The Capital Academy is located on Lin'an Street in the southeast of the inner city, separated only by a wall from the Imperial City of Daxia.
Dean Kong Wuming, a contemporary Confucian sage, was the earliest first-class master to become famous in the Great Xia Dynasty.
No one knows his true combat power. It is rumored that he has already reached the super level and has the strength of a land god.
Precisely because of his presence, the terrifying demon king in the polar snowfield did not dare to invade the human race rashly.
He is also the person most trusted by the emperor today, so the final evaluation of national poetry has been fully handed over to Dean Kong.
It was already dark at this time, and every street in the inner city had lost sight of the hustle and bustle of the day.
Mr. Wang set out from the Hanlin Academy and walked along the street. His figure was lonely, but his mood was not lonely.
He held exquisite poems and essays in his hand, imagining how Dean Kong would feel after seeing it...amazed? Uplifting? Or is it shock?
"The poems will be sent to the Sword Master before dawn. The dean must also be worried about why he still can't choose an absolutely perfect work, right?"
Mr. Wang was wandering in his mind as he walked, completely unaware that not far in front of him, a carriage that was slowly moving forward stopped.
"Master Wang, if you continue walking, we will bump into you."
A young man in the carriage lifted up the curtains, stood up and got out of the carriage with a smile, bowed his hands to the surprised Master Wang, and asked, "It's so late, sir, where are you going?"
"It's Mr. Long You, I'm shocked."
Mr. Wang saw the person coming clearly and did not dare to show off, so he hurriedly bent down and bowed in return.
Although the young man named Long You in front of him had no official position and was not a relative of the emperor, except for the chief minister and the six ministers, the other officials in the court had to maintain enough respect when they saw him.
Master Wang is no exception.
Because he is a student of the academy dean and has a lineage of saints. Although he is young, he already has a terrifying level of cultivation in Confucianism and Taoism.
His talent is astonishing and his future is limitless.
When Dean Kong was away, he often managed the affairs of the academy on his behalf, and the imperial court had already acquiesced that he would be the successor to the next president of the academy.
If you really want to compare, Long Youjun is more powerful than Wang Zhihuan, a Hanlin bachelor and a third-grade official who also serves as the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
It's just a cold night, where is Long You, who has always abided by the rules, going?
Mr. Wang glanced into the carriage, "I am about to go to the academy. I was thinking of asking you to help find the dean. Why, are you going on a long trip?"
Hearing this, Long You said, "Sir, are you looking for a teacher? Unfortunately, he is not in the academy recently."
"What? The dean isn't here?"
Lord Wang's expression changed, "What about the final review of poems and essays in the past few days?"
"I'm here to judge them all."
Long You pointed at the carriage, "No, the final three poems have been finalized and reviewed by Your Majesty. I am preparing to send them to the Sword Master myself overnight. I don't want to meet you on the way."
Master Wang was a little panicked, "Why is it finalized so quickly? Isn't there still a few hours left?"
Long You glanced at him and said, "Sir, when your Hanlin Academy submitted poems and essays for preliminary review, didn't you say that there were only some inferior works from remote small counties that had not yet been reviewed, and there were no more good works? In this case, I had to finalize the draft in advance. Give it to Juggernaut early, with a more positive attitude, and maybe Juggernaut can be more tolerant."
"No, no, no! There are still good works! There are still good works! I will use my life as a guarantee. As long as this poem is handed in, it will definitely be able to gain the eyes of the Sword Master! Please replace it with one..."
Master Wang quickly shook out the red paper in his hand and wanted to hand it to Long You, but was rejected by the other party, "Sir, don't make it difficult for me. You know the rules of the academy. Now that they have been finalized, they are golden rules. It can't be replaced. Besides..."
Long You suddenly sighed and said, "Besides, the three finalized poems come from Wu Linghou's only son, the son-in-law of the Minister of Industry, and the current prince-in-law. Mr. Wang, tell me, these three people, you Which one can I replace?"
At this point, there is no room for maneuver.
But Mr. Wang still didn't give up. He tugged on Long You's sleeve and asked, "Where has Mr. Dean gone? I'll talk to him!"
"I'm afraid it's too late."
Long You suddenly glanced west, with a hint of sadness in his eyebrows, "The demons have been active frequently at the border between the two realms recently. The teacher was worried that they would suddenly invade the border, so he went to the polar snowfield early, hoping to give the demon king a Advice... Counting the days, three days have passed.”
Master Wang's expression changed, "Dean, is he going alone?"
Long You nodded, "Apart from his old man, who else has the courage to go to trouble the Demon Lord?"
After a moment of silence, when Long You raised his head, his eyebrows were refreshed. He then looked at Mr. Wang, "If there is nothing else, I will leave first. The teacher is working hard in the snowy field, and I, as a student, have to hurry up. As long as I can I beg the Sword Master Luo Sword to Tai'an City and complete the Shocking God Formation so that the Great Xia Dynasty can be invincible in defense and will not be afraid even if the demons invade."
After saying that, he cupped his hands, boarded the carriage silently, and left peacefully.
Mr. Wang held the red piece of paper in his hand and stood in the night wind for a long time, feeling a little lost.
I don’t know how long it took, but a figure came from a distance, and the heavy footsteps woke Master Wang up. When he looked up, he saw Lin Qing, who was unable to move, limping slowly.
"How did you come?"
Mr. Wang didn't dare to look into Lin Qing's eyes, and tremblingly put the red piece of paper back into his cuff.
"Sir, please stop hiding, Mr. Long You has told me everything."
Lin Qing said, "He was worried that something might happen to you if you were alone here, so he asked us to come find you."
Mr. Wang was confused and asked, "You?"
"Yes, is us."
Lin Qing stepped aside and said with a smile, "Everyone is here."
In the cold wind and under the cold moon, more than forty officials of the Hanlin Academy stood up side by side and strode down the long street in the distance.
When he reached Mr. Wang, he did not stop, but continued to move forward. He suddenly turned around at a certain street corner and shouted to the stunned Mr. Wang, "Sir, why are you still standing there? Let's go!"
Mr. Wang looked at Lin Qing beside him, "Let's go... go... where are you going?"
Lin Qing put her hands at the corners of her mouth and shouted loudly, "Master Wang, where are you going?"
"Of course we're going to the Pilgrimage Building! The academy doesn't want this poem, so we'll send it there ourselves!"
The young editor who walked away raised his voice and said, "This time, we don't ask for celebrities to live forever! We only want the sword master to fall into Tai'an City, and we only hope that the dean can return safely from the polar snowfields!"
In the night, the scholars in the Hanlin Academy laughed heartily, wantonly and indulgently.
Lin Qing's eyes were wet and he asked, "Sir, are you leaving? The worst thing is, I don't want the eight thousand taels of silver notes."
"Walk!"
Mr. Wang suddenly broke his guard and burst into tears.
He took out the red piece of paper again, held it tightly in his palm, supported Lin Qing with his backhand, and walked side by side into the cold night wind.
...
The Pilgrimage Building was a place specially used by the Xia Dynasty to entertain foreign guests.
Li Taibai, the Sword Master of the North, lives there now. Counting the days, it is already the third day.
The original plan was to hand in the poems at Chenshi for the Sword Master to judge.
But Long Youjun of the academy was extremely efficient. At three o'clock in the morning, he personally sent the final draft of three excellent poems to the Pilgrimage Tower.
A watchman accidentally saw the academy's carriage parked outside. It didn't take long for the news that the sword master was about to ask about the Great Xia Dynasty spread to every corner of the imperial city.
Soon, all the taverns, teahouses, religious workshops, antique calligraphy and painting shops, jewelry shops, silk and fabric shops near the pilgrimage building were all lit up. Red lanterns were displayed in front of the doors, and the upstairs and downstairs were full of people. It had been a long time coming. The late night bustle seems to be back tonight.
Countless figures were still rushing towards the Pilgrimage Tower from afar. Within half an hour, all the long streets inside and outside the imperial city were filled with people.
The sudden flow of people made the order of the already extremely crowded Pilgrimage Building even more unbearable. Fortunately, the Ministry of War acted quickly and quickly sent troops to guard it.
The chaotic people of Daxia finally settled down and lined up in an orderly manner, waiting for the final judgment of the Sword Master.
In a high pavilion opposite the pilgrimage building, the current Holy Emperor Minglong Emperor stood in front of the window wearing a dragon robe. Behind his hands, his face was deep, and his dark eyes were like two pieces of pure black crystal, glowing with a cold light in the night. .
Behind him, two people stood.
One is a handsome Taoist priest with a wine gourd tied to his back and a wooden flute hanging from his waist. He looks young, but his eyes are extremely deep, and there is a sense of ancient times hidden deep in his pupils.
The other was a middle-aged man with an indifferent expression. He was wearing a white robe, with strange runes and patterns embroidered on his chest and cuffs. There was also a golden thread between his eyebrows, giving him a more mysterious look.
"Your Majesty, please tell the truth. Does the academy have confidence in the final three poems?"
The one who spoke was the young Taoist priest. When he opened his mouth, there was no hint of youthfulness in his voice, but instead revealed an endless connotation of age.
"Old Heavenly Master, if the academy had confidence, I wouldn't have invited you and the Pope here overnight."
Emperor Minglong sighed, "I have also read all the poems sent to the academy from the Hanlin Academy. To be honest, none of them can catch my eye, let alone the Sword Master. Now there is no successor to the Great Xia Poetry Forest. Since Poems are not good, so I simply sent out a few favors so that the ministers below could appreciate the emperor's kindness. Therefore, the three final poems sent in were not because of how well they were written, but because of their subjects. Live well.”
The young Taoist priest shook his head helplessly and chanted, "I have been taught... In this way, according to the principles of the sword master, he will definitely not fall down with this sword."
"But the Shocking God Formation must be repaired completely!"
Emperor Minglong glanced at the young Taoist priest and said, "Old Heavenly Master may not know yet, but the dean has gone to the snowfield a few days ago and has not returned yet. The soul-suppressing mirror left in the academy can no longer sense his aura. I doubt that he is in serious danger..."
As soon as these words came out, the young Taoist priest was shocked, and he obviously couldn't believe the news... How could the Confucian sage dean who was rumored to have entered the land of immortals fall into the polar snowfield so easily?
The middle-aged man also spoke at this time, "The Great Xia Dynasty, which has lost its dean, can only rely on the complete Shocking Formation if it wants to resist the demon clan's attack!"
The young Taoist priest's eyebrows were downcast and he sighed, "But the Sword Master..."
"If he doesn't want to drop the sword, then we have no choice but to let him turn into that sword!"
The middle-aged man lowered his eyes, with a hint of cold murderous intent in his tone, "Taibai Sword Master's body will disappear after his death, and the spiritual thoughts revealed before his death will contain all of his swordsmanship. As long as it is completely penetrated The Formation Eye can also completely repair the Shocking God Formation!"
The young Taoist priest looked shocked and subconsciously took half a step back, "He is the Sword Master of the North! How dare you kill him?"
"But he is not a subject of the Great Xia Dynasty."
Emperor Minglong turned around and stared at him, "And you are! Heavenly Master, you have made great contributions to the Great Xia Dynasty."
The night wind picked up, and it became cold several times.
No one spoke anymore in the high pavilion, and there was dead silence.
At this time, in the Pilgrimage Tower, a figure in white clothes was sitting quietly in front of the desk drinking wine.
There were three poems placed in front of him. They were originally engraved with the academy's seal and His Majesty's autograph, but at this time, they had been cut off by a deep sword mark.
"Are the poems of the Great Xia Dynasty at this level?"
The man was slightly sarcastic, drinking and talking to himself.
After a moment, he suddenly raised his eyes and looked out the window at the high pavilion. Two snow-white sword lights bloomed in his bright eyes.
He smiled softly and said with awe-inspiring sword aura, "Longhu Mountain Heavenly Master, Great Xia Pope, two first-class people in this world, plus a half-step first-class Ming Long Emperor, do you think so highly of me?"
...
