He’s Eatery was located in Chang’an’s Anren Ward. The establishment wasn’t large, with just enough space for five or six tables and chairs. The proprietor, He Baojin, lived with his whole family in two modest rooms behind the shop.
When He Baojin first arrived in the capital, he initially set up a small food stall in the city. Thanks to his excellent culinary skills and quick wit, within just two or three years he had saved enough silver to rent a proper storefront and open a shop. However, after running around for several days, he couldn’t find a suitable location. Places in good areas had high rent, while affordable ones were located in truly remote areas, leaving him so worried he couldn’t sleep well for days.
Just then, he happened to hear someone mention that a shop in the eastern district was available for rent. When he went to inquire, he discovered that not only was the location surrounded by bustling activity, but the asking price wasn’t high either. This made him suspicious—could such a good opportunity really exist in this world?
The middleman who had connected them, seeing his expression, knew exactly what he was thinking. He stroked his beard and said mysteriously, “No rush. The price is low for a reason, naturally.”
It turned out the landlord had two conditions: First, the shop’s two floors, including the small courtyard and two rooms at the back, could all be rented out, but the landlord wanted to reserve the second floor for personal use. Second, since he heard the place would be opened as an eatery, if they could simply prepare three daily meals for him as well, it could offset part of the rent.
He Baojin found this somewhat difficult. The second condition was easy enough—as shop owners running a business, preparing an extra portion of food each day wasn’t hard. The main issue was the first condition… Having a stranger living in the shop would not only be inconvenient, but he feared future disputes that would leave both parties unhappy. At that point, it wouldn’t be as simple as just moving to another shop.
The middleman nodded upon hearing this: “Your concerns are perfectly natural. However, this landlord doesn’t reside in the capital permanently and has other places to stay in the city. He only occasionally stays here for convenience, otherwise this location wouldn’t be rented at this price. You might want to go home and think it over.”
He Baojin went home and deliberated for two days, then went to look at other places, but ultimately found none more suitable than the eastern district location. After a few more days, he finally made up his mind and paid a deposit to rent the shop.
However, even on the day of signing the contract, he never met the shop’s owner. The eatery had been open for half a year with the second floor remaining empty. Just when he thought the landlord had forgotten about the place and no one would ever move in, one morning a carriage stopped outside the shop, and a female Daoist descended from it.
She was called a female Daoist only because she wore a blue-green lotus-colored Daoist robe and introduced herself as a renunciate. If He Baojin were to speak honestly, this Daoist priestess resembled nothing of the Daoist masters he had commonly encountered.
Daoists were typically thin and gaunt, yet she was tall with a graceful figure. Daoists usually had an otherworldly bearing, proper and solemn, yet her eyes were lively and expressive, with a smile appearing before she even spoke. Daoists typically wore Daoist robes and yellow caps, yet she wore a Daoist robe of unknown origin or sect, with only a silver hairpin binding her hair…
The female Daoist presented the property deed. He Baojin examined it and confirmed its authenticity, then helped carry her luggage upstairs. When he came back down, his wife Chen Shi secretly pulled him aside to inquire about this Daoist’s background. The female Daoist said her surname was Qiu and she was a disciple of Jingxu Mountain. Neither of them had heard of this place. Chen Shi stammered hesitantly, “It’s not that I’m worried about other things, but looking at that Daoist’s appearance, I fear she’s using the Daoist title as a front while secretly conducting other business…”
“Don’t talk nonsense!” He Baojin scolded in a low voice. “No matter what, she’s still the landlord of this property. Just collecting monthly rent is enough to get by—why would she engage in that kind of business? Be careful she doesn’t hear such talk and throw us out instead!”
Chen Shi, chastised by him, murmured a few acknowledgments and ultimately dared not say more, though she mentally noted to find someone tomorrow to investigate what this Jingxu Mountain was all about.
However, after scolding his wife, He Baojin himself felt somewhat uneasy. He had heard plenty of such stories in the city—young, beautiful women living in Daoist temples claiming to be renunciate female Daoists, but secretly colluding with others in the flesh trade, or wealthy families keeping mistresses by housing them in Daoist temples to avoid public scrutiny. Recalling how the middleman had mentioned when renting the shop that the second floor was reserved for the owner’s business use, he grew increasingly anxious. What kind of business could a female Daoist conduct in such a small second-floor space?
He Baojin tossed and turned that night, unable to sleep well, secretly resolving that if she truly was a secret courtesan hiding behind a renunciate’s title, he would give up the shop even if it meant losing some silver.
Fortunately, the next day, Chen Shi returned from buying vegetables at the market, delightedly pulling him into the back courtyard: “I’ve had people investigate thoroughly! That Jingxu Mountain is apparently quite an extraordinary place—even the Emperor has visited it. If that Daoist Qiu truly comes from there, she shouldn’t be some disreputable woman.”
Only then did He Baojin feel slightly reassured, and in the following days he paid attention to what exactly this Daoist Qiu planned to do upstairs.
Several days passed like this before there was finally movement upstairs.
One early morning, the second-floor window facing the street opened, displaying a yellow cloth banner with the words “Fortune-telling, interpreting divination slips, bone-reading, character analysis; matching birth charts, palm reading, geomancy assessment, predicting fortune and misfortune.” A pennant stood by the window with four large characters in black on white background—”Infallible Divination.”
At this, not only He Baojin but all the nearby residents craned their necks to watch the spectacle. After all, with such audacity, one could hardly find a second fortune-teller in all of Chang’an who would dare claim their divination was infallible.
Once her sign was up, many busybodies came seeking divination slips to test whether it was true or false. As more people came, He Baojin discovered a second peculiarity about this Daoist Qiu.
Ordinarily, unless the proprietor had family matters, stall hours were fixed. But Daoist Qiu’s operating hours depended entirely on her mood. Those wishing to patronize her had only to check whether the small second-floor window facing the street was open—if the window was open, she was receiving customers that day; if the shutters were tightly closed, it meant she was not seeing clients.
Irregular hours were one thing, but even stranger was that the amount of silver this Daoist charged for divination had no fixed price. The same person coming today versus tomorrow would be charged different amounts, and different people asking about the same matter would also be charged different amounts, as if it all depended on her mood.
When He Baojin first discovered this, he thought such business practices surely couldn’t last long. Unexpectedly, whether because her divinations were truly accurate or because people were drawn to exactly this approach, the more mysterious her temperament and the more peculiar and unique her methods, the more people came seeking her divinations.
As a result, though her fortune-telling establishment in He’s Eatery had been open for barely two months, it had already gained some fame throughout Chang’an, with many people specifically coming to pay hefty sums for her to perform a divination.
At noon this day, Qiu Xinran’s establishment received a female client. Since moving upstairs, she had divided the second floor into two rooms—the inner one a bedroom, the outer one set up as a private parlor specifically for receiving female clients. Because the place was secluded and the environment refined, compared to the fortune-telling stalls outside, many married women and young ladies preferred to come here to have their fortunes read.
Today’s visitor was a young lady from some official’s household, accompanied by a maid, who had come to have her marriage prospects divined.
Qiu Xinran accepted five taels of silver from her and interpreted a divination slip: “Has Miss already had a betrothal arranged?”
The young lady replied with slight bashfulness, “Recently someone has come to our home as a matchmaker, but which family it will be hasn’t been decided yet.”
“According to this divination text, it should be settled by next spring.”
The woman sitting across from her showed some shyness on her face. After a long while, she stammered, “Then… can the Daoist tell which family it is?”
“That I cannot tell,” Qiu Xinran said with a smile as she closed the divination text and handed the slip of paper to her. “Does Miss already have someone she favors in her heart?”
Upon hearing this, the woman sighed instead: “Parents’ commands and matchmakers’ arrangements—how could it be up to me to decide?”
Qiu Xinran was about to say something when she suddenly heard a commotion from outside. Just past the meal hour, many people sat downstairs, and hearing the disturbance they all crowded out to look. Faintly, she heard someone say, “…returned from beyond the passes.”
Qiu Xinran’s heart skipped a beat. The woman sitting across from her also couldn’t resist her curiosity and looked out the window. In just a short time, the street-facing window area was packed so tightly that water couldn’t flow through, with nearly all the common people setting aside their tasks to crane their necks and watch the excitement.
Soon the sound of horse hooves became deafening. Cheers came from the distant crowd, with someone crying out loudly, “Marquis Dingbei has returned!”
This cry spread from one to ten and ten to a hundred, and in an instant had already spread throughout the entire street, causing a citywide sensation.
“Marquis Dingbei has returned?”
“The Empress Dowager’s birthday is in a few days—he’s probably returned to celebrate her birthday.”
“But can the northern border manage without Marquis Dingbei?”
“…”
This northern general’s reputation seemed known throughout the world. Even women who spent all their days in inner chambers had apparently heard of Marquis Dingbei’s mighty name. The female client clearly hadn’t expected that on this outing she would have such good fortune to encounter Marquis Dingbei’s return to the capital, giving her the chance to see him in person. At this thought, she couldn’t help but excitedly stand up and look outside.
When Qiu Xinran heard this name, however, she remained stunned for a long while. Only when the sound of horse hooves drew near outside the window did she return to her senses and also rise to walk to the window.
Not far away, a cavalry unit advanced in formation. At the very front was the Marquis Dingbei who had returned to the capital for this imperial commendation. Beyond many people’s expectations, this legendary general appeared quite young, and his features were not rough or imposing but rather refined and handsome. In the sunlight, he wore silver armor with red silk draped over his shoulders, phoenix eyes long and narrow, lips like peach blossoms. The soldiers behind him were all vigorous and spirited, clad in military dress, wearing helmets and armor, their discipline impeccable.
Since they entered the city, cheering voices had been continuous along the way. Young women along the street all opened their windows in welcome, throwing fruits and flowers until the carriage overflowed with them. Qiu Xinran stood by the window with a bitter smile: After today, this Marquis Dingbei would probably become the dream lover of countless maidens overnight.
When the procession was about to pass below the eatery, the female client at the window—whether from excessive excitement or involuntarily—loosened her grip, and the handkerchief at her wrist floated down.
“Oh!” the young lady exclaimed softly.
All along the route, many common people had thrown flowers and fruits at them, and many bold young women had thrown handkerchiefs from upper floors, yet the mounted soldiers all kept their eyes straight ahead, their military discipline strict. Only when they reached He’s Eatery—perhaps because the yellow pennant on the second floor was too eye-catching—as the handkerchief floated down before him, did the general on horseback suddenly look up toward the upper floor.
Across the layers of crowds, their gazes briefly intersected. In that instant, Qiu Xinran felt all the blood in her body freeze, a chill running down her neck…
Fortunately, this glance was too brief. The other party quickly shifted his gaze away, as if merely casually scanning both sides without purpose. By the time she gradually regained her heartbeat, she heard the person beside her quietly sigh. The sound of horse hooves had already moved far away, and the silk handkerchief that had floated down from the second-floor window lay in the middle of the road, imprinted with several hoof marks.
The crowd pressed forward following the gradually departing procession, and the street outside returned once again to its previous tranquility.