Chapter 266: A Prophecy

Chapter 266

The crowd in front of the Temple of No Words was as vast as the sea and the mountains, far exceeding the spectacle that Song Zhao had witnessed a few days ago when accompanying the Empress Dowager to Hanshan Temple.

Noble Consort Chen was annoyed by the overcrowding. Her magnificent attire was being jostled by the commoners, and it was becoming wrinkled. So she whispered to Xiao Jingheng, "Your Majesty! What's so interesting about a fortune teller? No matter how talented he is, can he surpass the Imperial Astronomical Bureau? Let's go~ The weather is already hot, and this place is filled with so many people. It wouldn't be good if Your Majesty gets accidentally injured."

Song Zhao also added, "Noble Consort, what you said is true. This place is chaotic and crowded. It's better for Your Majesty to avoid it."

Xiao Jingheng was initially just curious, but seeing the overwhelming crowd, he grew impatient and decided to heed their advice and turn back.

However, after taking only a couple of steps, a temple servant emerged from the Temple of No Words and shouted for the people to quiet down. He solemnly announced, "The master is closing the temple today. Everyone, please go back."

As the crowd dispersed, grumbling and complaining, the temple servant caught up to Xiao Jingheng and said, "Honored guest, please wait. My master invites you to come inside."

Xiao Jingheng found this strange, but since the servant singled him out from the crowd, he thought that perhaps the master had discovered something mysterious about him.

His curiosity piqued, he led Song Zhao and Noble Consort Chen into the temple.

Upon entering, they saw a young man dressed in green robes, who had been waiting with a bow for quite some time.

He appeared very young and handsome, far from the image of an old sage with white hair and an ethereal aura that Xiao Jingheng had imagined.

Before Xiao Jingheng could speak, the servant bowed deeply to everyone and respectfully said, "The humble one pays respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live."

Everyone was taken aback by his words.

Xiao Jingheng furrowed his brow and scrutinized him, asking, "How do you know my identity?"

The servant, Tan Yuezhi, replied, "Receiving a distinguished guest from the Wei family into the imperial garden is already a notable status. Furthermore, the number of patrols in the city has noticeably increased these past few days, and Mister Wei personally donated thirty thousand taels of silver to repair the river embankment. All these signs indicate that someone honorable is coming. It's not difficult to make an educated guess."

Tan Yuezhi was renowned in Suzhou as a master of divination. Xiao Jingheng had expected him to spout nonsense, claiming that he had foreseen everything through his divination. But instead, he spoke the truth.

Hearing his words, Xiao Jingheng dispensed with formalities and said, "You are indeed sincere. The people of Suzhou refer to you as the 'Half Immortal,' but are you using these petty tricks to deceive others?"

Upon hearing this, Tan Yuezhi's relaxed expression suddenly turned serious, and he said solemnly, "The art of divination based on the eight trigrams of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches reveals the fate of the person being divined. It is the disclosure of heavenly secrets. Because of this, how dare I disrespect the gods? What is true is true, and what is false is false. I would never dare to fabricate anything, or else I would incur heavenly punishment."

But this time, his expression gradually relaxed.

After a long while, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Fortunately, fortunately! The divination only shows the presence of a bloody disaster, but as for the source of this calamity, the divination cannot deduce, and the humble one cannot determine. However, based on the divination, this calamity will be mitigated by the presence of a noble person by Your Majesty's side, whose noble aura will safeguard you, and Your Majesty will not suffer any harm!"

Noble Consort Chen scolded, "Your words are as good as saying nothing. You keep changing your story. It seems you're not someone talented."

She looked at Xiao Jingheng and said, "The Emperor must be tired of listening to his nonsensical ramblings. Let's go back."

Xiao Jingheng remained silent for a moment, then ordered Jiang Deshun to give Tan Yuezhi a hundred taels of silver notes, and then they left the temple.

Later, after strolling around the city for a while and noticing the dark clouds gathering, signaling an imminent rain, they decided to return to the boat and head to Lake Heart Island.

Inside the cabin, Xiao Jingheng was enjoying tea with Noble Consort Chen and Song Zhao.

Noble Consort Chen couldn't help but complain, "If Your Majesty allows me to speak, that person is nothing but a shameless charlatan. It's only because of your benevolence, Your Majesty, that you don't hold him accountable. Otherwise, speaking such disrespectful words would surely bring him nothing but trouble!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Song Zhao, who was sitting near the ship's rail, heard a commotion outside.

Curious, he opened the window to see what was happening.

He saw countless palace maids running around on the deck, each wearing a gloomy expression.

Just as he was wondering, Jiang Deshun suddenly burst in, looking alarmed. He exclaimed,

"Your Majesty! The ship is leaking!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingheng and Song Zhao remained calm, not overly worried.

Instead, it was Noble Consort Chen who was taken aback and exclaimed, "How could this happen out of the blue? What... What should we do?"

Song Zhao reassured her in a firm tone, "Noble Consort, there's no need to panic. There are still twelve wooden boats on the ship. Even if this ship sinks, we will be safe."

Noble Consort Chen composed herself and gave him a disapproving look, saying, "Who said I was panicking? I'm definitely not panicking. I'm just worried that Your Majesty will be bothered by this..."