Three-Poem Radiance

The middle-aged Grand Academician smiled. "What if he has new poems next month? Shall we delay it month after month?"

The elderly Grand Academician also looked toward the young Grand Academician. The young Grand Academician was from Qing Kingdom, while Fang Yun was from Jing Kingdom, and Jing Kingdom and Qing Kingdom had been at war for years. No one would believe he had no personal motives.

"If he has new poems next month, then publish however many he has," the young Grand Academician said calmly.

The two Grand Academicians exchanged glances, both looking helpless. The young Grand Academician was named Qu Zhengxiang, a Half-Sage's disciple. They could not offend him over such a trivial matter.

Just as the two were about to agree, a clamor rose outside.

The elderly Grand Academician had already been displeased. With an impatient flick of his sleeve, the doors to the Review Hall were blasted open by an invisible force.

"Who dares make such a racket!" His thunderous voice echoed through the Sacred Way Editorial Institute.

A clerk came running over excitedly, waving a sheet of paper as he shouted, "Nation-Quelling! A Nation-Quelling Poem has appeared! An urgent recommendation!"

All three Grand Academicians beamed, their earlier displeasure vanishing without a trace.

Every Nation-Quelling Poem was exceedingly rare. If a poet of this caliber focused on frontier poetry, he might well create Transmissible Battle Poetry, which would greatly benefit the Human Race.

At present, there were only a handful of War Poetry pieces that Academy Students could use. Every additional one strengthened the Human Race by another measure.

Qu Zhengxiang was even more delighted. With this Nation-Quelling Poem, no one would care when Year's End was published, and the pressure on him would lessen greatly.

"Heaven bless the Human Race!" After saying this, the elderly Grand Academician made a grasping motion toward the reporting clerk. The sheet of paper shot toward him like an arrow, and he immediately began reading the poem aloud.

When he reached the lines, "Cockcrow, thatched inn, moon; footprints, plank bridge, frost," the expressions in all three men's eyes changed at once.

All three were Grand Academicians steeped in the classics. After reading it only once, they saw the brilliance of every word in "Cockcrow, thatched inn, moon; footprints, plank bridge, frost" forming List Brocade. They instinctively compared it to the List Brocade poems they had written, only to find that either their parallelism fell short, their scenery fell short, or their layers lacked depth.

They then compared it with famous poems. The difference was equally obvious. The wording was no worse, yet the artistic conception lagged far behind. Those whose artistic conception did not lag behind, meanwhile, could not attain the unmatched perfection of every word forming List Brocade.

The middle-aged Grand Academician was flushed with excitement. "Excellent! This is an unprecedented Unparalleled Poem! It deserves the rank of poetry producing Nation-Quelling power. Such wondrous wordcraft is rare in this age!"

Qu Zhengxiang praised, "The talent displayed in this poem faintly recalls Tao Yuanming. I am far inferior to him. I wonder which kingdom's famous master wrote it?"

The elderly Grand Academician continued reading. When he reached the end, he suddenly set down the page, his expression turning somewhat strange. He did not answer Qu Zhengxiang.

The middle-aged Grand Academician summoned the page over in confusion. After examining it carefully, he too fell silent, his expression equally strange.

After hesitating for a moment, Qu Zhengxiang also took the poem. When he looked closely, his face turned crimson.

Jing Kingdom, Ji County, Fang Yun. Those six words were incomparably conspicuous.

The Nation-Quelling Poem had to be published in next month's Sacred Way, and Spring Dawn, which had taken first place in the County Examination poetry contest, also had to be included. Let alone one Qu Zhengxiang obstructing it—even if his Half-Sage teacher came in person, he could not stop Fang Yun's two poems from appearing in Sacred Way.

Qu Zhengxiang could no longer remain seated. Rising to his feet, he said, "I am feeling unwell. I resign from my post as editor for next month's Sacred Way. Please find a replacement promptly. Farewell, you two." With that, he left.

After Qu Zhengxiang had gone far away, the elderly Grand Academician sighed softly. "Qu Zhengxiang tasted success in his youth, soaring straight up the blue clouds. He was also a Triple Laureate, becoming a Grand Academician before thirty, second only to the Four Great Talents. Now that a youthful genius has struck him over the head with a warning stick, it may be a good thing for him."

"But Fang Yun happens to be from Jing Kingdom. That may not be a good thing for him."

"Hmph! He has already reached the rank of Grand Academician, yet he tried to make things difficult for a junior over such a small matter. His eyes hold only Qing Kingdom, not the Human Race. What is not good for him is a tremendous blessing for the Human Race! Still, he is clever enough. Had he continued obstructing Fang Yun, his Literary Guts would have wavered, and he would have struggled to become a Great Scholar."

The middle-aged Grand Academician gave a wry smile. "Forget him. Let's talk about Fang Yun. His Year's End should also be published next month. Three-Poem Radiance—unprecedented! Even Saint Tao, Tao Yuanming, the master of pastoral poetry, had only two poems published together in his day. During his most frenzied period, six poems appeared in succession, with his pastoral poems in six consecutive issues of Sacred Way. He was truly unmatched among poets. Yet Fang Yun is merely a Licentiate, and he is not the slightest bit inferior to Saint Tao. He is simply a little monster."

"This child is too extraordinary. I am instead worried that his edge is too dazzling, which may hinder his future growth."

The middle-aged Grand Academician said, "There is another page you have not read. It says Fang Yun was injured before the County Examination, but found fortune amid misfortune when he encountered a mysterious famous teacher who guided him. The next day, he took the Licentiate examination while wounded and ill. The local county magistrate even wrote a poem for him, and Fang Yun wrote one in return to thank the magistrate. Those two poems are not important. What matters is the identity of that famous teacher."

"Then I am relieved. Anyone who could teach such a student must at least be a Great Scholar. Even if it were Sage Chen, Chen Guanhai, it would not be surprising."

"It is a pity Fang Yun is still young and only a Licentiate. If he were a Metropolitan Graduate, he might well be able to squeeze out that 'Poetry Lord' among the Four Great Talents."

"It is still too early to say that. Poetry does not shock the sages; prose reaches Heaven's hearing. Since ancient times, no one has attained Saint Enfeoffment through poetry alone. Even Saint Tao relied on his prose and classical policy essays. However, if this child settles down and forgets empty fame, his achievements will surely surpass yours and mine."

"No matter what, I want to meet him."

"Who wouldn't?"

The two looked at each other and laughed.

In Dayuan Prefecture City, Fang Yun discussed matters with the First Madam and agreed to begin teaching at the Fang Household school five days later.

That afternoon, Fang Yun gathered Liang Yuan, the hired assistants, and the other employees to discuss the bookstore's direction for development.

Liang Yuan and the others offered steady, conventional suggestions. Fang Yun did not reject them, but improved upon their proposals and spoke with great specificity—how to advertise, how to market, how to choose target customers, and so on.

Liang Yuan and the others were left dumbfounded. Yet they were experienced people, and immediately realized that Fang Yun's ideas were highly feasible, even revolutionary. They carefully recorded them, then prepared to act according to their current circumstances.

In the end, Fang Yun set the bookstore's development direction: it would specialize in popular fiction.

However, popular fiction was currently in decline. Most bookstores specializing in it did not make much money. Although the others had concerns, they found it difficult to argue against their new owner and could only listen.

Fang Yun told them to immediately produce a batch of hard-paper bookmarks, at least fifty thousand of them. They were to write "Three-Flavors Bookstore" on the bookmarks, design a trademark, and add aphorisms, maxims, and famous lines from classical policy essays, to be included with new books in the future.

This design was clearly quite ordinary, yet it left Liang Yuan and the shop clerks staring in astonishment.

"Owner, could it be that you possess a seven-apertured, exquisitely crafted heart? Your poetry is so good, and you are this skilled at business too. If you abandoned the Literary Rank path to go into trade, other merchants would be played to death by you."

"That's right. This marketing you speak of is simply incredible. When we think it through, it does not seem especially strange, yet we simply could never come up with it ourselves."

Fang Yun smiled. "First, bring in some popular fiction. Within five days, I will produce a novel manuscript and send it off for printing. Print ten thousand copies first."

An elderly man hurriedly said, "Owner, you have never worked in this line, so you do not understand. Publishing a book cannot go so smoothly. There is only one Literary Gazette and one Sacred Journal in the world. Why does no one else publish newspapers or journals? Because the Sacred Academy does not permit it. The Sacred Academy does allow books to be published, but they must first pass the Literary Academy's inspection. If your book is to be sold in Jiangzhou, it must pass the Jiangzhou Literary Academy's inspection. If it is to be sold in Jing Kingdom, it must receive permission from the Jing Kingdom Academy. If it is to be sold in the Ten Kingdoms, the Sacred Academy must approve it. Five days is far from enough. At the very least, it will take fifteen days, and printing books requires waiting as well. Without a month, the shop will not receive the books."

"This should fall under the Prefectural Academy's Literary Exchange Academy, shouldn't it?"

"Yes."

"Then there is no problem. Once I finish the book, I will pay Registrar Zhou of the Prefectural Academy a visit, let him look over the manuscript, and ask him to write a preface. I expect the books can be printed within five days."

"Ah? You know Registrar Zhou? And you can have him write a preface? Then there is no problem. He happens to oversee the Literary Exchange Academy. There will not be the slightest issue." As the old assistant spoke enviously, he unconsciously straightened his back.

The others' eyes lit up, as though they had seen hope. Since their new owner knew Registrar Zhou, Three-Flavors Bookstore might truly be able to grow big.

"I'll go home and write the book. I should finish before dinner tomorrow, then I will visit Registrar Zhou."

Fang Yun rose to leave, but Liang Yuan reached out in shock to stop him. "What did you say? Your book is not finished yet? Don't tell me you have not even started writing."

"I'm writing a medium-length popular novel, around twenty to thirty thousand words. I should be able to finish it in five days. At worst, I will not sleep tonight."

"A novel written in two days?" Everyone looked at Fang Yun with suspicion.

"I have the whole draft in my head. The content is all in here. All right, hurry and get to work."

Fang Yun left with Yang Yuhuan. Along the way, they bought some paper and incense candles, as well as a book introducing the Novelists School, before returning home.

By then, Mother Jiang and Fang Daniu had already tidied Fang Yun's eastern wing room. From then on, Fang Yun and Fang Daniu would live there, while Yang Yuhuan and Mother Jiang would live in the western wing room.

Fang Yun glanced at Little Fox. It had been placed in a bamboo basket lined with bedding, and it was still unconscious.

A faint, unusual fragrance filled the room, making one feel relaxed and refreshed, full of vigor.

"Could the fragrance of a Fragrant Fox clear the mind?"

Fang Yun cast the thought aside, then carefully read the newly purchased Notes from Stone Hearth Pavilion.

This book had been written by a scholar of the Novelists School, one of the Hundred Schools. However, the Novelists School had declined, never producing a Half-Sage, and had gradually fallen into obscurity.

Fang Yun first stored the book in the Strange Book World, then began reading, because his reading speed there was dozens of times faster than normal.

Reading too quickly was unsuitable when studying the Classics of the Sages, but the Strange Book World was convenient for consulting materials.

In merely half a quarter-hour, Fang Yun sorted out the development of popular fiction in this world. It was like Earth before the Tang Dynasty: there were only tales of strange occurrences, and fiction's first great monument, Tang Legendary Fiction, had yet to appear.

The Yuan dramas and the Song, Ming, and Qing novels of later generations had all been deeply influenced by Tang Legendary Fiction. It could be said that Tang Legendary Fiction was the progenitor of Ming and Qing novels. Among them, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio and Three Words and Two Strikes had almost completely inherited Tang legends' style and form.