They've all become top scholars in the imperial examinations, and you're telling me this i

Chapter 43 A Basket of Golden Carp

As dawn broke, the old locust tree at the entrance of Xishikou drooped its head listlessly in the morning mist.

Chen Guangrui strode to the locust tree. The worm-eaten wooden table was still leaning against the tree root. Yuan Shoucheng was dozing off with a broken bamboo tube in his arms. He was awakened by the footsteps and looked up to meet Chen Guangrui's overly calm face.

"Fortune teller, tell my fortune!" Chen Guangrui slammed his hand on the long table, the worm-eaten wood creaking loudly. His tone was curt, and he didn't mention what kind of fortune he wanted to tell.

Yuan Shoucheng shuddered violently, nearly dropping the broken bamboo tube in his hand. Upon recognizing Chen Guangrui, his old face immediately fell, and he forced a mournful expression, his wrinkles creased as he cried out, "Again?!"

Yuan Shoucheng rubbed his hands, his voice low and dejected, "The Dragon King is keeping a close watch on the Jing River aquatic creatures! This fortune-telling business in Chang'an is impossible to continue! I'm almost starving, so I'll have to find another place..."

He grew increasingly dejected as he spoke, "Before, I could secretly tell fortunes for people and at least earn two golden carp a day, without anyone noticing. But that old dragon is cunning now! How dare I scheme against his aquatic creatures again? There's no way out, there's really no way out now!"

Chen Guangrui didn't want to hear a single word of nonsense, and gave him a cold look, "Stop talking nonsense! Just do what I say! Otherwise..."

He lifted his toes and lightly stepped on one of the wobbly legs of the table. "I'll smash this stall right now!"

"Heh!" Yuan Shoucheng's cloudy eyes widened, his goatee trembling with anger. He looked Chen Guangrui up and down, observing his thin and frail appearance in his plain scholar's robe. "So tough on you today? You have some fish? Show it to me, will you?"

He craned his neck to peek into Chen Guangrui's sleeve pocket.

"No," Chen Guangrui answered crisply, without even lifting his eyelids.

Yuan Shoucheng almost laughed in anger: "You dare to be so arrogant even without fish? Aren't you afraid I'll give you a bad reading? If the divination is wrong, you'll be the one who suffers!"

As he spoke, he didn't even throw down the copper coins; he simply rolled his eyes and started muttering a few random words.

Chen Guangrui gave a very faint smile and said with absolute certainty,
"You absolutely won't give me a random calculation. Not only will you calculate, but you'll calculate accurately! Not a single word can be wrong."

Yuan Shoucheng stopped stroking his beard, his face full of mocking disbelief. A poor scholar, trying to order me around with empty words?

"Fine, I'll do your reading, and not only will I, but I won't get a single word right! Kid, you've already swindled so much money from me, and now you want to get something for nothing?"

He turned his face away, speaking with absolute certainty, "It doesn't count. If we don't see any fish today, nothing I say matters!"

He looked at Chen Guangrui with a smug expression. If Chen Guangrui asked any more questions, he would throw a tantrum and alert the Marquis of Wu.

"Wow!"

Half a basket of carp, their scales gleaming with gold, was roughly slammed onto the long table!

Water droplets splashed all over Yuan Shoucheng's face.

The old Dragon King pressed down like a wall, roaring in his gruff voice, "What's all the noise about? Didn't you want fish? Is that enough? Fine!"

With a wave of his hand, a basket of golden carp leaped and splashed, soaking Yuan Shoucheng's tattered yellow hemp paper.

These golden carp, shining like gold in the sunlight, are of far superior quality to the divination gold coins Yuan Shoucheng had previously obtained.

Yuan Shoucheng was so shocked his jaw almost dropped! He pointed to the basket of fish jumping around on the table, then poked the old Dragon King's bulging cheeks.

"Dragon, Old Dragon?! You...you've taken the wrong medicine or what?!"

"Aren't these your treasures? You just sent them to me like this?"

His mind was buzzing. This old man was yelling yesterday that he was going to smash his rice bowl, and today he's delivering fish to his door.

"This is strange!" Yuan Shoucheng looked at the old Dragon King with suspicion. The old dragon of the Jing River turned his face away, his face flushed. As if he had thought of something, Yuan Shoucheng grabbed the few copper coins that were stained with fishy smell and threw them onto the table without thinking, while quickly chanting a spell.

As the coin settled, Yuan Shoucheng's eyes were glued to the divination result, as if struck by lightning.

His hands began to tremble, his lips quivered, "The...the official in charge of personnel...is it Wei Zheng?!"

He suddenly turned his head and stared intently at Chen Guangrui, his eyes wide as if he had seen a ghost!

"You...you knew all along? So you were colluding with Wei Zheng all this time?! Good heavens...you even foresaw this?! You knew he was a clerk all along?! I...I'm impressed! I'm truly impressed!"

His legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground, his last shred of superiority completely shattered.

He used to make a living by fortune telling, but now he can't out-fortune-telling Chen Guangrui at all!
This guy can definitely see more secrets of the universe than I can.

"No, if you're this accurate, why did you come to me for a reading?" Yuan Shoucheng looked at Chen Guangrui, wondering what he was up to.

The old Dragon King's face flushed red! He recalled how a few days ago at the West Market, he had grabbed Yuan Shoucheng by the collar, shouting threats and spitting all over Yuan's face.

Looking at the composed Chen Guangrui before him, Old Long wished he could disappear into the ground! He rubbed his temples and coughed gruffly, "Cough cough! That... top scholar! Your... your scheming skills are absolutely amazing!"

With so many people around, he lost his ability to speak softly and was no longer the same person he was in his dream last night. He could only frantically give Yuan Shoucheng a meaningful look and shout urgently, "Old man Yuan! What are you waiting for? Hurry up and praise him!"

The meaning couldn't be clearer: get me a way out! Don't make me lose face!

Chen Guangrui's gaze was fixed on the basket of thrashing golden carp, ignoring the Dragon King's embarrassment and Old Yuan's panic. He asked slowly,
"Mr. Yuan, how many fortunes can you tell with this basket of fish?"

The Dragon King quickly chimed in, his voice booming like thunder.

"If that's not enough, I have plenty more! I have plenty in my underwater palace! Just tell me how many you want!"

He puffed out his chest, trying to ease the embarrassment he had just felt.

Yuan Shoucheng waved his hands repeatedly, glancing furtively at the Dragon King with lingering fear.

"Enough! Enough! How dare you ask for more? Scholar Chen, tell me! What divination do you want this time? I guarantee it!"

Chen Guangrui waved his hand.
"No rush. I'm curious, what else can you do with these goldfish besides making soup?"

He stared intently at Yuan Shoucheng's face.

Yuan Shoucheng's expression changed, becoming remarkably calm.

"It's just soup. The old Dragon King took so much, I can't finish it all. Besides, if I really make soup, this guy will feel bad about it. He's clearly making things difficult for me."

As he spoke, his eyes were fixed intently on the basket of fish, scrutinizing it carefully, up and down, as if he were rummaging through treasures, or searching for a needle in a pile of fish scales. That look wasn't one of reluctance to part with the fish; it was more like…searching for something!
Chen Guangrui remained silent, feeling a pang of surprise in his heart. Why did this old fortune teller have such an expression upon seeing the fish?
He wasn't making soup at all.

Chen Guangrui's suspicions were almost confirmed, but he said nothing, only watching Yuan Shoucheng's every move.
Yuan Shoucheng felt uncomfortable under his gaze and quickly pressed, "Scholar Chen! What exactly do you want to calculate?"

Chen Guangrui withdrew his questioning gaze and said in a resolute voice, "You help me figure out which Buddhist groups have visited Chang'an City recently?"

His eyes were like a deep well, reflecting the shadow of the locust tree.

(End of this chapter)