History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 354 Luoyang Civet
Yuan Cheng was angry because the diviner only divined two things.

My house is infested with rats. P.S.... I live nearby and have a large house; I can come to your home to exterminate the rats.

The second divination involves fishing in the river. A postscript states: "If you cast your nets on the water indicated by the diviner, you will surely have a catch."

The young guard muttered, "No wonder. Even if his fortune-telling is accurate, his stall is always empty and nobody comes to him for readings."

Because which household doesn't have rats? Even the imperial granaries can't keep out thieving rats jumping over the walls. As for fishing in the river, if fishermen had to rely on divination to make a living, they would have starved long ago!
But Yuan Cheng didn't leave. Although he had only met Wei Yin once, he still recognized him.

Wei Yin naturally recognized the nobleman in front of him as the Prince of Rencheng. He was about to bow when Yuan Cheng waved his hand to stop him.

Yuan Cheng said, "I haven't lived in my house in Yongkang for a long time, and now it's overrun with rats that are hard to get rid of." Every night there's noise; they're either climbing the outer wall or gnawing at the doors and windows. He's not afraid, but his wife is a light sleeper and can't get any peace all night.

Wei Yin: "The king is no outsider, so there's no need to calculate the location of the rat holes. Once my wife and I have a day off, we'll go to the king's residence to get rid of the rats."

That's a nice thing to say.

Yuan Cheng laughed heartily: "Haha, good. But Master Wei will be coming with me that day, and I still need to predict his fortune."

The following day, Wei Yin and Zhao Zhi, along with Zhao Zhi's two apprentices, arrived at the Prince Rencheng's Mansion in Yongkang Lane.

These two disciples were Erzhu Rong and Gao Huan, who had traveled a great distance to Luoyang.

Gao Huan was six years old and so sensible that it was heartbreaking. Even the fierce and ruthless Erzhu Rong never bullied this junior brother.

Zhao Zhi listened to the noise and dug into the rat holes, hitting them every time. Erzhu Rong and Gao Huan, on the other hand, were overjoyed to cut off the rat tails. The rat tails were their battle achievements to boast about their martial arts skills, so of course the more the better.

Today was the first time that Consort Meng had met the legendary female general of Zhen Dong. Unfortunately, her daughter-in-law, Li Huayan, was afraid of rats and was also weak. Consort Meng could only accompany her daughter-in-law to watch Zhao Zhi from a distance, and soon she could not keep up with Zhao Zhi's walking speed.

The steward found the Dowager and reported: "Princess Chenliu passed by the mansion and asked if the Dowager would like to see her. She wishes to pay her respects to the Dowager and visit the Princess."

Consort Meng shook her head and smiled: "This Lord Yuanzhen is afraid that I will ignore his invitation, so he deliberately said he was just passing by. Since he is here, please come in."

On the other side, Zhao Zhi complained that her husband and Prince Rencheng were walking too slowly, so Prince Rencheng took Wei Yin to wait in the pavilion by the fishpond.

"Master Wei, do you remember what I said the other day about predicting good and bad fortune?"

“I remember, Your Majesty, please speak.”

Yuan Cheng sprinkled fish food into the water, and a dark mass of large fish surged up, each one strong and fierce. Wei Yin felt no pleasure at all, only that the greedy scene of the fish fighting over the food turned the entire fishpond into a terrifying abyss.

"I want you to calculate the fate of another fishpond, larger than this one, with even fiercer and more numerous fish." Yuan Cheng wiped his hands and slowly began to speak: "Ever since the fish farmer killed the largest fish king last year, the fish have been terrified, creating incredibly turbulent waves. Do you dare to use divination to predict whether the fish, united in purpose, can contend with the fish farmer? Or whether the fish will retreat, producing another fish king for the fish farmer to catch and remove from the pond. Can the latter option bring good fortune amidst the danger, and temporarily bring peace?"

What other fishpond? This is using the pond as a metaphor for the imperial court and the fish as a metaphor for the king. Wei Yin's face turned fearful, and his movements became even more timid. He waved his hand and said, "Your Majesty flatters me! I can only calculate the fish in the water, not the fish in people's hearts."

"It's no harm to give it a try. It's just you and me here. I promise that no matter what the divination result is, the result will be known only to Heaven, Earth, you, and me, and will never be revealed to outsiders."

"No, no, I really don't know how."

Yuan Cheng pretended to walk out of the pavilion: "I will go into the palace to see the emperor and tell him that Zhao Zhi killed Zhao Xiu."

Wei Yin: "Your Majesty, please wait! I will perform divination now!" Yuan Cheng turned around and sat back down, lowering his eyelids to rest, listening to Wei Yin recite the incantation.

"Heaven is high and earth is low, thus the universe is established. Things gather according to their kind, and objects are divided according to their groups, thus good and bad fortune arise. If your divination is regular, if your pronouncements are regular, then the faithful and resolute, now, with the dragon's virtue soaring and the altars of the state and the tripods governing the three kings' destinies, inquire of the spirits..."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Cheng knew he had made the right bet.

Wei Yin must have inherited Cui Hao's talent for divination!
The soaring dragon symbolizes the supreme ruler, the emperor, who sits on the throne. The altar and the imperial cauldron symbolize the powerful ministers who control the court's affairs. The three kings are the three most prestigious kings in the court... Yuan Cheng himself, Yuan Xiang, the King of Beihai, and Yuan Xie, the King of Pengcheng.

The grass was flipped and changed in Wei Yin's hands at a speed that was dazzling.

Yuan Cheng had also studied divination, but he quickly fell behind Wei Yin's calculations, only knowing that Wei Yin used the most complex "Great Evolution Divination Method".

Time is like the occasional ripples on a pond; each ripple carries a thought, and each thought is a moment in time.

Zhao Zhi and her apprentice destroyed all the rat holes in the mansion. The steward said that Wei Yin was performing divination for the Prince of Rencheng. Just then, Princess Chenliu left, so the three of them followed the steward to pay their respects to Consort Meng and the Princess.

In the pavilion.

After concluding the divination, Wei Yin anxiously reported: "An inauspicious hexagram. The hexagram's text reads: 'The dragon's virtue displays heavenly might, the cauldron's two legs are damaged. This month marks the beginning; those with weakened legs who wish to overcome adversity may either flee far away or go mad.'"

Prince Rencheng opened his mouth, wanting to ask for more details, but then felt a surge of grief and indignation, realizing that asking would be pointless. What Feng Ci said was precisely the outcome he had pondered daily, the very result he feared most.

"Forget about the divination I asked you to do." Yuan Cheng felt exhausted.

Wei Yin was even more exhausted. Calculating this kind of Great Evolution Hexagram was not only mentally taxing but also physically demanding. As soon as he stood up, he felt dizzy.

Fortunately, Zhao Zhi arrived and skillfully carried her husband on her back.

After Zhao Zhi's family left, Consort Meng noticed that her son looked unwell, so she quickly touched his forehead with the back of her hand.

Prince Rencheng smiled casually, "Mother, I'm fine. Zhao Zhi's two disciples are at that mischievous age, did they disturb you?"

Consort Meng: "No, no, they all behaved very well, especially the little boy named Gao Huan, who told me a long story of strange tales. His little mouth was so bubbly and endearing."

Seeing his wife smile, the Prince of Rencheng was even happier, so he joined in and asked, "What kind of strange tale? Tell me about it."

Princess Li Huayan recounted, "The author of these supernatural tales was named Luoyang Li Mao, and the story goes like this... In the Kingdom of Hu Bian, there was a city called Luanzao City..."

"Hahahaha." Yuan Cheng was genuinely amused. He urged, "I won't interrupt anymore, hurry up and tell me."

"In the chaotic city, there lived a down-on-his-luck scholar. He was not good at studying and tried to make a living every day, just to fill his stomach. One day, an old immortal descended upon his humble abode and bestowed upon him the ability of divination. He told the scholar that as long as he used divination to help people avoid disaster in advance, he would be able to have good fortune, just like the person he helped."

Next, Li Huayan recounted several examples of scholars helping others avoid disaster.

As Yuan Cheng listened with great interest, Li Huayan changed her tone: "But one day, a powerful figure in the chaotic city found a scholar and actually asked him to use divination to find the ancient cauldron that the powerful figure had lost. The powerful figure described the ancient cauldron as extremely valuable, but in reality, one of the three legs of the cauldron was missing."

"Hmm?" Yuan Cheng sensed something was wrong. He was first taken aback, then suspicious, and couldn't help but ask, "And then?"