-虞襄(yú xiāng)- Yu Xiang, the female lead
-虞品言(yú pǐn yán)- Yu Pin Yan, the male lead
-老太太(lǎotàitai)- Old Madam
-虞妙琪(yú miào qí)- Yu Miao Qi, the novel original FL and YPY’s biological sister
-林氏(lín shì)- Lin shi, Yu Pin Yan’s mother
-苦海和尚(Kǔ huì héshang)- Master Ku Hai
-镇国寺(zhèn guó sì)- Zhenguo Temple, the temple Master Ku Hai is from.
Yu Miao Qi stared at the other invitation in the Old Madam’s hand and sat on pins and needles. Sensing her unease, the Old Madam handed over the name card and said in a solemn tone, “This is the husband I have chosen for you, I sent someone to discuss marriage with his family last month, and they have agreed to let you marry him on an auspicious day in the New Year.”
“What? It’s already set in stone? How come I wasn’t aware of this?” Yu Miao Qi questioned in a shrill voice. When she took a look at the invitation, her expression became as sinister as a ghost, “A small local magistrate, living in Li County, Wangcheng, a thirty-year-old widower, who had married four wives and all have died! Grandma, how dare you let me marry such a man?! Do you want me to die?!”
She crumpled her name card and wept.
“Shut up! If I didn’t have to, do you think I would have married the di[1] daughter of the Marquis manor to such a man? You don’t even know what kind of fate you have!” The Old Madam beckoned towards Ma Momo, “Take out her bazi[2]and let her see for herself.”
Ma Momo complied, and took out a Gengtie[3] and placed it under Yu Miao Qi’s eyes.
“If you don’t believe me, show the bazi to someone and have it examined. You are born with the fate of a jinx who brought nothing but death to your kin. On the day you were born, you cursed your father to death, then the Shen family fell into ruins, the Shen couple died a wrongful death, and your elder brother’s career was almost ruined. If you don’t find a husband with the same fate, you will be a widow[4] for the rest of your life and end up in a miserable state with no one to take care of you in your old age.”
“I don’t believe it! You must be lying to me! I am a noble person, born noble and blessed, that’s what my Shen parents told me since I was a child. This bazi must be a fake!” Yu Miao Qi gripped on the Gengtie and ran away wildly.
Yu Xiang was so stunned that she forgot to bite the half-eaten candy she placed in her mouth, “Grandmother, is Yu Miao Qi really born with the fate of a jinx?”
She believed in Buddhism in her previous life and arrived in the Great Han after her death, so she naturally believed in fortune telling. However, Yu Miao Qi was different from the others, she was the female lead and would become the Empress in the future. Shouldn’t she have great luck in her body, how did she suddenly become a jinx? Could it be that the ripple effect was really that great?
However, no matter what, Yu Miao Qi was still going to get married, and she was marrying a sixth-ranked judge, so she posed no real threat. Her heartstrings loosened and she held onto the candy bar and nibbled on it with a crunch.
Yu Si Yu also looked straight at the Old Madam, her eyes were filled with curiosity.
“These are the words Great Master Ku Hai personally said, and it can’t be wrong. If it wasn’t the case, would I have married her to a family like that? They say that a prestigious family marries a girl from a humble background. But even if my Marquis manor had to marry off a daughter to a family of a lower status it would not be this low.” The Old Madam sighed helplessly.
Yu Pin Yan’s expression was indifferent, “It’s good to get her married off anyway. She holds a grudge against the Yu family, so sooner or later she will be a scourge.”
Thinking of what had happened to the Shen family, the Old Madam nodded her head with a sense of sympathy.
Yu Miao Qi ordered someone to prepare a carriage and arrived at Lin’s manor with the Gengtie in her hand. She dismissed the servants and asked urgently, “Mother, come and take a look at this bazi!”
Lin Shi took a closer look and said, “Isn’t this Yu Xiang’s bazi?”
Yu Miao Qi immediately let out a long breath. However, the next moment, Lin Shi held her forehead and sighed, “Look at my memory, you two were switched from birth, your bazi should be Yu Xiang’s, Yu Xiang’s bazi should be yours. This is your bazi, back then I got someone to calculate…”
The latter words faded into silence, and Lin Shi’s face turned horribly white in alarm.
You had someone to calculate it, how is it?” The weight in Yu Miao Qi’s heart that was put down had raised up again.
“It has been a long time, I’ve already forgotten. It’s just vague words of good fortune and wealth. My daughter is naturally a blessed one.” Lin Shi’s smile was forced, her eyes wavered. She had been so happy to have her daughter back that she hadn’t even thought that Yu Xiang’s fate should have belonged to her daughter.
Her husband was killed by her daughter, not Yu Xiang! This knowledge kept banging at her already fragile heart, causing her to lose her mind.
Yu Miao Qi could not see Lin Shi’s strange behavior. She grabbed her wrist and questioned her sternly, “Are you lying? What did the fortune teller say? Am I really as the Old Madam said? A jinx? That’s impossible!”
Lin Shi forced herself to calm down and consoled her, “Don’t overthink. You are the di daughter of the Marquis manor and were born to enjoy wealth and prosperity. How could you have such a bitter fate? That fortune teller is a fraud, let’s find someone else to give you a reading. Let’s go to Zhen Guo Temple and find Great Master Ku Hai.” After she finished her sentence, she pulled her daughter into the carriage.
With hope rising in her heart, Yu Miao Qi ordered the coachman to hurry to Zhen Guo Temple. Under the guise of Yu Xiang, the two of them arrived at the Zen room where Kuhai was cultivating and handed over the Gengtie.
“I have seen this bazi before.” Kuhai took a brief look and immediately said.
“Where have you seen it before? How is my fate?” Lin Shi licked her dry lips and her heart was pounding wildly.
“Five years ago, Old Madam Yu came to me with this bazi.” Ku Hai turned to face Yu Miao Qi. He placed both palms together and said compassionately, “Amitābha. This poor monk had a message for this benefactor: As the saying goes, ‘If you endure hardship and persevere in labour, you will prosper and be of great use. Even though it is true in all its superficiality, it is not easy to waver as long one possesses a noble heart. If one goes straight ahead and fulfills this, life and death will not be able to impede them.’ Although this benefactor’s fate is bitter, you will be able to overcome it with good thoughts and virtues, and sooner or later you will be free from suffering.”
Lin Shi had fallen completely limp on the praying mat, her face covered as she sobbed. Since she had asked Great Master Ku Hai to read her fortune, he could not be wrong. How ridiculous and pathetic it was that her own daughter was the one she had cursed for more than ten years?
Yu Miao Qi froze for several breaths before she returned to her senses, her tone calm and composed, “Then Master, can you help me look at another bazi?” She then declared her own, which was the original bazi of Yu Xiang.
Kuhai closed his eyes and projected, and after a moment laughed and said, “The bazi is really wonderful, the Treasury star is in the precise spot not too early nor too late. Although there are many calamities in the early years, this person will be blessed with long-lasting fortune and great wealth after the age of sixteen…”
Yu Miao Qi could not listen to any more of this, so she got up unceremoniously, slammed the door and left. The two of them returned to the carriage and remained silent for a long time. Seeing that Zhen Guo Temple was getting farther and farther away, Lin Shi spoke slowly, “Child, when the fourth prince proposes marriage to you in the future, there will always be an exchange of Gengtie, I am afraid that your fate is…”
Yu Miao Qi sneered and waved her hand, “What are you talking about, mother? This is clearly Yu Xiang’s Gengtie, when did it become mine? When we get back, please ask mother to send a message to the Fourth Prince, saying that I have something important to discuss with him.” She could never marry a small magistrate, never! Anyone who stood in the way of her future needs to die!
[1] 嫡 (dí) – Legitimate. In this context, it would mean children of formal wife as distinguished from concubines.
[2] 八字- (Bā zì) – birthdate characters used in fortune-telling.
[3] 庚帖(gēng tiě)- Gengtie. A card with the horoscope of a boy or a girl sent as a proposal for betrothal.
[4] The Old Madam is trying to imply that if she doesn’t have a husband with the same fate of a jinx, she would curse her husband to death. Thus, she would be a widow for the rest of her life.