“There are six of my brothers in this room, plus Brother Xia, Brother Zhou, Brother Sun…”
Standing at the front, Li Hanyuan carefully looked around, afraid of missing anyone. Meanwhile, everyone else sat in their places, clearly enjoying the show.
Qiu Xinran stood beside her, listening attentively. Only after the little princess finished listing everyone—somewhat haltingly—did she nod. “Thank you, Your Highness. I’ll start with the princes.”
She turned and scanned the room. When her gaze met theirs, reactions varied—some looked away awkwardly, some smiled politely, some crossed their arms with a hint of challenge. When her eyes landed on Xia Xiuyan, he lifted his eyelids slightly and looked back at her with a heavy, unreadable gaze, making her feel a flicker of unease.
“Well? Are you done yet?” the Second Prince, Li Hanyi, urged impatiently.
Qiu Xinran withdrew her gaze and began pointing.
“This is the Third Prince. The one to his left is the Fourth Prince. By the window is the Eighth Prince…”
She went around the room. Even without checking their expressions, she knew she hadn’t guessed wrong.
“How did she know?” Li Hanfeng murmured in surprise.
Li Hanyi snorted. “What about the rest? That’s not even half.”
Qiu Xinran turned to the princess again, a little embarrassed. “I didn’t remember all the names. Could Your Highness repeat them?”
Since there were more than a dozen people, forgetting after one pass was normal. Li Hanyi allowed it.
Li Hanyuan recited the names again. Qiu Xinran watched quietly, as if memorizing everything. When she finished, Qiu Xinran nodded and began walking from the western side, stopping before each person to state their identity.
“If I’m not mistaken, this should be Heir Zheng.”
Zheng Yuanwu, the general’s son, was stunned but returned her greeting.
“This one should be Heir Sun.”
The young man named Sun Jue stood as well, unable to hide his excitement. “How did you know?”
Qiu Xinran only smiled and continued. One by one, each person she identified rose to their feet, their eyes following her. By the time she reached the eastern window, only Xia Xiuyan remained seated.
She stopped beside him, smiling slightly. “That leaves only Brother Xia.”
Xia Xiuyan did not stand. He simply tilted his head up and looked at her without confirming or denying. But Li Hanyuan had already exclaimed excitedly, “You got them all right! Xinran, you’re amazing!”
Qiu Xinran turned and bowed to Li Hanyi. “Your Highness remembers what you said earlier?”
His expression darkened and shifted, but he would not go back on his word. “I always keep my promises. Our previous account is settled. But you’d better not give me any leverage in the future…”
Before he could finish, Li Hanxing waved his fan and interrupted, “Little Daoist, tell us—how did you guess? Can that really be calculated?”
“It wasn’t calculation,” she said calmly. “You all told me yourselves.”
“When did we do that?” Li Hanfeng asked.
“I’ve never met the princes before,” she explained, “but I’ve been copying scriptures in the Empress’s palace. The consorts visit daily, and I’ve seen them many times. Children resemble their parents, so based on appearance and age, I could make rough estimates.”
The princes exchanged glances—what she said was true. Their ages and features varied enough to distinguish them, though guessing so accurately still required sharp observation—and a bit of luck.
“And the others?” asked the Third Prince, Li Hanling.
“I asked the Ninth Princess to list everyone. She’s young and doesn’t hide things well—when she said a name, her eyes naturally fell on that person. I only needed to follow her gaze to know roughly where each person sat.”
Li Hanyuan realized she had unknowingly given everything away and smiled sheepishly. “But you still got everything right—was it just luck?”
“Luck played a part,” Qiu Xinran admitted. “That’s why I asked for a second round. When people hear their names, they instinctively react—small movements, even if they don’t speak. Combining that with their positions, it wasn’t hard to figure out.”
Li Hanyi frowned. “So your so-called divination is just tricks like this?”
She smiled brightly. “This is divination too. It’s never from nothing—reading faces, palms, characters, lots… all rely on observable clues. Fortune-tellers just don’t usually explain their reasoning.”
Li Hanyi snorted. “Nonsense. Clever talk!”
With that, he flicked his sleeve and strode out.
The show ended, though many still lingered in excitement. Some came up to greet Qiu Xinran, asking if she could read their fortunes someday. Others left in groups.
The princes still had a family banquet, so Li Hanfeng left early. When most had gone, Xia Xiuyan slowly packed up and stepped outside.
Qiu Xinran had just finished seeing off the Ninth Princess when she turned—and ran straight into him.
For some reason, she always felt cautious around him. Maybe because he’d overheard her speaking about General Xia before, or because of what Yuan Zhou had gone through… or simply because this frail heir carried an unsettling, shadowy presence.
“Well done, Astrologer Qiu,” Xia Xiuyan said coolly, his tone laced with mockery. His gaze settled on her.
“You’ve settled your account with the Second Prince. Now you should think carefully about how to settle yours with me.”
Her heart skipped, though she played dumb. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
He let out a soft scoff and walked away without another word.
Qiu Xinran was young, but held a high seniority within her sect. Even those older than her, like Yuan Zhou, still called her “Senior Sister.” Having many junior disciples, she never cared much about age—aside from her elders, everyone else felt like juniors to her.
Before she left the mountain, her master had repeatedly warned her to behave cautiously in the palace. Outwardly, she was respectful to all—but inwardly, she didn’t think much of these princes and nobles.
So when Xia Xiuyan threatened to “settle accounts later,” she felt a bit uneasy—but not truly worried.
A few days later, while delivering copied scriptures to the Empress, she passed by the training grounds and heard loud cheers.
Curious, she stepped closer and saw an archery lesson in progress.
Zheng Yuanwu had just scored two bullseyes in a row, earning applause. Sitting tall on horseback, he looked proud—perfectly living up to the saying “a tiger father has no dog son.”
After he stepped down, the next to go up was Xia Xiuyan.
Because of his weak health, he rarely attended such lessons. Even mounting the horse required assistance. Once seated, he looked unsteady, as if he might fall at any moment.
Qiu Xinran watched as he raised his bow. His arm trembled slightly under the blazing sun. When he released—
The arrow fell short, not even grazing the target.
A few people showed faint mockery. The field fell into an awkward silence.
He nocked a second arrow.
This time, it brushed the edge—but still fell.
A soft sigh of regret rose, mixed with quiet disdain. He seemed not to hear any of it.
After a brief correction from the instructor, he drew his bow a third time.
Straight-backed on horseback, gaze steady—under the scorching sun, for a fleeting moment, Qiu Xinran thought she saw the man he would become years later: a commander on a white horse, drawing his bow before an army.
Then—
twang.
The third arrow flew. It still missed the center—but at least struck the target.
He lowered his bow, smiled faintly at the target, and rode back.
Li Hanfeng stepped forward. “Each arrow was better than the last. Next time you’ll hit the bullseye.”
Li Hanxing chuckled lightly. “Sixth Brother’s right. But since you won’t be fighting in battle, it doesn’t really matter.”
Li Hanfeng frowned slightly, but Xia Xiuyan didn’t seem to care.
Instead, he turned his head and glanced toward the edge of the field.
It was empty.