The hall erupted in an uproar.
"So amazing! This fortune-teller really has some skills..."
"The fortune-teller Manping is truly extraordinary. I'll go to her for a fortune-telling too..."
"Since she has real skills, she must be able to tell the difference between the packages..."
People were talking animatedly. Sai Xing, who had been so nervous that her palms were sweating, was also shocked with her mouth wide open. Fortunately, the veil on her hat hid her expression from others.
Is this still her own young lady?
It turned out that her young lady really knew how to tell fortunes, or rather, answer fortune-telling questions. She had always thought her young lady was just kidding her.
The two people who had been arguing just now were also extremely surprised.
The fair-faced young gentleman stepped forward and bowed to Ye Xi again, with a much more respectful attitude.
"Sorry, I was rude just now. Since the fortune-teller has such skills, could you please help us?"
The man in the blue shirt blushed and shouted loudly.
"I don't believe it. You're all in cahoots to deceive me!"
"A female Taoist priest. Stop pretending to be a hermit expert!"
As he shouted, he quietly tried to slip out.
Seeing his abnormal behavior, everyone understood what was going on. They all took action and were about to arrest him and send him to the government.
Suddenly, the hall was in chaos.
Ye Xi was jostled and staggered, almost falling to the side.
"Miss..." Sai Xing was extremely anxious and almost blurted out "Miss", but stopped herself in time. She struggled to squeeze through the crowd to hold Ye Xi.
Just as Ye Xi was about to fall, she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. Then, she was quickly pulled out of the crowd and into a safe corner.
Once in a safe place, Ye Xi steadied herself. She subconsciously wanted to perform a common courtesy, but quickly realized and bowed instead, saying,
"Thank you, sir, for your help."
The man let out a soft chuckle and said,
"Fortune-teller, you don't need to be so polite. It's actually I who should thank you."
"Hmm?" Ye Xi looked at him in confusion.
The veils were so thick that Ye Xi couldn't see the man's face clearly. She could only make out a vague and graceful outline.
The fair-faced young gentleman who had been arguing just now suddenly squeezed through the crowd and said with a smile,
"This is my elder brother. He wants to thank the fortune-teller for your help on my behalf."
"Oh..." Ye Xi understood.
By now, the man had been captured and sent to the government by the young gentleman's men. Sai Xing finally managed to squeeze through. She looked Ye Xi up and down several times before breathing a sigh of relief and saying,
"You scared me. Fortunately, Miss... I mean, the fortune-teller is okay."
Ye Xi had originally planned to use her mind-reading ability to tell the difference between the two packages and earn some silver. But before she could, the man had confessed on his own. So Ye Xi didn't feel right asking for money anymore.
Now that the matter was over and she had been out for a while, Ye Xi said goodbye to the two men and prepared to leave.
But the elder brother of the young gentleman suddenly spoke up.
"I haven't thanked the fortune-teller for what happened just now. I wonder what the fortune-teller would like?"
Ye Xi paused.
This... didn't seem right. But he had asked...
Moreover, judging from their clothes, they didn't seem like people who would be short of ten taels of silver. So how about asking for some money?
After some inner struggle, Ye Xi finally spoke.
"Then... ten taels of silver, please."
"Only ten taels?" The young gentleman was extremely surprised.
In the past, whenever his family invited a famous and skilled fortune-teller, they had to pay at least forty or fifty taels.
This fortune-teller seemed especially honest today.
"Ah, then twenty taels."
Remembering that Sai Xing was also with her, Ye Xi quickly changed her answer.
"Then twenty taels it is." The elder brother of the young gentleman said. "May I ask where the fortune-teller's Taoist temple is? It would be convenient for me to find you if I need your help in the future."
"Um... I'm currently traveling around and don't have a fixed Taoist temple for now. If you have something to ask me, please write it down and put it under the small pavilion beside Sheng Guo Temple. My disciple will go and get it."
Since Ye Xi didn't have anywhere else to stay for the time being, she had to make use of the small pavilion beside Sheng Guo Temple.
"Okay." The elder brother let out a soft laugh and said, "Qu Xian, take out the money."
The young gentleman responded with a "Yes" and took out twenty taels of silver from his pocket and gave it to Ye Xi.
Qu Xian?
This name was quite interesting.
Ye Xi took the money, exchanged a few more words, and then left.
Seeing Ye Xi walking away, Qu Xian said with a smile,
"Brother Zhou, this fortune-teller is really interesting. She's so honest."
Indeed, the fortune-teller...
Shen Zhou squinted his peach blossom eyes but didn't answer. Instead, he changed the topic and said,
"This is your first time attending the treasure exhibition on your own. How do you feel about what happened just now?"
"Hey," Shen Qu Xian scratched his head and pretended to be dissatisfied.
"Brother Zhou, don't even mention it. If you hadn't deliberately wanted to train me, you would have stepped in and taught that thief a lesson during the argument. Now that you've seen me make a fool of myself, are you happy?"
"Of course I'm happy..." But not because of your embarrassment.
Shen Zhou smiled, and his peach blossom eyes curved slightly.
"The treasure exhibition will start tomorrow. Besides displaying its own treasures, Qiwan Hall has also invited people from all over the world. Anyone with treasures can participate. It will surely be a mixed crowd. You must keep a good eye on your things."
"If anything goes missing again..."
Shen Zhou looked at Shen Qu Xian with a smile, which made Shen Qu Xian shiver involuntarily.
"Don't worry, Brother Zhou," Shen Qu Xian immediately promised. "I'll keep a tight watch on my things. I won't let them get lost again."
"Um..." Shen Zhou responded indifferently. "Check your people. That person seemed to know so much about the things in the package. I'm afraid someone leaked the information."
"Yes." Shen Qu Xian also felt that something was wrong. He responded and immediately went to investigate.
Night fell quickly.
With the money to enter Qiwan Hall and after asking Sai Xing about the Fourth Princess's preferences, Ye Xi lay on the bed drowsily, thinking about how to approach the Fourth Princess tomorrow.
Meanwhile, in the Prince Yu'an's Mansion -
Clang -
The two swords clashed, making a humming sound.
Yi Yuan quickly dodged and slapped Xiang Xiao on the shoulder. Xiang Xiao spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground beside another maid, unable to get up.
The guards filed in through the door and pointed their swords at the maids' necks. Steward Chen rushed in in a hurry and supported the staggering Yi Yuan.
"Your Highness, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Yi Yuan steadied himself. "It's just the sleeping incense. How's Yaofeng?"
"The young prince is fine. Fortunately, Miss Ye reminded us. I specially transferred some personal guards here just in case."
Steward Chen was very excited when he mentioned this. "Miss Ye is really amazing. She can not only enlighten the young prince but also tell fortunes so accurately."
"I've always said that Miss Ye is different from other women. She..."
"Okay, Uncle Chen." Yi Yuan was helpless. He knew what Steward Chen meant. He had misunderstood Ye Xi before, thinking that she had other motives and had driven her away. Now, if he wanted to invite her back, he had to apologize first.
"Since I misunderstood her, I'll handle it myself."
The sleeping incense in the incense burner was very powerful. Yi Yuan could hardly stand up and spoke weakly.
"Alright." With Yi Yuan's promise, Steward Chen was overjoyed.
It was really because when the misunderstanding between the two happened during the day, Yi Yaofeng was immersed in his own world and couldn't extricate himself. When he finally came out of his world, he found that Ye Xi was gone, and no one was there to appreciate the thousand-mechanism tiger he had painstakingly assembled.
Yi Yaofeng was very angry about this. Steward Chen coaxed him for a long time and repeatedly promised to bring Ye Xi back before he calmed down.
Now that Yi Yuan was willing to humble himself and coax Ye Xi back, Steward Chen was so happy that an extra wrinkle appeared on his face.
"Let's go, Your Highness," Steward Chen said with a toothy smile. "I'll help you go and rest."