Because of Xue Rui's words, Yu Shu woke up the next morning. When she washed up, she could still taste the bittersweet taste of alcohol from last night.
She only drank one cup of wine last night, and the rest went into Xue Rui's stomach. However, he did not say anything else that would make one's imagination run wild, so Yu Shu pretended not to argue with him.
After breakfast, Xue Rui was about to go out. Yu Shu did not need to go to Taishi Shuyuan today, so she planned to stay upstairs and sort out the files. She did not expect that not long after Xue Rui left, someone came looking for her.
"Miss, the shopkeeper is outside." The maidservant, Xiaodie, walked lightly to the door of the study.
Yu Shu just picked up the brush and copied a few words. Without raising her head, she said, "What's the matter? Let him in."
"Yes."
A moment later, Lin Fu walked into the private room and entered the study with his head slightly lowered.
"Miss, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, Lord Qiu is here."
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, Qiu Jiming. Yu Shu had met him at the banquet at Wangji Lou at the end of March. He was a guest invited by Xue Rui, so she had some impression of him.
Thinking that this Lord Qiu was here to look for Xue Rui, Lin Fu did not dare to slight her, so he came to ask her. However, Yu Shu was too lazy to go out to meet him, so she stopped writing and turned her head, "Big Brother went to the yamen today and will not be back for a while. Tell Lord Qiu that he has something to do and come back at night."
Lin Fu hesitated, "Lord Qiu is not here to look for Young Master. He is here to see Miss."
"Eh?" Yu Shu was puzzled, "He is here to look for me?"
Lin Fu nodded and took out a name card from his sleeve and handed it over with both hands. Yu Shu took it and looked at it. This name card was actually made by the government, and it was signed with Qiu Jiming's private seal.
Yu Shu hesitated and said, "Clean up the room next door and invite Lord Qiu upstairs. Serve him good tea. I will be there in a while."
Those who come are guests. The position of assistant minister of the Ministry of Works is a lucrative one. Although Qiu Jiming cannot be compared to the nobles of An Ling, he is still a fifth-ranked official, the same rank as Xue Rui.
Lin Fu obeyed and went to make arrangements. Yu Shu looked at the loose robe on her body and went back to the bedroom to change into proper clothes. After washing her hands, she went next door to meet the guest.
As soon as Yu Shu entered the room, she saw Qiu Jiming sitting on a chair in the hall. This Lord Zhao was over thirty years old and had a dignified appearance. At this moment, he was frowning, and there was a layer of green beard on his chin. There were also some bruises under his eyes. He was not as spirited as when Yu Shu first saw him.
"Lord Qiu."
When Qiu Jiming saw Yu Shu enter, his brows relaxed a little. He stood up and cupped his hands in greeting. "Female Oracle."
Yu Shu raised her hand and invited him to sit down. She walked to sit opposite him. Seeing that he was not in good spirits, she did not pretend to be polite. She opened her mouth and asked for his purpose, "May I know why Lord Qiu is here today?"
Qiu Jiming first looked at the wide open door and said to Yu Shu, "Can we avoid people's eyes and ears?"
Yu Shu saw that he was being secretive and muttered in her heart. But she still had Xiao Die close the door.
"If Lord Qiu has something to say, you can say it. Normally, no one comes up to the second floor."
"Ai, today I came to ask the female oracle for an idea." When Qiu Jiming said this, he stopped and stared at Yu Shu.
Yu Shu smiled and said, "Daren has to say it, then I will know if I can help."
Qiu Jiming sighed and said with a sad face, "This month, Madam and my daughter …"
It turned out that at the beginning of the fourth month, Madam Qiu and Miss Qiu went to the Ascending Cloud Monastery outside the city to pray. On the night they came back, Miss Qiu had a strange illness. She talked nonsense and said that she was a fox and wanted to go back to the forest. She also scratched two maids. Qiu Daren had no choice but to tie his daughter up. Unexpectedly, the next morning, Miss Qiu was back to normal. The family didn't have time to rejoice when Miss Qiu fell sick again at night. They found several doctors, but they couldn't do anything.
Medicine didn't help. Madam Qiu cried and said that her daughter was bewitched by a wild spirit. Qiu Daren invited a Taoist priest from the Ascending Cloud Monastery to cure her. Unexpectedly, the Taoist priest saw Miss Qiu and was so angry that he blew his beard and wanted to leave. He said that Miss Qiu had offended the Three Pure Ones and was punished by Heaven. If he took care of this matter, he would also be implicated.
Thus, Miss Qiu's illness was delayed. She was awake during the day and fell sick at night. After half a month, she was tortured to the point that a layer of her skin was peeling off. Seeing that her body was getting worse, Qiu Daren came to ask Yu Shu for help.
"… Miss Yu is a fortune-teller who is in the top three of the two rankings this year. In addition to being good at mathematics, she is also good at magic. You must have a cure. I want you to come to the estate and see if my daughter can be saved." Qiu Jiming's eyes were already red as he said this. He looked like a loving father. He really had no choice but to seek help in a desperate situation.
However, Yu Shu didn't immediately agree. She was a fortune-teller, not an immortal. It seemed that even the Taoist priests of the Ascending Cloud Monastery didn't care about this kind of evil thing, so she might not have a cure. She didn't want to be criticized behind her back if she couldn't see the problem.
"This … Why doesn't Lord Qiu go to a few big exchange shops and ask people to try?" Yu Shu said tactfully.
Qiu Jiming smiled bitterly, "My daughter was engaged two months ago. The other party is one of the twelve aristocratic families. These aristocratic families are often on the same side. If I go to the big exchange shop to ask people, the news of my daughter's illness will soon spread. The other party will definitely break off the engagement. Even if my daughter is cured, she won't be able to face anyone for the rest of her life. With her stubborn personality, I'm afraid she will commit suicide. Ay, ay. "
What he meant was that Yu Shu, who didn't have an aristocratic family background and was a skilled fortune-teller, could easily treat Miss Qiu's illness and keep it a secret.
At this point, Yu Shu saw that he was a man with tears in his eyes and sincere words, so she couldn't refuse. She thought about it and said, "I can't guarantee this. After all, I only read people's fortunes and have never encountered such an evil thing. How about this, I'm free today, so I'll go with Lord Qiu. If there's no other way, we'll talk about it when we see your daughter."
Seeing that she agreed, Qiu Jiming hurriedly stood up, "Thank you, female fortune-teller. I've prepared a soft sedan outside. Please go."
Yu Shu said, "There's no hurry. You go downstairs first. I'll go back to my room to get a few things and then follow you."
Qiu Jiming of course agreed. Before he came, he knew that Yu Shu would reject him. Now that he managed to invite her, he finally had something to look forward to.
At night, when Xue Rui came back, he didn't see Yu Shu and asked Xiao Die about it.
"Replying to Lord, Miss was invited away by Assistant Minister Qiu Jiming in the morning. She hasn't returned yet."
Xue Rui was curious why Qiu Jiming invited Yu Shu, so he asked in detail. However, Yu Shu and Qiu Jiming spoke with the door closed during the day, so Xiao Die didn't hear it. She shook her head and said she didn't know.
Xue Rui was worried. Seeing that it was dark outside, he didn't change his clothes and planned to go out to look for her. Unexpectedly, when he reached the courtyard, he saw the back door open. Yu Shu led Xiao Qing and slowly walked in, looking exhausted.
"Shu."
Hearing the call, Yu Shu looked up and saw Xue Rui standing in the courtyard. She quickened her steps.
"Big Brother, you're back."
Xue Rui nodded and looked her up and down. He only thought that she was tired but didn't see anything wrong. Only then did he relax. He put one hand around her back and helped her into the room.
"Why is Lord Qiu looking for you?"
Yu Shu lazily sat on the chair and reached out her hand. "Have a cup of tea first."
When Xue Rui heard her voice was hoarse, he didn't need the servants to personally pour some tea and place it into her hands. After letting the tea moisten her throat, Xue Rui told her everything about the reason why Qiu Jiming came to visit this morning.
It was a family scandal, but Yu Shu didn't think it was necessary to hide it from Xue Rui. After all, his mouth was much tighter than hers.
After listening to the reason, Xue Rui was a bit unhappy. "You're not a Daoist priest who can catch monsters. This Qiu Jiming is making things difficult for you."
Yu Shu chuckled.
Seeing her expression, Xue Rui's eyes turned and he said suspiciously, "Don't tell me that you really know how to catch monsters."
After getting along with her for a long time, it seemed that all the strange things he saw on her were no longer strange.
Yu Shu blinked her eyes. "I don't know how to catch monsters, but I know how to catch people."
Seeing Xue Rui's puzzled face, she twisted her body and leaned on the armrest to talk to him about what happened during the day.
When she went to Assistant Minister Qiu's residence, she saw Miss Qiu who was sick and bedridden. She didn't get sick during the day, so Yu Shu chatted with her for a while. She didn't find any clues, so she asked for Miss Qiu's date of birth and had someone find a quiet room. She used the Law of Time of Misfortune to calculate the first half of the month. She wanted to know what was wrong with her.
Xue Rui asked curiously, "Did you calculate it?"
"I did."
"Then what's going on?"
Yu Shu snorted and said, "There's nothing wrong with Miss Qiu at all."
"Huh?" Xue Rui couldn't react for a moment.
Yu Shu explained to him, "According to what Qiu daren said, when Miss Qiu went to the Ascending Cloud Monastery to offer incense, she was touched by something. This kind of evil can be considered a disaster. I should be able to calculate it, but from Miss Qiu's date of birth, she didn't have any disaster on that day. Instead, it was very smooth."
Xue Rui understood immediately. He frowned and said, "You mean, she pretended to be crazy?"
"I wasn't sure at first, but I sent the others away and only left Miss Qiu and me in the room. After bluffing her for a while, she finally told me the truth. Guess what happened. It turns out that Miss Qiu already had someone she liked. She was dissatisfied with the marriage that her family had arranged for her, so she pretended to be crazy and wanted to escape from the marriage. It's a pity that her parents loved their daughter so much that they were kept in the dark and were tormented by her these days. "
Xue Rui listened and thought it was ridiculous. He said, "Qiu Jiming has a good temper, but he cares a lot about his face. You exposed his daughter's pretense, but he didn't faint from anger?"
"Who said I exposed her?" Yu Shu curled her lips, "I'm not a bad person. I'm not a good person at both ends. That Miss Qiu pulled out a hairpin and pressed it against her neck, begging me to help her keep it a secret. If I didn't agree, she would kill herself in front of me. So I pushed the boat with the current and talked to her. I went out and told Official Qiu. I found a random excuse and took him to the Ascending Cloud Monastery. I burned incense in front of the Three Pure Daoist Ancestors and pretended to dig a handful of soil under the tree in the backyard. When I got back, I put it under Miss Qiu's pillow. In the end, when the sky turned dark, Miss Qiu was naturally safe and sound. She didn't have any 'crazy,' anymore. "
She stopped to rest and took a sip of tea. She continued, "Official Qiu and his wife believed me completely. I took the opportunity to warn them that because their precious daughter was disrespectful and offended the Three Pure Daoist Ancestors, the marriage should not be with a man born in a certain year and a certain month. Qiu daren didn't even think about it and decided to dissolve the marriage with Miss Qiu. This was exactly what Miss Qiu wanted. Everyone was happy and I was the good person at both ends."
After listening to the whole story, Xue Rui didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He looked at Yu Shu's face getting closer and closer. He bent his finger and lightly tapped her forehead, saying, "You always have a lot of evil ideas."
His finger was cold. Yu Shu shrank her neck and sat up straight. She said to Xue Rui, "I just don't understand. Shouldn't the Taoist priests at the Ascending Cloud Monastery be very intelligent? Why would they pretend to be mysterious and deceive people?"
Xue Rui smiled and asked, "Who told you that Taoist priests don't deceive people?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
