Married Thrice to Salted Fish

Chapter 89

An hour later, Xu Junyuan arrived at the palace. He was led by the eunuch to the Imperial Garden, where he saw not the Emperor but saw a pair of outstanding men.

Xu Junyuan was not at all surprised. On the contrary, he was even able to talk cheerfully and joke with the, “Ever was it that great beauties accompanied heroes. Seeing the two of you from afar, I must be forgiven for thinking I have entered into some painting of a beauty. If Imperial Physician Lin had worn plain white, enhancing each other’s beauty with this winter snowscape, that would have been even better.” As he said that, he nodded his greeting to the two of them, “Greetings, General Gu, Doctor Lin.”

Lin Qingyu went straight to the point. “I invited the National Teacher to the Palace because I would like for you to perform a divination for General Gu.”

Xu Junyuan raised his eyebrows. “It was actually Imperial Physician Lin who called me? But the officials who came to Changsheng Temple clearly said that it was the Emperor who wished to see me. Is there some sort of misunderstanding?”

Gu Fuzhou said: “What’s the difference? The Emperor is occupied with a myriad of state affairs.  Naturally, he cannot attend to everything personally. My wife and I are acting under orders. Is there something the National Teacher is dissatisfied with?”

Xu Junyuan said in a playful tone. “I would not dare. May I ask Imperial Physician Lin, what regarding the General would you wish me to divine?”

Lin Qingyu said, “I would like the National Teacher to divine for the General what you divined for my late husband, Young Master Hou.”

Xu Junyuan looked embarrassed: “This… I’m afraid it would be improper.”

Lin Qingyu’s eyes twitched. “And why would that be?”

“I perform only one divination for each matter, that’s all. I used Jiang Gongzi’s Eight Characters to find out whether he was destined to die two years ago. That was the divination.” Xu Junyuan’s expression remained as usual while he mentioned the name ‘Jiang Gongzi’, as though it were already a consensus among the three of them. “Now, General Gu wishes for a divination on the same matter. Might I ask, is General Gu intending to use his own Eight Characters or Jiang Gongzi’s? If it is the former, General Gu already died in battle two years ago. If it is the latter, using the same Eight Characters to forcibly perform a divination would be akin to catching the moon on the water.”

Lin Qingyu sneered, “As expected, the National Teacher all-knowing.”

“Doctor Lin offers undue praise.” Xu Junyuan said with a smile, “I simply know a little more than others.”

“Being in possession of such superhuman skill, why can you not perform two divinations?”

Xu Junyuan said, “The Way of Heaven is not for us to see. To be able to see it one, is already a blessing. Repeated scrying might well result in disaster.”

“Ridiculous.” Lin Qingyu said coldly, “I must insist that you perform a divination today.”

Lin Qingyu swept his eyes away coldly. “You already knew?”

Gu Fuzhou was noncommittal. He said, “If the National Teacher truly knew all about life and death, he should just change his name to Xu ‘Book of Life and Death‘ Junyuan. In the end, all he is is just another mortal. The things he can know of are limited.”

Xu Junyuan smiled and said, “As expected of one who has gone through life and death. The General truly sees things clearly. Life and death, wealth and poverty -- these are all destined. I hope that Imperial Physician Lin will not insist.”