Yin Yang Diviner

The reason why Old Liu's Eight Emperor Coins started to go wrong was three days after the undercover agent surnamed Zhou entrusted me with the bronze plaque with the character "魁" (Kui).

That evening, as he closed his stall, he squatted on the stone steps in front of the fortune-telling shop, untying each copper coin from his waist and arranging them on the bluestone slabs. The coins were from the reigns of Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, and Tongzhi.

Eight coins, each bearing an era name, with a hemp rope threaded through the coin's hole, and the ruyi knot slightly damp from being clenched in the palm.

The setting sun filtered through the branches of the old locust tree, falling on the copper coins, turning the Shunzhi Tongbao coins a pale gold, the Kangxi Tongbao coins a warm yellow, and the Yongzheng Tongbao coins a deep bronze color.

Eight coins of eight different colors are arranged in a row on the bluestone slab, like eight dynasties lying side by side, each shining with its own light.

Old Liu squatted down beside him, resting his chin on his hand, staring at the copper coin for a long time.

"Have you noticed," he said, "that they've been a little different lately?"

I poured a cup of tea from the earthenware pot and handed it to him.

He didn't take it; his finger hovered above the copper coins, moving them one by one from the Shunzhi coins to the Tongzhi coins, and then one by one from the Tongzhi coins back to the Shunzhi coins.

The fingertip didn't touch the bronze; it was an inch away, like touching an invisible mass of air.

"They used to be separate." Old Liu pulled his fingers back and wiped them on his pants.

"Shunzhi had his own lust, Kangxi had his own lust, and they didn't associate with each other. Zhang Jinsheng said that scattered coins couldn't retain their vitality, so I collected seven coins, and then nurtured Tongzhi, stringing the eight together to form a vessel. But even after it became a vessel, they were still each separate—Shunzhi saved me money, Kangxi protected me from villains, Yongzheng quelled my insomnia, Qianlong brought me good fortune in love, Jiaqing…" He paused, "In short, each did its own thing."

"And now?"

Old Liu stretched out his index finger and touched the edge of the Shunzhi Tongbao coin.

He didn't use any force; the copper coin simply spun slightly on the bluestone slab, as if pushed from the inside by some force. It spun about half a circle and then stopped.

The stop was right next to the Kangxi Tongbao coin.

"Now they're starting to huddle together," Lao Liu said.

"Yesterday I went to the bank to withdraw money. While waiting in line, I took off my copper coins and placed them on the counter. The Shunzhi and Kangxi coins were originally separated by a Qianlong coin, but when I looked down at my phone and looked up again, they were next to each other. I thought I had bumped into them, so I separated them. After a while, I looked again, and they were next to each other again."

He picked out Shunzhi and Kangxi from the eight coins and placed them side by side in his palm.

In his left hand lay the Shunzhi Emperor, and in his right, the Kangxi Emperor. The two coins lay quietly in his palm, copper not touching copper, separated by a very fine palm line.

He stared at the palm print for a long time.

"They're growing together," he said.

I took Shunzhi and Kangxi from his palm.

The two coins felt slightly cool to the touch, their edges worn smooth and warm.

The copper color of Shunzhi Tongbao coins is yellowish, which is the copper material of coins minted during the Shunzhi period. In the early Qing Dynasty, coins were mostly made of old copper from the Ming Dynasty, and the copper color was mixed, with yellow and reddish hues.

The copper of the Kangxi Tongbao coin has a bluish tint, indicating it was minted after the mining of Yunnan copper during the Kangxi era. The copper is pure and has a translucent bluish hue. Two coins, two different copper colors, lie in the palm of your hand, separated by your fingers.

But I do feel that they are moving closer together.

It's not physical movement, it's air.

The thick layer of human warmth surrounding the Shunzhi Tongbao coin and the steady bronze aura surrounding the Kangxi Tongbao coin slowly approached each other in the air of my palm, like two streams that had been washed by the same river for many years meeting at their estuary.

Their edges didn't touch, but their breaths were already intertwined.

I glanced at it through my ancestral aperture.

The eight copper coins originally had eight different qualities: the thickness of Shunzhi, the stability of Kangxi, the depth of Yongzheng, the smoothness of Qianlong, the thinness of Jiaqing, the paleness of Daoguang, the superficiality of Xianfeng, and the weakness of Tongzhi.

The eight types of energy are strung together on the same hemp rope, each independent of the others.

But tonight, a very thin line has been drawn between Shunzhi's magnanimity and Kangxi's composure.

It's not about merging; it's like two people separated by an alley, simultaneously opening their windows and seeing each other.

Before he could speak, the window was already open.

Zhang Jinsheng said

"I put two coins back on the bluestone slab, alongside the other six. The coins must be in a set; otherwise, they won't retain their energy."

"You collect eight pieces, string them together, and they become a 'vessel'. But a vessel is not an inanimate object—it can learn, remember, and accumulate."

"You use the Eight Emperor Coins to ward off bad luck, stabilize the world, and protect your life. Each coin carries your different thoughts. Shunzhi's coin carries your thoughts of saving money for a down payment, Kangxi's coin carries your thoughts of dealing with office politics, and Yongzheng's coin carries your thoughts of staring at the ceiling when you have insomnia at night."

"They carried different things for you, and after a while, they became aware of each other's existence."

"And then what?" Old Liu asked.

"Once you know this, they will no longer be just eight loose coins strung together. They will become a true magical artifact—eight coins, one soul."

Old Liu strung the eight copper coins back onto the hemp rope one by one.

Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi.

The hemp rope passed through the hole in the coin, with the auspicious knot swaying at the end.

He hung the eight-emperor coins on his waist and stood up. The coins clinked together at his waist.

It's not that each of the eight coins rings individually, but that all eight coins ring together.

It was like eight people saying the same thing at the same time.

"Emperors Shunzhi and Kangxi opened the windows." Old Liu patted the copper coins at his waist. "When will the rest open?"

"When they come to their senses."

He nodded and walked out of the alley.

The eight coins at his waist jingled in the twilight, the sound deeper than when he arrived—not in terms of weight, but as if something had pushed outward from the depths of the coins, binding the eight loose coins together as one.

They are no longer Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, and Tongzhi. They have begun to become "Old Liu's Eight Emperor Coins".

Zhang Jinsheng arrived the next day.

He was riding a dilapidated electric bike with a cardboard box strapped to the back seat, inside which was a repaired old-fashioned radio.

He carried the radio into the fortune-telling shop, plugged it in, and turned it on. A hissing sound came from the radio, followed by a woman's voice, speaking very slowly, announcing the weather forecast.

Zhang Jinsheng sat opposite the counter, took Old Liu's eight-emperor coins from his waist, and arranged them one by one next to the radio. The coins were from the reigns of Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, and Tongzhi.

Eight coins, eight reign titles; the radio crackled with static, like the sound of rain from eight dynasties being simultaneously collected into a wooden box.

"Old Liu said his money is starting to grow in one place." Zhang Jinsheng picked out Shunzhi and Kangxi and placed them side by side in front of the radio speaker.

The sound of electricity emanated from the speaker, spilling over the two copper coins.

The Shunzhi Tongbao coin vibrated slightly amidst the electric current sound, and the Kangxi Tongbao coin also vibrated.

The vibration frequencies were different—Shunzhi's vibrations were slower, while Kangxi's were faster.

But as they vibrated, their frequencies began to converge.

It's not about one person accommodating the other; it's like two people walking in the rain, and as they walk, their steps become synchronized.

"One's character is shaped by the times." Zhang Jinsheng turned off the radio.

"My grandma said that old objects will absorb people's essence after being used for a long time. One or two pieces don't matter, but if you collect them all, they will grow together. In the end, you can't tell which piece belongs to which person, you only know that they are a 'family'."

He strung the eight coins back onto the hemp rope one by one, tied them tightly with a lucky knot, and put them back on Old Liu's waist.

"Old Liu's eight-emperor coins are starting to look like a family."

Old Liu looked down at the copper coins at his waist and flicked the ruyi knot with his fingers. The knot loosened slightly, then snapped back in place without coming undone.

"What's missing?" he asked.

Zhang Jinsheng remained silent for a while.

The radio's static had been turned off, but a very faint, earthy smell lingered in the air. He reached into his toolbox, rummaged around for a while, and finally pulled out a copper coin.

It is round on the outside and square on the inside, with the edges polished smooth and warm. The front has four characters: "Tongzhi Tongbao".

It's exactly the same as the Tongzhi coin that Lao Liu has on his waist, but the difference is that the color of this Tongzhi Tongbao is wrong.

It's not copper; it's a color that's been soaked in something for many years, dried for many years, and what's left behind—a color between gray and white.

"During Tongzhi's thirteen-year reign, the number of coins minted was the lowest in the Qing Dynasty." Zhang Jinsheng placed this Tongzhi Tongbao coin on the counter. "I found this coin at an old man who collects antiques."

He said the coin had been under someone's pillow for forty years. The person is gone, but the coin remains.

The money was warm when he received it.

Old Liu held the Tongzhi Tongbao coin in his palm.

The copper was cool, but within that gray and white color, there was a very faint warmth flowing through it—not temperature, but something seemed to be curled up deep within the copper, curled up for many years, still breathing.

"What is this coin waiting for?" Old Liu asked.

Zhang Jinsheng did not answer.

He took the Tongzhi Tongbao coin from Old Liu's palm and put it back in his tool bag.

Once the zipper was zipped up, the electrical noise completely disappeared.

"Waiting for someone to take it back," he said.