Xin Jiuwei understood his meaning, but she didn't know why Jue Ming was asking her to draw lots at this moment.
She didn't ask, but instead bent down to pick up the divination stick container and shook a wooden stick out.
Liu Ya stepped forward, picked up the wooden stick, and handed it to Jue Ming.
“Kan represents water, signifying danger and entrapment.” Jueming’s fingertips traced the blood-red cinnabar characters on the surface. “Extremely ominous.”
Xin Jiuwei smiled and said, "It's still the worst possible fortune. At least the master read the fortune for Jiuwei this time."
She stared at the same terrible fortune slip as the previous two, her nails digging deep into her palms.
This is the third time; she seems to be inextricably linked to this unlucky draw.
She suddenly felt a strong urge and reached out to grab the fortune stick container again, wondering what she would draw if she drew another one from the container that was missing a stick.
But just as she reached out her hand, the divination sticks slipped through her fingers. It was Liu Ya who understood Jueming's meaning and snatched the sticks away.
"Fate cannot be defied," Jueming said calmly. "Three unlucky draws—you should understand what that means."
“I don’t understand,” Xin Jiuwei said softly, looking up at Jueming. “Your Highness, many times I don’t understand—why me, why God treats me this way, and why I am so stupid as to let others bully me.”
She was no longer talking about the three fortune sticks, and she didn't care whether Jueming could understand her or not.
"If this is my fate, then I don't want such a destiny. What if I can't defy it? The worst that can happen is death anyway."
Her voice, like pearls falling into a plate, rang out crisply before fading into the silent stillness.
Liu Ya's breathing was shallow, as if she didn't exist. For a moment, the Buddhist hall seemed to disappear, leaving only Xin Jiuwei and Jueming standing between heaven and earth.
It was only at this moment that Xin Jiuwei realized that she had said too much to Jueming about things she had never said to anyone else since she was reborn.
It was as if, subconsciously, her fate in this life was connected to him.
After an unknown amount of time, the world returned to normal, and the sandalwood incense from the Buddhist hall once again wafted past Xin Jiuwei's nose. She heard Jueming's voice.
What do you want?
Xin Jiuwei breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief.
"I want Qi Huaiyu to be utterly disgraced." She said softly, "I already have a plan for this matter. Since this is my fate, I will not ask too much of others. However, in the face of heaven and earth, I am but a mayfly. I hope that you, Master, can use your reputation to help me and save me from the pain of being crushed to pieces."
The swaying bamboo shadows outside the window were reflected on Jue Mingbai's jade-like profile.
That's all?
“That’s it,” Xin Jiuwei replied firmly.
Jueming placed another piece on the board. "One Qi Huaiyu, and you've been reduced to utter destruction?"
Xin Jiuwei paused for a moment, then said softly, "Of course not, but I want to win without any suspense. Besides, now that I know His Highness's secret, it's not just him who's putting my life on the line."
“So I can just kill you.” Jueming’s tone changed slightly, and for a moment he seemed no longer to be the high monk of Lingyin Temple, but the decisive new emperor from his previous life.
Xin Jiuwei said, "If Your Highness cares so much about me threatening you with half of the antidote, you can simply kill me now and take the antidote. Why ask me what I want?"
After a long while, Jueming chuckled softly.
He didn't say anything, but Xin Jiuwei felt a chill on the back of her neck and nervously clenched her fists.
Meow~
Suddenly, a spotted cat darted through the window, breaking the chill in the air.
"Let's go back."
Jueming stopped playing chess and withdrew his hand, reverting to his usual self.
“When you need help, send a message to Liu Ya, and she will come to your aid.”
Xin Jiuwei breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Master."
She gave a graceful bow, rose and left, her skirt swaying slightly as she turned, a sign that she had been there.
Only after her figure disappeared did Liu Ya speak.
"My lord, should we just let her leave behind half of the antidote, thus sowing the seeds of future trouble?"
"She's just a wealthy young lady from a secluded family; she's of no use to us."
Jueming stood up, still wearing his white monk's robe, as if he had transformed back into Xiao Xun.
"This is no ordinary noblewoman."
He said calmly, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes, "At least, he still has some temper."
A few days later, the Xin residence was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers.
Xin Jiuwei was applying makeup in front of the mirror when Mianfeng hurriedly came in carrying a brocade box: "Miss, Qi Huaiyu actually had the nerve to send a congratulatory gift. I originally wanted to throw it away, but I thought it was better for you to handle it yourself, so I brought it over."
"Open it." Xin Jiuwei said without turning her head.
Inside the brocade box was a gold-inlaid jade hairpin, exquisitely crafted and clearly very valuable.
"This guy is really generous," Mianfeng said disdainfully. "I wonder where he got the money from."
Xin Jiuwei laughed and said, "He would never give things away for free; he's only after greater profits."
Wang Qing, who was combing Xin Jiuwei's hair, said, "Qi Huaiyu is indeed different from us. If I had lost face like that in Yuncheng, I wouldn't dare to come and see anyone."
Xin Jiuwei smiled without saying a word.
If Qi Huaiyu were afraid of losing face, she wouldn't have been harmed to such an extent by him in her past life.
After finishing her makeup, Xin Jiuwei met up with her sister and they went to the front hall together.
The birthday banquet was a grand affair, with guests already gathered in the front hall. Qi Huaiyu, as expected, arrived calmly as if nothing had happened.
Dressed in a moon-white brocade robe, he was engaged in lively conversation with several young gentlemen when he saw Xin Jiuwei enter. He immediately greeted her, saying, "Jiuwei, you look absolutely radiant today."
Xin Jiuwei waited to see what kind of show he was going to put on, and smiled slightly when she heard this: "Young Master Qi is too kind."
Her aloof attitude struck the young men standing nearby as odd.
Young Master Chen said, "Miss, today is a joyous occasion, so please don't hold a grudge against your cousin. He has been preparing gifts for you all over Yingzhou for a long time."
Xin Jiuwei glanced at him with a smile but didn't say anything.
This was like setting up a stage for Qi Huaiyu, who immediately clapped three times: "Ladies and gentlemen, on this auspicious day, I, Huaiyu, have something to offer to Jiuwei."
Servants carried in an object covered with red silk. Qi Huaiyu looked at Xin Jiuwei with deep affection: "This is an item I spent a month searching for; it's a treasure from a renowned family. I'm presenting it to my cousin today as a token of my appreciation..."
“A famous treasure?” Xin Jiuwei suddenly interrupted him, her clear voice silencing all the guests in the room. “Is the white jade Guanyin statue that my mother was stolen twenty years ago, Young Master Qi?”
Everyone was taken aback.
Qi Huaiyu calmly asked, "Cousin, what do you mean by this? This thing is clearly..."
"What is it?" Xin Jiuwei sneered, then suddenly raised her voice, "It's stolen goods that your birth mother, Granny Feng, stole from the Xin family's storeroom!"
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