At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, when the warlords were separatist, there was a poor scholar named Liu Mingzhu at the road entrance of Qingtang Village, Haozhou. On weekdays, Liu Xiucai carried a book basket and set up a stall at the village road entrance, writing specially for the folks from all over the country. Write letters.
Who would have expected that things would change at any time, and there was no mention of the war and chaos. It was unclear who should send this letter and where it should be sent. There were very few people who came to Liu Xiucai to write letters. , for this reason Liu Xiucai had to pawn several paintings and calligraphy collected at home to make ends meet.
But that day, Liu Xiucai was still setting up a calligraphy stall at the entrance of the village road. It was almost noon and it was still empty. When he was about to leave, he saw an old man who looked like a Taoist priest walking from a distance.
Liu Xiucai was curious when he saw that the old Taoist priest had already walked up to him. He stood beside Liu Xiucai’s stall and started shouting: "Bazi numerology, give me some advice, don’t ask for money..."
"The war is in turmoil, and we don't have enough to eat. Who will come to you to tell fortunes?" Liu Xiucai said.
The old Taoist priest said without looking back: "No one in the world cares about fate. Destiny will come to you."
Perhaps this small village has been peaceful for too long, and it is so strange. As soon as the old Taoist priest shouted, many men, women and children gathered around him.
The old sweetheart of the village aunt Lili passed away a few days ago, and her only son was serving in the army. She deliberately gave the old Taoist priest her best friend's horoscope, and everyone was waiting to watch the fun. The old Taoist priest made a fool of himself.
Unexpectedly, the old Taoist priest pinched his fingers slightly and said unhappily: "How can you make fun of me with the dead?"
Hearing this, Liu Xiucai and everyone watching the excitement were secretly surprised by this old Taoist priest. Taoist priests are really capable.
Someone set a precedent. One after another, many villagers who sought fame for their children and grandchildren and health for the elderly came to this old Taoist priest. After a while, Liu Xiucai saw that the old Taoist priest accepted him. After paying more than ten pennies, he thought to himself: "It only cost me three pennies to write a letter home, which is not as much as the old Taoist priest has now."
Liu Xiucai made a decision in his heart. When the old Taoist priest had nothing to do, he greeted him: "Do you still accept disciples, Taoist Master?"
Seeing that someone was interested, the old Taoist priest smiled and shook his head and stopped talking.
Liu Xiucai didn't seem to be disappointed. He sat on the ground leisurely and watched the old Taoist priest telling people's fortunes, while he was writing with a pen in his hand.
It was almost dusk, and the old Taoist priest moved out of the village. Liu Xiucai actually followed the old Taoist priest with a book basket. Seeing this, the old Taoist priest smiled and said nothing, and just let Liu Xiucai follow. behind.
Liu Xiucai followed the old Taoist priest for more than ten days. When the old Taoist priest stopped to tell fortunes every day, Liu Xiucai set up a calligraphy stall. It was clear that no one came to write letters, but Liu Xiucai still didn't. Stop writing and drawing.
At dusk a month later, the old Taoist priest was about to leave, but he saw that Liu Xiucai, carrying the book basket, no longer followed him, and went back the way he came.
After another half month, a Liu Xiucai who could tell fortunes appeared in these ten miles and eight villages. Nine times out of ten, his words came true. The villagers all thought that Liu Xiucai had received the true biography of the Taoist priest. But Liu Xiucai kept silent about this.
Liu Xiucai lived a stable life in these troubled times with his ability in fortune telling. Not only did his family buy a lot of household items, but he even redeemed the paintings and calligraphy that Liu Xiucai had pawned before. His reputation spread far and wide, and many people came to visit him.
A group of soldiers came to Qingtang Township that day. The leader of the group asked Liu Xiucai to read his face. Liu Xiucai saw that he looked ugly. But as the saying goes, people do not fight with officials, so he challenged them. It is good to say that he is like a dragon or a phoenix among men, and he will be a talented general in the future.
The corps commander laughed loudly after hearing this. He rewarded Liu Xiucai with a hundred coins and left Qingtang Township with his soldiers.
The family situation is getting better and better, but for some reason Liu Xiucai no longer goes around looking for people as he did before. The villagers thought this was a rule set by an expert, and they didn't think there was anything wrong.
Eighteen years passed by, and Liu Xiucai already had children, and he no longer read faces for others.
One day in Qingtang Township suddenly there was a loud bang of gongs and drums, and a group of people arrived at Liu Xiucai's home with lanterns and colorful decorations.
Unexpectedly, the corps commander eighteen years ago was actually Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. He sent a special imperial envoy to give Liu Xiucai a hundred taels of gold and wanted to help Liu Xiucai become an official in Beijing. Liu Xiucai accepted the gold but declined. After receiving his official salary, Zhu Yuanzhang did not get angry when he found out about it. He just regarded it as a high-ranking hermit who disdained the government and the public.
Decades later, when Liu Xiucai was on his deathbed, he informed his son that the old Taoist priest who told fortunes in Qingtang Township had not passed down his fortune-telling skills to Liu Xiucai.
But when the old lady was doing the horoscopes for her son, the old Taoist priest said: "My soul is so turbid that I am lost in a foreign country."
Most of the villagers are illiterate and do not know the old Taoist priest. Liu Xiucai knew exactly what he was talking about. He was referring to being exiled as a guest and dying in a foreign country.
Not long after that, Uncle Lu also calculated the horoscopes for his son who had been exiled to the army. The old Taoist priest said again: "The son must rely on the borer to survive."
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Liu Xiucai secretly thought that he would also die in the army!
Suddenly Liu Xiucai remembered that he had met the sons of these two families before. They all have a dark intention, which is difficult for ordinary people to detect if they don't look carefully.
In this way, Liu Xiucai followed the old Taoist priest and wrote down everything he said, and then turned around and told the fortune. I drew the faces of the people, and from then on, every time I looked at the faces, I would follow what the old Taoist said.
At the beginning, it was still true in all likelihood, but as the visits came. There were more and more people coming, and some faces that he had never drawn appeared, so he could only choose some nice things to say.
Liu Xiucai knew that this was not a long-term solution, so he married a wife after he had some money. After giving birth to a son, he no longer read people's fortunes.
His son Liu Ran also only passed the examination as a scholar, and then he could not make any progress in his career. After Liu Zhu's death, Liu Ran inherited the ability of fortune telling, but there was one thing. Rules: He only reads fortunes for high-ranking officials, and it is difficult for ordinary people to see him.
At that time, all the high-ranking officials in Haozhou had friendship with Liu Ran, and the Liu family also had dozens of servants and maids. .
One day, Liu Ran was chatting and laughing with a distinguished guest in the main hall of Liu Mansion. Suddenly, his servants reported that a Taoist priest came outside the door asking for food. Liu Ran was angry and asked his servants to drive the Taoist priest away.
< p> A few days later, a high-ranking official from Beijing came to visit. Liu Ran was panicked when he first saw his face. There was no similarity in the face of this person in the fortune-telling skills passed down by his father, so Liu Ran had no choice but to do it. The good words were perfunctory.At that time, Emperor Jianwen reduced his vassal status and dismissed him from office. After returning to Beijing, this high-ranking official was also demoted and demoted. However, the skinny camel was bigger than the horse. Liu Ran was so angry that he used good words to bully him. , they secretly sent people to frame Liu's house.
Within half a day, Liu's house was confiscated and all the servants were confiscated.
Liu Ran was a scholar since he was a child. After doing farm work, he started to make a living by setting up a calligraphy stall and reading fortune telling at the entrance of Qingtang Village, just like his father did before.
Before, Liu Ran only read fortunes for dignitaries, and the villagers were dissatisfied, but now they see him. His family was in decline, and no one came to patronize the calligraphy stall anymore. A few months later, Liu Ran died in the rebellion during the Battle of Jingnan.