
"Thank you very much, Brother Ye. Will you be giving lectures tomorrow, Brother Ye?"
"That's what Deputy General Guo said."
"Isn't someone already chosen for tomorrow? I won't go."
Ye Ru took a sip of tea and said.
"Very well, I'll take my leave now. Brother Ye, please rest well."
After saying goodnight, Deputy General Guo left, leaving Ye Ru alone to ponder.
The Left Prime Minister's move can be seen as a signal that he is preparing to make a big move in the court, but it is unknown whether he will set his sights on Yingtian Academy.
He knew that his purpose in coming to Yingtian Academy was twofold: to escape pursuit and to find out the whereabouts of Yunshui Chanxin. Once this was over, he could go and see Yunshui Chanxin for the time being.
"Mencius said, 'I am good at cultivating my vast and righteous spirit.' I cannot give up my heart on the path of sagehood because of this small setback. If the Left Prime Minister wants to make a move against me, he should weigh whether it will end in mutual destruction."
Taking a deep breath, Ye Ru gripped his teacup tightly. Now that he had the Emperor's Sword in his hand and numerous classic texts from the ancients, ordinary leftists dared not come. They could only use literary battles to attack his literary reputation and plunge him into an abyss of no return.
"This is really troublesome. We are beset by internal and external troubles. If we don't take some measures, I'm afraid that in a few years, the entire Yanhuang Kingdom will be riddled with problems."
However, just as Ye Ru was getting ready to sleep, a knock on the door suddenly rang out. He opened the door, and a figure appeared in front of him—it was Zhang Guo.
However, Zhang Guo was panting heavily at this moment, and his complexion was also rather unpleasant.
"Brother Zhang, what's wrong?"
Seeing Zhang Guo's appearance, Ye Ru thought to himself that Taoism emphasizes non-action and naturalness, and people generally wouldn't act like this unless there was a reason.
"Phew, some people from Yuzhang Academy have come. They specifically asked you to come and exchange ideas with them, and then they even had a literary contest with several of us, claiming that they wanted to test the talent of our Yingtian Academy."
Zhang Guo breathed a sigh of relief and then said.
"What about our classmates from Yingtian Academy?"
"Stop talking. Apart from a slight advantage in the zither, we suffered almost complete defeats in chess, calligraphy, and painting. Every classmate was injured."
"Is it that serious? Kong Zhixuan and the others haven't made a move? Logically speaking, the people from the Bo Xue Ban (Erudite Class) should have had a reason to take action."
Ye Ru frowned and said.
"Two students from the erudite class went, but they both kept to themselves and didn't interfere. After all, they came specifically to target you. However, there were a few students from poor families who couldn't stand it, and the two sides started fighting again. Those students from Yuzhang Academy were quite arrogant, even insulting you as a coward, a disgrace to scholars."
Zhang Guo took a deep breath, his face extremely pale.
"How is the situation now?"
Ye Rudao.
"The literary contest is still ongoing. The opposing team has five people. The prominent families are not participating, while the poor families have gathered four people, but they have already lost two rounds. If you don't go, they might return to Yuzhang Academy and spread the news of your seclusion throughout the four academies. You should know that Yuzhang Academy is the Left Prime Minister's back garden."
Upon hearing this, Ye Ru took a deep breath. The Yuzhang Academy had come prepared. They had first received news that Wu Xiang had been transferred, and then these people from Yuzhang Academy came, and they were extremely arrogant and domineering.
"Let's go and take a look together."
Ye Ru shook his head helplessly, then walked with Zhang Guo toward the place where the literary contest was taking place.
The literary competition between these two academies has been a tradition since the founding of the four major academies. Originally, it was to encourage students from different academies to exchange and learn from each other. Later, after the academies were divided into factions, it became a way to compete in terms of the academy's heritage and talent.
Each time there was a literary contest, the academy would be extremely lively, with many teachers present.
In Yingtian Academy, there is a Yingtian Observatory. The platform here is used by students for literary debates, but at this time it is extremely crowded, with many people craning their necks, and occasionally some noise can be heard.
When Ye Ru and Zhang Guo arrived from afar, all the students from poor families turned their gazes toward them, and a look of joy appeared on their faces when they recognized Ye Ru.
"Brother Ye has arrived!"
"Brother Ye? Which Brother Ye? Is he the one these arrogant scholars from Yuzhang specifically requested to challenge?"
Ye Ru looked at the various gazes and felt somewhat helpless. Then he looked over and saw two people at the Yingwen Observatory. One of them was Xue Hanshu, and the other was dressed in blue with a proud look in his eyes. Judging from his clothes, he was from a prominent family.
"It is said that this person is from the Pingtianxia class of Yuzhang Academy, a member of the Xiahou family of military strategists, named Xiahou Wu. He does not study military strategy, but prefers to read the Four Books and Five Classics. He is known as a military strategist and scholar, whose talent is comparable to that of some aristocratic students."
Zhang Guo sighed and said.
Ye Ru nodded. At this moment, the competition at the Yingwen Observatory had reached a fever pitch. Xue Hanshu was a student from a poor family, so he was already at a disadvantage from the start. Failure was only a matter of time.
On the other side of the platform, two gentlemen stroked their beards and smiled. They were wearing the robes of Yuzhang Academy and were clearly teachers from Yuzhang Academy.
"Ye Ru, these people from Yuzhang Academy have been at odds with our Yingtian Academy since ancient times, and this time they are so rude. It's infuriating!"
At this moment, Yu Mengyang walked out of the crowd and said with a grim expression.
"Meet sir."
Ye Ru said softly.
"What did you do to offend the people from Yuzhang Academy? Why did they bring out all the successful candidates to challenge you to a literary contest?"
Yu Mengyang raised an eyebrow and said.
"What else could it be? Xu Zhou, the lackey of the Left Chancellor at Yuzhang Academy, was punished by the Temple for favoritism. He was then killed by the sacred sound of Confucius. He must be here to seek revenge now."
Zhang Shuling shrugged and said in a deep voice.
"Report from the Temple..."
Yu Mengyang gasped, looking at Ye Ru with a shocked expression, and suddenly felt that the young man in front of her was somewhat mysterious.
"That young man dressed in the robes of a noble family is Cao Feng, a descendant of Emperor Wu of Wei, and a genuine scholar who passed the imperial examination."
Zhang Shuling looked at the teacher from Yuzhang Academy and then raised his chin. Ye Ru followed his gaze and saw a young man with his hands behind his back and a hint of disdain on his face.
"Han Shu is going to lose."
Ye Ru frowned slightly, then spoke softly, and finally stepped forward.
As Ye Ru walked forward, the people from Yuzhang Academy also turned their gazes toward him, and then they all began to whisper among themselves.
"Who is this person? Even a student trying to push forward?"
"A student who has passed the imperial examination? Mr. Fang is really making a mountain out of a molehill this time. As long as those top figures from Yingtian Academy don't show up, we will definitely win a great victory this time."
Cao Feng shook his head, a hint of arrogance on his face. Clearly, with his scholarly rank, it was simply overestimating his abilities to defeat him.
Ye Ru looked at Cao Feng and chuckled softly, a slightly teasing remark echoing quietly in his ears:
"It seems we've been underestimated..."