Before leaving the County Academy, Fang Yun picked three apricot blossoms and gave one each to Yang Yuhuan, Su Xiaoxiao, and Nunu. He personally tucked Nunu's blossom into place, leaving Little Fox so delighted she could no longer tell north from south.
The Medical Way Literary Assembly had been a resounding success. A Great Scholar from the Medical Hall had also taken away Fang Yun's original manuscript of the Plague Treatise to enshrine it in the Medical Hall and strengthen the Medical School's fortune.
People from the other schools now sourly called the Discourse Ranking the "Medical School Discourse Ranking," as large numbers of Medical School scholars used it to discuss everything related to plagues.
Fang Yun's friends sent him messages as well. Ning'an County had now become a pilot site for four halls: the Hall of Punishment, the Crafts Hall, the Agriculture Hall, and the Medical Hall. Anyone with discerning eyes could see that obstructing Fang Yun's Palace Examination had become harder than ascending to heaven for the Left Prime Minister's faction. Fang Yun had planted firm roots in Ning'an County and could now take his Palace Examination in peace.
At noon the next day, word arrived from the capital that all the officials Fang Yun had reported had been sentenced.
The former military governor of Mi Prefecture, who had traded intelligence for a Longevity Fruit, was stripped of his Hanlin Academician Literary Rank, and his entire household was executed. His clan was barred from the Imperial Examinations for three generations, and those who already held Literary Ranks were forbidden from serving as officials. It was a punishment of the utmost severity.
The prefect of Mi Prefecture, who had killed more than a dozen people, retained his Hanlin Academician Literary Rank, but his property had been confiscated and his