Emperor's Cunning Wife

Ning Lou stuffed her purse inside her robe again.

"How did you know that there were indeed evil spirits roaming around?" She casted her earlier carefree attitude and replaced it with solemnness and vigilance. She intensely stared at the old pillar next to the bolts of fabric. "Initially this grandpa only wanted to look around, so this one pretended to be a customer, and then this grandpa felt something off with this place and it turns out to be true. Just a pity, it seemed that this grandpa was unwelcomed. Aiya! Better eat some noodles first."

"Bad luck in marriage and bad luck in business. This kid is also too pitiful in his childhood." She mumbled albeit using a voice that could reach the young man." Ning Lou was about to lift her feet when the server stopped him.

At first, the young man was very confused on how she addressed herself, but soon after when he heard her mumbled, the initial disdain turned into desperation.

"Grand….pa…" He was unsure on what to call her since; Ning Lou's age seemed to be younger than him. "How did you know?" He was even flabbergasted when the word 'grandpa' came out natural and smooth.

Furrowing brows, shaky breath, slightly narrowed pupils, pursing of the lips, restless gaze and hands cupped together, all of these registered inside Ning Lou's memory even though there were only exhibited in a span of a second.

"Despite having a bad mouth, it seemed young man is not blind and knows how to respect elders. This grandpa senses some spirits of the dead circulating bad karma around. With this kind of energy your business will be disrupted. As for your fortune, young man, tskk… " Ning Lou spouted, eyes filled with discomfort. She seemed to have detected something coming towards her and stepped back and deflected the invisible thing with her hand.

The young man also stepped back unaware he just mimicked her actions like a mirror. With his unconscious actions, some parts of his mind had accepted what Ning Lou said.

"Your forehead where Guanlu gong (career house) is located is riddled with misfortune. The space between your eyebrows has a thin line which indicated that you have a rough childhood. In addition you must been the eldest and your family has no sisters based on the small area near your eye, and to make it worse, your marriage house had some spots which pointed out that you'll be alone in old age if you don't drive these negativities away. All in all, without mentioning the others, your life can be concluded to be jagged by disaster." Ning Lou clicked her tongue and gave him pitiful glances.

The young man gulped and had an urge to kneel at Ning Lou's feet and asked for any help to chase away the bad luck she mentioned.

"Grandpa, help this one. Ah! From childhood this one met troubles. This one…one had often met thieves and scammers on the street, that's why this one couldn't save anything and this one had been rejected numerous times. Grandpa! Ah! save this one!" The young man really executed his plan to hug Ning Lou's t.h.i.g.h.

"What are you doing?" Ning Lou tugged her robe out of the young man's embrace. In a midst of doing so, she could hear the sounds of something tearing and sneeze. She froze and looked over the scoundrel that mistook her clothes for a handkerchief. A vein popped on her forehead giving birth to her impulse to kick him off.

However, before she could even say anything, the server run off leaving the mess on her robes.

"Grandpa, please wait a moment. I'll call the manager!"

F*cking kid!

Soon after, a man whose age ranging from 40 to early 50 dressed in black and red fabric arrived, "Little Ou, is this the exalted monk you're talking about." Flashes of suspicions appeared on his face when he saw how young Ning Lou was.

In return, Ning Lou crossed her arms and cupped her chin.

"Yes, Manager Han, he said he sensed some bad energy going around the shop that's why weren't able make profit each month." Little Ou rephrased what Ning Lou said earlier on.

Manager Han raised his brows and pursed his lips. This had been troubling matter for them ever since they decided to rent this place; their earnings could barely support their expenses each month. They tried hiring feng shui master but it was for naught. They also started adjusting the prices but it only worked for a few weeks. Nothing seemed to be working, so they started dismissing servers until only Little Ou was left. Desperate for a solution, Ning Lou's timely arrival was a drop of water in sandy soil.

However, swindlers are everywhere, one should be careful in dealing with them.

"This grandpa wanted to help but purifying your place might consume all of my energy. To be honest, this grandpa is on the way to the North Star Guardian Temple since Old Zhang needs my help, therefore this grandpa can't afford to be delayed."

High Priest Zhang suddenly sneezed.

"Exalted monk knows High Priest Zhang?" Simultaneously both Manager Han and Little Ou exclaimed.

"What are you being surprised for? Is that Old Zhang famous? I never knew after my seclusion, that Old Zhang would make a name for himself!"

The two instantly caught on what she said and examined her young form with exclamation marks, "Then, How old is exalted monk?"

"This one lost count, before my seclusion, that Old Zhang was only around this young man's height."

Then are you over a hundred years old! How come you have young bones and jaded face?

Manager Han looked at Little Ou confusion written all over.

"Age is but a number. The time flow constant. If you two want to chat, then this grandfather will eat at the noddle stall instead."

"Is there really monk that can retain youth?" Manager Han had some suspicion towards the validity of Ning Lou's claims.

Just as Little Ou was about to reply, Ning Lou tuned around and gazed at Manager Han's visage. "Aren't these birds of the same feather flocking together? The owner is has troubles in marriage, the server is housed with misfortunes, and no wonder besides the evil spirit, the combination of your bad lucks can trample Yangmei city gates."

Manager Han stopped at her words and his heart palpitated at the mention of 'troubles with marriage' and 'evil spirit'. He remained silent and pondered if this monk is really that authentic or perhaps he just gathered information beforehand to fool them.

"You should already know that this place was not suitable for business but still remained stubborn. Aiya! Such thick ominous energy, it is inevitable that your life will be affected as well. Manager, being an owner at the same time is quite difficult, why not find another place with a good feng shui?"

"How did exalted monk knew?" Owner Han was shocked when she revealed his real identity. He was originally not the manager, but the one who funded this business. However, not long ago, he was unable to keep up with the expenses and had to dismiss his personnel. Little Ou was the only one left since he didn't know where else to go. The original owner of the commercial space had offered him a low price saying that he pitied him and wanted to help him set a foothold in this town but who knew after three months he heard from a gossip that there was someone who died inside the shop, Han didn't believe in ghost but after considering the failure of his business, he begun to blame this 'ghost' that haunted his shop. Since he had made half a year of advance deposit to the owner, he could only endure until the end of the term.

How did Ning Lou find the clues to his identity? His stance was firm, his back was ramrod, this was a proud man, and such man would not be satisfied with a manager position. In addition there was a white mark on his thumb which he often c.a.r.e.s.sed, he must have a jade ring which he must have sold off or pawn to save this place and this particular jade must have been with him for all years, for this someone to own such an expensive thing must require a lot of money. The troubles of marriage came after, when the career met stumbling blocks, problems sprung and this will affect the family. As for the ghost, the old pillar near the bolts of fabric had dark stains despite which the lacquer could not cover, and judging from it there was a terrible event, and there were other things, too many indicators to list.