The Farm Girl's Charismatic Fortune-Chapter 312 - 308: Divine Monarch’s Tactics

Jia Shijie had intended to put on airs, but when Ruo Shui didn’t play along, he had no choice but to follow him out.

"Brother-in-law, wait up!"

Only then did Ruo Shui stop.

Jia Shijie took out two peace charms from his person and said grudgingly, "These are peace and smooth sailing charms that your eldest sister prayed for you during the New Year. She said one for you and one for brother Ruo Jiang."

Ruo Shui took them and passed one to Ruo Jiang, "Many thanks to Brother Jia for helping with the delivery."

Their eyes met, and Ruo Jiang smiled as he accepted it, "I have one too? Big sister is thoughtful."

He chuckled and immediately wore it at his waist.

Ruo Shui also pinned it at his waist following him.

Jia Shijie glanced at it and felt reassured, then arrogantly said, "Now you know I wasn’t lying to you, right? You thought I came to freeload off you last night, huh? Humph, I, Jia Shijie, know quite a few people in the Capital City, and countless individuals have earnestly invited me to stay at their residences. If it wasn’t for Madam Liu’s request, I wouldn’t bother coming near your house!"

Ruo Shui still responded indifferently, "Indeed, there was a distinguished guest yesterday, and besides, that residence isn’t mine. If we were poor hosts, I hope you can be generous, Brother Jia. You have many friends waiting for you, so we two brothers won’t disturb you any longer, farewell!"

He couldn’t be bothered with Jia Shijie, and after finishing his words and cupping his hands in salute, he left.

Even if they didn’t like to interact with certain individuals, the two brothers could now conduct themselves with propriety that left others with no cause for complaint.

Jia Shijie watched the peace and smooth sailing charms swinging at their waists and sneered.

See how long they can be proud?

Just last night, Prime Minister Su had asked him if he wished to become his disciple.

Of course, he wanted to!

But knowing his own abilities, he did not dare to boast. He merely said his learning was average, fearing he might not pass the Imperial Scholar exam and thus disappoint the Prime Minister’s kindness.

To his surprise, Prime Minister Su had said that learning could be acquired gradually. His father was the Dean of the Imperial Academy—the institution responsible for the imperial examination. It wouldn’t be difficult to help someone pass as an Imperial Scholar.

However, to be cautious, Prime Minister Su gave him two talismans. He said they were prayed for by Master Xuanyuan and could help one achieve high honors in exams, but they required borrowing someone else’s good fortune.

Upon hearing this, he knew that Master Xuanyuan had come to the Capital City to seek refuge with Prime Minister Su, and he believed it.

But these talismans were different from the Magic Artifact that shared fortune last time; these were called Qiankun Great Shift Talismans, consisting of the Qian Talisman and the Kun Talisman.

Wearing the Qian Talisman on oneself and giving the Kun Talisman to the other party, one could, unbeknownst to gods and ghosts, perform a great shift of Qiankun, seizing all of the other person’s short-term luck.

Among those he knew, the Ruo brothers were the most formidable. He had inquired and found out that among those taking the spring examination, only Ruo Shui had attained the title of Jieyuan after receiving the grant of a government-sponsored student.

Even in the betting houses, most people bet on Ruo Shui to become the Top Scholar and Ruo Jiang to be the runner-up. The betting houses offered the lowest payout for them.

The payouts given by the betting houses were carefully considered. Every imperial examination session, the Top Scholar, runner-up, and third place typically emerged from those with the lowest payout odds.

Over the years, there has only been one exception.

And that exception was the current Prime Minister!

If Ruo Shui truly could become the Top Scholar, that would mean he would be the Top Scholar of this session!

Jia Shijie hummed a tune as he walked back.

~

After returning to the manor, Ruo Shui and Ruo Jiang went to Ruo Xuan’s courtyard to give her the peace charm.

"Xuanbao, these are the charms Jia Shijie gave to us."

Today, when he went to meet Jia Shijie at the teahouse, Xuanbao had said if the other party had anything for them, they should accept it and bring it back for her to see.

So as soon as the two returned to the manor, they handed the items to Ruo Xuan.

Ruo Xuan took them and passed them to Xuanyuan Que, "Brother Xuanyuan, please take a look."

Xuanyuan Que did not take it but glanced at it only once, "That will do."

Ruo Xuan returned it to Ruo Shui and Ruo Jiang, "Dad, Uncle, just keep wearing it."

"Alright."

Without any hesitation, the two of them took back the peace charms and wore them at their waists.

After showing the items to Ruo Xuan, seeing that Xuanyuan Que and Ruo Xuan were reading books, Ruo Shui and Ruo Jiang, the two brothers, did not disturb the children and soon left.

Ruo Xuan was pretending to read; she did not enjoy reading and had only picked up a book because she knew her father and uncle were coming.

She had just been lying there, sunbathing and cultivating in her sleep.

The Divine Monarch, too, was reading while cultivating, and lying next to the Divine Monarch while cultivating doubled the effect.

After they left, Ruo Xuan then said, "Those two talismans just now were the triggers for a spell formation, weren’t they?"

"Mhm," Xuanyuan Que said, who had gone out today specifically to see what the Su family planned to do with Jia Shijie.

Now that he knew, he got up and looked at a certain flower basking in the sun, "I’m heading back to the palace."

After the Lantern Festival, this was their first meeting; they had never gone so long without seeing each other.

The flower seemed to have lost a little weight.

Ruo Xuan waved her hand without even opening her eyes.

Xuanyuan Que looked at her slightly thinner little face, "Do you still want plum blossoms? The plum blossoms in the Plum Garden are about to wither."

Ruo Xuan, without opening her eyes, replied lazily, "No need."

Making a spice with the scent of plum blossoms was not easy; it required a large number of plum blossoms. Since the scent of plums is a subtle fragrance, mild in nature, to make it discernible, a large quantity of plum blossoms is needed to extract the essential oils within.

Although she could use magic to make the scent rich and lush, without using magic, the fragrance created was greatly diminished, too subtle—when applied to the body, her mother and the others said they could hardly smell it, though her father and his peers liked it a lot.

But skincare and powder are items men rarely buy; it’s women who are willing to spend silver on them.

And most women prefer products with a rich fragrance, preferably the kind that leaves trails of floral scent with every gesture.

Ruo Xuan had already thought of mixing other flowers’ essential oils together to create the scent of plum blossoms, but with the weather still cold, many flowers had not bloomed yet; she had to wait for some more days.

Xuanyuan Que, "Then I’ll be leaving."

"Mhm," Ruo Xuan replied with her eyes still closed.

Xuanyuan Que looked at her one more time, "I will leave the palace on the day of the imperial examination; do you crave any particular pastries?"

Only then did Ruo Xuan open her eyes, "The pastries at the New Year’s Eve palace banquet were quite delicious; Brother Xuanyuan, could you ask the Imperial Chef to make some for me? Sneak them to me without letting grandma and mom know, and bring more so I can secretly eat them from my Qiankun Ring."

The pastries on Lantern Festival day were not as delicious as those at the New Year’s Eve palace banquet, not sweet enough; the Divine Monarch said they had changed the Imperial Chef.

Xuanyuan Que asked undisturbed, "Why eat them in secret?"

Ruo Xuan then explained the reason.

Her brother had a toothache during the New Year, and he had started getting new teeth in the past few days; consequently, grandma and mother no longer let them eat candied figures and sweet pastries.

They could only eat one piece of sweet pastry a day, and it wasn’t very sweet; Ruo Xuan felt it was far from enough.

After explaining, Ruo Xuan added with a hint of grievance, "I cultivate every day, and I love cleanliness so much that I use a cleansing spell to bathe every day. Eating a lot of sugar won’t rot my teeth, so I’m not afraid of eating sweets. But grandma and mom don’t know that, and if it weren’t for Divine Monarch Xuanyuan telling me not to let others know I have spells, I wouldn’t be deprived of sugar!"

Towards the end, she couldn’t help but push the blame to Xuanyuan Que for not allowing her to use her Immortal Technique.

Xuanyuan Que, now accustomed to her ways, said indifferently, "Then would you like to go to the palace and have some pastries now? Today just happens to be that Imperial Chef’s duty."

"Oh, yes!" Ruo Xuan’s eyes lit up immediately, and she stood up, grabbing his hand, "Let’s go!"