Outsiders say the wealthiest family is one of virtue and charity. Whenever a disaster strikes anywhere, the Cheng family is the first to donate money and supplies. The couple even took their son with them to disaster zones to eat and live alongside the victims.
Before their eldest grandson was even born, they had already named him and used his name to sponsor several elementary schools, as well as countless highways and temples.
But to Yuyin, these acts of charity were merely a way to mask their illicit deeds and a desperate attempt at redemption.
When the Cheng family looks for a daughter-in-law, they look for a specific destiny pattern. Unless Chen Shujing possessed a destiny as exceptional as hers, she would never set foot inside the Cheng family’s gates.
"Tell me, why can't I marry into the family?" Chen Shujing shook Yuyin’s arm, her patience wearing thin.
"Your eyebrows are sparse, your ties to family are weak, and there is a vertical line between your brows—a sign of a lethal omen. This child… will not be born." Yuyin had always been blunt with her divinations, hoping to serve as a warning so that Chen Shujing might mend her ways before it was too late.
Chen Shujing burst into laughter, refusing to take Yuyin’s words to heart. "Fangnan has already promised to marry me. How dare you curse my child? You fortune-tellers are all con artists. What’s next? Are you going to ask me for money to 'ward off the evil'? Do you take me for a fool?"
Yuyin shot her an impatient glance. It seemed she was, indeed, a fool.
Unable to stand Yuyin’s look of disdain, Chen Shujing angrily pushed Cheng Fangnan forward. "Fangnan, this woman isn't just a fraud; she’s wicked and cursed our child to die. We can’t let her get away with this."
"Yuyin, are you filled with so much hatred after our engagement was broken that you’re regretting it now? Let me tell you, the betrothal contract has already been burned. The Cheng family is out of your league." Cheng Fangnan clenched his fists, preparing to strike Yuyin across the face.
"It’s you who is out of your league." Yuyin raised a broom and easily dodged him. Ignoring them both as if they were fools, she went back to sweeping the fallen leaves.
She wouldn't tell them that the Cheng family’s fate had already begun to turn, and they would soon fall from their heights into the mire.
"Where does a lowly Taoist like you get such confidence? Apologize to Shujing right now, or I’ll burn down this temple! Who gave you the nerve to curse my child?" Cheng Fangnan sneered, completely forgetting that Yuyin was the successor to the Lianxi Taoist Temple.
"If you didn't want to hear the truth, why did you come to see me?" Once she finished sweeping, Yuyin went to pack her things for her trip down the mountain. Wasting time with these two idiots was getting her nowhere.
Thinking Yuyin was retreating to her room out of fear, Cheng Fangnan deliberately draped an arm around Chen Shujing’s shoulders, showing off in front of Yuyin. "Don't pretend. I know you can't let go of the status of a wealthy young mistress and that you still pine for me."
*Pah.* Yuyin didn't know where Cheng Fangnan found the audacity.
She performed a small gesture, and a tiny paper man the size of a fingernail drifted toward Cheng Fangnan’s feet.
A moment later, with a dull thud, Cheng Fangnan tripped over the steps and landed flat on his face.
"You can eat whatever you want, but don't say whatever you want. I wouldn't have you if you were the last man on earth, so don't flatter yourself with this 'pining' nonsense." Yuyin was stunned by Cheng Fangnan’s shamelessness, and she grew even more curious about what Chen Shujing ever saw in him.
"Yuyin, you’re asking for it! Do you know what happens to people who offend Fangnan? Your uncle is a perfect example!" Chen Shujing helped Cheng Fangnan to a stone bench outside the gate, no longer daring to get near Yuyin.
People from the Xuanmen always had an eerie vibe about them.
The door creaked open.
Yuyin turned and saw a familiar shadow in the doorway. He arrived riding the light; golden luster shimmered in his dark hair, his skin was delicate and fair, and his features were breathtaking—his brows, eyes, and nose were as exquisite as a figure in a painting.
Seeing who it was, Cheng Fangnan hurriedly stood up. "Song Lian, you were supposed to be here before me. Where did you go?"
*Song Lian?*
Hearing the name, the corners of Yuyin’s mouth curled upward. She had heard the name Song Lian many times from her senior sisters; he was supposedly one of the top ten young talents in Pingcheng, a famous illustrator.
Several of her senior sisters were obsessed with him, chasing him like a celebrity.
*Just as I thought, these two are in the same camp.*
However, he appeared remarkably clean. She wondered how he had avoided that disaster—usually, no one could pass through that road unscathed.
Song Lian lowered his eyes, glancing at Yuyin in her Taoist robes, a flicker of suspicion crossing his face. "I was delayed by your piece-of-junk car and took a wrong turn."
*What? That car wasn't his…*
Yuyin looked away, feeling guilty. She noticed that he, too, seemed to have a small wooden charm hanging around his neck, just like hers.
Because it was flipped over, she saw the character for "Sheng" on the back. It was the same wood and the same style; it looked like a replica.
She was dying to know who had given Song Lian the charm around his neck, and what it had to do with her.
"Hello, my name is Yuyin." Yuyin took the initiative to extend her hand to Song Lian, her eyes curving into crescents. Only now did she realize she had misjudged him; Song Lian was not cut from the same cloth as Cheng Fangnan.
Cheng Fangnan carried the weight of human lives and the stench of blood, but Song Lian was clean, with a faint, elusive fragrance about him. She remembered her Master saying that good people and bad people had very different scents.
Seeing Yuyin’s gaze drawn to Song Lian, the smile on Cheng Fangnan’s face began to stiffen.
He felt as though the Yuyin in front of him had changed; she exuded a sharp wit.
He hadn't paid much attention when she broke off the engagement that morning, but now, even without makeup and dressed in simple robes, she looked like an ethereal fairy who had never touched the dust of the world. Her features were stunning, and her skin was fairer and more delicate than any woman he had ever seen—she didn't lose out even when standing next to the heavily made-up Chen Shujing.
"What? You think she’s prettier than me?" Chen Shujing, feeling slighted, pulled Cheng Fangnan’s head toward her.
Cheng Fangnan laughed awkwardly. He told himself he must not be wearing his glasses if he thought Yuyin was pretty.
*A lowly Taoist—how could she be as beautiful as my charming, seductive baby?*
"Yuyin, stop staring at him. A useless, ugly, and stupid charlatan like you? He’d never look at you." Cheng Fangnan wrapped his arm around Chen Shujing and viciously insulted Yuyin, desperate to trample her into the dirt.
"Hello, I’m Song Lian." When Song Lian took Yuyin’s soft, delicate hand, his thick brows furrowed slightly, though he didn't call her out for intentionally giving him the wrong directions.
"Song Lian, why are you bothering with this fool? Feiyan is thousands of times better than her. Forget it, let’s not waste time here. The only thing left in this temple is this con artist, and your divination is ruined anyway." Cheng Fangnan pulled at Song Lian.
Yuyin realized belatedly that Song Lian had another pursuer named Sheng Feiyan.
Aside from the Cheng family, Pingcheng was home to many industry giants, most notably the Sheng family. Sheng Feiyan was the only daughter of the Sheng family.
Although the Sheng family’s wealth was not quite on par with the Chengs, they were still incredibly affluent and leaders in the pharmaceutical industry.
Sheng Feiyan was the apple of their eye and a well-known talented woman among the socialites.
Yuyin couldn't help but wonder: was the pendant around Song Lian’s neck a gift from Sheng Feiyan? And why was it identical to hers?
Could it be that she was the true daughter of the Sheng family?
She thought back to her own life: from the moment she could remember, she had followed her parents to the streets to scavenge for scrap, becoming an orphan before she was old enough to go to school. She had spent over a decade being beaten and scolded by her aunt and uncle, and if her grandmother hadn't sent her to the Lianxi Taoist Temple, she would have been nothing but a pile of bones long ago.
"Since Master Huian is no longer here, let’s go." Song Lian sighed and walked toward the gate, tucking his pendant back inside his collar.
He could see that Yuyin was coveting his pendant.
Yuyin pursed her lips. *What a stingy guy. He hid it away just because I looked at it a couple of times.*
Seeing Yuyin met with such a cold shoulder, Cheng Fangnan couldn't stop laughing. "See? No normal man would look at a useless charlatan like you. If you want to get married, go find some cattle herder deep in the mountains; they might find it in their heart to take you."
Seeing that Cheng Fangnan was about to leave, Chen Shujing clutched her stomach and complained pitifully. "Fangnan, you heard her too—she said our child wouldn't be born. Isn't that a curse on our child’s life? We have to teach this charlatan a lesson today and rid everyone of this scourge."