TEFSCBSS Chapter 118

Chapter 118: The Changting Trio Has a Fortuitous Encounter with Gu Qing at a Tarot Reading Booth

Night had fallen, but the city’s bustle hadn’t died down.

Gu Qing and his two companions had been studying Su Li’s Tarot deck for several days. Of the three, Gu Qing had the most natural talent for divination and decided it was time to try out this novel method of fortune-telling.

To avoid being seen by Su Li, he went alone to set up a stall in the western part of the city.

His setup was simple—just a single deck of Tarot cards.
In front of the stall, a large piece of white paper displayed the bold words: “Western Divination.”
Beside it stood a smaller sign: “Fate brings us together; no fate, no meeting.”

Gu Qing believed his attitude was quite sincere. After all, this was his first time officially using Tarot to read for strangers. Whether it worked or not would take some trial and error to determine, so he didn’t charge any money—he saw it as apprentice-level practice.

However, after manning the booth all day, plenty of people came by out of curiosity, but very few wanted a reading.

“Hey, Goudan, remember this!” A woman carrying a vegetable basket tugged her child along, pointing at Gu Qing. “If you ever see folks like this, steer clear!”

Little Goudan blinked in confusion. “Why, Mom? Don’t these look cool?”

The woman scoffed. “The most dangerous things in life are the ones that look fancy and free.”

“They’ll tell you something ominous like ‘your aura is dark’ or ‘danger is near,’ and before you know it, you’ll be paying them to ‘solve’ it.”

“The real business is in the ‘solution’—charms, talismans, rituals—none of which are cheap.”

“And if they say something like ‘your family grave is cursed’ and get you to move it? Say goodbye to years of your savings.”

“Then after all that, you’ll still thank them for it.”

“In truth, you probably didn’t have any problems to begin with—it’s all just talk!”

Goudan’s eyes widened in disbelief. What? Seriously? He nodded frantically and promised to steer clear of these people in the future.

Gu Qing overheard all of it and was left speechless. Seriously? She’s slandering me when I’m not even charging anything.
She must’ve been scammed real bad before—no wonder she’s this bitter.

Also, true masters didn’t care for worldly riches. Even if they accepted something, it was just a symbolic token to settle the karmic balance. The ones with clearly marked prices in the hundreds or thousands? Now, those were the real scammers.

Gu Qing sighed. He was beginning to doubt his decision to set up shop in the unfamiliar west side of town.
Maybe he should’ve just stayed in front of the script store. At least there, he might get some familiar faces.

So what if Su Li scolded him for copying her methods? Hmph.
It’s not like she’d kick him out.

The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he got—so much so that he didn’t even notice when three people stopped in front of his stall.

The newcomers were the trio from Jin who’d just suffered defeat at the script store—Changting, Xie Yanting, and Zhou Jin.

Changting was fuming, muttering curses at everyone, even her supposed royal half-brother.
Xie Yanting smiled politely on the surface but was visibly annoyed inside.

Unfortunately, Changting’s mother was the Empress, while his own mother had only been a former handmaid of the Empress, accidentally favored once.
Since she wasn’t well-liked, she remained in servitude, and Xie Yanting’s fate was sealed from birth: follow Changting, serve Changting, become her pawn.

What’s more, they all knew exactly why Changting had come to Dayin—to select a manipulable prince as her consort, help him fight for the throne, and eventually place her child on it.
That way, Jin could seize control of Dayin without lifting a single sword.

So now, Xie Yanting had no choice but to swallow his frustration and stay quiet.

Zhou Jin, however, was entirely uninterested in their power games. Instead, she was happily observing the customs and sights of Dayin’s capital.

That’s when she spotted Gu Qing—someone she recognized as the son of the imperial princess and a frequent face at the script store.

After filling in the others on his identity, the three approached his stall.

Changting looked down her nose at him. “You’re a fortune-teller?”

Snapped out of his daze, Gu Qing perked up. Finally, a customer! He plastered on a smile. “Yes, yes, I am! Interested in a reading?”

He thumped his chest proudly. “Just for today! Once you leave here, you won’t get another chance like this. Want to give it a shot?”

Changting gave a half-smile. The son of a princess, reduced to fortune-telling on the street? Laughable. If this was the best Dayin had to offer, then their plan would be easy to carry out.

Plus, her mother had died at the border thanks to this very princess, who’d slain countless Jin soldiers. This was the perfect chance to collect some interest on that debt.

“I’ve never seen this type of ‘Western Divination’ before. It’s quite… unique,” she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Oh, you’ve got a sharp eye! This method was brought from a land far across the seas—an entirely different continent!”

“A different continent?”

“Exactly! Our Four Kingdoms are surrounded by mountains and oceans, but beyond those mountains, across those seas, lie many other nations.”

“Truly?” A gleam of interest sparked in Changting’s eyes. As a royal with high expectations placed upon her, she was no stranger to ambition.

She was about to probe further about this mysterious ‘West’ when Gu Qing, who had only picked up scraps of knowledge from Su Li, realized he had nothing more to say. So he snapped, “If you’re not getting a reading, move along.”

Changting’s expression turned cold, but she restrained herself. “Fine. I want a reading.”

“Great! What would you like to ask?”

She sneered. “I want to know—will my upcoming plans succeed?”

Weird question, Gu Qing thought, but still began shuffling the replica Tarot deck.

“Now, Western divination works differently from what you might be used to,” he explained. “We glimpse fate through the cards.”

“I’ve already shuffled the deck and placed it face down. Please silently repeat your question three times in your heart, then draw the three cards that call to you most.”

Intrigued by the novelty of the method, Changting did as instructed—repeating her question and drawing three cards.

Gu Qing turned them over one by one: Knight of Wands, The Tower (Reversed), and Ten of Swords.

He sucked in a sharp breath. Oh no… this is bad. Bad.

Changting frowned. “What do they mean?”

True to his reputation as a fortune-teller, Gu Qing stared at the three of them for a full minute, sighing and shaking his head repeatedly.

Xie Yanting snapped, “Just tell us already!”

“Sigh…” Gu Qing clicked his tongue. “You folks must be from far away. Came full of hope, only to… sigh.”

Changting: Wait, what? Only to what? Speak already!