Chapter 441: All Missing Them

Zhuocheng smiled in satisfaction, nodded, and said, "This talisman is very good. Do you have any others?"

Pan Yun was stumped for a moment; people who so proactively let her earn money were rare, and someone this proactive was one of a kind. Her mind turned to mush for a moment, and she actually couldn't find any other suitable talismans.

It was Wang Cong beside her who said with a smile, "Yes, we do. We also have Rising Fortune Talismans. I see, Young Master, that not only is your Red Phoenix star stirring, but the tail of your brow is lifted as well — this is the beginning of a meteoric rise."

Zhuocheng smiled, half amused, half not. "Of course, the two little Daoist Priests just said I'd rise through the ranks on my wife's family's coattails."

Wang Cong's smile didn't waver as he patched things up. "That's also because of the Young Master's own talent and solid foundation. Otherwise, no matter how strong the wind, it couldn't lift a heavy object into the air, let alone grant a meteoric rise."

The corner of Zhuocheng's mouth lifted slightly, finally showing a hint of a smile, and he asked casually, "How much for a Rising Fortune Talisman?"

Wang Cong immediately said, "Sixty-six taels each, signifying…"

"That everything will go smoothly, I know," Zhuocheng cut him off and said directly, "Give me three."

Wang Cong hadn't expected him to be so generous, and suspicion immediately rose in his heart. He didn't dare sell them so readily. "I see between the Young Master's brows something related to…"

Miao Zhen understood instantly and immediately leaned to his ear, whispering, "Wealth."

Wang Cong: "…related to wealth. Could the Young Master perhaps be serving in the Ministry of Revenue?"

This time Zhuocheng was genuinely surprised. He shot a quick glance at Miao Zhen, paused for quite a while, and only then nodded.

Wang Cong then asked with a smile, "May I ask why the Young Master wishes to buy so many Rising Fortune Talismans?"

Zhuocheng: "One for my father, one for my uncle."

Wang Cong actually found that perfectly reasonable.

Pan Yun knew what Wang Cong was worried about — nothing more than an official running a sting operation.

Don't look at how Daoist Priests telling fortunes can be seen everywhere on the streets; in truth, once you look into it carefully, the business isn't entirely legal.

The Great Ancestor, the August Emperor, had strict regulations on the operating premises of monks and Daoists, and did not permit them to operate privately.

Fortune-telling on the street can also be defined as "private operation," but if the people don't complain, the officials won't pursue it. Moreover, such is the way of the world — normally, when officials and government office Runners see it, they pretend not to. Some of them even come by themselves to have their fortune told.

The premise is that the fee isn't too high.

On the streets, a reading generally costs five wen, seven wen, occasionally nine or eleven wen for someone a bit more famous…

The talismans sold are either one tael, or five taels. Talismans priced at ten taels or twenty taels are extremely expensive by street standards.

Someone like Zhuocheng — both an official and so generous — really looks like an official short on money out running a sting.

Just waiting for the moment Wang Cong and the others took the money to arrest them…

Wang Cong, who had roamed the jianghu for many years and seen everything, grew cautious.

Pan Yun, however, gave him a slight nod and sent a voice transmission: 【Sell to him. I didn't sense any malice on him.】

Miao Zhen also nodded. On him they had only seen glittering gold — which meant they shared a financial affinity with him.

Wang Cong trusted their intuition, so he smilingly took out three Good Luck Talismans, renamed them Rising Fortune Talismans, and sold them to him along with three other talismans.

The deep-pocketed Zhuocheng tugged off his money pouch, took out four banknotes from inside and handed them over — a total of three hundred and fifty taels. He said grandly, "No need for change. The extra is for you."

Wang Cong, who had been about to make change, immediately cupped his hands in salute. The four behind him did the same, and they all bowed in unison: "Many thanks, kind sir."

Zhuocheng, feeling his task complete, took the talismans and turned to leave.

The five master and disciples watched him go. The moment the man had taken three steps, Pan Yun and the others turned in unison and quickly departed from the other side.

Zhuocheng seemed to sense something. After a few steps he looked back, only managing to catch the backs of the five. With a flick of a hem, the five ducked into an alley and vanished.

Zhuocheng: …

A cat had been left in the corner. It drew its gaze back from the five, swiveled its round little head, and stared expressionlessly at the turned-back Zhuocheng.

Zhuocheng, unaware that he was being watched by a cat, gave a soft laugh, turned, and went up to the second floor of the teahouse.

The black cat rose from the sunlight, stretched lazily first, then walked a few steps forward, gradually broke into a run, scrambled up the corner of the wall to the second floor of the teahouse in a few quick bounds, and with one leap was inside. It went room by room, searching.

The five hiding in the alley leaned back against the wall and waited a while, then poked their heads out together to look.

Wang Cong: "He wasn't setting a trap for us, so why are we hiding?"

Pan Yun: "Although I didn't sense any malice, and we do share a financial affinity, someone this generous really is a first for me. I'm still a little uneasy."

Miao Zhen nodded: "It's better to be cautious."

Miao He: "It's very likely that people in Jingcheng are just rich and stupid."

Tao Yanbai nodded.

Pan Yun was about to speak when Pan Xiaohei had already found Zhuocheng. It nimbly leaped to the window and peeked inside.

She saw him say to a little girl with her back to the cat: "Reassured now? Three hundred and fifty taels — enough for them to live very well in Jingcheng."

"Thank you, big brother."

"Let's go, time to head home."

Pan Xiaohei pulled its head back just as the little girl turned to pick something up from the table, scrambled down the wall in a few quick bounds, and whooshed off to find Pan Yun. "Zhuo Ling?" Pan Yun raised an eyebrow. "So it was her. The little girl knows to repay a kindness."

Wang Cong and the others immediately relaxed too, grinning. "So it was her."

The five shouldered their banner cloths and walked out of the alley again, beginning to look for new customers.

Pan Yun felt she was impressive, but her senior nephew was even more so. Although his physiognomy and divination couldn't compare with theirs, he knew how to talk.

So she said to Tao Yanbai and the other two: "Learn well from Cong. Especially you, Miao Zhen — don't learn from your Third Uncle-Master and Fourth Uncle-Master. Learn from your Great Uncle-Master and your senior brother."

Wang Cong nodded repeatedly. "Junior sister, although his spousal palace shows thin romantic fate, you can't put it that way. The man isn't married yet, after all. Feelings like that can be cultivated. His face looks decent enough — we should hint in a positive direction."

He said: "My father once said that a person's fate is hard to change, but fortune can be changed. Many streams can join into a river, many rivers can form a sea. As long as there is a sliver of hope, we hope every fated person we meet will have a smooth life.

So whether it's a Peace Talisman, a Good Luck Talisman, or a Hearts-Knitted Talisman, they are all that one sliver of hope."

Miao Zhen: "And if it still doesn't work?"

Wang Cong said frankly: "We have done our human effort; the rest is up to Heaven."

Not only Miao Zhen and the other two, but Pan Yun too fell into thought.

!. read

Light and shadow swept quickly past them. By the time Pan Yun and Miao Zhen came back to themselves, Wang Cong and the other three were already squatting in the corner, their legs numb.

Seeing the two of them come back to themselves, Wang Cong didn't ask what they'd gained. He slapped his backside, stood up, shouldered the banner, and announced, "We've earned enough money today, and you've both gained some insight into Yi studies. Let's go, time to head home!"

The five of them turned and slipped into a dark alley, dodging people's gazes on the way home, unaware that at this very moment, many people in different places were all thinking of them at once—so much so that by the time they got home, every single one of them had ears burning red.

First, the Zhuo Cheng siblings, who had just gotten home. "Betrothal?"

"That's right," Mrs. Zhuo said, beaming. "The family has just arranged it for you. Get yourself ready; the day after tomorrow, your uncle will take you to formally propose."

Zhuo Cheng's heart stirred, and he asked, "May I know whose young lady it is, that Mother is so pleased?"

Mrs. Zhuo laughed and said, "It's the granddaughter of Lord Ningyang, Chen Mao. This match was personally proposed by Lord Ningyang's Lady."

Zhuo Cheng: …It really was a noble match, so noble it made his heart tremble.

Zhuo Cheng stared blankly, thinking—could they really be more than just martial-arts-skilled men of the jianghu? Could they actually know physiognomy?

He couldn't help glancing at Zhuo Ling beside him.

Zhuo Ling's eyes were already shining bright. She gripped her elder brother's arm tightly, her nails digging into his flesh, and it took tremendous restraint to keep from screaming.

And Zhuo Cheng, face expressionless, likewise took tremendous restraint to keep from crying out in pain.

Mrs. Zhuo's gaze slid back and forth between the two siblings. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Zhuo Cheng said first. "Just very surprised. Mother, before arranging a betrothal, shouldn't you have asked me first?"

Mrs. Zhuo hurriedly replied, "I've met that Miss Chang—she's truly wonderful, and her family is so distinguished. It's only recently that she moved back to Beijing with her family from Nanjing; many households in Beijingcheng still don't know about her, otherwise it wouldn't have been our family's turn…"

In short, because Mrs. Zhuo was quick-eyed and quick-handed, and sweet enough of tongue, she snatched this match for Zhuo Cheng.

Zhuo Cheng had nothing to say.

Zhuo Ling pulled him to the back courtyard, face alight with excitement. "Elder Brother, I told you I saw a ghost—they really are immortals! Being able to command ghosts, what else could they be but immortals?"

"I saw it with my own eyes, a ghost floating in midair! Really! Believe me!"

Zhuo Cheng's temples throbbed. He had only just managed to convince his little sister that there were no ghosts in this world, and yet in the span of a single encounter, she had immediately strayed back onto the wrong path.

But…was this really the wrong path?

At this moment, even Zhuo Cheng was starting to doubt.

Like him, unable to stop muttering about Pan Yun and the others, were the examination candidates back at the inn.

They had invited another physician to come diagnose them—a famous physician in Jingcheng.

But the man took one look at their injuries, sniffed the two bottles of medicine, and said outright: "We have no methods or medicines more skilled than this physician's. If even he cannot get the five gentlemen into the examination hall tomorrow, then I certainly cannot."

The examination candidates were stunned.

But since tomorrow's examination was at stake, they didn't dare take it lightly. They immediately sent for two more physicians.

Those two gave the same explanation as the first. One even said frankly: "If the five candidates weren't entering the examination hall tomorrow, I'd still dare to prescribe another formula for you to try—slower to take effect, but my fee would be much lower. But since the five of you enter the examination hall tomorrow, nothing is more precious than time."

The five men's faces went a little dazed. So Wang Cong really hadn't been lying to them—this truly was the best medicine and medical skill his family had kept hidden away.

The candidates watching on the side had a flicker in their eyes; some had already shrewdly sent people to the examination院 to find Wang Cong and the others.

The Great Ming's spring examinations lasted nine days straight, a tremendous drain on body and mind. At a time like this, having a good physician was extremely important.

Although Wang Cong and the others' price was a bit steep, among those present, there would always be someone who didn't lack money.

While the young servants of wealthy families ran off to the academy to find people, at this same moment, the Embroidered Uniform Guard who had arrived at Yushan County had also pulled the files on the few people at Sanqing Temple on Mount Sanqing from the county office.

"This Pan Yun, styled Pan Sanzhu—why isn't she on record? Also, her place of origin isn't Yushan County. Why is the record on her parents and family only a single brief line? Where are her contract of sale and contract of redemption?"

Good night

(End of chapter)