Chapter 50

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He looked at her with envy, "We've never been to Guangxin Prefecture or Kaifeng Prefecture in our whole lives."

Pan Yun, hearing this, felt sorrow for her future days, "Then what's the largest city you've ever been to?"

"Yushan County."

It didn't sound large at all; Pan Yun fell silent.

Master Xuanmiao came over with an empty basket on her back; everything she'd brought down the mountain had been sold. Unlike the children's small trinkets, she sold directly to shops or merchants in town.

They were all regular customers, and prices were mostly fixed.

She glanced at the three children's stalls; on the hemp sacks before Miao Zhen and Miao He lay many remaining items, but Pan Yun's hemp sack was completely empty, "Your talismans actually sold here?"

Pan Yun: "Yes, is that surprising?"

Master Xuanmiao nodded, "Very surprising. Who bought them?"

Miao He burst into loud laughter, delighted, "Fourth Master, Little Master is joking with you—she didn't sell a single talisman. She's going to Guangxin Prefecture to sell them. Fourth Master, I want to go with Little Master."

Miao Zhen: "I want to go too."

Master Xuanmiao: "When you can descend from the southern peak to the mountain base, you can go wherever you like."

Except for Pan Yun, whose eyes lit up, Miao Zhen and Miao He both slumped their shoulders and sighed dejectedly, "Oh."

Master Xuanmiao said to Pan Yun, "Come with me. You two keep selling your things."

Pan Yun handed her hemp sack to Miao Zhen and Miao He to use for displaying goods, then caught up with Master Xuanmiao, "Where are we going?"

"To the express post station."

Here, express post stations were set up every fifteen li; Physician Village was not far from Mount Sanqing, so there was the nearest one.

Operated by the imperial court, they delivered only official documents and court letters; for civilian correspondence, they delivered only to villages, where recipients had to collect them themselves.

Only three people were inside, sorting newly delivered letters and packages. The station chief, seeing Master Xuanmiao, frowned and stepped forward, "What do you want?"

Master Xuanmiao's face was equally cold as she replied, "To collect mail. Are there any letters for Mount Sanqing?"

The station chief searched the shelves, then tossed out one letter, "And there's one addressed to 'Sanzhu of Mount Sanqing.' Who is that?"

Master Xuanmiao quickly glanced at Pan Yun, then said, "It's my third master, Tao Ji's alias while away."

The station chief snorted, then tossed out another letter, muttering loudly enough to be heard, "Playing tricks, who knows what scams you've pulled out there—still using aliases…"

Master Xuanmiao ignored him entirely, swept her hand across the pile, grabbed both letters, and turned to leave.

Pan Yun stared in shock, then hurried after her.

Master Xuanmiao suddenly stopped, handed Pan Yun her letter, and asked coldly, "Do you remember where the express post station is?"

Pan Yun nodded dumbly.

Master Xuanmiao: "From now on, you'll collect the mail."

Pan Yun immediately hurried after her, "Sister, did you deliberately offend him just because I'll be collecting the mail from now on?"

"No," Master Xuanmiao said coldly, "I used to do this too. He used to do this too."

Pan Yun: "Aren't you afraid he'll damage our Mount Sanqing letters and packages?"

"He won't dare," Master Xuanmiao stopped and looked at her seriously. "Remember: when you come to collect mail in the future, if any letter is stained or abnormal, record it and report it to the Yushan County post station. Don't fear his cold face or threats. If you believe you should have received a letter but didn't, make him search one by one and produce the records to verify."

Pan Yun pondered, "The precondition for defying power is possessing greater power. I understand—we have someone above him!"

Master Xuanmiao lowered her gaze and studied her quietly, then said, "You always give me the feeling you're not Pan Hong's daughter—you're more like Wang Zhen's daughter."

"…Sister, you're mocking me. Wang Zhen is a eunuch—how could he have a daughter?"

"Don't you know he castrated himself to enter the palace? Perhaps he had a daughter before that?"

Pan Yun snorted, "I have good character—I'm nothing like that kind of person."

Master Xuanmiao then said, "You can defy power even without possessing it."

And then you'll end up like your father.

Pan Yun muttered under her breath, lowering her head to look at the letter in her hand.

The familiar handwriting made her suppress a surge of joy; she glanced around, saw no one watching her, felt no prying eyes, and immediately tore open the letter.

It was a reply from Pan Hong—he said he and his two sons had grown accustomed to their exile life and were all doing well.

Pan Yun's eyes filled with tears.

Master Xuanmiao, who had walked ahead, returned and stood before her, "Did something happen to your father?"

Pan Yun shook her head, "No—but my father always reports good news and hides the bad."

Master Xuanmiao: "Just like you—you both hate telling the truth."

Master Xuanmiao finished reading her own letter and said to her, "My friend replied: your family has safely returned to Changzhou Prefecture. Your second uncle has secured a teaching position at Jintai Academy—with a decent monthly salary."

"Safety is enough. I'm not worried about my second uncle's ability to earn and support the family." He was slightly better than her father in that regard.

Back at the stall, a crowd had gathered around Miao Zhen and Miao He. Pan Yun's heart leapt; she pushed through. The crowd consisted entirely of young women, newly married wives, and older mothers; they split into two groups. The older mothers mostly clustered around Miao He, one of them gesturing on her body, "Right here, right here—I hurt standing, sitting, even lying down. Little Daoist Miao He, tell me what's wrong with me."

Miao He's plump little hand pressed on her waist; the old woman cried out, "Ooh, ooh!"—but she was delighted, "Right there, right there—press more, press more!"

The young women and newlyweds clustered around Miao Zhen, lining up to extend their palms, desperate to get close, "Little Daoist, please read my marriage line—will I find a match this year?"

Miao Zhen took her hand, studied it carefully, then examined her face and shook her head, "This year, no. Perhaps next year—good fortune will come late for you."

"Oh…," the girl's face fell.

But Pan Yun suddenly felt as if her meridians had been unblocked; she pushed forward enthusiastically, "Better late than soon! Delayed fortune benefits you—not just your health, but your wealth too."

The girl's eyes instantly brightened; she sized up Pan Yun, saw she wore the same Daoist robe as Miao Zhen, realized they were together, immediately abandoned Miao Zhen and rushed to Pan Yun. The two met in the middle between Miao Zhen and Miao He, "Really?"

Pan Yun nodded firmly, "More true than gold, Miss. Let me look again at your palm—see where your romantic fate lies."

The girl immediately extended her hand.

Pan Yun grasped it, glanced at the palm, then looked up at her face—and barely controlled her expression. This girl's destiny was terrible.

!. Read

Pan Yun frowned tightly; the girl instantly tensed up.

Pan Yun lowered her gaze to hide the light in her eyes and smiled at her: "Miss, your romantic fate is best when near, not far, and good fortune lies ahead—though the path ahead is hard, it will eventually turn sweet."

The girl focused only on the phrases "best when near, not far" and "good fortune lies ahead," asking twice more, then happily pulled out a single copper coin from her bosom and handed it to her: "Little Daoist, you've calculated well—here's this copper coin for you."

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He never charged for this work; Pan Yun never intended to take money—she had already realized none here had any, and beyond selling goods, Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He were merely doing charity.

She had pushed forward only to test what she'd learned during this time, to gather experience, so she could later go to wealthy places and earn money by reading faces.

Now, seeing the copper coin offered before her, she reached out and took it, solemnly saying: "Good person, should you ever face uncertainty in your romantic fate, come to Mount Sanqing and seek this humble Daoist—I shall spare no effort to cast your divination and resolve your fate."

She added: "If climbing the mountain is too difficult, ask at the Mountain God Temple at its foot—query the Mountain God of Mount Sanqing."

Sensing Pan Yun's sincerity, the girl happily agreed and walked off, beaming.

Hearing this, others felt Pan Yun's face-reading skill was superior, and immediately pushed forward a new group to her.

By the time they had examined every young woman, newlywed, and elderly matron along the street, all three were hoarse—and of course, Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He had sold all their herbs.

Master Xuanmiao handed them a bamboo tube to drink from.

The three sat together in silence, drinking, utterly quiet.

The way back was equally quiet, nothing like the morning departure, when their mouths had not stopped talking.

They said nothing, but Master Xuanmiao spoke.

She looked at Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen: "Why did you lie?"

Pan Yun, voice hoarse, replied: "Who did we lie to?"

"That girl who asked about romance—she should marry this year."

Pan Yun: "But it's not her true match."

Master Xuanmiao: "Yet it is her destiny."

Pan Yun: "When we read faces and calculate fate, isn't the point to avoid bad destiny and seize good fortune?"

Seeing Miao Zhen nodded vigorously: "I saw her marriage carried mortal danger, so I told her to wait until next year."

Master Xuanmiao frowned: "As you two say, face-reading and fate-calculation aim to avoid bad destiny—then you should have told her the truth. My question is: why lie, and withhold the truth?"

Pan Yun: "Come on, if you can avoid bad news, why say it and make someone unhappy?"

Master Xuanmiao turned to Seeing Miao Zhen: "And you?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "I feared she'd get angry—and feared her family would come beat me."

Pan Yun turned in surprise: "Is the local custom so violent? It's just fortune-telling—why would anyone hit us? Who among us of Mount Sanqing has ever been beaten?"

Seeing Miao Zhen looked up at Master Xuanmiao.

Pan Yun followed her gaze, meeting Master Xuanmiao's eyes, and involuntarily swallowed hard: "Th-this—they couldn't possibly have beaten Fourth Sister, could they?"

Master Xuanmiao glanced at her, then turned and walked away.

Pan Yun was intensely curious; she quickly grabbed Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He and whispered: "Did Fourth Sister really get beaten? Did they win?"

Seeing Miao Zhen said: "Grandmaster and Third Uncle were beaten too—I heard even my master was once driven out of the gate."

This sounded alarming—no wonder we must emphasize cultivating Wu Gong—we need some martial skill.

Master Xuanmiao turned back and urged: "Hurry up!"

"Coming—!" The three hurried after her, their small bamboo baskets on their backs.

After descending the mountain, Pan Yun earned one copper coin!

The lucky number for this chapter is any number ending in 1—screenshot as proof; screenshot deadline ends before the next chapter updates.

(End of Chapter)