Great Zhou Wensheng

Chapter 8 Langhuan Book Pavilion
Jiang Xingzhou stepped out of the Lingxing Gate of the Confucian Temple, still feeling a sense of unfinished business. He felt the flow of talent within his body, which was even more abundant and fluid than before.

He gently stroked the silk pouch in his arms, inside which lay three Hundred-Thread Pills, emitting a faint glow.

It was a specially made secret medicine refined with rare medicinal herbs and the wisdom of the Confucian Temple. The cinnabar patterns were as fine as flying white, and it exuded a wisp of cinnabar fragrance that was intoxicating.

This elixir can rapidly restore one's talent in a very short time, which will undoubtedly be a great help for the upcoming county examination.

In addition, he also acquired a new technique—[Grass and Trees as Soldiers], a puppet-type literary art.

A [Bow Shadow Cup], a beginner-level literary treasure, hummed in his arms. This cup, carried at all times, could store fifty strands of talent energy, which was perfect for a beginner.

"I gained much insight into the Way at the Temple of Literature and the Mountain of Books."

Jiang Xingzhou dusted the incense ash off his blue robe, feeling delighted.

With these gains, his strength in Meng Shengwen has increased by at least 30%.

This is extremely important. Among the three thousand students in Jiangyin County, his strength already ranked among the top five. Now, with an additional 30% increase in strength, achieving the top spot in the preliminary examination is no longer out of reach.

He straightened his blue robe and jade crown, left the Confucian Temple, and walked towards the bustling main street of Jiangyin County.

noon.

Along the main street of Jiangyin County, teahouses with their brightly lit signs are a common sight.

Oiled paper umbrellas shimmered and danced in the sunlight, while a pot of pine-flavored wine boiled in the tavern, its intoxicating aroma wafting for miles. This mingled with the smoky fragrance rising from the tung oil-coated umbrellas, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere.

Peddlers in hemp clothing carrying fresh lotus roots and ladies holding silk fans thronged the streets, creating a bustling crowd.

As Jiang Xingzhou passed by a bookstore called "Moyunzhai", he suddenly remembered that he still had four unused yarrow talismans in his pocket.

Low-level fire talismans are useless in the county examination; it's better to exchange them for silver coins to prepare for unforeseen circumstances.

Jiang Xingzhou pondered this, then stepped into Moyunzhai and placed the talisman on the counter. "Shopkeeper, do you accept talismans?!"

"Take it~!"

The old man who was dozing behind the counter opened his eyes, saw that it was a young man in a blue robe, and lazily responded with a rather disdainful look in his eyes.

As Jiang Xingzhou spread the runes on the cabinet, seven floating shadows appeared on the fire rune.

Upon seeing the runes, the old man's brow twitched, his throat bobbed, and he rapidly moved the abacus beads in his sleeve.

A fire talisman of this quality would be worth at least four or five taels of silver in the market.

Although they all use the [Fire] character technique, each scholar has a different level of calligraphy skill, and their understanding of the [Fire] script is vastly different!
Some people write inferior fire talismans with rough handwriting.

Some people write fire talismans that are of the highest quality, with dragons and phoenixes flying in the air!

The [Fire] talisman before us is exquisitely crafted, its flames like a crimson lotus, with seven sparks bursting from its stamen and suspended on the lotus, faintly condensing into the shape of the Big Dipper!
This is called the "Seven-Petal Floating Shadow" phenomenon!
Wonderful~!

These runes are exquisitely written!

Scholars love to buy these incantations and runes at high prices, using them to study and comprehend the Dao.

"Young man, the quality of this fire talisman is quite ordinary! Our shop usually sells them for three taels each! Did you make this yourself?"
"The runes from the Mengsheng Temple are worthless!"

Shopkeeper Wang lowered his eyebrows, pinched the talisman paper between his fingers and examined it closely against the light, the abacus beads making a "crackling" sound.

Jiang Xingzhou smiled slightly, and seeing the shopkeeper's expression, he knew that he was trying to lower the price.

A low-level [Fire] rune like this normally sells for three taels of silver on the market. However, a high-quality rune can fetch a price 30% higher.

Jiang Xingzhou said calmly, "Shopkeeper, these runes are something I made casually when I had nothing else to do. Four runes cost fifteen taels in total. How about it?!"

If that doesn't work, then I'll go ask at Hanxiang Pavilion in the East Market!

After saying that, seeing that the shopkeeper seemed to want to lower the price, he didn't linger any longer and left in a huff.

Anyway, there are plenty of bookstores in the county town, so there's bound to be someone willing to pay.

"Wait a minute! Fifteen taels it is, the price is negotiable! If you have any more talismans like this, young brother, we'll buy them at that price!"

When Manager Wang of Moyunzhai saw Jiang Xingzhou turn to leave, knowing that the young man was familiar with the market for runes, he quickly called him back, presented him with a fifteen-tael silver ingot, and looked pained.

The talisman is of excellent quality; if we can cooperate long-term, we can earn quite a bit. Jiang Xingzhou then accepted the silver, smiled slightly, and said, "Thank you, shopkeeper. If you need to make talismans in the future, I will definitely come to bother you again."

He exchanged the four runes for fifteen taels of silver, then turned and left the Ink Rhyme Studio.

After deducting the costs of yarrow stalk talisman paper, ink, and production time,
He makes a pure profit of more than one tael of silver from each rune!

Of course, the failure rate for ordinary scholars to make talismans was also very high. If they failed to make a talisman, they would not only fail to make money, but would also lose the considerable amount of money spent on yarrow stalk talisman paper.

When the sun is setting in the west
Jiang Xingzhou, with the Hanlin Academy certificate tucked in his sleeve, returned to the Xue family's private school and gave it back to Master Pei.

He was able to enter the Confucian Temple and the Mountain of Books to attain enlightenment, thanks to Master Pei's official document.

Passing through the swaying banana trees under the corridor, I arrived at the study, where I saw Master Pei copying the "Epitaph for the Buried Crane." With each stroke of his brush, a vigorous and powerful spirit permeated the paper.

"Sailing through the mountains of books, how many obstacles have we overcome?"

Master Pei looked up and saw that it was Jiang Xingzhou. He put his pen on the bamboo pen holder and asked indifferently.

"Reporting to the Master, after passing three trials, we stopped at the fourth trial of the Mountain of Books [The Snake in the Cup]!"

Jiang Xingzhou stood with his hands hanging down.

"With his literary talent, he was able to pass three tests in a row, demonstrating a solid foundation that is in no way inferior to that of a student who has already passed the preliminary examination!"

Master Pei stroked his beard and nodded, recalling another of his prized students from back then, "He was even better than Lu Jiulang, Lu Wenyuan, back then!"

The county examination is approaching; you should go back and prepare well.

"Yes, Master!"

After Jiang Xingzhou left, Master Pei fell into deep thought.

Jiang Xingzhou's potential was outstanding among the students he had taught.

Xue Chonghu, the head of the Xue family, was the Prefect of Jiangzhou and the superior of Jiangyin County. If he really wanted to protect this poor scholar who passed the imperial examination with top honors, the local aristocratic families would not dare to interfere.

However, the head of the Xue family had some concerns and was unable to show up in person, so it seemed that he would have to go to the county examination venue in person!

Jiang Xingzhou returned to the Langhuan Pavilion of the Xue Mansion and carefully put the silver into the She inkstone box—this was the first time he had earned silver on his own since he had studied literature for ten years.

Purchasing examination materials and paper for the county examination would cost several taels of silver.

If you happen to be there for a poetry gathering or banquet, you can have a few drinks at a teahouse on the street, which will cost you a little money!

Now that he has this money, he can focus on his exams without worrying about extra expenses.

As evening approached, Chuntao brought over dinner.

After finishing his dinner, Jiang Xingzhou lit candles and began to peruse ancient books in the Langhuan Pavilion, preparing for his literary cultivation.

As he walked, the thousand shelves of books in the pavilion lit up one by one. Inside the lampshades carved from jade, the candlelight turned into wisps of purple smoke.

All the bookshelves and railings were carved from golden nanmu wood.

As the boat traveled to the third floor of the History Pavilion, it saw twelve skylights that reached straight to the dome of the pavilion.

Above, the ancient books, stacked with blue bamboo slips, scrolls, and jade slips, seemed to float with various halos in the twilight—the 46,000 volumes of classics collected by generations of the Xue State Duke's family over a century were now condensing into a vortex of literary energy on the dome.

Even if there were countless books, they wouldn't amount to much.

Langhuan Pavilion was the premier library in Jiangyin County, and countless scholars from Jiangnan longed to see its collection, but could not.

In his "previous life," Jiang Xingzhou had already read through the entire collection of books over the past five years, thus accumulating tens of thousands of points of cultivation. Fortunately, the ancient books were not many words long, ranging from a few hundred or a thousand words to tens of thousands of words, and could be read through in a few years.

Of course, the classics of the Great Zhou Dynasty are somewhat different from those of the Chinese civilization, so he still needs to take a closer look.

"This is the book for cultivating the literary skills of farmers!"

After searching for a while, Jiang Xingzhou finally found the "Essential Techniques for the Common People" that he needed to cultivate his literary skills among the many books in his collection. His fingertips touched the seal script characters for "wood" and "bamboo" on the hemp paper, and the characters faintly emitted the clear sound of a blue chime.

(End of this chapter)