Chapter 319 - 223: The Dao of the Mortal Realm
Chapter 319: Chapter 223: The Dao of the Mortal Realm
In the blink of an eye, ten days passed.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather was no longer as scorching as before, and could rightly be called crisp and refreshing.
With the exception of the southernmost areas of the Great Wei Dynasty, like Guangyue Prefecture and Jiao State, the rest of the land was cool and pleasant, with a gentle, warm breeze.
Yet the Wei People were busier than ever.
After the autumn harvest, farmers who grew crops began preparing for winter and the coming year, repairing dikes, reinforcing irrigation channels, and plowing the fields.
Merchants saw little change; they bustled about all year round, regardless of the weather or season.
Even the scholars were much busier than usual.
The busyness was because most students had to prepare for the upcoming County, Prefecture, and Academy Examinations, as well as the Annual Examination.
The dates for the County Examinations across the Nine State and Three Prefectures of the Wei Dynasty were not fixed, but were mostly concentrated between the ninth month and the first month of the following year.
Students who passed the County Examination could then participate in the Prefecture Examination in the second month, followed by the Academy Examination within a few months after passing that.
Passing the Academy Examination granted one the rank of a scholar, commonly known as a Scholar.
If one wanted to participate in the Provincial and Metropolitan Examinations, they first had to pass these preliminary exams to obtain the status of a scholar.
In short, once autumn arrived, students all across the Great Wei were preparing for the various upcoming examinations.
Even those who were already Scholars were the same; to maintain their status, they could not miss the Annual Examination.
However, after the Mid-Autumn Festival, while preparing for their exams, the students didn’t forget to enjoy some excitement.
For instance, they discussed which famous works had emerged from the poetry gatherings held in the various states and prefectures during the festival.
Even the famous courtesans of the Qin Buildings in different regions became topics of their discussions.
This was mostly for reasons of "cultivating elegance" or indulging in the "romantic exploits of a talented scholar."
The students were long accustomed to this. Every year during the Mid-Autumn and Lantern Festivals, poetry gatherings were frequent, and famous works would appear one after another.
Thus, in previous years, students from all over would argue endlessly in the month following the Mid-Autumn Festival over which poem was the best.
These debates were even more heated than their discussions about which courtesan was the most beautiful or talented.
But this year, the situation was somewhat different.
Or rather, strange.
It wasn’t that the discussions had stopped, but that with the arrival of a poem titled "Song of the Water Melody" from Shu State, all other famous works lost any grounds for debate in its presence.
Even the staunchest supporters of poems written by other great masters had to admit it: "Song of the Water Melody: Mid-Autumn" was the best work from all the Mid-Autumn poetry gatherings this year.
This wasn’t the conclusion in just one place, but a consensus shared by more than half the students across the Nine State and Three Prefectures of the Great Wei Dynasty.
Even several of the reclusive Great Masters from the academies, who hadn’t been seen in a long time, couldn’t help but offer their praise:
"A Ci poem is superior when it transcends its original tune. Chen Qingzhou’s lines, ’I long to ride the wind and return there, yet I fear in those crystal towers and jade palaces, the heights would be too cold for me,’ are ethereal and profound."
"The unrestrained and brisk nature of ’Song of the Water Melody’ is truly the work of a genius."
"The first half of this poem is as if penned by a banished immortal who has taken human form, while the second half, mournfully beautiful, speaks of all there is to the mortal world."
The phrase "speaks of all there is to the mortal world" was enough to show the immense reverence that countless scholars held for "Song of the Water Melody: Mid-Autumn."
Though there were many opinions from various places, they could generally be summarized as: "The greatest moon-praising Ci poem for the Mid-Autumn Festival of all time."
「Jiangnan Prefecture, Jinling.」
As the former capital of a previous dynasty, Jinling held the reputation of "five hundred years of prosperity."
With Vermilion Bird Avenue as its central axis, the wards and markets on its east and west sides were the epitome of prosperity, stretching for nearly a hundred li.
The banks of the Qinhuai River, in particular, were lined with Qin Buildings, inns, and taverns, and the stream of travelers coming and going was endless.
From morning to night, there wasn’t a single moment that wasn’t bustling and noisy.
Fortunately, some of the residences on the riverbanks were relatively far from those clamorous areas; otherwise, it would have been difficult to live there.
Unfortunately for Sun Fu, who had just arrived in Jinling from Shu State, the small courtyard house he had purchased was near several Qin Buildings.
Every day before dawn, drunken patrons would stumble past his courtyard gate, muttering and groaning.
Some even went so far as to relieve themselves on the outer wall by his gate, making Sun Fu’s wife so angry she wanted to curse them out.
But that wasn’t even the worst of it.
The most outrageous part was the women from the Qin Buildings.
Perhaps because Sun Fu’s family were scholars, whenever they passed by, scantily clad women would cast flirtatious glances into their courtyard.
Sun Fu, of course, paid them no mind.
But his son, Sun Yunfeng—a handsome scholar—had a harder time with it.
Although Sun Yunfeng was over thirty and had a steady temperament, he had never been to a place like South City Yanhua Lane back in Shu State Prefecture City.
He’d had few opportunities to even see a woman from a Qin Building, let alone experience something like this.
As a result, this middle-aged man, full of Blood Qi, felt a little uncomfortable every time he met the gazes of those women.
His face would flush, and his heart would race, among other things.
Sun Fu didn’t have a good solution for this. He simply reminded his son of the adage that "a wife who has shared the hard times must not be cast aside," and then let the matter drop after asking his wife and daughter-in-law to keep an eye on him.
"Tomorrow morning, I will go teach at the Li Family Private School. Yunfeng, you should also go find a shop and get back to your old trade."
"Yes, Father. I understand."
Sun Yunfeng didn’t dare to refute Sun Fu’s words, agreeing readily before continuing:
"Over the past two days, I’ve tested the water from the Qinhuai River and the mountain springs of Zijin Mountain. Both can be used for brewing."
"The flavor will be a bit inferior, though. After all, the water from the Chishui River is much sweeter."
"A little inferior is fine. As long as it’s enough for our family to make a living, that’s all that matters."
After a bit more small talk, Sun Fu rose and went to his study. As was his custom, he took out the poetry collection gifted to him by Chen Yi to admire it.
The more he looked, the more delighted he became. He then took out his brush and ink to practice copying the Cursive Script.
He himself was not skilled in the Calligraphy Dao and his Realm was not high, but for a scholar, reading and writing were second nature, and his fondness for the calligraphy model went without saying.
He copied it twice.
He carefully put away the calligraphy model, preparing to study the brushstrokes of the Cursive Script.