In a corner of the garden, Yu Shu received a note from Xin Ya. There was only a set of eight characters written on it. Other than the fact that the person was a man, there was nothing else. She raised her eyebrows and asked,
"Have you forgotten, Lord Xin? I only promised you that I would divine the death of someone who is already dead? If you want to divine the death of a living person, it has to be someone from your Xin family. If you don't write down your surname and name, I won't divine it for you."
Xin Ya coughed and said, "Although this person was not a member of the Xin family, he died many years ago. I did not tell you his name because I do not know his real name. Do you think you can help me calculate when he died, and how he died?"
Yu Shu lowered her head and scanned the paper again. If the person was still alive, he should be around 40 years old. She said to Xin Ya,
"You don't know the date and cause of death and you want me to tell it for you. Moreover, it's a person who died many years ago. It's really troublesome. If I can't tell the result in one or two days, can't I know when he died?"
Her Law of Time of Calamity was not the same as the real Death Prediction Art. To tell the date of death of a dead person, she could only calculate it day by day based on the disasters he encountered before his death.
Therefore, without knowing the specific date of death, it would be very troublesome to calculate.
Xin Ya pondered for a moment and said, "In the thirteenth year of Baotai, I saw this person. Four months later, I heard the news of his death. You can start investigating from then. Don't be afraid of the trouble, I can wait."
Yu Shu hesitated for a moment and nodded. She was not afraid that Xin Ya would lie to her. She could tell whether it was true or not.
Xin Ya was worried and warned her, "Don't tell anyone about us."
Yu Shu flicked the paper in her hand and smiled, "Don't worry, Lady Xin. It's just the payment you should give me."
Xin Ya blew her beard. She knew that it was impossible for her to take out the ten Tihu incense sticks. She said angrily,
"Tomorrow, I will send someone to deliver it to you."
Only then was Yu Shu satisfied. She put away the note.
Now that they were done discussing business, Xin Ya did not want to spend another moment with her. He stood up and said, "I still have to entertain the guests, so I won't be sending you out. Wait here for a moment, I'll send someone to call Feifei back."
Yu Shu also stood up and waved her hand. "There's no need to trouble yourself. Just find someone to take me to the gate."
Xin Ya got the maid who was guarding the door to send her off and hurried towards the direction of the birthday banquet.
.....
In another corner of the Xin Mansion, Xin Liu stomped his feet, turned his head and said to the person behind him,
"I told you not to follow me. I have other things to do. I won't lead the way for you!"
The man walked up the winding corridor. Under the illumination of the colored lanterns, a dark, thin face was revealed, as well as a set of neat white teeth.
If Yu Shu was here, she would recognize that this person was actually the troublesome young man guarding the door that they had encountered outside the Treasure House on Qianyuan Street.
"Miss, don't mind me. I will follow you to a place with people and then return to the banquet hall. There's no need for you to lead the way."
Xin Liu looked at the person in front of her and said angrily, "Then take another path."
Gu Qi looked worried. "If I walk alone, I won't be able to find the way. Your mansion is huge. If I accidentally enter a place that I shouldn't go, it's better to follow you."
Xin Liu was so depressed that she was speechless. She listened to Xin Ya's words and left Yu Shu behind to look for Xin Nianguang. But on the way there, she met this lost kid. She recognized who he was and when she heard that he was lost, she even gloated a little. Who knew that this person was like a piece of dog skin plaster, sticking to her and she couldn't get rid of him.
What a hateful person.
"If you want to follow then follow, but don't talk to me!"
Gu Qi smiled and closed his mouth, gesturing for her to go first.
Xin Liu glared at him again before turning to lead the way. But the direction she was going was not to the West Courtyard, but to the place where the banquet was held.
She was a girl with a hard mouth but a soft heart.
When Yu Shu returned that night, she took out the eight characters of the dead man that Xin Ya gave her to study.
"Baotai" was the reign name of the late Emperor. If this person died in the thirteenth year of Baotai, then it had been twenty years.
A person who died twenty years ago was worth Xin Ya going through so much trouble to make a deal with him just to confirm the cause of his death. There must be something more to it.
It was a pity that he refused to tell her the name of this person. Otherwise, she could investigate further.
In the dead of the night, Yu Shu picked up her pen and calculated from the first day of the first month of the thirteenth year of Baotai. Based on the law of the time of calamity, she divined this man-made calamity.
Whenever there was a small disaster, she recorded it. Just like that, she divined all the way until the second month.
For the time being, she called this dead man "Mister Xinyou" because he was born in the year of Xinyou.
In the second month of the thirteenth year of Baotai, Mister Xinyou was unlucky and met with a fire disaster. Then half a month ago, he committed a vile act.
According to Yu Shu's preliminary judgment, he probably died in this fire disaster.
However, to her surprise, this fire disaster was not caused by a vile act. There was no murderer, but his own doing.
"Is this … suicide?"
Yu Shu couldn't be sure. Maybe Mister Xinyou didn't die here, so she continued to calculate.
Then, she divined that in the third month, she met with another bloody disaster. This time, someone committed the crime.
So, if Mister Xinyou didn't die in the fire disaster in February, then would it be this bloody disaster?
In order to verify it, Yu Shu continued to calculate. Who would have thought that after four months, she found a disaster at the beginning of May.
"Eh, this is?"
Yu Shu saw a strange number and couldn't remember what kind of disaster it represented. So, she took out the "Book of Life and Death" from the locked drawer at the head of the bed, which recorded all kinds of disasters. She had sorted out the records of the Supreme Court of Justice for twenty years.
After checking, she found out:
"Bereavement?"
In other words, in April, Mister Xinyou lost a relative, and the bereavement she recorded included his wife, parents, children, and siblings.
She didn't know which relative died, but she was sure that Mister Xinyou was still alive and well in May.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to calculate the bereavement disaster in the past four months.
Looking at this result, Yu Shu touched her chin and thought that there were two possibilities:
Either Xin Ya's memory was bad, or he deliberately used a living person's horoscope to deceive her.
Putting down the pen, Yu Shu looked up at the sky outside the window that was gradually brightening. After a busy night, she stood up with a sore back and walked to the bed. She thought to herself:
I promised Xin Ya that I would only help him read the horoscope of a dead person. If he gives me a living person's horoscope, it has nothing to do with me if I can't read the horoscope.
I won't settle the score with him first. When I get the Tihu Incense, I'll leave him hanging for a while. I'll deal with him when he can't take it anymore.
Yu Shu covered herself with the blanket and fell asleep.
On the table, a few pieces of paper were scattered, revealing a corner. There was a line of words in the middle:
Baotai Thirteenth Year, April 21st, bereavement.
The next day, it was the seventh month. This was the Yin Moon, commonly known as the "Ghost Moon".
According to legend, every year at the end of the sixth month, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who was in charge of hell, would open the gates of hell and release a group of hungry ghosts. Until the end of the seventh month, the gates of hell would be closed again.
In ancient times, most of the common people believed in this legend. Therefore, at this time every year, there would be sacrifices and many taboos.
Therefore, this month, the business of the big and small bazaars was booming. The fortune-tellers were also busy every two to three days.
Similarly, the incense offerings in the Taoist temples were much more vigorous than usual.
On the first day of the seventh month, led by Old Madame He and Zhao Hui, the whole family, except for He Xiaochuan, who was still breastfeeding, got on the carriage and went to the Ascending Cloud Temple in the southern suburbs of the city to burn incense and pray for blessings.
Although Yu Shu heard from Zhu Qingjue that the master of the Ascending Cloud Temple was a black-hearted person, she didn't stop her family from going to the Taoist temple. After all, they didn't worship humans, but gods.
It was better to believe in the existence of gods and ghosts than to not believe in the non-existence.
Today, there was a sea of people in the Ascending Cloud Temple. Old Madame He was supported by Zhao Hui and the maidservant. With great difficulty, she followed the crowd and entered the door.
Under the feet of the emperor, there was no lack of rich and powerful officials. In front of people, you might step on the wife of a certain assistant minister or the young mistress of a certain general's mansion.
Therefore, everyone obediently lined up to enter the Hall of Three Pristines and kowtowed. There was no one who didn't know what was good for them. Of course, if you wanted to get some privileges, it was okay, but if you weren't a prince, the Three Ministers or the Nine Ministers, you'd better stand to the side.
Old Madame He and Zhao Hui lined up in front with incense sticks. He Fangzhi and Yu Xiaoxiu were talking in a low voice. Yu Shu fell behind and looked around in boredom.
There were people all around, so there was nothing to see. However, every face looked different. Fang Zijing had taught some basic physiognomy in the last class. Yu Shu had memorized a few pages of the textbook. At this moment, she looked at the faces and pondered.
That man had a pair of thin eyebrows, which was the sign of timidity. That woman had a wide forehead and big eyes, which was the sign of prosperity for her husband. That child's eyebrows were sunken and shallow, which was the sign of sickness …
While she was looking at them with interest, suddenly, a withered old face flashed in front of her eyes.
Yu Shu was stunned. She blinked her eyes quickly and looked at the crowd again. That old face had disappeared, leaving a slightly stooped back. In the blink of an eye, it was buried behind the shoulders of a few Taoists.
When she came back to her senses, her heart was beating wildly. She didn't have time to tell her family and squeezed into the crowd.
.....
After a while, Yu Shu stood in front of a crescent door in the northeast corner of the Taoist temple. She stared at the padlocked wooden door in front of her, panting and sweating.
Why did it disappear?
She had clearly chased after someone and came here!
Yu Shu hesitated for a moment. She reached out to the door lock. Just as she pulled it, she heard a scolding voice behind her.
"What are you doing here? This is a place for cultivation. How can you barge in? Hurry up and leave."
Yu Shu turned around and saw a young Taoist walking over in a hurry. She stepped forward and drove him away.
Yu Shu pointed to the door and asked, "May I ask what this place is? Is there anyone living in it? "
The Taoist looked impatient. He shook off her hand that was pulling the lock and stood in front of her and the door. His tone became more fierce.
"This is the place where our abbey dean meditates. What are you asking for? Hurry up and leave. If you are a guest, go to the front hall. If you don't leave now, I won't be polite to you."
Yu Shu pursed her lips tightly and took a deep look at the courtyard door. Her heart was full of surprise.
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