It’s unclear if the Beimo Cheng King is in disguise. He wears a mask, dresses modestly, and follows closely behind two guards, with four more in the shadows.
In that secluded courtyard, besides the Beimo Cheng King, Xie Jingchen really couldn’t think of anyone else who would need to be this discreet and cautious in their travels.
Moreover, no one knows the Beimo Cheng King is inside the Prince of Nanliang’s courtyard. The Beimo Cheng King wouldn’t willingly remain confined like a prisoner inside; he would surely co out for a walk.
But he waited for so many days before coming out. If he misses today, who knows when the next chance will be.
The Beimo Cheng King went out, and Xie Jingchen followed.
He rode his horse down a different path and entered a local tavern, requesting a private room upstairs.
When the window was pushed open, it faced the street directly.
Within view was a fortune-telling stall predicting good and bad luck.
The fortune teller at the stall was the sa Taoist priest who had once read Xie Jingchen’s fortune at the temple and was questioned by the Heir of Marquis Changning and Marchioness Changning as a fraud.
When the Beimo Cheng King passed by, the fortune-telling Taoist was shaking a tortoise shell.
When the copper coin inside the tortoise shell spilled out, one accidentally rolled off the table and, by chance, ended up near the Beimo Cheng King’s foot.
The Beimo Cheng King lifted his foot, about to step on it.
The fortune-telling Taoist quickly said, "Don’t step on it."
"By no ans, don’t step on it."
The Beimo Cheng King frowned.
The words of a fortune-telling Taoist didn’t concern him, so he directly stepped on it.
Taoist, "...."
Why is it not going according to plan?
The Beimo Cheng King moved his foot away, and the Taoist hurriedly picked up the copper coin he stepped on, wiping it clean with his sleeve.
Looking up at the Beimo Cheng King, a hint of surprise appeared on the Taoist’s face.
Flustered, the Taoist turned around and sat at the fortune-telling stall, studying the fortune he had just revealed.
But the shocked expression he had just shown seed to linger on the Beimo Cheng King’s face.
He wore a mask, obscuring his features, and the mask wasn’t particularly fierce-looking, so why did he reveal such shock?
The Beimo Cheng King glared at the Taoist, who dared not et his gaze.
The curiosity is only heightened by this.
The Beimo Cheng King walked towards the stall, and the Taoist quickly said, "No fortunes today."
That clear refusal caused the Beimo Cheng King considerable displeasure, as well as the guards with him.
With unsmiling faces, the guards glared at the Taoist, "If not reading fortunes, why have a stall?!"
The Taoist showed a face full of fear but insisted on not telling fortunes.
The look of wishing the Beimo Cheng King would quickly leave was obvious to anyone with eyes.
Busy with affairs, the Beimo Cheng King glanced at the Taoist and then walked away.
A hundred or so steps later, a guard glanced back to see an old woman sitting at the fortune-telling stall.
The guard’s face darkened, "That Taoist is ridiculous, daring to provoke us?!"
"Wait until we finish business and co back, then smash his stall," said another guard.
With that, the Beimo Cheng King entered a tavern.
Half an hour later, he finally erged from the tavern.
A lady was at the fortune-telling stall now.
The Beimo Cheng King walked over, catching the Taoist in the act, and the Taoist’s face was full of awkwardness.
After the lady left, the Taoist stood up and said, "Truly closing the stall now."
Alright.
When he starts speaking, he inadvertently runs into the guards’ warning.
What does the Taoist an?!
His master wants a fortune, yet he closes the stall.
When caught in the act, he wants to close the stall?!
Today’s fortune will certainly be told!
The Beimo Cheng King sat down at the fortune-telling stall, the Taoist looked distressed, and a guard showed a hint of aggression, "Will you tell the fortune or not?!"
The Taoist had already removed the fortune banner but rehung it under the threatening watch of the guards ready to kill.
The Taoist sat down, picked up the tortoise shell, loaded the copper coins, and shook them vigorously.
Suddenly.
The sound of shattering echoed.
The tortoise shell broke.
The Beimo Cheng King and the guards were startled.
The Taoist looked at the Beimo Cheng King cautiously, "Really cannot read it...."
A shadow fell over the Beimo Cheng King’s eyes, "Why can’t it be read?!"
The Taoist hesitated, unsure whether to speak.
The guard couldn’t stand his hesitance and placed his sword on the Taoist’s shoulder.
The Taoist imdiately capitulated, "This distinguished person has black smoke above his head, straight to the heavens, evidently because others have burnt too much paper money for him...."
The Taoist spoke only this, causing both guards’ faces to change.
The Beimo Cheng King, masked, didn’t reveal his expression, but the shock in his eyes was clearly observed by the Taoist.
Could the Beimo Cheng King not be shocked?
He pretended to be assassinated in Daqi, with a fake corpse gloriously buried in Beimo.
In the eyes of the world, he has died.
He borrowed ten thousand troops from Nanliang to rescue the Beimo King, forcing Daqi to release him, ritorious and exceptional.
Even without accomplishnts, he remains Beimo Cheng King, and this paper money would certainly not be lacking.
Yet no one knows this, and the Taoist astonishingly saw through it?
In the Beimo Cheng King’s heart, it felt like being scratched by a cat.
Nevertheless, the Taoist only spoke this once, refusing to say more.
But his one sentence was enough for the Beimo Cheng King to delve deeper and demand an explanation.
This fortune was forced out with the knife to the neck.
With the tortoise shell broken, the Taoist prepared ink for the Beimo Cheng King to write sothing for a character fortune.
The Beimo Cheng King then wrote a character on paper.
The Taoist possessed genuine skill, reading the character with precision, especially his earlier words stunning the guards.
The Taoist evaluated a heap, "The distinguished person has ambition but finds it hard to achieve success, always failing when just about to succeed."
This phrase resonated deeply with the Beimo Cheng King.
Weren’t the grain and gold already acquired, yet ultimately failed?
Fortune-telling is about changing fate.
The Beimo Cheng King asked if the Taoist had a thod for resolution.
The Taoist glanced at the Beimo Cheng King’s head, "Difficult."
The Beimo Cheng King’s face looked uglier beneath the mask, glancing at the guards.
A guard retrieved a silver note from his bosom and placed it on the table, saying, "Provided the gentleman has true skill, fortune money won’t be lacking."
The Taoist glanced at the silver note, saying, "I venture for cultivation, fortune money is secondary to , but truly, soone’s fate is weighing on the distinguished person, my current skills hardly help."
"Weighed down by another?" The Beimo Cheng King frowned.
The Taoist said, "I can’t say more, speaking further would leak heavenly secrets."
The guard’s aggressive temperant, must he be threatened to be honest?!
Just sheathed the sword but drew it again, the Taoist instantly gave in.
Leaking heavenly secrets leads to short life.
Not leaking heavenly secrets, he won’t live now.
"Soone compels higher status than the distinguished person, if my guess is correct, that person possesses the Emperor’s destiny, their ambition surpasses the distinguished person."
"How dare the Taoist fight against Heaven?"
The Taoist displayed a pleading look not to trouble him.
The guard looked towards the Beimo Cheng King, the Taoist’s words precisely matching that Prince currently suppressed by the Prince of Nanliang?
Even venturing outside requires wearing a mask.
His master only desires one Beimo.
The Prince of Nanliang aims to swallow all of Daqi.
The Beimo Cheng King then asked the guard to place another silver note on the stall, "Please, sir, help change my fate."
The Taoist sighed, "Changing fate requires first dispelling misfortunes from the distinguished person."
"Return and draw a Hundred Ghosts Night Parade Painting, give it to the Taoist, at Noon during high sun, must be drawn in person, add three drops of blood to the ink."
"Just like a typical artwork, inscribe and sign without omission, if reluctant to reveal identity, use a pseudonym."
"Tomorrow the Taoist awaits here for the distinguished person."
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