Chapter 9: Golden Breeze and Jade Dew: A Meeting

What a dashing young man!

When the Shen Family's carriage passed by, Xie Zian froze in place.

"Uncle Lu, did you hear anyone speaking?"

Waiting for Xie Lu to call out, Xie Zian suddenly came to his senses.

Xie Lu blinked, his face blank: "What?"

"Young master, what are you saying?"

"Who is speaking?"

"It's just the two of us here!"

"Those people who just passed by didn't speak either!"

Xie Lu truly didn't know what Xie Zian was up to now.

In these three years, his young master has been acting on impulse constantly.

"Let's go, into the city!"

Xie Zian glanced at the Shen Family party that had already gone far, then set off toward Liu Cheng.

The carriage bore the character "Shen," and in Liu Cheng, the biggest clan is the Shen Family.

Thus, the young lady on the carriage must be from the Shen Family.

He was certain he had heard a woman speaking earlier.

But Xie Lu didn't hear.

So, this matter must be clarified.

Of course, he also wanted to determine the young lady's status—whether she was already married. If not, then marrying her would be perfect.

Master and servant entered the city and first lodged at an inn.

Then, Xie Lu stepped out for a walk and soon learned what had transpired in Liu Cheng recently.

"My elder brother has also lost his mind!"

"Making such a low‑character person a son‑in‑law—madness!"

Having learned what Zheng Wangshi did, Xie Zian's view of Zheng Si Que deteriorated to the extreme. With such a mother, how could Zheng Si Que be any good?

"Young master, perhaps this top scholar is a bad bamboo yielding good shoots!"

"The great master's eye is still sharp!"

Xie Lu wasn't trying to contradict Xie Zian; he thought their great master wasn't that short‑sighted.

As Grand Tutor of the court, a veteran of three reigns, and long renowned worldwide for his discerning eye, how could Xie Zizheng possibly miss the mark?

"His eye is sharp, but if the matter involves my little niece, perhaps not!"

"They say a loving mother spoils her son; in our Xie Family, a loving father spoils his daughter!"

"Ancestor, please be more careful!"

Xie Lu's face turned white the instant he heard Xie Zian's words.

The current Empress is also a daughter of the Xie Family.

He knew Xie Zian was referring to his niece Xie Wan Er, but if anyone were to falsely accuse Xie Zian of slandering the current Empress, there would be no room for argument.

Although Xie Zixian is Xie Zian's elder sister, the relationship is like ruler‑subject and father‑son!

Since Xie Zixian became Empress, Xie Zian no longer faces her merely as a younger brother, but also as a subject.

【7】 "Understood!"

Got it!

"Uncle Lu, you really are something, is it necessary to be this cautious?"

"Even if I said this in front of my brother‑in‑law, at most I'd just get a beating!"

"Ancestor, be cautious, be cautious!"

Xie Lu felt his old life really couldn't take much more.

Xie Zian sighed and said no more.

Leaving Jingcheng at first was certainly because he didn't want to marry, but more than that, he also didn't want to face this altered family affection.

Clearly they are close kin, yet bound by propriety, they are restrained.

Especially those idle officials who, after eating their fill, spend the whole day watching these trivial matters, fearing that otherwise they cannot display their integrity!

"Uncle Lu, before we entered the city, the lady in the carriage we met—could you find out about her!"

"No need to inquire; she is the legitimate daughter of the Shen Family Third Branch, also the one who was betrothed to the top scholar!"

"So that means the lady is now free?"

Xie Zian's spirit instantly rose.

"Young master, you aren't perhaps taken with her, are you?"

"She was just rejected by the top scholar!"

"I know!"

Xie Zian laughed in a way that made one's scalp tingle, "Don't you think that when Zheng Si Que meets this lady in the future and has to call her 'Auntie', it would be amusing?"

"Ancestor, are you doing this just for fun?"

Xie Lu's head throbbed.

"No, no!"

Xie Zian shook his head, "I truly want to marry this lady!"

"Then, Uncle Lu, send a message to the great ancestor now, telling him that I, the young master, will not marry anyone but this lady!"

"By the way, also tell my sister, say that I've selected a suitable sister‑in‑law for her, preferably one that she can have my brother‑in‑law help bestow a marriage!"

Xie Lu rolled his eyes.

Now he really wants to go back one day—no, even back to before he sought shelter from the rain—he would pull his own young master to avoid that Shen Family lady.

It was just a fleeting glimpse on the carriage; why does that make him refuse to marry her?

"Ancestor, if you know this, will you regret it?"

In Xie Lu's view, if the ancestor hadn't insisted that this little ancestor make a trip to Liu Cheng… wait, the ancestor couldn't have already calculated this, could he?

With that thought, Xie Lu no longer tried to persuade Xie Zian to change his mind.

He has to go send a message!

………

Shen Yunyao, of course, didn't know that she had already been on someone's mind.

She arrived at Sanqing Temple, first paying a reverent bow before the Sanqing Patriarch and offering incense.

She used to not believe in such things.

But even something as miraculous as a transmigration happened, so whether the Sanqing Patriarch truly exists remains unknown.

"Miss, let's go draw a lot!"

After Shen Yunyao finished offering incense, Cuiyu came up to her side.

"Alright!"

Shen Yunyao also wanted to draw a lot.

But what this lot actually asks for, she herself was a bit confused about.

Future prospects—she, as a woman, seemed unable to obtain.

Marriage fate—having been rejected, she thought it better not to ask for that.

Fine, just treat it as a game!

Following Cuiyu, Shen Yunyao soon saw where the lot‑drawing took place.

In front of Sanqing Temple's gate, a plain‑clothed diviner sat upright, with a lot tube on the table before him and brush, ink, paper, and inkstone beside it.

"Layman, please sit!"

"Write a character first!"

Seeing Shen Yunyao approach, the diviner slightly inclined his body and gestured with his hand.

"I only draw lots, I don't interpret the characters."

Drawing lots can be a game; interpreting characters becomes fortune‑telling.

Although Shen Yunyao had a different view on some metaphysical matters, she still didn't believe in fate.

"My destiny is determined by me, not by heaven!"

"By judging a person through a character, I can interpret the lot and achieve efficacy."

The diviner smiled and explained the reasoning.

Shen Yunyao pondered for a moment, but couldn't help recalling the dashing young man she had met on the road.

A youngster like that shouldn't be an ordinary person!

So, Shen Yunyao lifted her brush and wrote the character "Yuan".

"A meeting is fate!"

"Why must a meeting require prior acquaintance!"

Then, Shen Yunyao picked up the lot tube and gave it a shake.

A moment later, a bamboo stick shot out of the tube and landed on the table.

The bamboo stick bore a poem: "Golden wind, jade dew, one meeting surpasses countless mortal encounters."

The plain‑clothed diviner, upon seeing the lot text, immediately rose and said, "Congratulations, miss, your fate is ordained by heaven; your destined encounter has arrived!"

"Miss, miss, wonderful, wonderful!"

Hearing the diviner's words, Cuiyu was the first to jump up.

Since her own miss's engagement to the Zheng Family gentleman went awry, it had made her extremely anxious.

Now, finally there is good news!

(End of chapter)