𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔: 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞
“Where in the city can I find a renowned divination stall?”
Jiang Chu climbed into the carriage, asking the Jiang Family’s coachman.
Before going to Summer Sun City, she wanted to see what level the Divination Masters of this continent were at.
“There are quite a few stalls, but the most famous ones are in two places, one in the west of the city, and the other in Ebony Lane on Sanguan Street,” the coachman said.
After speaking, he surreptitiously glanced at Jiang Chu.
Does the young miss feel hopeless in life, so she’s placing her hopes on the art of divination?
She used to have no regard for divination at all, often saying that it’s all crooked and cannot compare with orthodox martial arts.
Ah, life is so unpredictable.
“Let’s go to Ebony Lane then,” Jiang Chu immediately said.
The west of the city was too far away; Ebony Lane was close, so they could stop by on the way out of the city without going out of the way.
Jiang Chu and Wu Yu were sitting in the carriage together. As soon as Jiang Chu sat down, she looked at Wu Yu.
She was dressed in black clothing for martial arts practice, her wrists and ankles tightly bound, dressed neatly, simple and unadorned, without any decoration.
The young girl’s clean, thin face was not particularly bright and beautiful, but had a serene, water-like presence, with calm and composed eyes, carrying a mature and remote look, as if she had been through much hardship.
She was sitting respectfully with her knees together, holding a sword, with her eyes half-closed. When she felt Jiang Chu’s gaze, she looked back, her eyes inquiring.
“Wu Yu, you are 17 this year, right?” Jiang Chu asked.
Wu Yu, who understood lip reading, nodded her head.
Only 17 years old, just one year older than the original host, but Wu Yu’s eyes and temperament were not like those of a teenage girl, but rather like those of a forty-year-old with plenty of experience and depth.
Arrogant, bright, and charming, these were privileges only those who led a charmed life could have. . . . . .
Jiang Chu felt a bit emotional and did not speak for a moment.
The carriage traveled for a while and then stopped. “Miss, we’ve arrived.”
“Mm, you wait for me in the carriage, don’t follow.”
Jiang Chu stopped Wu Yu from getting up to follow and jumped down from the carriage herself.
People were coming and going in Ebony Lane, with merchants and pedestrians of all ages and genders. But Jiang Chu immediately spotted a fortune-telling stall under an old tree.
A flag with the character “divination” was fluttering in the wind, and the old man running the stall had a fairy-like appearance, with white hair and a gray cloth shirt, squinting at a little black wildcat in the tree opposite.
There were two people in line for divination. Jiang Chu looked and then strode over, finding a position neither too close nor too far away to listen.
“Master, so you mean I just have to wait patiently for two more months, and the situation I’m worried about will take a positive turn?” a middle-aged man in his forties asked anxiously.
“When the time comes, what’s meant to come will come. Be calm, neither anxious nor angry,” the old man said, stroking his long beard, leisurely.
“Thank you, Master. Please accept this small token of appreciation. Do not refuse it!”
The man joyfully offered a small bag of broken silver, then left with profuse thanks.
The fortune-telling old man accepted it with a nod, seemingly uninterested in the silver, but his hand quickly and skillfully tucked it into his sleeve.
Jiang Chu: . . . . . .
“What would you like to ask?”
The fortune-telling old man looked at the last person in line.
“Well, I’ve always been single and want to find a wife.”
The speaker looked to be in his early twenties, wearing old clothes and shoes with holes in the tips. He was skinny like a bamboo pole, with slitted eyes, a garlic-shaped nose, and a face full of pockmarks and scars from acne. It was a painful sight.
He smiled after speaking, revealing a row of yellow teeth.
Not only was he ugly and poor, but he was also dirty. His clothes and shoes were worn out, and it was unclear if he had ever washed them.
And perhaps it was Jiang Chu’s imagination, but she seemed to smell an unpleasant odor near her nose.
She quietly moved back two steps, further away from this person.
The fortune-telling old man looked at the man without changing his expression, “Oh? What kind of wife do you want to find?”
“She must be virtuous, washing my clothes and cooking for me, also pretty with a good figure, at least not worse than Xiao Niang from Feng Yun Pavilion! Oh, and preferably her family should have some assets, like fields or shops, the more, the better. I won’t be picky! If the conditions are right, I can even marry into her family, hehe. . . . . .”
The man laughed again, then looked at the stall owner with hopeful eyes, “Master, please tell me when I will find the young woman I like?”
Jiang Chu crossed her arms, looking at the old man with interest.
“Tell me your birth time and date.” The old man’s mouth seemed to twitch, and then he said calmly.
The man spoke as promised, and the old man took up his pen to record.
“Come, shake a fortune stick,” the old man said again.
The man went over and shook out a stick.
The old man took the stick, looked at the surface, stroked his beard, and pondered, his expression serious.
The man couldn’t help but worry, “Master, what is the result?”
“In the first half of your life, there is no marital fate, but there is an opportunity that may bring you a financial connection,” the old man slowly said.
“A financial connection? That’s good! Master, tell me quickly what the opportunity is!” The man excitedly ran up a few steps, propped his hands on the table, and his face leaned close to the old man, full of impatience.
The old man was taken aback and slowly turned his head, “You, step back a few paces.”
“Ah, ah, alright.”
The man stood up and obediently stepped back.
The old man, however, was stroking his beard, looking at him without speaking.
The man was stunned for a moment, hurriedly searched his pockets, and finally pulled out a few copper coins, “Master, don’t despise it, this is all I have. . . . . .”
“Hmm, no matter. This opportunity I’m talking about is in your hands, not apparent in the short term, but you must work hard over a long period for noticeable results.”
The old man did not despise it, took the copper coins without changing his expression, and then spoke indifferently, “First, you must have a job, go out more, the dirtier and more tiring the work, the more diligent you must be. Through this, you will meet someone of higher status. Within half a year to a year, you will definitely meet someone who will help you, and then your financial opportunity will come.”
“Meet someone of higher status in half a year? That’s great, thank you, Master!”
The man excitedly slapped his thigh and then left with profuse thanks.
After he left, the old man took a long deep breath, “That really annoyed me.”
“Pfft.”
Jiang Chu couldn’t help but laugh.
“Young lady, you have lingered here for a long time. What are you here for?” The old man looked at her naturally, sizing her up, his eyes slightly squinted, as if a glimmer of wisdom flashed through them.
“I came to find you, of course, for divination,” Jiang Chu walked up smiling, sat down in front of the stall, and placed five taels of silver. “You figure out where I will go and what I will do. If you’re right, these five taels are yours.”
The old man only glanced at the silver, his eyes indifferent, showing no attraction to it, giving off the appearance of a detached, otherworldly sage.
(End of Chapter)
