The sun was high up in the sky. After sunrise, the 30 tables in the main hall of the Forgetting Opportunity Tower were fully occupied. More than 200 guests were whispering to each other as they looked back at the group of uninvited guests standing at the entrance.
"Who is in charge here? We heard that the new fortune-teller is holding a banquet here today, so we are here to congratulate her and ask her to come out and meet us!" The one who said this was a skinny middle-aged man. He wore a dark brown silk shirt with a golden leather belt tied around his waist. He looked like he was in his thirties and had a pair of slanted eyes that made him look very shrewd.
Beside him stood a middle-aged man who seemed to be two years older. He was dressed in a loose robe with big sleeves, and he had a wide nose and a square mouth. What caught people's attention was the unusually long abacus under his left armpit.
There were four to five people with them, both men and women. They were all dressed well and the youngest among them was a girl who looked to be in her early twenties.
When Lin Fu heard the news, he hurried down the stairs. When he saw the group of people blocking the entrance, he greeted them with a smile, "Dear guests, I am the manager of this restaurant, may I know your name?"
The two middle-aged men who were in the lead glanced at him. The skinny one opened his mouth and said, "I am this year's first rank in the calculation course, Xianglang Jin Zuoyan. This is my senior brother from the same sect, Calculation Prodigy Yuan Panming."
When he said this, some of the more knowledgeable guests were shocked. Jin Zuo Feng and Pan Ming were quite famous in An Ling City. They passed the examination to become a great fortune-teller a few years ago and later became Old Fortune-Teller Han's disciple. They were the hot favorites to win the Big Calculation course this year.
Perhaps some people didn't know their names, but when Old Fortune-Teller Han's direct disciple was mentioned, everyone had to be polite to them.
Lin Fu had good eyesight and quickly bowed, "So it's you two great fortune-tellers. I have eyes but failed to recognize you. Quick, come upstairs and have a seat."
Who knew that Jin Zuo Feng didn't fall for this and waved his hand, "We are here to meet the female fortune-teller. We came uninvited, how can we enjoy the wine? Quickly go in and report that we are here to visit her. Ask her to come out and talk to her face to face. "
Lin Fu's smile froze. If one didn't drink or sit at a table in a restaurant, he would be looking for trouble.
This group of people is not easy to deal with. Lin Fu is worried about how to coax them to go upstairs so that they will not be blocked here and people will talk about them. Suddenly, he hears a powerful female voice behind him: "Who is looking for me?"
Lin Fu and the others turned their heads to look, and saw Yu Shu, dressed in a silver silk dress made of yin-yang fish, walking leisurely from behind the glass flower shelves. Frowning slightly, he looked at the door.
Feng Zhaomiao and Xin Liu were also there. Xiaodie ran to the private room at the back to send a message to Yu Shu. Feng Zhaomiao heard it and thought that someone was here to make trouble, so he followed her out.
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Pan Ming and Jin Zuo Feng had only heard that this year's new diviner was a teenage girl, so they didn't know her appearance. But when he saw a young lady who was walking towards them from a short distance away, his eyes lit up. He saw that she was dressed very well. With just one look, he knew that it was her.
Lin Fu quickly walked to Yu Shu's side, one hand covering his mouth, and whispered in her ear the origin of this group of people.
When Yu Shu heard that it was Han Wenguang's disciple, she remembered that not long ago when she went to the Celestial Commissioner's Office to write a report, she was received by the Great Commissioner. At that time, the Great Commissioner warned her that the old diviner's temper wasn't good, and that he might be dissatisfied with a nobody like her winning first place. Who knows when he might find trouble with her. But she didn't expect that the other party didn't care about her at all, picking the day of her big wedding to cause trouble.
"So it's Old Mister Han's disciple, nice to meet you." The person who came was a guest, so Yu Shu gave a fake smile. She wasn't scared by the other party's name. She cupped her hands in greeting, not for the sake of the monk, but for the sake of the Buddha. Her greeting wasn't to the two people in front of her, but to the old man behind her.
The other party calmly accepted her greeting and didn't return it. Instead, it was the thin and small Jin Zuo Feng who impolitely looked at Yu Shu's face with his small eyes. He said with a faint smile, "Miss Yu is so young, but you've already learned so much. May I ask which famous teacher taught you? Is it possible for you to tell me?"
Since Yu Shu could see that they didn't come with good intentions, she was naturally on guard. Her expression didn't change as she said, "My teacher travels the world and has many aliases, so forgive me for not mentioning him."
Then she changed the topic and went straight to the point, "The two great diviners just said that they wanted to see me. May I ask what they want to teach me?"
Jin Zuo Feng's eyes flashed and he exchanged glances with the people behind him. He turned his head and said to Yu Shu, "The female diviner was right. We came here today to teach you. In this year's Dayan Examination, my senior brother and I were ranked behind you. We thought that after ten years of hard work, we would be defeated by someone else. We are not convinced and want to know how we are inferior to a little girl, so we took the liberty to come here. We hope that the female diviner will be generous enough to teach us and have a match with us. "
Hearing this blatant provocation, Yu Shu stopped smiling and felt a chill in her heart — — so they were here to undermine her!
On such a day, all the guests that came and went were either people she knew or people who knew her. These two great fortune-tellers proposed a duel. If she won, she would naturally be recognized as the female fortune-teller. If she lost, not only would she be disgraced, even the chief examiner, the Imperial Astronomer who had judged her as the chief fortune-teller, would be criticized.
What was that old diviner Han thinking? How could he be so petty, slapping the Celestial Commissioner's face just because of a moment of anger?
Yu Shu was not in a hurry to get angry. She thoughtfully looked at the expressions of the people in front of the door, but she couldn't find any clues.
But her silence made the people in front of the door anxious, afraid that she would refuse. Thus, the only female diviner among them smiled and said, "The female diviner is not saying anything. Could it be that you don't dare to agree to the match with my two senior brothers and are afraid that you will lose face if you lose? If that's the case, then you can rest assured. Even if your skills are inferior and you lose to my senior brothers, no one here can take away your diviner title. It's just that you don't live up to your name. Haha. "
These words carried the smell of gunpowder. It wasn't unpleasant to hear, but it was secretly mocking. How many people didn't understand the meaning behind it?
Yu Shu looked at the young lady who was about the same age as her and snorted inwardly. This provocation was not bad, and her mouth was also sharp. She didn't know how many times she had practiced before coming here.
"Lu Ting." Pan Ming, who had been silent all this time, suddenly opened his mouth and shot a warning glance at the young lady. He then turned his head to Yu Shu and said, "My junior sister has been rude and offended the female diviner. I hope you will be magnanimous and not hold it against us. It was rude of us to come here to teach you. If you are not willing, we will not force you. We are both in the top three. For you to be able to take the first place, I believe you must have something outstanding about you. "
Only now did Yu Shu notice that Pan Ming looked like a good person. In terms of age, the other party was more than ten years older than her. However, he didn't speak like an elder like Jin Zuo Feng. Instead, he was polite and well-mannered, which made her look at him in a different light.
But at this time, Jin Zuo Feng spoke again, "Senior brother, I think junior sister's words are not unreasonable. There are so many people here today. If the new diviner doesn't dare to fight with us, then she will become a laughing stock. Even if she's timid, if word gets out in the future, she'll become a laughingstock. It won't affect her personal reputation, but it will damage the prestige of the Imperial Astronomer. You should know that this female fortune-teller was judged by the Imperial Astronomer. "
Pan Ming frowned and opened his mouth to say something. But when he saw Jin Zuo Feng secretly hinting with his eyes, he finally shook his head and looked at Yu Shu. A trace of apology flashed in his eyes.
Yu Shu narrowed her eyes. She could smell something strange from the interaction between these martial siblings.
"That's right. Senior brother, if she has a card up her sleeve, why not compete with you? But she doesn't even dare to announce her sect, so she must be afraid. Hmph, I don't know how the Celestial Commissioner judged that she is better than you. "The female diviner called Lu Ting spoke again, shooting a provocative glance at Yu Shu.
She didn't know that one of her words just happened to touch Yu Shu's nerves. This made Yu Shu, who originally didn't want to be kind, even more determined. Her eyes flashed with determination. She immediately raised her chin and laughed, "Haha, in the end, you all are just afraid that I won't dare to accept the challenge. But when did I say that I won't accept? Let's compete, what do I have to fear! "
This group of people wanted to use her to gain benefits, so they shouldn't blame her for using them as a sacrifice to her reputation as a female diviner!
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There was a provocation from downstairs. The top three of this year's Divination Rankings had gathered and were about to compete. This situation was quickly reported to their masters by the attendants who had been sent out to scout.
On the upper floor of the rear courtyard, Xue Rui and Liu Tan sat together, and only Helanchou sat at the same table. After he finished listening to the guard's report, Xue Rui instantly revealed a doubtful expression, and he said to the two that sat at the same table, "Strange, why would Old Mister Han act in this way? Isn't this going against the Imperial Astronomer?"
He wasn't worried that Yu Shu wouldn't be able to handle it.
Liu Tan nodded and agreed, "Indeed. With Old Mister Han's reputation, even if he wanted to fight for his disciple, he wouldn't have to resort to such a method. Winning or losing doesn't matter."
After the two expressed their opinions, Helanchou suddenly clicked his tongue and had a strange expression, attracting the attention of the other two.
"What advice does Mister have?" Liu Tan asked curiously.
Helanchou rubbed his chin and thought for a while. Suddenly, he clapped his hands together and said to Liu Tan and Xue Rui with a complicated expression, "This is bad."
Xue Rui's eyelids twitched and he asked, "What does Mister know?"
Helan Chou nodded. Looking at Liu Tan, he said, "Not long ago, I heard some news from an old friend that last year, old fortune-teller Han gathered many famous fortune-tellers in An Ling City and had a secret tea gathering at Qingshui Yuan. It seemed that they were preparing to build a garden. On the spot, they gathered three hundred thousand taels of silver. Such a large movement, I guessed that they were planning something big."
At this point, he looked at Xue Rui and paused to ask, "Eldest Young Master is often in the Imperial Court. Have you heard of Old Diviner Han being summoned to the palace to meet the Emperor?"
Xue Rui thought for a while and slowly nodded, "I have indeed heard of it once or twice."
"Ai." Helanchou sighed heavily and suddenly said, "During the first examination of the Dayan, arithmetic was not included. It was a dream of Holy Master Xi Zong a hundred years ago that excluded it from the six subjects of the Dayan. At that time, the Celestial Commissioner competed with the six ministries for talents and there was a huge fight. In the end, arithmetic was separated from the six subjects and was not included in the selection of teachers. However, all the diviners were still chosen by the Celestial Commissioner. "
Liu Tan was puzzled and couldn't help but ask, "Why does Mister mention this?"
Helanchou smiled bitterly and asked, "Let me ask Your Highness, among the high officials of the Celestial Commissioner, has there ever been a diviner in the past few decades?"
As soon as he finished, before Liu Tan could understand, Xue Rui's expression changed and his eyes showed shock. "Is Han Wenguang feeling indignant and wants to set up his own school of divination so that all the diviners in the world can form a separate school?"
"… I'm afraid that they have everything prepared and only lack a good reason." Helanchou shook his head repeatedly. This time, Liu Tan also understood and was shocked.
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