Because it is the winter solstice, there are obviously fewer people on South Street than usual, the shops are basically closed and locked, and even the small vendors go home early to worship their ancestors, and the most prosperous street market in Sinanseong seems uncharacteristically empty.
Cheng Mu rode his horse slowly, and he walked very slowly, as if he was enjoying a rare leisure time.
But the sun fell on his face, illuminating a trace of sadness in the depths of his eyebrows, and clearly revealing the haste in his heart.
"Moth, moth, moth," he repeatedly imitated Cui Jue's tone and pronounced the word, "What does he mean?"
Why did you show such a sudden realization in the end?
If only I could snatch the book of life and death and see it clearly.
It's a pity that now Cui Jue has returned to the underworld, and it's too late to say anything. ” Thinking of this, Cheng Muyou regretted it, and the lines between his eyebrows became deeper, imprinted on his cold and angular face, making him look like an extra layer of coldness that no one should enter.
"Fortune telling, criticize yin and yang to break the five elements, measure feng shui and survey the six combinations, look at the sun and moon in the palm, take the clothes in the sleeve, and don't want money."
An old voice came from beside him, Cheng Muyou turned his head, and saw an old woman in ink-colored clothes sitting on a shabby mazaar, her hair was dyed gray and white by the wind and frost, and it was unkempt and clinging to her ears, and her emaciated face was gray and yellow, wrinkled, dry and cracked like an old tree bark.
However, one of her eyes was shining brightly, and she looked radiant, even though the corners of her eyes were already covered with fine crow's feet.
There was a flag standing beside her, on which only a simple word "hexagram" was written, the flag was blown by the wind "boom", the flagpole swayed left and right, as if it could not withstand the cold wind, crumbling.
Just as Cheng Muyou rode past her, the slender flagpole finally completed its mission, and with a "quara" sound, it broke into two sections and fell in the direction of the old woman.
Cheng Muyou was shocked, his body had jumped up from the horse, he made a beautiful harrier in the air and turned over, and held the flagpole before it hit the person.
"Mother-in-law," he bent down to pick up the old woman who had fallen to the ground in fright, and handed the flag to her, "today is the winter solstice, and there are few people on the street, so you better go home early, and don't sit here and get cold." ” The old woman put the flag on the ground, stroked her chest in shock, and after a while, she got up and thanked Cheng Muyou, "Young man, thank you, if you didn't come to the rescue today, I'm afraid the old man would have died."
When she said this, another cold wind blew in her face, and she coughed a few times, and then continued, "But I can earn a little is a little, my son is not successful, my daughter-in-law ran away with someone, and the granddaughter of the family still has to rely on my old bones to feed, where can I say that I will go back." ” With that, she trembled and planted the remaining half of the flag on the ground, and sat back on the horse.
Hiding his face with one hand, he coughed violently a few more times.
Seeing her appearance, Cheng Muyou felt a sense of unbearability in his heart, he put his hand into the blanket and grabbed the cold copper plate inside.
But when he thought about it, and fearing that he would hurt the old woman's pride, he sat down on the other horse with his legs up, and stretched out his hands before her.
"Mother-in-law, since they are all dismounted, why don't you help me calculate a hexagram and see how my fate is?"
The old woman didn't raise her eyes, so she said with a smile, "The son's forehead is broad, the sky is full, the complexion is bright, the seal hall is flat, the nose bridge is straight, and the mountain roots are raised, so he must hold official power in his hands."
Besides, the eyes of the son, hiding the true light but not revealing it, are long and beautiful, and they are the eyes of insight into authenticity, so the old body deduces that you are the county commander Cheng of Xin'an City. ” Cheng Muyou smiled faintly and said, "Mother-in-law's hexagram is accurate, and it is indeed Cheng Muyou of Xin'an County."
But although he said this, he still didn't believe it in his heart, he knew that he was dressed in such a dress, and it was not difficult for someone to guess his true identity, and besides, it was very likely that this mother-in-law had seen him somewhere, and she already knew who his surname was, so she just said it from her face.
The old woman seemed to guess what he was thinking, she squinted and smiled, and then said, "Childe's mother left early, you were raised by Ling Zun, and later married a wife and had children, but the wife died a few years ago.
But now it is bitter and sweet, there is a beautiful concubine in her arms, and a child around her knees, which can be described as a harmonious husband and wife, and filial piety to father and son. ” After that, she babbled a lot about Cheng Muyou's family affairs and the cases he had judged, and unconsciously talked about it for half an hour.
Cheng Muyou nodded frequently, but he was still unmoved in his heart, because his family relationship was not a secret, and the case that happened in Xin'an City was passed on by word of mouth, but everyone who has lived in Xin'an for a long time has heard of it, and it is not uncommon for this fortune teller mother-in-law to talk eloquently.
However, his original purpose was not to tell fortunes for himself, so he once again put his hand into the coat, grabbed the string of copper coins, and said with a smile, "Mother-in-law said well, Cheng admires it very much, but today is the winter solstice, and the family is still waiting for me, you can accept this money, buy some delicious food for the child to take back, Cheng will leave first." ” With that, he stood up, saluted the old woman who was smiling and staring at him, and then jumped on his horse, shook the reins, and prepared to leave.
"My lord, these past events are nothing, and there is nothing to say if adults don't look down on the old body, but the old body still has the same ability, there is only one in the sky and on the earth, do you want to listen to it?"
The old woman's voice was mixed with the wind and transmitted to Cheng Muyou's ears.
Cheng Muyou tugged at the reins and looked back at the face that looked even older in the cold wind, "Not counting the past?"
Is that mother-in-law counting the coming day?
” The old woman grinned, revealing her sparsely blackened teeth inside, "The coming day?"
The old body has already said that the adult official fortune is prosperous, and the blessings are profound, so there is no need to worry. ” Cheng Muyou narrowed his eyes, and his eyes fell on the banner that was blown by the wind, and the black "hexagram" character on it twisted with the banner and turned into a strange shape, "The past and the future are not counted, and the life of a person is over, what else is there to calculate for mother-in-law?"
” The old woman smiled and said word by word, "I count the dead man's business, and the afterlife's business." ”