Emperor's Cunning Wife

Before the sun had risen, Abbot He and the rest had already woken up the apprentices that would undergo the divination training. Abbot He assigned two other abbots to guide the group since he couldn't calm down thinking of Ning Lou possibly provoking someone.

He repeatedly reminded the abbots, the apprentices and especially Ning Lou to not create troubles before letting them go. Abbot He also gave each of them a big bamboo basket except for Ning Lou.

Ning Lou watched Abbot He getting emotional from the farewell and amusedly laughed out loud. She then turned her attention to the big basket on everyone's back and raised her brows contemplating its purpose.

Brother Qian nudged her, "You should focus on the road, some rocks and grasses are slippery."

"Brother Qian is right. Little Flower should keep an eye. It would be a pity if you got a scr.a.p.e on your smooth skin." Slender Xiu caught up with them, his hand gripped a stick constantly making noises to scare the snakes nearby, in case there are nests build on the way.

Ning Lou only nodded, her face remained stiff. The thoughts flew away.

"By the way, how does this feel?" Brother Qian inquired poking a finger on the fake skin that was covering her true looks.

Profiteer Xiu also got in between them to examine the bouncy membrane under his touch.

It was so silky and smooth to the point he mistaken it for a real skin.

"I can't feel anything."

Ning Lou shook her head. Even she herself didn't understand what's going on High Priest Zhang's head. Who knows what wind blew him to her room last night and made him hand a piece of something similar to a silicon mask to disguise her face, although this would be very convenient for her to move around, she's still perturbed if that monk had long seen though her. It seemed that Zhang guy was not so simple.

One of the abbots saw them busy chattering and falling behind, thus he looked over and spoke, "Qian, hurry up, or it will take us another hour to reach the town if we don't speed up."

When his name was called, Brother Qian immediately dragged the slow Little Flower and made his steps faster. Slender Xiu also scurried to reduce the gap between them.

"…." Ning Lou who was dragged like a cabbage.

Their trip lasted for almost three hours.

Ning Lou plopped on the ground looking too tired from the trip. They were already at the entrance of the town. The bustling town was right before her eyes. Peddlers carrying their carts, bamboo baskets, and poles filled with their goods arrived the entrance. From where their group are, Ning Lou could hear the sounds someone singing, the beating of the drums, heavenly plucking of zither, the people haggling over prices, the children' cries and laughs, the wheels of the carriages and horses' hooves trotting the ground, the women' chatters, the men's boisterous laughter, and many more.

The tall grey gate with a big plague where the characters 'Yangmei' was written stood a few meters away, and a sigh escape her lips. She never expected to travel back in time and see the ancient civilization personally.

Ha Ha! Not bad Not bad!

A wooden gourd appeared in front of her belonging to Brother Qian "When we get back, this brother will pick some herbs and let little fatty cook you some nourishing soup. You're too weak!" Then he flailed her thin arms like an inflatable balloon.

"Don't tease me anymore Big Brother Qian! I'm too exhausted." This was certainly true since Ning Lou's pampered body cannot withstand such strenuous trekking. Without any convenient transportation, one could only walk or hire a carriage, but since the Temple promotes 'interacting with the earth', Ning Lou could only suck her complaints.

'Interacting with earth' my ass!

"Little Flower, get up, we will be setting up stalls now." The abbot suddenly intervened while regrouping them.

Brother Qian, Little Flower, Slender Xiu, and another apprentice were in the same group. Since the Eldest Brother was with them, the abbots were less worried about their group. From the sixteen apprentices, four groups were formed.

The town was still not so crowded so the abbots encouraged the apprentices to look for places they find to their liking provided that they will stray far away. Corn breads and buns wrapped in oil paper were distributed between the four groups.

"We shall meet again at the same spot. Look out for each other and be careful." The Abbot tapped his stick on the ground.

The sixteen young apprentices and two monks cladded in temple robes with their backs carrying woven bamboo baskets drew the attention of the people. Their group entered the big gates and separated with each other. Dawn of realizations emerged in the onlookers' mind, as they remembered today was the temple's monthly fate readings.

Ning Lou's group wandered around the marketplace until they found a noodle shop run by an old married couple. The old people took pity of them and let them stationed their fate readings in front of the shop and in addition they were allowed to borrow a table and four stools. It seemed that High Priest Zhang has some reputation for the people to be kind to this extent, she concluded after sweeping her eyes to the onlookers.

Brother Qian thanked them for the accommodation and placed his basket at the front of the table, and so did Slender Xiu and the other one.

They waited for half an hour before the first client appeared. Brother Qian instantly went to 'serious mode' and greeted the man.

"Is there anything benefactor wanted to ask about?" Brother Qian asked bringing his hand on the table.

The man hesitated before stretching his hand to Brother Qian, "This one likes to know about marriage." After that, his brows furrowed and he unconsciously looked around for eavesdropper.

Ning Lou took a sip of water from the gourd. She wondered how genuine this so called 'fortune telling' that Zhang guy taught these kids could be. She leaned closer to Brother Qian and sharpened her ears to snoop on their conversation.

Brother Qian held his large hand and immersed himself in concentration on reading the man's palm. Ning Lou also looked over on what might give Brother Qian the information he needed, but all she could see was thick veins and callouses, there was no clues that indicate the man's love life.

"Uncle, this one sees your aura is full of good fortune. Uncle will sure to encounter luck in the following months. This one also sees the area between your brows release some positive vibes which means you are healthy as an ox, and not long after Uncle will meet his fated one." Brother Qian happily chatted while grasping the Uncle's palm.

Ning Lou once again did a second examination on the Uncle Brother Qian was referring to.

What the f*ck! What fortune telling! Isn't this bootl.i.c.k.i.n.g!

That Zhang guy, what the f*ck did he taught these kids?