Scholars visit fortune tellers.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there was a poor scholar named Liu Mingzhu at the intersection of Qingtang Village in Haozhou. On weekdays, Liu Xiucai puts a book basket at the village crossing and writes letters to the villagers in Shiliba Township.

I didn't expect this day to change, and the war was not mentioned. Who should send this letter and where to send it. Few people came to write to Liu Xiucai. Therefore, Liu Xiucai had to pawn a few paintings and calligraphy hidden at home to make a living.

It is said that Liu Xiucai had a word stand at the village crossing today. It was almost noon, but when he was about to leave, he saw an old man who looked like a Taoist coming from a distance.

Liu Xiucai saw that the old Taoist priest had come to him and stood beside Liu Xiucai's stall, shouting, "Eight-character numerology, pointing out the maze, no money ..."

"The soldiers are in a state of chaos, and who is looking for your fortune-telling if you don't have enough to eat?" Liu Xiucai said.

The old Taoist priest didn't answer, saying, "Nobody cares about life in Taiping times, so life has come."

Perhaps this small village has been quiet for too long, and there are really many men, women and children around this old Taoist.

Old Zhen, a number of aunts in the village, just passed away a few days ago, and her only son went to be an exile again. She deliberately embarrassed the old monk and gave him the old eight characters. All the audience are waiting for him to make a fool of himself.

Unexpectedly, the old Taoist slightly pinched his finger and said unhappily, "How can I make fun of the dead?"

Smell speech Liu Xiucai and bystanders were secretly surprised. The old monk really has some skills.

Someone has set a precedent, and many villagers have sought fame for their children and grandchildren. Anyone who looks for health care for the elderly has looked for the old Taoist once. After a while, Liu Xiucai saw that the old Taoist priest had collected more than ten pence, and secretly said, "I only spent three pence to write a letter home, which is not as good as the old Taoist priest's hard work at the moment."

Liu Xiucai made up his mind, and while the old Taoist priest was idle, he called and said, "Does the Taoist priest still accept apprentices?"

Seeing someone moving his mind, the old Taoist smiled and shook his head and stopped talking.

Liu Xiucai didn't seem disappointed. He sat on the ground, watching the old Taoist tell fortune, but he was writing with a pen in his hand.

Near dusk, the old Taoist moved out of the village, and Liu Xiucai followed the old Taoist with a book basket. The old Taoist priest smiled and didn't talk, so he became Liu Xiucai.

In this way, Liu Xiucai followed the old Taoist for more than ten days. The old Taoist priest stopped telling fortune every day, and Liu Xiucai followed suit. Obviously, no one wrote, but Liu Xiucai kept writing and drawing.

A month later, at dusk, the old Taoist was about to leave, but he saw Liu Xiucai carrying a book basket and not following himself. He returned to the way he came.

In half a month, there will be a fortune-teller Liu Xiucai. Nine times out of ten, what he said will come true. Everyone in the village thought that Liu Xiucai was handed down by Taoist priests, but Liu Xiucai kept silent about it.

Liu Xiucai lived a stable life in this troubled times with his fortune-telling skills. Not only did his family buy a lot of household items, but even the paintings and calligraphy pawned by Liu Xiucai were redeemed one by one. Liu Xiucai's reputation has also spread to ten miles and eight townships, and many people have visited him specially.

On this day, a group of soldiers came to Qingtang Township. The leading corporal found Liu Xiucai and asked him to see a photo. Liu Xiucai saw that he was ugly, but as the saying goes, people don't fight with officials, so he picked a good word, saying that he is a dragon and phoenix among the people and will be a general in the future.

Corporal laughed, rewarded Liu Xiucai with a hundred pence, and left Qingtang Township with the soldiers.

The family is getting better and better, but Liu Xiucai doesn't know why he doesn't look at people everywhere as he did at the beginning. The villagers all think that this is the rule set by the owner and don't think there is anything wrong with it.

18 years later, Liu Xiucai has a child under his knee and no longer looks at people's faces.

One day, suddenly gongs and drums were playing in Qingtang Township, and a group of people came to Liu Xiucai's house with colored lights.

Unexpectedly, eighteen years ago, Wuchang turned out to be Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of Ming Dynasty. An imperial envoy gave Liu Xiucai one hundred and twenty gold, and he also wanted to promote Liu Xiucai to Beijing as an official. Liu Xiucai accepted the gold, but politely declined to accept the official position. Zhu Yuanzhang was not angry when he learned that. He only thought that this was a hermit master who disdained the ruling and opposition.

Decades later, when Liu Xiucai was dying, he told his son that the old Taoist priest who had been telling fortune in Qingtang Township had never taught Liu Xiucai.

It's just that the old Taoist said, "I'm mentally lost."

Most villagers can't read and don't know what the old Taoist said, but Liu Xiucai knows it. This refers to banishing soldiers and dying in other places.

Soon after, Uncle Lu also calculated the eight characters for the son of the demoted army. The old Taoist priest added, "The rest of the baby depends on moths."

Liu Xiucai tunnel this is also to die in the army!

Suddenly Liu Xiucai remembered that the sons of these two families had met themselves at the beginning, and both of them had a black ambition in their brow, which is difficult for ordinary people to find without looking carefully.

In this way, Liu Xiucai followed the old Taoist priest and wrote down every word he said. Later, he turned around and drew faces for the fortune tellers. From then on, every time he went to tell a fortune, he followed the advice of the old Taoist priest.

Nine times out of ten, it can be cashed at the beginning, but with more and more visitors, he didn't draw some faces, so he could only choose some nice words.

Liu Xiucai knows that this is not a long-term solution. Some money later married and had children, and no longer looked after others.

His son, Liu Ran, won only one champion in the exam, and then he lost all fame. After Liu Zhu's death, Liu Ran inherited the fortune-telling skill, but there was a rule: only fortune-telling was given to dignitaries, which was hard for ordinary people to see.

At that time, all the dignitaries in Haozhou had friendship with Liu Ran, and Liu Fu was also a Sanjin mansion with dozens of maids.

One day, while talking and laughing with a distinguished guest in the hall of Liu's house, a Taoist priest came to the door to beg. Liu Ran was very angry and asked the Taoist priest to expel him.

A few days later, a senior official from Beijing visited. When he first met Liu Ran, he was scared. This man's face is not similar to his father's fortune-telling skills, so Liu Ran has no choice but to put in good words.

At that time, Wen Jian dismissed from office, and the official in Beijing was demoted after he returned to Beijing, but the lean camel was bigger than the horse. He was angry that Liu Ran cheated him with good words, so he secretly sent someone to plant Liu Fu.

Within half a day, Liu Fu's property was robbed, his mansion was confiscated and his family was scattered.

Liu Ran is a scholar. He has never done farm work since he was a child. After the property raid, he made a living like his father, set up a word stand at the intersection of Qingtang Village and visited the fortune teller.

Liu Ran used to tell fortunes only for dignitaries, but the villagers were not satisfied. Now that his family has declined, no one goes to the word stand any more. A few months later, Liu Ran died in the battle of Jingnan.