The butler was taken aback as he accepted the Marriage Destiny Fortune Stick from Hua Yan, and upon looking down at it, his complexion immediately changed.
The words "great misfortune" were like needles to his eyes.
His hands trembling, he was at a loss for what to do and looked towards Hua Yan, "This… this fortune stick..."
With a wave of her hand, Hua Yan spoke amiably, "Chief Steward, is the Crown Prince available in the residence? Please go and ask. I will rest again on the top of the wall, waiting for your return."
Having said that, she was about to climb back onto the wall.
The butler snapped to his senses and quickly stopped her, "Crown Princess Consort, there is a chair, no need to rest on the wall again." Upon saying this, he swiftly ordered someone, "Quick, bring a chair over for the Crown Princess Consort to rest her feet."
Someone acknowledged and hurried off.
The butler felt the matter was of great importance, and of course, he was not in a position to decide. Fortunately, the Crown Prince was idly at home today, and he promptly said to Hua Yan, "Crown Princess Consort, please wait a moment. His Highness is idly within the residence today; this old servant will go and inquire immediately."
Hua Yan nodded, "Good, please go quickly!"
Clutching the fortune stick, the butler immediately ran towards the Crown Prince's study.
From the northern gate of the Eastern Palace to the study was quite a distance, and the butler had run for the time it takes to drink two cups of tea before he finally reached the Crown Prince's study. Stopping at the entrance, he gasped for breath and managed to say, "Your Highness, this old servant..." After uttering a few words, he took a deep breath, "The Crown Princess Consort... she drew a fortune stick and told this old servant… to pass it to you."
Yun Chi had already heard that Hua Yan had arrived, but he hadn't paid much attention and was still sitting in front of the desk reviewing memorials. Now hearing the butler approaching out of breath, he frowned slightly and asked, "What fortune stick?"
The butler did not dare to say it was a stick foretelling great misfortune and immediately replied, "You'll know when you see it."
Yun Chi put down the memorial and said, "Come in."
The butler hurriedly pushed the door open, approached the desk, and passed the fortune stick to Yun Chi over a pile of memorials.
Yun Chi reached out to take the stick and saw four lines written on it.
"In front of the Matchmaker's door, the marriage yet unbound, beneath the Phoenix Tree, no past love to be found. Peach blossoms follow the water to drift through the dust, in front of the Peony Pavilion spring is not to be trusted."
In summary, the lines meant: No marriage nor fate, flowers bloom fruitlessly, beginnings without ends.
At the end of the stick, it was written: Those seeking a marital match, behold a "great misfortune" fortune stick.
After looking at the lines for a while, Yun Chi looked up and asked the butler, "Where is she now?"
The butler replied promptly, "Your Highness, the Crown Princess Consort is currently at the northern gate." After saying this, he quickly relayed what had transpired with Hua Yan and the message she'd asked him to pass on.
After he finished speaking, he covertly gauged Yun Chi's expression and stealthily wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
Having heard the account, Yun Chi suddenly laughed, his voice as calm and cool as ever, "She really is going to great lengths to make me annul this marriage."
Hearing this, the butler inhaled a breath of cold air and dared not make a sound.
Reflecting upon it, last year on the day the Crown Prince was selecting his bride, so many people were craning their necks in anticipation. When the news came out that the Crown Prince had chosen Hua Yan from Lin'an, countless hearts shattered into pieces, including that of the Empress Dowager. To be the bride of the Eastern Palace's Crown Prince, the future most revered woman in the world, was a coveted status many dreamt of.
Yet this Crown Princess Consort didn't seem too keen on the marriage.
Last year, the Empress Dowager had decreed the marriage. When the eunuch who delivered the decree arrived in the floral city of Lin'an to announce it, Hua Yan thought there must have been a mistake and sent the eunuch back to inquire if the Crown Prince had made an error. The elders of the Hua Family seemed to agree with her, suspecting that indeed there might have been a mistake in the decree. Helpless, the eunuch returned and inquired with the Crown Prince. Consequently, amidst his busy schedule, the Crown Prince took a few days to personally deliver the decree to Lin'an and handed it to Hua Yan in front of the Hua Family elders, confirming its validity.
Upon hearing of this, the Empress Dowager was so infuriated that she fell ill for half a year and, after issuing the decree, she stopped urging the matter, acting as if she had forgotten about it.
Who knew that the Hua Family was not in a hurry either, and seemed to have also forgotten about the affair.
Until this year, the Empress Dowager felt that the delay could not continue, and that it was better to finalize the Crown Prince's marriage sooner rather than later. After several attempts to persuade the Crown Prince to cancel the marriage and choose another partner, the Crown Prince remained indifferent, stating that since the choice had been made, it would be her, and he resolutely refused to change his decision. After failing to persuade him, the Empress Dowager gave up and resumed making arrangements for the Crown Prince.
The Empress Dowager thought, before discussing the marriage and going through the rituals, it would be necessary to bring Hua Yan into the Capital City first to learn the royal customs. So, after discussing with the Crown Prince, who had no objections, she ordered someone to inform the Hua Family, saying that Hua Yan would be taken to the Eastern Palace to stay for a while and get familiar with it. The Hua Family immediately replied, saying they would follow the Crown Prince's orders.
Unexpectedly, before the Crown Prince had sent someone to fetch her, Hua Yan sent an old, withered apricot flower branch to convey the message that she was coming to the Capital City on her own, and there was no need for the Crown Prince to pick her up.
Her journey to the Capital City took one and a half months, a record for its unprecedented length.
Finally, she arrived today and brought with her a Marriage Destiny Fortune Stick of great misfortune...
If this stick truly came from Qingshui Temple on Banbi Mountain, about thirty miles north of the Capital City, then one really couldn't dismiss it lightly. After all, the temple has been standing since ancient times, and Master De Yuan, a high-ranking monk there known for his fortune-telling accuracy, has a significant reputation.
Yun Chi finished laughing, weighed the fortune stick in his hand, and said, "Go tell her that I have never believed in these Marriage Destiny Fortune Sticks. If she feels that this stick is unfavorable and hampers her mood to enter the Eastern Palace, tomorrow I will send someone to invite Master De Yuan and she can draw another stick."
Upon hearing this, the butler hurriedly agreed, "This old servant will go right away."
Yun Chi set aside the fortune stick and picked up the memorial to continue reviewing it.
The butler left the study, took a deep breath, not daring to delay, and hurriedly ran toward the north gate.
At the north gate, Hua Yan sat in a chair, leisurely swinging her legs and chatting with the gatekeeper.
Ordinarily, the people of the Eastern Palace did not dare to gather and gossip freely. Everyone diligently went about their tasks, and although the gatekeeper had a leisurely job, he would watch the gate with proper decorum and not dare to engage in idle chatter.
Now that Hua Yan was talking to them, based on her status as the Crown Princess Consort, they dared not refuse to engage and so, the gatekeepers stood in front of her following the protocol, answering whenever she asked a question.
After chatting for a while, Hua Yan felt that these servants were too uptight and stiff—first one, then the next, all the same—boring, so she called out, "Qiuyue, where are you hiding?"
Qiuyue replied quietly from outside the wall, "Miss, I am here."
Hua Yan summoned her, "Come in and chat with me."
Corner of Qiuyue's mouth twitched as she murmured, "Miss, you might want to save your saliva. There's a chance we won't even get to drink a bowl of water in the Eastern Palace before we have to leave."
She genuinely felt that Hua Yan presenting the Crown Prince with an inauspicious Marriage Destiny Fortune Stick was, to put it mildly, indescribable.
Hua Yan pouted, leaned back in her chair, covered her face with her sleeve, and closed her eyes, scoffing disdainfully in her heart. If Yun Chi were so easily swayed, merely by a fortune stick to change his mind, then she wouldn't have dragged this out for a year, still unable to get him to call off the marriage.