Li Ke’s identity was extremely delicate. Among all of Li Er’s sons, his bloodline was the most noble, carrying the blood of two imperial dynasties, which made those former Sui Dynasty officials instinctively want to draw close to him.

So these past few years, Li Ke had always been in hiding. Whenever there was the slightest disturbance in the court, he would immediately burrow into his nest like a quail, hugging his head and trembling inside.

Li Chengqian’s position as heir apparent was rock solid, Zhangsun’s status was as stable as Mount Tai, and Li Tai was beloved by his imperial father to the very bone. This made Li Ke’s circumstances unbearably difficult.

It wasn’t that if you yourself said you didn’t want to compete, you wouldn’t compete, nor was it that if Li Chengqian and Li Tai said they wouldn’t suppress you, they wouldn’t suppress you. Li Ke had a group of people under him, and Li Chengqian and Li Tai likewise each had large groups of subordinates. Working for their masters and clearing away all potential dangers was considered their heaven-sent duty by their respective followers.

Thus, Li Ke became unfortunate. A perfectly fine handsome young man had turned into a fat person.

“Besides teaching you to eat yourself fat, did Li Yuanxiang teach you anything else? Can’t he have any other pursuits? You uncle and nephew are clearly both people with great wisdom, yet now you insist on making yourselves as fat as pigs?”

“Don’t look at me. I was the one who rescued Li Yuanxiang from pirates. Knowing how formidable this fellow is, tell me—if I now reported to His Majesty that two remarkable talents had emerged from the Wu-Yue region, what do you think the consequences would be?”

Li Ke gave a bitter laugh and said, “If you don’t want me to live anymore, then go ahead and say it. Hurry up, think of a solution. There’s no time to waste words with you. Tomorrow Yuan Shoucheng is going to read my fortune. Nominally it’s to read the fortune of every imperial prince, but frankly speaking, I’m the key subject of attention, because tomorrow only Little Zhi and I need to be examined.”

Hearing that Li Zhi also needed his fortune read, Yun Ye immediately became interested. In history, Li Ke was short-lived, while Li Zhi became a great emperor. He really wanted to see what Old Yuan would divine for these two tomorrow.

“Where will the fortune-reading take place? Tomorrow I also want Old Yuan to look at me. Recently I’ve been eating inappropriately and developed an abscess on my head. I keep feeling mentally fuzzy and want guidance from an expert.”

“At Zhaoyang Palace. My imperial father has invited Elder Yuan to stay there—it can be considered the utmost courtesy.” After Li Ke finished speaking, he cupped his hands. He thought Yun Ye was going to Zhaoyang Palace tomorrow to accompany him and bolster his courage.

Although Li Ke worried that something bad might happen tomorrow, Yun Ye’s promise to go together tomorrow somewhat comforted his anxious heart.

When Yun Ye returned home, he washed his face and stood before the mirror carefully observing himself. After looking for a long time, he found that apart from being handsome, there really wasn’t much to say. How could a person tell from facial features whether someone would become wealthy and noble in the future, or become a king or hegemon?

The phrase those old fellows used most when praising Yun Ye was “one with prominent head and horns.” Could they have seen that he had grown horns on his head? Yun Ye knew clearly that besides the large boil on the back of his head, there was nothing else.

“Husband, you’re looking in the mirror.” Xinyue appeared ghost-like behind Yun Ye, standing on tiptoes to rest her chin on her husband’s shoulder, insisting on showing a married couple’s reflection in the mirror before being satisfied.

“I’m warning you, don’t touch the back of my head. I’ll get angry with whoever touches it.” The breath Xinyue exhaled sprayed on Yun Ye’s neck, tickling him. Her chin pressing on his shoulder pulled at the boil on the back of his head. It hurt.

Xinyue quickly lifted her chin and parted Yun Ye’s hair to examine the boil. She discovered it had already swollen into quite a large bump and had turned somewhat purple. She pulled a hairpin from her hair, ready to help her husband squeeze the abscess.

She had always enjoyed doing these things, especially liked cleaning Yun Ye’s ears, trimming his nails. Extracting a large piece of earwax or cutting a long nail gave her an excuse to scold Yun Ye for being a dirty ghost, fully satisfying her sense of achievement. She never tired of these activities. Now discovering such a large mature abscess, how could she let it pass?

Yun Ye dodged his head away, glanced at the hairpin in her hand and quickly said, “Heat the hairpin over a flame first, and bring over a needle. After squeezing out the pus, you’ll also need to pick out the sac, otherwise it will fester.”

Yun Ye rested his head on the back of a chair. Na Rimu held Yun Ye’s head steady, Lingdang held some medicinal paste, and Xinyue performed the surgery. Amid Yun Ye’s pig-like squealing, Xinyue completed the entire procedure. A plaster for reducing swelling and dispersing stasis was applied to the back of Yun Ye’s head, and the task was successfully accomplished.

With excessive internal heat, naturally some adjustment was needed. After three adjustments throughout the night, it seemed a bit overdone. Walking with a straight back was somewhat difficult. He really wanted to continue sleeping, but thinking of the helpless and dependent Li Ke, he could only grit his teeth and get out of bed. He couldn’t ride a horse, but Wang Cai kept kicking the cart horse, so he had no choice but to bring it along too.

Upon arriving at Zhaoyang Palace, he discovered the place was crowded with carriages and horses, bustling like a marketplace. Niu Jinda had also appeared here with his two precious grandchildren. Seeing Yun Ye, he grabbed him and said, “I heard you played mahjong with the old immortal—that’s friendship. Now take these two children inside to find the old immortal to have their fortunes told. Your aunt and I will wait outside.”

Not many people had Zhaoyang Palace waist tokens. Yun Ye happened to have one—Li Yuan had given it to him, and Li Er had forgotten to take it back. He hoisted his little niece onto his shoulders, dragged his little nephew by the hand, and swaggered toward Zhaoyang Palace. The gate guards were about to speak when Yun Ye kicked one aside, then pulled out his waist token and waved it before their eyes. His arrogant behavior made Old Niu laugh with his mouth wide open, while the other meritorious officials shook their heads in envy. Li Ke was waiting at the palace gate. Seeing Yun Ye enter, he was delighted, took one child into his arms, and the two of them entered the great hall together.

Compared to the clamor outside, the great hall was quite quiet. Li Er wasn’t present, but Duan Hong was, holding a horsetail whisk and wearing a gauze hat, standing beside Empress Zhangsun’s seat like a clay sculpture. This fellow’s task today was definitely to serve as Li Er’s ears and listen for information.

Unexpectedly, Li Chengqian was also there, and Li Tai was there too, holding a scroll. Just looking at Li Ke’s grateful expression, you could tell these two brothers had come to help Li Ke out of his predicament. Yun Ye chuckled softly and stepped forward to pay respects to the Empress.

“What are you doing here?” Empress Zhangsun’s gaze was quite sharp. She believed Yun Ye should not have appeared here today.

“In response to Your Majesty, this student has come to ask Elder Yuan to tell the fortunes of my two nephew and niece.” Hearing Yun Ye say this, Empress Zhangsun’s expression improved somewhat, and she said in a low voice, “Wait properly, don’t cause any trouble.”

Yun Ye retreated to Li Tai’s side and heard Li Tai say softly while looking at his book, “Got scolded, didn’t you? Elder Brother and I just got scolded too. I don’t know what Imperial Father is thinking. Even if fortune is divined, so what?”

“Uniqueness. It’s to maintain uniqueness. In this world, only if Chengqian is found to have an emperor’s fate is it fine. If anyone else is found to have it, it will definitely be a major incident.”

Li Chengqian smiled slightly and said, “The throne will definitely be mine in the future. Even if others are found to have it, so what?”

Hearing Li Chengqian’s confident words, both Yun Ye and the book-reading Li Tai raised their thumbs. This was the confidence and bearing a crown prince should have. Also raising their thumbs were Li Ke and Li Zhi. As for Empress Zhangsun, she rolled her eyes hard at Li Chengqian, though her expression wasn’t as rigid as before.

“Your Majesty, this over seven-hundred-year-old charlatan couldn’t even calculate Your Majesty’s lifespan correctly. How can you still believe him? Could it be that money in this profession is so easy to earn? When this humble minister grows old in the future, I’ll also don a Daoist robe and become a charlatan, because whether you speak correctly or incorrectly doesn’t matter—you can continue deceiving, and everyone believes in this.”

“Shut your stinking mouth! How dare you blaspheme the old immortal? As the saying goes, even the wise make mistakes sometimes. Throughout his life, the old immortal has been infallible with his iron teeth and bronze tongue, never making errors. This consort’s lifespan was the first time there was a discrepancy. When the old immortal told this consort’s fortune back then, he was quite drunk. That alcoholic smell—I remember it to this day. Making a mistake is perfectly normal.”

Li Tai looked at Yun Ye with a plaster stuck to the back of his head and said with a smile, “Right now you’re the very picture of a charlatan. Do you even need to pretend in the future?”

Empress Zhangsun, who had been speaking softly with the two children, suddenly laughed out loud. The tense atmosphere in the great hall was immediately swept away, and even Duan Hong’s stern face showed a smile.

Yuan Shoucheng emerged, wearing Eight Trigrams robes, a purple-gold crown on his head, his eyes covered with a layer of red cloth. Supported by palace attendants, he sat on a cloud bed. As soon as he sat down steadily, he intoned solemnly, “Dew on the scallions, how easily it dries. When the dew dries, tomorrow morning it falls again. When a person dies and departs, when will they return? How laughable are worldly people—their lives like autumn insects. Truly, the poor also worry about death, the rich also worry about death. The noble enjoy life, the lowly also enjoy life. Longing for life, enjoying life, fearing death, lamenting death—how extremely laughable.”

This was a true expert. Yun Ye was completely convinced. Being able to use Music Bureau songs in fortune-telling—this was a genuine master. From this one point alone, you could see that in a moment the old gentleman would definitely borrow from medicine, divination, astrology, and constellation reading to tell your fortune. Anyway, your little life to him was like a grasshopper after autumn—not many days left to hop around—just say a couple things and you listen provisionally.

“Life palace, fetal origin, minor luck, minor limits, breath origin. Favorable and useful, taboo and hostile, major fortune. Don’t bother asking this old man. This old man only reads fortunes, doesn’t deal with blessings, disasters, kindness, or enmity.”

Li Chengqian flicked his sleeves and was the first to step forward, sitting on the cloud bed. Yuan Shoucheng’s hands touched Li Chengqian’s brow, jaw, and both ears slightly, then withdrew his hands and said, “His Highness is already a true dragon—why calculate further? When ribs grow wings and you soar through the nine heavens in the future, come ask about the Way again. Go, rest.”

Hearing Li Chengqian’s fate reading, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The hidden dragon had already become a true dragon—what was there left to worry about? Li Ke especially was drenched in sweat, nearly collapsing from exhaustion.

Li Tai put down the book in his hands and stepped onto the cloud bed in one stride. Yuan Shoucheng once again used both hands to feel Li Tai’s facial features. This time he felt for a long while before lowering his hands and saying, “How strange! The flood dragon has already achieved the power to spray clouds and spew mist—why has it transformed into a qilin?”

The qilin was a benevolent beast representing scholarly fortune. Yun Ye knew this. Li Tai had long since lost all interest in the throne and was now wholeheartedly devoted to scholarly pursuits. Saying he had transformed into a qilin was most appropriate. Could this old fellow really know future events through physiognomy? He bit his finger and held it in his mouth, looking around, wanting to see what was amiss.