The whole family is insanely eavesdropping on my thoughts Chapter 616
Chapter 616: A Long-Fated Connection
“Wouldn’t it work if someone just flipped the fortune stick container upside down?” A-Man asked curiously.
The little monk chuckled. “Miss, others have tried that before. But when you dump the container out, all the sticks turn out blank.”
“Fate is fate. The Buddhist path values predestined connections.”
“For the truly destined one, the stick will leap out on its own with just a casual shake.”
A-Man’s eyes widened in astonishment. “Then the person who did it seventy or eighty years ago must have had an extraordinary fate!”
The little monk nodded solemnly.
Nearby, a vendor in the queue overheard and grew excited. “It wasn’t his own fate that was exceptional—it was his descendants’! Tsk tsk, back then, who didn’t envy him? That fortune stick was the epitome of greatness. The contrast was so extreme that even storytellers wouldn’t dare to write it that way.”
“My grandfather was just a child then, but he saw it with his own eyes.”
“That escort was a bit simple, strong as an ox, yet barely literate. His clothes were washed so often they had turned white. He once lived as a hunter, but after his wife bore him a child, hunting alone wasn’t enough to feed his family. They barely scraped by, living day to day. So he sought work at an escort agency to support his household.”
“By common standards, that wouldn’t count as a good fate, right? His home was just a thatched cottage that leaked whenever it rained.”
“He wasn’t even as well off as us common folk.”
“Yet, the stick he drew predicted that within three generations, his family would achieve San Yuan Ji Di, rise to Marquis Zhongyong, and even ascend the throne! But there would be a calamity in between. If his descendants could hold firm to their true hearts and remain uncorrupted, the prophecy would come true. If not, everything would crumble into dust. Good heavens, when the interpretation was given, the whole crowd was in an uproar. Who could believe such a thing?!”
“A mere escort, whose house leaked in the rain, would one day have descendants ruling as emperor?!”
“Tsk tsk… But Lotus City’s fortune sticks have never been wrong.”
“Sigh, I wonder if that prophecy ever came true. He was an outsider, and after he left Lotus City, there was no way to verify it.” The vendor stroked his chin, eyes filled with curiosity.
Lu Chao Chao’s eyelids twitched slightly.
“San Yuan Ji Di? Marquis Zhongyong? Ascend the throne?” Lu Chao Chao murmured under her breath. Why did that sound so familiar?
The little monk, filled with youthful enthusiasm, tugged at his master’s robes. “Master, may I try?”
He rocked on his toes, unable to suppress his curiosity.
“What if I have a fated connection with Buddha? Master, let me shake the fortune sticks… Everyone says that coming to Lotus City without trying the fortune sticks is like never having been here at all.”
The old monk sighed helplessly. “Fine, go ahead. I will wait for you at the city gates.”
The boy was young and still playful at heart.
“Yay! Thank you, Master!” The little monk eagerly joined the queue.
Xie Yu Zhou, intrigued, suggested, “Why don’t we try too? We could check if our journey will be smooth. If we get an auspicious stick, it’ll be a good omen.” Truthfully, he was just curious.
“The city gates are still under inspection, so we can’t enter for now anyway.”
Windchaser crossed his arms. “I don’t believe in this nonsense. You all go ahead—I’ll guard the High Gods.”
Zhu Mo rubbed his hands eagerly. “A-Wu, I’m going to try too. You wait in the carriage…” He even brought her a cushion, along with some fruit and snacks.
The group queued up, moving forward quickly.
Before long, it was the little monk’s turn.
He clasped his hands together, bowing respectfully to the Buddhas. “Please bless me…”
He shook the container with all his might until he was sweating, but not a single stick fell out.
Disheartened, he stepped aside.
“Don’t be discouraged, everyone. This is all about fate… Gain or loss doesn’t matter,” the little monk reassured Lu Chao Chao and the others.
At that moment, the monk responsible for interpreting the sticks lifted his head and, upon seeing Lu Chao Chao, froze.
He suddenly stood and approached her, bowing deeply.
A person of great cultivation could naturally perceive the golden glow of merit and the radiance of the Ziwei Star surrounding her.
“This humble monk welcomes Your Majesty’s arrival.”
Gasps rippled through the crowd. The vendor who had been chatting with Lu Chao Chao gawked, his eyes nearly bulging out.
Your Majesty?
Who’s Your Majesty?
Why is he addressing a five or six-year-old girl as ‘Your Majesty’?!
The high monk inclined his head. “It is said that the Empress of the Southern Kingdom is but five and a half years old. You must be Her Majesty, correct?”
Lu Chao Chao nodded calmly. “Master is too polite.”
Her soft voice still carried the innocence of childhood. Yet the crowd erupted into a chorus of astonished gasps.
The high monk pressed his lips together, then asked, “Your Majesty, this humble monk has a question—may I seek enlightenment?” Something about her presence stirred his memories of an old prophecy.
Just days ago, he had dreamt of the fortune stick from seventy years past.
And today, the Empress had arrived in Lotus City.
Lu Chao Chao nodded indifferently, unbothered.
“Is Your Majesty’s surname Lu?”
She smiled faintly. “Yes, my surname is Lu.”
The vendor let out a surprised noise. “Lu? That escort who pulled the top fortune stick back then… his surname was Lu too. Could it be… you’re from the same family?” He laughed awkwardly, half-joking.
Just as he finished speaking, the high monk asked, “Your Majesty, could it be…?”
Lu Chao Chao answered lightly, “My eldest brother achieved San Yuan Ji Di, my grandfather is Marquis Zhongyong.”
Xie Yu Zhou mumbled behind her, “Second Brother is a general… Third Brother achieved San Yuan Ji Di again…”
The vendor’s hand trembled, and the object in his grasp dropped to the ground with a thud.
His expression turned vacant as he muttered in disbelief, “It came true. It all came true! San Yuan Ji Di, Marquis Zhongyong, ascension to the throne—it all happened! That fortune stick was real!”
A wave of murmurs swept through the crowd, everyone turning to stare at Lu Chao Chao in shock.
No one had ever expected to meet the descendant of that escort.
Yu Shu smacked her forehead. “Right! Madam once mentioned it—Lu Family’s great-grandfather was once destitute and worked as an escort to feed his family.” That man… was Lu Yuan Ze’s direct grandfather!
No one had realized it, but the prophecy had been made long ago, seventy to eighty years past.
At the time, no one had taken it seriously.
After all, they had barely enough food to eat. Who would dare dream of becoming emperor?
And yet, fate had given the Lu Family a chance.
Madam Pei had encountered Abbot Shi Kong, who had foretold it once more. Unfortunately, the Lu Family still failed to hold onto their fortune.
“But in the end, they couldn’t overcome the calamity,” Lu Chao Chao said with a serene smile.
The crowd erupted once more.
Though they yearned for more details, she had no intention of revealing family matters, so she left them guessing.
“What immense fortune, to have such accomplished descendants!”
“Heavens, this is unfair! Why did only one family get all the blessings? Are our ancestors just bad at their jobs? No, I’m going home to renovate our ancestral graves!”
Laughter and sighs filled the air, shifting from envy to shared mirth.
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation