At that time, the emperor only had one word in mind—kill.
However, he ultimately held back.
There was no mass killing.
He had only dealt with the crown prince; he hadn't yet figured out how to treat the woman who had betrayed him—the empress.
As a result, she berated him as a fool who listened to slander and harmed his own son.
Then... the strong-willed woman committed suicide in front of him.
However, the fact that the crown prince was not his biological son was personally confirmed by the leaders of the ten major Taoist sects.
There is no doubt that the crown prince is not his biological son.
At that time, he was so angry that he only wanted to go on a killing spree.
But when the crown prince and empress died, he was not as happy as he had imagined.
I felt empty inside, and couldn't muster any energy for anything.
If it weren't for the health-preserving pills given by Consort Yi, he wouldn't have survived at all.
As the saying goes, time changes everything.
Now, when he thinks of the Empress and the Crown Prince, he doesn't hate them as much anymore.
The Crown Prince's two sons, Qi Chengbang and Qi Chengshao, were exiled along with the Ninth Prince, but to different places.
Qi Chengbang's entire family is dead; only Qi Chengshao remains.
The emperor did not want to exterminate them all.
Let's leave it at that!
In any case, the Crown Prince was very filial to him when he was alive, but unfortunately he was not of royal blood, so he had to get rid of him.
It can only be said that fate is cruel!
...
In the Ye family home in the west of the city, Ye Xianya was teaching her second brother, Ye Qinglin, how to draw talismans.
After witnessing Ye Xianya's power, the sixteen-year-old boy decided to abandon literature and pursue Taoism.
On his way to the capital, Ye Qinglin had been learning to draw talismans, but unfortunately he never succeeded.
Ye Xianya advised him to give up, but he's still persisting to this day.
To be honest, seeing how persistent and diligent he was, writing furiously every day, Ye Xianya was a little moved.
If my second brother could channel this energy into his studies, he would surely achieve the same success as my eldest brother.
Regarding Taoist cultivation?
Ye Qinglin really doesn't have that talent.
Ye Xianya didn't want to discourage him, but some people are just naturally stubborn and won't turn back until they hit a wall.
If he persists for a month or two without seeing results, Ye Qinglin will definitely give up.
If one or two months isn't enough, then three to five months.
Anyway, Ye Qinglin is still very young, so it's not bad to let him pursue his "dream".
"Xianya, my mother said you're going to set up a stall tomorrow?" After failing once again, Ye Qinglin finally put down the cinnabar pen in his hand.
If he can't draw talismans, can he learn face reading and fortune telling first?
"Hmm." Ye Xianya nodded: "I went out yesterday and saw that there's a street in the south of the city full of fortune-telling stalls. I'm planning to go and join in the fun."
Ye Xianya suddenly laughed as she spoke: "As for you, Second Brother, you can't even learn a basic skill like drawing talismans, so don't bother learning fortune telling. There are a lot of karmic consequences involved in this. If you make wild calculations, you'll get into trouble."
"Oh." Ye Qingze nodded upon hearing this. "Then I'll continue learning to draw talismans at home."
“Okay, then I’ll set up a stall tomorrow.” Ye Xianya smiled and nodded.
She finally managed to persuade the stubborn young man to stop.
Although there are ten major Taoist sects outside the capital, the Taoists inside are all busy cultivating themselves, hoping to one day enter the Taiyi Sect and embark on the ethereal path to immortality.
There aren't many Taoist priests who go down the mountain for training, so... very few proper Taoist priests set up fortune-telling stalls in the bustling city.
Ordinary people rarely went to the ten major Taoist temples outside the capital to have their fortunes told, because the opportunities were too few.
Ordinary people may have to wait in line for one or two days before it's their turn.
Wealthy families can use connections or send family members to queue up, but ordinary people can't afford to wait that long.
Moreover, Taoism also has its own rules, and the things that ordinary people ask for are varied and many cannot be calculated.
For example, when a gambler goes to the bank to gamble tomorrow, he might decide whether to bet on "big" or "small" in his first bet.
When Taoist priests hear such questions, they just want to beat people up and won't answer them at all.
Unfortunately, there are quite a few of these bizarre things.
Therefore, the major sects established a rule that no more than one hundred divinations could be performed each day, with only ninety-nine divinations.
This is why, although Taoist divination is very accurate, ordinary people still prefer to patronize these divination stalls.
Reputation is key to successful fortune telling at a stall. Ye Xianya was a newcomer and a young girl, so it was normal that she didn't have any business at first.
After all, this is the capital city, so everyone has a wide range of choices.
This is why she and Furong sat there all day without getting a single customer.
Seeing that it was getting late, Ye Xianya didn't want to linger any longer, so she told Furong to pack up and leave.
The tables at the stall are fixed, and even the banners with the words "fortune telling, divination, feng shui consultation..." are provided by the stall itself, so they don't need to take them down.
It looks pretty good.
Of course, a stall costs five taels of silver per month, which is quite expensive.
This shows just how much money these government offices in the capital were made.
The only thing that truly belonged to them was the cloth spread out on the table.
When Ye Xianya told fortunes, she didn't even need copper coins.
She laid a cloth down simply because the yin-yang symbol on the table had faded and was no longer recognizable, so she bought a piece of hibiscus cloth to use as a cover.
Furong folded the piece of cloth, tied a knot, and slung it over her shoulder.
Just as Ye Xianya was about to lead her away, someone suddenly blocked their way.
She looked up and saw three teenagers standing in front of her, who looked to be about the same age as her second brother, Ye Qinglin.
The boy who stopped her was wearing a bamboo-green robe and was very handsome, with long eyebrows and picturesque features. It was just a pity that she didn't like pretty boys.
In comparison, the two behind him, though not as good-looking as him, had more masculine charm, and she found them much more pleasing to the eye.
"Young master, the time has come, I'm closing up shop. If you want your fortune told, please come back tomorrow." After Ye Xianya finished speaking, she noticed that the young man was still blocking her way with his fan, and she couldn't help but frown.
Are you looking for trouble?
Ye Xianya took two steps back, carefully examined the boy's face, and after calculating with her fingers, said somewhat irritably, "If you want to find your Ninth Uncle, go to Taoyuanju. He's overseeing the craftsmen's decoration at the tavern and hasn't left yet. You can still see him if you go now. Don't block my way."
"You...you know who I am?" the boy asked in surprise.
In the scene that Ye Xianya had previously deduced, there were Qi Jiu, this boy, and another man.
The boy called the man "father" and "Uncle Qi Jiujiu."
Ye Xianya didn't recognize the man, and of course didn't know which prince's son the boy was, but she did know that he was the emperor's grandson and Qi Jiu's nephew.
Ye Xianya was too lazy to argue with him, so she pulled Furong along and walked forward.
Qi Chengyue tried to stop them from leaving, but suddenly felt a huge force surging towards him, like being hit by waves in water. He couldn't resist it at all, and his body uncontrollably took a few steps back, watching helplessly as Ye Xianya and her servant left.
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