"Pardon me for asking, but have you entered Prince Xiang's Residence? …
"I didn't go."
Hearing this, Yu Shu thought that if she didn't misunderstand, when the person in front of her said "didn't go", he didn't just mean that he didn't go today, but that he didn't go to the wang fu at all. This was strange. On the third day of the exam, why was he so calm? Did he not take the exam?
She asked suspiciously, "Why didn't you go?"
Wen Shao 'an put down his wine cup and continued to read. He was too lazy to raise his head and said, "It's useless to go if I can't enter."
Yu Shu felt that his words were a little interesting. Other people only knew that it was not easy to enter Xiang Prince Fu's main gate after going there but he seemed to have long known that he would not be able to enter. To be able to have such foresight, he must have some basis.
She was about to ask in detail when she suddenly heard someone calling from behind, "Wen Shao 'an!"
Yu Shu turned her head and saw two young men in lined jackets coming up from the stairs. They strode towards their table with unfriendly expressions.
"Wen Shao 'an, you liar. Refund me five taels of silver and say that I can enter Prince Xiang's Residence today. You made me wait for the whole morning!"
Hearing this, Yu Shu turned her face to the young man at the same table. What did he say? Was this person a liar?
"It's only the morning. Why are you so anxious?" Wen Shao 'an frowned and said to the person who came, "Isn't there still an afternoon? I said you can enter, so you can enter."
"I don't care. Refund me!" One of them stepped forward and grabbed Wen Shao 'an's clothes without any explanation. His face was full of anger. Obviously, waiting for the whole morning and being happy for nothing had worn out his patience.
Wen Shao 'an sneered, "You are the one who insisted on looking for me. Did I beg you? Ridiculous. Even if you can enter the Prince Xiang's Residence, you are destined to be at the bottom of this exam."
"You!"
Yu Shu's forehead twitched. This kid was asking for a beating when he talked. Sure enough, the man was tall and strong. Without thinking, he waved his fist at Wen Shao 'an and knocked him to the ground. The man flipped over the stool with a crash.
There was a commotion around, but no one stepped forward to stop him. Wen Shao 'an was pressed to the ground and punched twice. His face was bleeding, but there were people who secretly cheered and cheered him on.
Yu Shu furrowed her brows. She had known Wen Shaoan for a long time, but he didn't seem like a swindler. Instead, he seemed like someone with real skills. After a moment of hesitation, she shouted and threw a cup on the ground, interrupting the dispute. "Stop!"
The person who was beating him stopped and turned to look at Yu Shu. "Who are you?" he asked.
Yu Shu revealed a smiling face and said in a friendly tone, "He and I are from the same hometown. Big Brother, how much money does he owe you? Can I pay you back to appease your anger?"
The man hesitated for a moment and looked at Yu Shu suspiciously. "You're from the same hometown as this kid? Why haven't I seen you before? "
Yu Shu nodded and didn't explain further. She took out her money pouch and poured out all the bits and pieces of silver and silver coins on the table. She counted them with her fingers and picked up two. She pointed at the small pile on the table and motioned for the man to come and take it.
The person hit Wen Shao 'an and vented his anger. Seeing that someone was paying for him, he left Wen Shao' an and grabbed the silver coins that Yu Shu took out. He snorted at Wen Shao 'an. "If you dare to lie to me again, I will beat you up again."
After that, he left with his companions, leaving the people in the teahouse talking.
Those who learned the Book of Changes were not like scholars who were well-educated and well-mannered. There were people of all religions and nine schools of thought. There were many people who were as fierce and unreasonable as him.
Wen Shao 'an was still lying on the ground. Yu Shu went forward and bent down. She saw that his eyes were open, so she did not help him up. She just asked kindly, "Brother Wen, are you seriously injured? Can you get up?"
Wen Shao 'an glanced at Yu Shu and slowly sat up from the ground. He wiped the blood from his mouth and said, "You are a busybody."
Yu Shu smiled secretly. It was rare that her kindness turned into ill-intent. She watched him stand up shakily and walk to the table to sit down. She also sat down.
Wen Shao 'an poured a cup of wine and drank it. He coughed twice and said to Yu Shu, "I don't have money to pay you back."
Yu Shu said, "This matter is not urgent. What happened just now? Why did he say that you lied to him?"
Wen Shao 'an shook his head and did not want to say more. He poured another cup of wine and handed it to her. "I don't have money to pay you back. Write a word and I will help you read your fortune. Just take it as I have received five silver coins from you."
Word reading? Yu Shu was a little surprised. Word reading was a very common method of divination. There were many fortune-tellers on the streets of Autumn Osmanthus Lane who knew this method. She had thought that Wen Shao 'an had some kind of magic. Could it be that she had misjudged him?
Yu Shu dipped her finger in the wine in the cup and thought for a moment. Then she wrote the word "Jin" on the table. She did not know much about word reading. She only heard that a good fortune teller could tell a person's worries and predict a person's future with just one word.
"Your handwriting is really ugly." Wen Shao 'an first ridiculed her. He stared at the word "Jin" and his eyes flashed. He reached out and wiped it from the table, leaving a pool of water stain. He looked up and said to Yu Shu, "Recently, things have not been going well for you. What you want often fails. Although there is a benefactor, you are blocked and cannot help. In the end, it is like drawing water with a bamboo basket. I advise you not to waste your effort and give up early."
When she heard his affirmation, Yu Shu's heart skipped a beat. After pondering over it for a while, she felt that the first two sentences he said were extremely accurate. These two days, it was not smooth sailing for her and the things she asked for were fruitless. What he said was that she was unable to enter Prince Xiang's Estate several times. As for that benefactor, he should be referring to Xue Rui. These few points were actually all spot-on.
If one were to say that his predictions were accurate, then what was up with his last two sentences? Drawing water with bamboo was all for naught? Which thing are you referring to? "
Yu Shu was puzzled and asked, "You said that I will draw water with a bamboo basket. What are you referring to?"
"How would I know how many things you have?" Wen Shao 'an's words were very irresponsible. He grabbed the scroll on the table and stood up to say to Yu Shu, "You and I do not owe each other anything now. Don't ask me for money."
Finishing, he went downstairs under the guidance of others.
Yu Shu looked at his staggering back and pondered for a moment. When he disappeared downstairs, she then stood up to leave.
Wen Shao 'an's assertion did not have much effect on Yu Shu. Compared to trusting others, especially a stranger whom she had just met, she was more willing to trust herself.
But when she got home, she still had an idea. She used the six lines to make a divination for herself and asked about the results of the Da Yuan Examination.
Even though she had used the six lines to make a divination for herself many times before, she had never directly asked about the examination results like this. This was because the [Six Lines Divination] was not omnipotent. Even though its accuracy was much higher than other strange techniques, its biggest flaw was that its high accuracy could only be used to predict recent events. Its ability to predict recent events was strong, but its ability to predict distant events was weak. There would often be a large deviation.
When Daoist Qing Zheng was teaching her, he had reminded her that the [Six Lines Divination] could predict recent events, major events, ask questions, and predict changes. Only by mastering the [Six Lines Divination] would one be able to predict the results.
The results of the Da Yuan Examination would only be announced in April next year. This was already beyond the scope of recent events. Therefore, she never used the [Six Lines Divination] to ask about the examination results because she knew that it would be inaccurate.
Yu Shu's horoscope was useless. She could use the [Six Lines Divination] to predict other people's fortune and misfortune, but not her own. All she could rely on was the [Six Lines Divination] passed down by Qing Zheng.
Yu Shu used the [Six Lines Divination] to predict the results of the Da Yuan Examination. Unsurprisingly, she got two empty hexagrams. The hexagrams were in a mess, and she couldn't see any clues. She couldn't make any deductions, and she couldn't confirm whether Wen Shao 'an's "all in vain" was referring to the results of her participation in the Da Yuan Examination.
Putting away the copper coins, Yu Shu didn't dwell on this matter anymore. She just thought that her encounter with Wen Shao 'an in Peiren Hall was a small episode and quickly forgot about it.
Tomorrow, she still had to line up in front of Prince Xiang's Mansion. After dinner, Yu Shu wrote her third visiting card. After hesitating for a while, she made up her mind and put three banknotes of one hundred taels of silver in it, which was two hundred taels more than yesterday.
"Chirp chirp." Kim Bao climbed up the desk and squatted beside the candlestick. He hugged his paws and called out to Yu Shu.
Yu Shu reached out and gently grabbed it. Her fingers hooked its little tail. She sneered. She didn't believe that she couldn't get into Prince Xiang's Mansion!
"Chirp!" On the fourth day of the examination, Yu Shu was finally able to enter Prince Xiang's Mansion. Official Zhao, who received the invitation, received three hundred taels of silver from her. His face finally relaxed. She waited at the door for less than an hour before someone called her name. Under the envious eyes of everyone, she was led into the Prince Xiang's Mansion with two other people.
Just as Yu Shu thought, the one hundred taels of silver she gave yesterday was too little.
She spent four hundred taels of silver to buy the entrance ticket. Yu Shu wasn't in the mood to appreciate the garden view of the Prince Xiang's Mansion. She followed the servant to a flower hall and saw the old housekeeper of the Prince Xiang's Mansion.
Yu Shu knew that the status of this old housekeeper, who was over fifty years old, was not low. The three of them greeted each other and were led to the seats of honor. Knowing that there was not much time left, Yu Shu did not waste any time and was the first to ask, "This examination question is very vague. I would like to ask, what kind of treasure did your Highness lose?" The old housekeeper must have answered this question countless times and very smoothly said, "It was a painting." Yu Shu then asked, "What painting? Which craftsman painted it? "
The old housekeeper stroked his beard and said: "It's not a famous work. It's just an ordinary painting."
"Then was the painting lost or stolen?" Yu Shu heard people guessing in the Peiren Hall. She was afraid that the painting was stolen and it's not easy to find its whereabouts.
The old housekeeper shook his head: "It's hard to say. It should have been lost."
What kind of answer was this? Yu Shu frowned. At this point, the two people who came in with her were already unhappy with her asking three questions. They took the opportunity to ask about the process of Xiang Prince losing the painting. The old housekeeper answered them one by one but there were many parts that were 'unclear', making one depressed.
"Alright, that's all I know. Guests, please leave." The old housekeeper answered most of the questions and stood up to send the guests off. Just the time it took to drink a cup of tea had passed.
Although the other two were not satisfied, they still stood up to leave. Only Yu Shu greeted the old housekeeper and asked: "May I know Wangye's date of birth and horoscope? Allow me to go back and check it."
Hearing this, the two people stopped in their tracks and turned their heads to look at Yu Shu in surprise. It's not that they did not want to know Xiang Prince's date of birth and horoscope but to ask this question was disrespectful. They did not expect that there would be someone so daring to ask for it.
"This." The old housekeeper's expression was hesitant but he did not show any dissatisfaction nor did he reprimand Yu Shu. "It's not convenient to reveal Wangye's horoscope but I can tell you Wangye's date of birth." Finishing, he turned around and took a pen and paper on the table. He wrote down Xiang Prince's date of birth and glanced at the two people who were listening intently to take advantage of him. His lips curled into a smile but he only handed it to Yu Shu.
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