Chapter 66

The Scheme

The water pavilion held a zither on its stand, incense burning in a crane-and-cloud burner in the corner.

Zither and sword. He really committed to the aesthetic.

"Please, sit." Master Xuan gestured Chao Musheng to the Eight Immortals table, on which an unfinished go game was laid out.

"I have no fine tea to offer — this is honeysuckle I gathered on the mountain myself. Appropriate for the season." He carried a string of sandalwood beads in one hand and poured with the other. "What brings young sir to consult me — matters of the heart, or matters of ambition?"

"Can Master Xuan address both?" Chao Musheng picked up a go stone from the board and moved it.

"I have some small knowledge of divination and physiognomy." Master Xuan didn't react to Chao Musheng's adjustment of the board — he had arranged the pieces from a recorded game position in a manual, and couldn't have said what any particular move meant anyway. "I glimpsed young sir at the banquet hall just once, the other evening — and I knew immediately that his fate was beyond words."

Chao Musheng raised an eyebrow. That evening, he hadn't noticed Master Xuan paying him the slightest attention.

A sudden change in manner always signals a purpose.

"Your fortune, young sir, is like the smoke of this incense burner — it can only rise." Seeing no visible response, Master Xuan did not press. Young people fresh in the world always thought they could reshape it. They trusted themselves and trusted nothing else.

He studied Chao Musheng's face, and his delivery paused.

He had come in prepared to do the Chen family a favor. But now, looking at this face, he found he couldn't read it at all.

He'd seen the horoscope. Ordinary — a brief bright flame and nothing more.

If it can't be read, don't force it. He picked up his tea. "A pity, then — for I see in young sir's face the shadow of a grave trial."

"Oh?" Chao Musheng's attention sharpened immediately. "What kind of trial?"

"Difficult to say just yet." Master Xuan shook his head with measured gravity. He had long mastered the art of cultivated mystery before wealthy clients — even his tea-drinking carried a certain transcendent quality. "If young sir would share his birth date and time, I may be able to help him avoid what lies ahead."

He set the teacup down. On the saucer beneath it, strange symbols slowly faded.

When the last of the markings disappeared, he gave a cold smile. "A trivial technique."

He snapped two fingers together. The saucer cracked apart. He tossed the pieces casually into the water; small ripples spread out across the surface.

"My apologies — someone outside has been causing trouble for me." He watched the rings on the water, his tone mild. "Young sir need not be alarmed."

Chao Musheng: "..."

A heat-erasable pen from an elementary school supply kit could do the same thing.

Breaking the saucer and throwing it into the lake — getting rid of the evidence before it could be examined?

He provided his birth date. "I'm not sure of the exact time — my parents never mentioned it. A man of Master Xuan's abilities shouldn't need that to arrive at the answer."

The date was identical to what the Song family had supplied.

"If I'm not mistaken, young sir was born in the latter part of the shen hour — that is, somewhere between two and three in the afternoon." Master Xuan fitted the birth details the Song family had given him to the inquiry.

"My mother has mentioned I was born in the afternoon." Chao Musheng's expression became one of pure admiration. "Master Xuan — truly a divine reckoning."

He had been born at dawn. His grandmother had said the morning clouds that day were as red as sunset.

The certainty in that answer meant someone had told him the time. Someone who believed Chao Musheng was born in the afternoon.

The Song family?

His parents had no trust in the Song patriarch whatsoever — they would never have given him accurate information about something like a birth time. When it came to anything involving him, they had never been careless about a single detail.

So why had the Chen family gone to the Song family for his horoscope?

"Your five-element affiliation is wood. At present, sustained by the strength of your fate, you are growing toward the sun. But when the weather turns cold and the leaves dry and fall — your fate will no longer be able to hold back the force that opposes you, and your fortune will collapse." Master Xuan sighed with heavy feeling. "Young sir is a rare talent. I cannot bear to see such brightness end in shadow."

"How can it be averted?" Chao Musheng's face carried worry. "I worked so hard to become the chief assistant to Kunlun's president — I don't want to lose everything I have now."

Master Xuan's smile deepened. This was the nature of it. Once someone had stood at height and received admiration, they could no longer accept returning to where they started.

"Simply put distance between yourself and the one who opposes your element. All misfortune will follow."

"Oppose my element?" Chao Musheng pressed. "Please tell me, Master Xuan — who is it?"

"Allow me to calculate." Master Xuan closed his eyes and moved through the finger positions. After a moment he opened them. "Metal overcomes wood. Your element is wood — you should distance yourself from anyone whose horoscope or name carries the meaning of metal."

"I calculate that you have been in frequent contact with this opposing figure recently. The longer you remain near this person, the worse your fortune becomes." He stopped suddenly and coughed several times, casting a wary glance at the sky as though unwilling to say more. "I dare not reveal further the will of heaven. The rest, young sir must contemplate himself."

"I am grateful to Master Xuan for this warning." Chao Musheng's face was full of agitation. "I will find this person."

Master Xuan only smiled over his teacup and said nothing.

"Master Xuan — while you have your instruments out, could you also calculate whether I can find a partner who is wealthy, good-looking, and generous toward me?" Chao Musheng sighed. "If I can't deal with the person working against me, at least a good partner might save me decades of wrong turns."

Master Xuan's tea-drinking stilled for a moment. Young people today refused to take a single unnecessary step on any road.

He looked at Chao Musheng with something like contempt — then looked at his face, and quietly retracted the contempt.

If he'd been this good-looking in his own youth, he would also have wanted to skip the wrong turns and eat soft food.

Though the wealthy were generally canny — even those with money weren't necessarily willing to spend it.

"Of course you can." Master Xuan sighed. "However, your romantic destiny and your professional destiny are intertwined. If you don't remove the opposing influence, even the finest romantic fate will come to nothing."

"Master Xuan, I understand." Chao Musheng rose with a thoughtful expression. "With your word on this, I can move forward in peace."

Master Xuan: "..."

Something about this felt slightly off.

After Chao Musheng left, Master Xuan coughed a few more times and poured water over the incense burner to put it out. Whoever had bought this incense — the smoke was eye-watering.

Not long after, Master Chen arrived with his attendants to find Master Xuan seated at the zither, playing with his eyes closed.

"Master Xuan." Master Chen could see Master Xuan had no desire to speak to him, and understood that what he'd asked the man to do had been a burden on someone of his standing. "I saw Mr. Chao just now—"

"The thing you asked of me — it's done." Master Xuan's hands stilled on the strings. "I've acted against the proper order of things on your behalf. Don't forget: a donation to a fund for impoverished students, in my name. That will offset the debt."

"Naturally." Master Chen placed a scroll of ancient painting in Master Xuan's hands. "The matter of the night after tomorrow — I rely on your guidance."

Master Xuan unrolled it. A famous classical work, sold at auction the previous week for eight figures.

"It speaks well of you that you've been able to come to a decision." He rolled it back up. "I understand the difficulty of sacrificing someone young and close. But the family must come first."

"You are right." Master Chen sighed heavily and tapped the table twice with two fingers. "Thinking of the whole family — he should understand as well."

The old man favored the elder grandson more.

Master Chen sat in the seat Chao Musheng had just vacated. The honeysuckle tea was still warm.

If the Chen family's fortunes recovered — if Chao Musheng's manufactured conflict with Kunlun's internal staff created the right opening — there might still be a way to strike at Xu Chenzhu through him. The battleground of commerce could open anywhere.

*

"Mr. Chao." Xiao He fell into step behind him, watching his expression carefully. "That was all invented to deceive you — surely you don't believe it?"

"I'd sooner believe I was a deity descended to earth with a mission to save the world." Chao Musheng looked at Xiao He's expression — wanting to say something, not quite daring. "Don't worry."

"Good." Xiao He exhaled. He'd been genuinely afraid, watching Chao Musheng listen with such focused attention, that he might have swallowed it.

A fortune-teller brought in by the Chen family who had spent his energy on Chao Musheng's fate and his opposing influences — there was clearly something significant going on.

*

"Achoo!" Secretary Liu finished a document and produced a spectacular sneeze. He looked toward the door. Xiao Chao still wasn't back?

Xu Chenzhu rose and walked out into the courtyard. The hanging chair was still there, swaying lightly in the breeze.

The small table beside it had been cleared of tea things. Xu Chenzhu sat in the hanging chair, closed his eyes, and listened to the wind in the leaves.

Chao Musheng walked through the gate and stopped.

Xu Chenzhu in front of him was always composed, always restrained. He was rarely caught looking like this.

A leaf drifted down and landed on him. He opened his eyes and picked it up.

The leaf had a few small holes where insects had eaten through it. He held it up. Points of light came through the holes and fell across the amber of his eyes.

For just a moment, Chao Musheng had the impression that Xu Chenzhu's eyes had turned a pure, clean gold.

"Xiao Chao's back?" Secretary Liu appeared in the doorway. "What are you standing there for?"

"Zhaozhao?" Xu Chenzhu set down the leaf and sat up, looking toward the gate. The silver spectacle chain slid along his collar with the movement.

"I took Xiao He for a walk around the grounds." Chao Musheng came closer and bent down, studying Xu Chenzhu's eyes at close range.

"What is it?"

"I'm looking at your eyes." Chao Musheng straightened. "Mr. Xu — your eyes are very beautiful."

He must have imagined the gold.

Xu Chenzhu was quiet for a moment. He touched his glasses frame lightly, composing what lay beneath. "Are they?"

"Yes." Chao Musheng gave a firm, certain nod. "Definitely."

"Brother Liu." He waved toward Secretary Liu in the doorway. "Come sit with us."

Xu Chenzhu turned to look at Secretary Liu.

Secretary Liu: "..."

At a moment like this, you really didn't need to call me over.

Pinned between the boss's cool, pointed gaze and Xiao Chao's warm invitation, Secretary Liu retrieved a rocking chair with as much dignity as he could manage and sat down between them.

He had never in his life been a less comfortable third wheel.

"I ran into the fortune-teller staying at the Chen estate — he was at the water pavilion." Once Secretary Liu was seated, Chao Musheng moved to the actual subject. "He said my fate was of extraordinary quality, and that in the future I would find a partner who was wealthy, good-looking, and generous."

Secretary Liu glanced sideways at the boss and nodded with considerable enthusiasm. "I think his reading was quite accurate. Xiao Chao's future partner will definitely be the finest in the world."

Wealthy, good-looking, and generous — wasn't that a precise description of the person sitting right there?

Chao Musheng suppressed a smile. "He also said there was someone near me who opposed my element."

"Who?" Secretary Liu's curiosity was genuine.

Chao Musheng looked at him with measured significance. "The master said my five-element affiliation is wood, and metal overcomes wood. I should distance myself from any petty person whose name contains the meaning of metal."

Secretary Liu, whose full name was Liu Mingjin — with jin meaning gold: "..."

Oh no. This one was aimed at him.

"Complete nonsense — one look and you can tell this so-called master is a fraud!" Secretary Liu didn't dare look at the boss's face. He was afraid of being dismissed on the spot. "Xiao Chao — people of our modern generation cannot allow themselves to be taken in by this kind of thing."

Chao Musheng hadn't expected quite this strong a reaction, and hurried to clarify. "Don't worry, Brother Liu — this is obviously the Chen family digging a pit for both of us."

"Not just for us two." Secretary Liu seized the opening. "For you and the boss. That old man is trying to harm you and the boss."

Please don't bracket me with you. I don't deserve it and I'm frightened.

"You're right." Chao Musheng nodded. "If I actually believed a fraudster and let it affect my work — if I started targeting you — the one who'd ultimately suffer would be Mr. Xu."

"Yes, yes, exactly." Secretary Liu nodded vigorously. "It's all a scheme."

Boss, please say something!

Xiao Chao has already called this a scheme — you don't actually believe this fortune-teller's nonsense, do you?

Both Chao Musheng and Secretary Liu were looking directly at Xu Chenzhu.

"I don't believe in fortune-telling." Xu Chenzhu said.

Secretary Liu felt the last of his anxiety leave him.

Boss. You will absolutely win Xiao Chao over. I will give you everything I have.