Because the Qionglin Banquet was imminent, countless literary cultivators had already gathered in Huangtian City. The dispute over the true and false heirs had spread everywhere, and each side held its own speculation and opinion.
Tonight, however, under the night sky, Gu Fangchen, who had ridden a crane into the Grandmaster's Residence, naturally caused a stir of varying reactions.
Whether he had come out from the Purple Extremity Hall or gone straight into the Grandmaster's Residence, the meaning behind each act was deeply thought-provoking.
Similar conversations took place throughout every corner of Huangtian City.
Many people, within their own hearts, had begun to subtly shift their measure and stance...
The scholar who had boasted of delivering congratulations on behalf of the "Immortal of Poetry" parted with his companion and returned to his lodging.
The night breeze sobered his drunken head.
When he recalled the lofty words he had spoken earlier, "Deliver it!", he could not help but gaze at the sky and take a deep breath.
What on earth had he done...
Scholars like him, coming from the Academy, did not need to crowd into White Horse Temple like ordinary cultivators. In Huangtian City, there were designated post stations for them.
After all, many officials of Great Wei were alumni of the Academy, and because of such ties, they naturally extended special courtesy.
He hesitated in every way, then clenched his teeth and pushed open the door. The moment he entered the post station, he heard his junior sister's voice complaining upstairs:
"Senior Brother, you've gone out to fool around again!"
Liu Xuan awkwardly raised his head and saw Li Qingguang standing on the staircase, dressed in white, pure and elegant like the first lotus of spring. Her eyes were filled with disapproval.
They were both disciples of the Academy's "Poetry Branch."
Liu Xuan and Li Qingguang were pupils of the "Immortal of Poetry," Li Wangji. Li Qingguang, however, had another identity, she was Li Wangji's daughter.
Liu Xuan coughed dryly and argued with all seriousness:
"How could you call that fooling around? I was merely gathering inspiration."
"If one doesn't observe the myriad forms of mortal life, how could one write verses that truly move the heart?"
Li Qingguang, clearly accustomed to such excuses, showed no sign of believing her unreliable senior brother.
She narrowed her eyes.
"The myriad forms of mortal life? I think you were drinking again."
Liu Xuan scratched his head nervously.
"Was I?"
Li Qingguang sighed softly, shaking her head, and said faintly:
"Forget it. At least you still remember to come back, and didn't drink yourself dead on the street, throwing away the face of our Poetry Branch across all of Huangtian City."
"Tomorrow at the Qionglin Banquet, we still have to present Father's congratulatory gift. Please, Senior Brother, at least take that seriously."
Liu Xuan's guilt deepened; he gave a sheepish laugh.
"Oh, oh..."
He watched as his junior sister departed, then returned to his own room. Taking out the box Li Wangji had entrusted to him, he sank into thought.
Inside that box lay the congratulatory gift the "Immortal of Poetry" intended for Gu Yuandao,
Li Wangji's former sword, named "First-Class."
The sword's name came from one of Li Wangji's own lines of poetry: "Know that youthful ambition once touched the clouds, having promised to be first-class beneath heaven."
He intended to gift this sword as encouragement, hoping that the disciple of the Sage would share that same ambition and vision, one day becoming the next pillar of Great Wei.
In both worth and meaning, this gift was extraordinary.
To present it to Gu Yuandao, the triumphant scholar who had achieved all three top honors, was perfectly fitting and flawless.
That was how it was supposed to be.
However, at this moment, neither Li Wangji nor Li Qingguang could have imagined that Liu Xuan, emboldened by wine and recklessly loose of tongue, had already agreed to give that gift to Gu Fangchen instead!
By reason, such a private promise could be brushed off as a drunken jest and forgotten with laughter.
Yet Liu Xuan, though unreliable in conduct, was known across all the academies as a true gentleman.
Now that he had said it aloud, how could it not count?
He steeled his resolve, exhaling a long, pained sigh as his eyes turned firm.
At worst, he would be beaten by his master!
Even if he were expelled, he would accept it!
...
Gu Fangchen rode the white crane and landed within the Grandmaster's Residence.
Everyone in the residence had already been informed, and since the crane he rode was Xu Fu's own mount, naturally no one dared to stop him.
Gu Fangchen leapt down from the crane, adjusted his robes, and was greeted by a young Taoist boy who bowed deeply.
"Your Highness, the Heir."
Gu Fangchen nodded and went straight to the point.
"How much silver remains in the Grandmaster's treasury?"
The Taoist boy froze, twitching at the corners of his mouth.
Over the years, countless people had come to visit the Grandmaster's Residence. Even knowing that the Grandmaster himself was not home, they would still make a show of reverence.
Everyone sought even the slightest hint of Xu Fu's intentions.
But never had anyone, upon truly gaining authority over the Grandmaster's Residence, made their very first question, how much money was inside...
This heir truly was... unconventional.
Originally, they all thought that when the Grandmaster sent Gu Fangchen a chest of gold, it must have carried profound meaning.
Now, it seemed... perhaps not.
The Taoist led Gu Fangchen to the treasury, tallying the accounts: forty thousand taels of gold, six hundred thousand taels of silver.
All rewards from the Emperor, untouched since being sent to the residence.
Gu Fangchen gazed at the dazzling glow of gold and silver filling the room. He picked up a gold bar, clicking his tongue in wonder.
In his previous life, such wealth was something he could never have dreamed of possessing.
Yet now, faced with genuine gold and silver within his grasp, he found that he felt no excitement at all.
Before, at the Northern Garrison Prince's Manor, when faced with chest after chest of gold, he had at least been focused on survival, solving the crisis before him was his first task.
Now, by his estimation, these riches were more than enough to transform the forgery of "Lotus Concealed in the Womb" into a genuine artifact. What remained, he could easily keep for himself.
"As expected... I still prefer playing games."
Gu Fangchen narrowed his eyes, tossing the gold bar back.
In this living world of the game, filled with boundless new possibilities, that was what truly thrilled him now.
He stored forty thousand taels of gold into his cavern-ring and was about to leave for the prince's manor.
The Taoist boy entered, holding out an invitation.
"This is the Grandmaster's Qionglin Banquet invitation. His Excellency asks that Your Highness attend on his behalf."
Gu Fangchen reached out to take it and glanced it over.
Ordinary cultivators could only obtain standard invitations to the Qionglin Banquet.
But the Grandmaster's invitation was different, it was inlaid with black and white yin-yang jade marrow, carrying a ceremonial solemnity.
Pried loose, it could even serve as the core for a fifth-grade formation...
The Yong'an Emperor intended to settle Gu Fangchen's identity once and for all at tomorrow's banquet, giving the world a clear verdict. Thus, he had given him the Grandmaster's invitation.
After all, Gu Fangchen originally had no qualification to attend the Qionglin Banquet at all.
Though the heir of the Northern Garrison Prince, he was unable to cultivate and held no scholarly rank; only officials and cultivators could attend the banquet. No status could override that rule.
Gu Yuye's haste to deal with Gu Fangchen had been precisely to pave the way for Gu Yuandao before the banquet.
Countless eyes were waiting to see tomorrow's spectacle.
Carrying forty thousand taels of gold, Gu Fangchen sauntered out of the Grandmaster's Residence.
Let them wait. The real show was only about to begin.
...
The next day.
Qionglin Garden.
Gu Fangchen, accompanied by Qingjian and Old Ding, had barely stepped down from the carriage when a richly dressed yet roguish young man blinked in disbelief, rubbed his eyes, then rushed over to pat him up and down.
Gu Fangchen scowled, pushing him away impatiently.
"Zhao Wenyuan, have you developed a taste for men after just a few days?"
Zhao Wenyuan stared incredulously.
"You actually made it out in one piece? You've been missing for days, I thought when your impersonation was exposed, the Martial Saint would've killed you on the spot!"
He frowned suspiciously.
"Besides, isn't today the Qionglin Banquet? What are you even doing here?"
Zhao Wenyuan, the second son of the current Minister of War, was one of Gu Fangchen's old drinking companions, a notorious wastrel.
But the difference was, Zhao Wenyuan's playboy act was just that, an act. He was the one truly biding his time in disguise.
Doing what?
Gu Fangchen gave a cold chuckle and said nothing. With a snap, he flicked open the fan in his hand.
Zhao Wenyuan leaned closer and read the four characters written on it:
"A man must have integrity."
Qingjian stood beside them, her face expressionless.
Those four characters, at first glance, read perfectly fine from right to left, as was customary.
Yet she had watched Gu Fangchen write them this morning, from left to right.