Immortal Liu’s heart skipped a beat.
Did Qin Yining truly not know she was ‘Tianji Zi,’ or was she pretending not to know?
Immortal Liu took a long time to “tear” her gaze away from the silver notes, coughed lightly, and smiled while playing dumb.
“Miss Qin is truly joking. That ‘Tianji Zi’ is a Buddhist, and has long been renowned throughout the world for her ‘iron-tongued divine predictions.’ This humble Taoist is a member of the Taoist sect, and my cultivation is still shallow—how could I bear such praise?”
Qin Yining smiled sweetly: “Immortal Liu, please don’t pretend not to understand. You know I want you to impersonate ‘Tianji Zi.'”
Immortal Liu’s eyelids twitched, and the corners of her mouth trembled.
Having her impersonate herself, and giving so much silver for it…
This was quite a profitable deal!
Seeing Immortal Liu’s eyes fixed only on the silver notes, Qin Yining guessed there was hope for this matter and continued persuading: “Back then, after Tianji Zi read the fates of Emperor Zhou, Marquis Dingbei, and Prince Zhongshun in Great Zhou, she disappeared without a trace. These past two years there have been no rumors of her in the martial world. Some say she revealed too many heavenly secrets and has already passed away in meditation, while others say she completed her heavenly mandate and went to cultivate in the deep mountains.”
“But I think, with Tianji Zi’s talent for predicting the world’s unity and division, she must still be somewhere in this mortal world observing current world affairs. I’m asking you to impersonate Tianji Zi, not to do anything excessive—just if someone really asks, you can give them a cryptic, ambiguous answer and let them guess.”
“First, Tianji Zi is a nun, so if she wanted to hide her identity, converting to Taoism and becoming a Taoist nun would be the best disguise—this explanation makes sense. Second, not many people have seen Tianji Zi, so there’s no fear of being exposed if you impersonate her, and you match her in age and gender. Third, I’m not asking you to do anything major in public—I just want to borrow Tianji Zi’s reputation to make certain words more credible, thereby saving my small life.”
“You are a person who has left home for religious life—saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Now I’m trapped in danger, with someone wanting to eat my flesh alive. I can only think of this one method.” At the end, Qin Yining bowed to Immortal Liu.
What Qin Yining didn’t know was that when she mentioned “joining the Taoist sect to disguise identity,” Immortal Liu was already secretly breaking into a cold sweat.
She had indeed disguised herself as a Taoist nun when she fled to Great Yan to hide her identity!
Because when she had given predictions to Emperor Zhou Li Qitian, Marquis Dingbei Ji Zeyu, and Pang Xiao, among these three there was indeed one whose nobility was beyond words—the reincarnation of the “Purple Forbidden Emperor Star,” while the other two occupied the “Seven Killings” and “Army Destroyer” stars. Among the three great inauspicious stars, there was still one “Greedy Wolf Star” reincarnation currently in Tatar territory.
But after Great Zhou established its dynasty, the one who ascended to the throne was not the “Purple Forbidden Emperor Star”!
That Li Qitian was clearly the reincarnation of the “Seven Killings Star,” yet he occupied the throne of the “Purple Forbidden Emperor Star”!
Upon hearing this news, she had fled that very night.
She just hadn’t expected that Qin Yining would come with a stack of silver notes asking her to play herself, and had even hit upon the key to many problems with a single statement. Was this truly the keen insight that only someone with great fortune and an incomparably noble future could possess?!
“Infinite Celestial Worthy! Miss Qin surely doesn’t intend to use Tianji Zi’s identity to swindle people outside, does she?”
Upon hearing this, Qin Yining didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Immortal Liu speaks too seriously. I’m only trying to save my life—where would I swindle anyone?”
Immortal Liu looked at the stack of silver notes with difficulty, swallowed, then asked: “Then may this humble Taoist ask what kind of rumors you plan to create outside? If it’s just a small matter, you wouldn’t need Tianji Zi’s great banner at all.”
“Immortal Liu is extremely clever—this indeed is not a small matter. Someone wants to eat me by digging out my heart, along with my bones and all the flesh of my body, grinding it all up to eat, claiming it can preserve youth. This person is about to act now. To save my life, I can only spread word outside that my fate is extremely good, hoping to escape this disaster.”
Speaking to this point, Qin Yining’s face reddened with embarrassment: “Actually, before coming here, I already had people spread word outside saying things like ‘Fourth Miss Qin has an extremely good fate—as long as she exists, Great Yan’s imperial foundation will remain stable,’ and claimed these were all Tianji Zi’s predictions. From the capital to here takes two hours—by now the idle men and helpers in the streets and alleys, the storytellers and singers in teahouses and wine shops, must all be talking about this matter.”
Seeing Immortal Liu’s dazed expression, Qin Yining herself felt quite embarrassed.
Having the audacity to promote herself as something like “Great Yan’s protective charm” or “Great Yan’s lucky mascot”—she was truly left with no choice!
The emperor would definitely try to pin some crime on her.
She had thought carefully—if he didn’t want to shake the Qin family’s foundation, still wanted to continue courting Qin Huaiyuan to work for the emperor, yet also wanted to openly capture only her to feed to the empress, the only best explanation would be to pin on her a crime like “bringing disaster to the country and people, a demon in this world.”
Then when the emperor captured her, he could claim it was to eliminate demons and evil, a righteous act.
Fortunately, she had planned ahead and struck first.
This way, when the emperor wanted to start his propaganda, her message would already be deeply rooted in people’s hearts.
Even if the emperor didn’t use this method of spreading false rumors, having public opinion recognize her as “Great Yan’s life-protecting charm,” the emperor would have to think twice before dealing with her.
Such rumors appearing out of nowhere would naturally be unbelievable, which is why she had everyone know these were Tianji Zi’s judgments—the same Tianji Zi who had once read the fates of Emperor Zhou, Marquis Dingbei, and Prince Zhongshun. Borrowing Tianji Zi’s great reputation would be more convincing.
But she couldn’t find Tianji Zi for the moment, and even if she found her, the woman might not be willing to wade into such muddy waters. She didn’t know any trustworthy nuns either, so in a flash of inspiration, she could only think of this “money-loving” Immortal Liu.
Immortal Liu loved money like life itself—with her, there was nothing that silver couldn’t settle.
But even so, she was still somewhat worried, fearing Immortal Liu wouldn’t agree.
If she refused, then she could only think of other methods, claiming Tianji Zi had read her fate and then continued wandering the world?
As Qin Yining’s thoughts turned a hundred times with worries entangling her, Immortal Liu stared at the silver on the table, nearly drooling.
So much silver, and all Baotong Bank notes that could be immediately exchanged in both Great Zhou and Great Yan—five thousand taels, a full five thousand taels, not to be shared with anyone else, all hers alone!
The temptation was simply too great for her!
Besides, this wasn’t the first time she’d done something like letting others use her reputation.
She also knew exactly who wanted to eat Qin Yining’s flesh.
A few days ago, the empress had come hurriedly, slammed a box of treasures on her table with a “clang,” and directly ordered: “When I return, I’ll tell His Majesty that you calculated that eating that Qin family bitch’s flesh can preserve youth! If His Majesty asks, just say it was your prediction!”
At that time, she hadn’t had time to refuse before being defeated by that box of jewelry.
Unexpectedly, Qin Yining was now using the same method to defeat her.
Fine, if she agreed, she agreed—earning double, saving a life, and even selling Prince Pang a favor…
Thinking of this, Immortal Liu carefully counted the silver notes twice, tucked them into her bosom with a beaming smile, patted them satisfyingly, then smiled: “Miss Qin truly has keen eyes. Actually, this humble Taoist is Tianji Zi.” Her expression couldn’t have been more serious.
Upon hearing this, Qin Yining couldn’t help but smile, bowing again to thank her sincerely: “Thank you, Immortal.”