Yuan Qi raised an eyebrow slightly, not expecting him to be there for fortune telling: "You will be able to ascend the throne, but it won't be smooth sailing. You will have many strong opponents."
Xiao Yi wasn't angry. Instead, he chuckled and said, "I know, and many others know, that several of my good brothers want to sit in my place. It doesn't matter, as long as they can ascend the throne."
"The opponents I'm talking about aren't them. They're not even that strong. For His Highness the Crown Prince, dealing with them wouldn't be difficult. So, the strength I'm talking about is something you can't even imagine."
Yuan Qi jumped down from the armchair: "That's all I have to say. You'd better take care of yourself."
Jiang Bailu heard everything clearly. Her face flushed red and then turned pale. She was furious. Speaking ill of Xiao Yi was worse than speaking ill of her. She blocked Yuan Qi's way and reprimanded him sternly: "How dare you talk nonsense to His Highness the Crown Prince? Why don't you kneel down and beg for forgiveness?"
Yuan Qi was more than half a head shorter than her and felt he had lost in terms of momentum, so he went back and climbed onto the chair, put his hands on his hips, and said in a serious tone: "Let me make it clear that when I tell fortunes and read faces, I never exaggerate or scare people. What I told him just now was actually conservative. If I told him the truth, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to handle it. His road to the throne is full of dangers and hardships, not a smooth one. If I tell him, he can be more careful and avoid dying too early and too tragically."
Even with his strong mental fortitude, Xiao Yi couldn't smile now. His face showed a hint of worry as he stepped forward and gently pulled Jiang Bailu aside, saying, "Don't blame her. It was my own idea to ask."
He wanted to ask the same question to the infallible Imperial Advisor, but the Imperial Advisor only obeyed his father, the Emperor, and even though he was the Crown Prince, the Imperial Advisor would refuse to answer.
He took out a silver ingot that he had prepared beforehand from his sleeve and handed it to Yuan Qi: "Ten taels of silver for one divination, this is the divination fee."
Yuan Qi grabbed the silver ingot with his small hand and generously told him, "If you ever encounter any insurmountable obstacles in the future, you can come to me. For someone of His Highness the Crown Prince's status, the starting price for disaster relief and exorcism is ten thousand taels of silver."
After saying that, she jumped off the chair and skipped away.
Xiao Yi chuckled helplessly and shook his head.
Jiang Bailu comforted him: "Don't listen to her nonsense. She just wants to extort money from you because you are rich and powerful. You don't know, Grandmother said that she went to the Bai family to see what was going on last night. She went back and forth for less than two hours and received 30,000 taels of silver from them. It was a really good deal with no investment and huge profits."
"I've heard about the Bai family's situation. The second branch of the Bai family was kicked out, and their fortune was taken away. It's truly despairing." Fortunately, she said that he could still come to her when he encountered an insurmountable obstacle.
Jiang Songlu shook Xiao Yi's arm: "Your Highness, don't listen to her. She's so young, what does she know? Even if you want to have your fortune told, you should go to Wuxiang Temple or Wuji Palace. If that doesn't work, you can ask the Imperial Advisor. She's just talking nonsense. What she says doesn't count."
Xiao Yi didn't want to argue with her, so he just hummed in agreement: "I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving now. I'll come to see you another day."
Jiang Bailu was furious that Yuan Qi was talking nonsense in front of Xiao Yi. After seeing Xiao Yi off, she went straight to Shaoyao Residence.
In the transition from spring to summer, when the temperature was pleasant, the door of Peony Residence was wide open, and Jiang Bailu stormed in, furious: "Jiang Yuanqi! Are you jealous that I'm doing well? Are you just jealous that I can marry His Highness the Crown Prince and become the Crown Princess? You can't stand it, so you're trying to ruin this marriage?"
However, Yuan Qi did not look up. He calmly took a piece of yellow paper, picked up a talisman brush, dipped it in cinnabar, and prepared to draw a talisman.
Jiang Bailu angrily snatched the yellow paper and tore it to shreds.
"Let me tell you, no matter how unlucky you think the Crown Prince is, I will not break off the engagement. Just give up on that idea. His Highness the Crown Prince will never be interested in you!"
Yuan Qi raised her head and said sarcastically, "You can even relate this to your marriage? I'm truly impressed. His Highness the Crown Prince is good, but not every woman wants to marry him."
Jiang Bailu didn't think so. She angrily threw the yellow paper scraps on the ground and warned Yuan Qi, "I'm warning you, don't even think about coveting His Highness the Crown Prince. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. You're a Taoist priest, no matter how handsome you are, you'll definitely have a hard time getting married in the future. After all, no family wants to marry a nun. So you're coveting your brother-in-law, you're truly shameless!"
Yuan Qi rolled his eyes: "You have such a dirty mind, and you think so of others? Are you out of your mind?"
She didn't want to argue with the other person anymore, so she simply formed a hand seal and sealed her mouth shut.
“Go away, I don’t want to argue with you. You should go back and keep an eye on your Crown Prince. There are so many beautiful noble ladies in the capital. Maybe the Crown Prince will fall for one of them and not like you. It’s too dangerous. You have to keep an eye on him at all times. Also, there’s Jiang Songlu and Jiang Jiulu. They are both good-looking and from good families. They might also have their eyes on the Crown Prince.”
Jiang Bailu was so angry she was practically fuming. She wanted to yell at Yuan Qi, but found she couldn't open her mouth. She knew Yuan Qi had done it again, so she pointed at Yuan Qi and then at her own mouth, asking him to undo the spell.
Shenxun fluttered in, flying around in front of her.
Jiang Bailu was traumatized by the bird's droppings twice. Seeing Shen Xun pointing its rear end at her again, she couldn't fight back or dodge, so she could only turn and run away.
Yuan Qi chuckled.
Jiang Bailu was furious. She couldn't even beat a bird. Wouldn't people laugh at her if word got out?
But she had no choice and was furious, so she went to Ci'an Temple.
"Grandmother, Grandmother." Jiang Bailu ran straight in. Bai Xiuqing had just woken up from her afternoon nap, and Granny Fang was helping her comb her hair.
Jiang Bailu knelt beside Bai Xiuqing, buried her head in Bai Xiuqing's lap, and began to cry, "Grandmother, Seventh Sister bullied me."
Bai Xiuqing values the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children most. He usually dotes on his principal wife, Xiangli Mingzhu, and his legitimate sons and daughters, while looking down on his concubines and illegitimate children.
She affectionately patted Jiang Bailu's head and asked in a doting tone, "Tell me, how did she bully you? Your grandmother will stand up for you. There's no way a concubine's daughter could bully the legitimate daughter."
Jiang Bailu knew Bai Xiuqing's habit best, so she came to find her hoping that her grandmother could teach Yuan Qi a lesson.
She raised her head and embellished the story, saying, "...I don't know where she got that bird from, it's already pooped on my head twice. Grandmother, she bullies me repeatedly because she knows a little bit of magic tricks. She has no respect for the hierarchy between legitimate and illegitimate children. She even said that even Grandmother can't do anything to her. Isn't that infuriating?"
Bai Xiuqing was already furious after Yuan Qi had humiliated her once, and she was looking for an opportunity to teach her a lesson.
She immediately instructed Granny Fang: "Go and call Xiao Qi over. We need to have a proper discussion about this matter."
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