Earning Money

Miao Zhen and Miao He looked at her with envy. "We've never been to Guangxin Prefecture or Kaifeng in our lives."

Pan Yun felt sad hearing this, sad for her future days. "Then what's the biggest city you've been to?"

"Yushan County."

It didn't sound big at all, and Pan Yun fell silent.

Xuan Miao came over with an empty basket. She had already sold everything she brought down the mountain. Unlike the trinkets the three children had, she sold directly to the shops or merchants here.

They were all regular customers, so the prices were basically fixed.

She glanced at the three children's small stalls. Miao Zhen and Miao He still had a lot of things on the burlap sacks they were sitting on. Pan Yun's burlap sack was empty. "Your talismans can actually be sold here?"

Pan Yun: "Yeah, is it that strange?"

Xuan Miao nodded. "It's very strange. Who bought them?"

Miao He burst out laughing. "Fourth Martial Aunt, Junior Martial Uncle is joking with you. She hasn't sold a single talisman. She wants to go to Guangxin Prefecture to sell them. Fourth Martial Aunt, I want to go with Junior Martial Uncle."

Miao Zhen: "I want to go too."

Xuan Miao: "When you can get from the south peak down to the foot of the mountain, you can go wherever you want."

Except for Pan Yun, whose eyes lit up, Miao Zhen and Miao He drooped their shoulders and replied with a dejected "Oh."

Xuan Miao said to Pan Yun, "Come with me. You two continue selling your things."

Pan Yun gave her burlap sack to Miao Zhen and Miao He to put their things on and hurried to catch up with Xuan Miao. "Where are we going?"

"To the Express Post Station."

The Express Post Stations here were set up every fifteen li. Dayuanwu Village was not far from Mount Sanqing, so the closest one was here.

This was operated by the court. As long as it was for delivering official documents and letters from the court, or private correspondence, they would only deliver it to the village, and the recipient would pick it up themselves.

There were only three people in the station, sorting through the recently delivered letters and parcels. The stationmaster saw Xuan Miao and frowned as he stepped forward. "What are you here for?"

Xuan Miao's face was also cold. "To collect mail. Are there any letters for our Mount Sanqing?"

The stationmaster searched the shelves and threw out a letter. "There's also one for 'San Zhu of Mount Sanqing.' Who is that?"

Xuan Miao quickly glanced at Pan Yun. "It's an alias used by my Third Senior Brother, Tao Ji, when he's outside."

The stationmaster snorted and threw out another letter, shouting in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, "Playing divine and mystical, who knows how you cheat and swindle outside, even using aliases..."

Xuan Miao ignored him, swept her hand over the letters, took the two, and turned to leave.

Pan Yun watched, dumbfounded, and quickly hurried to follow.

Xuan Miao stopped abruptly and handed Pan Yun her letter, asking with a cold face, "Do you recognize the location of the Express Post Station?"

Pan Yun nodded blankly.

Xuan Miao: "You'll be in charge of collecting mail from now on."

Pan Yun immediately caught up. "Martial Sister, is it because I'll be collecting mail from now on that you deliberately offended him?"

"No," Xuan Miao said with a cold face. "I've always been like this, and he's always been like this."

Pan Yun: "Aren't you afraid he'll damage our Mount Sanqing's letters and parcels?"

"He wouldn't dare," Xuan Miao stopped and said to her seriously, "Remember this: from now on, when you come to collect mail, if a letter is dirty or unusual, make a note of it and report it to the Yushan County Post Station. Don't be afraid of his cold face or threats. If you think you should have received a letter but didn't, make him find it for you, one by one, and check it against the records."

Pan Yun pondered. "The premise of not fearing the powerful is that we have even greater power than them. I understand, we have powerful people backing us!"

Xuan Miao lowered her eyes and looked at her quietly. After a moment, she said, "You always give me the feeling that you're not Pan Hong's daughter, but rather Wang Zhen's daughter."

"...Martial Sister, you're insulting me. Wang Zhen is a eunuch, how could he have a daughter?"

"Don't you know he castrated himself to enter the palace? Perhaps he had one before he did?"

Pan Yun snorted. "My character is excellent, I'm nothing like that Wang Zhen."

Xuan Miao then said, "You don't need to have power to not fear the powerful."

Then you'll end up like your father, Pan Yun thought.

Pan Yun grumbled inwardly and looked down at the letter in her hand.

The familiar handwriting made her unable to suppress her inner joy. She glanced around, found no one staring at her, and felt no sense of being spied on, so she immediately opened the letter.

It was Pan Hong's reply to her. He said that their father and sons had already gotten used to life in exile and were all doing well.

Tears welled up in Pan Yun's eyes.

Xuan Miao, who had already walked some distance, came back and stopped in front of her. "Did something happen to your father?"

Pan Yun shook her head. "No, but my father only likes to report good news and hide bad news."

Xuan Miao: "Just like you, neither of you likes to tell the truth."

Xuan Miao finished reading her own letter and said to her, "My friend wrote back saying your family has safely returned to Changzhou Prefecture. Your second uncle has found a teaching job at Jintai Academy, and his monthly salary is quite substantial."

"As long as they're safe, that's fine. I'm not worried about my second uncle's ability to earn money to support the family." In that regard, he's a bit better than my father, she thought.

When they returned to the stalls, there were quite a few people gathered around Miao Zhen and Miao He's stall. Pan Yun's heart tightened when she saw this and she quickly squeezed through.

The crowd around the two were all young women, wives, and elderly ladies. The crowd was divided into two groups. The elderly ladies were mostly gathered around Miao He. One elderly lady was gesturing to her body. "Right here, right here. It hurts when I stand, it hurts when I sit, and it still hurts when I lie down. Little Daoist Priest Miao He, can you tell me what's wrong with me?"

Miao He's chubby little hands reached out to press her waist. The old woman cried out, "Ouch, ouch," but she was very happy. "It's here, it's here, little Daoist priest, press a little more, press a little more."

The young women and newlywed wives gathered around Miao Zhen, lining up to extend their palms to her, eager to get in front of her. "Little Daoist priest, can you look at my marriage line for me? Me, can I get engaged this year?"

Miao Zhen held her hand and looked carefully. After examining her face, she shook her head. "Not this year. Perhaps there will be good news next year. Yours is a late marriage."

"Is that so..." The other person looked disappointed.

Pan Yun, as if she had just opened up the Ren and Du meridians, squeezed forward and said enthusiastically, "It's good to be late! It's beneficial for you to be late. It's not only good for your health but also for your wealth."

The other person's eyes instantly lit up. She sized up Pan Yun, and seeing that she was also wearing a Daoist robe, she knew she was with Miao Zhen and the others. She immediately gave up on Miao Zhen and squeezed in front of Pan Yun. The two of them met halfway between Miao Zhen and Miao He. "Really?"

Pan Yun nodded very confidently. "More real than gold. Missy, let me look at your palm again and see which direction your romantic destiny lies."

The other person immediately extended her hand.

Pan Yun grabbed her hand and looked. When she looked up at her face again, she almost couldn't control her expression. This child's fate was not good.

Pan Yun frowned. The young girl's heart immediately sank when she saw this.

Pan Yun lowered her eyelids to hide the light in her eyes and smiled at her. "Missy, your romantic destiny is better closer rather than farther away, and your good fortune is yet to come. It will be a bit bitter at first, but you will eventually overcome the hardship."

The young girl's focus was only on the phrases "better closer rather than farther away" and "good fortune is yet to come." After asking twice, the young girl happily took a coin from her embrace and gave it to her. "Little Daoist priest, your divination is good. This coin is for you."

Miao Zhen and Miao He didn't charge for this. Pan Yun didn't intend to charge either. She had already realized that the people here had no money, and besides selling their goods, Miao Zhen and Miao He were doing volunteer work.

She squeezed in only to test her learning during this period, accumulate experience, and then go to wealthier places to read fortunes and earn money.

Looking at the coin handed to her, she accepted it and said solemnly, "Good person, if you encounter uncertainty in your marriage in the future, come to Mount Sanqing to find this humble Daoist. I will do my best to divine for you and resolve it."

She added, "If it's inconvenient to go up the mountain, then ask the mountain god of Mount Sanqing at the mountain god temple at the foot of the mountain."

Feeling Pan Yun's sincerity, the young girl happily agreed and left with a smile.

When the others heard this, they felt that Pan Yun's fortune-telling skills were even better. A group of them immediately squeezed in front of her.

After seeing all the young women, newlywed wives, and old ladies on this street, the three of them had lost their voices. Of course, Miao Zhen and Miao He had also sold all their medicinal herbs.

Xuan Miao handed them a bamboo tube and told them to drink water.

The three of them sat together in silence, drinking water, extremely quiet.

The journey back was also very quiet, nothing like when they set out in the morning, when the three of them hadn't stopped talking.

They were silent, but Xuan Miao spoke.

She looked at Pan Yun and Miao Zhen. "Why did you lie?"

Pan Yun said in a hoarse voice, "Who did we lie to?"

"That young girl who asked about marriage, she should have gotten married this year."

Pan Yun: "It wasn't the right match."

Xuan Miao: "But this is her fate."

Pan Yun: "When we read fortunes, isn't it to avoid bad fates and seize good ones?"

Miao Zhen nodded repeatedly. "I saw that this marriage of hers was life-threatening, so I told her to wait until next year."

Xuan Miao frowned. "As you two said, fortune-telling is to avoid bad fates. Then you should tell her. I'm asking why you lied and didn't tell her the truth?"

Pan Yun: "Sigh, it's enough to avoid bad things. Why say them and make people unhappy?"

Xuan Miao looked at Miao Zhen. "And you?"

Miao Zhen: "I was afraid she would get angry, and I was afraid her family would come and beat me."

Pan Yun turned her head in surprise. "Are the customs here so fierce? It's just fortune-telling, there's no need for violence, is there? Who on Mount Sanqing has ever been beaten?"

Miao Zhen looked up at Xuan Miao.

Pan Yun followed suit and looked up. Meeting Xuan Miao's gaze, she couldn't help but swallow. "They, they definitely can't beat Fourth Senior Sister, right?"

Xuan Miao glanced at her and turned to leave.

Pan Yun was extremely curious. She quickly grabbed Miao Zhen and Miao He and quietly asked, "Was Fourth Senior Sister really beaten? Did they win?"

Miao Zhen said, "First Martial Uncle and Third Martial Uncle were also beaten. I heard that my Master was also beaten out once."

This sounds a bit ominous. No wonder we need to focus on cultivating martial arts. We need to have some martial skills.

Xuan Miao looked back and urged, "Hurry up."

"Coming—" The three of them, carrying their small baskets, quickly chased after her.

After descending the mountain, Pan Yun earned one coin!

The lucky number for this chapter is any number ending in 1. Screenshot as proof. The screenshot deadline is before the next chapter update.