Tender grass fears frost, frost fears the sun, villains will have other villains to deal with them.
The child born to the Chen Family's concubine is like a tender sprout freshly unearthed; Madam Chen is akin to a piercing frost, yet no matter how poisonous or ruthless she might be, in the face of true blood-thirsty thugs, she cannot display even a fraction of her past ferocity.
Why, when Xu Qing was at the foot of Purple Cloud Mountain, did he refuse to return the child to its original owner and instead let the farmwife take it away? It was simply because when he divined with the Purple Star Astrology, twice he drew results led by ominous signs.
Now, after witnessing the memories of the female corpse, Xu Qing finally understood the reason.
If he had indeed taken the child upstream, he would have inevitably encountered Madam Chen who was coming downstream for an inspection.
The heart is a different belly; whether Madam Chen would harm the child using other means along the way is another matter, but even if she brought the child home, survival would still be unlikely.
After all, waiting at the child's home was Yuan Hu, a man driven to despair and utter madness.
Without the ability to foresee the future, Xu Qing could only rely on divinatory symbols to judge fortune or misfortune. Compared to the ominous signs of returning the infant, allowing the neighboring village's farmwife to take the infant led to a most auspicious divination of the troubles dispersing and benefits visible to the elders.
When initially divining the infant's future fate, Xu Qing also found it mysterious; clearly, it was just a small choice, yet the child's fate changed so drastically, it could be described as earth-shattering.
The Purple Star Astrology's Eight Trigrams and Twelve Palaces encompass all, extending into myriad fortunes and misfortunes. Xu Qing secretly assisted, resulting in the farmwife taking the drowned infant and deriving an exceptional divination with the Heavenly Beam in command and the Celestial Arches as guardians.
The Heavenly Beam in command indicates a life of noble clarity and dispelling calamities, denoting a favorable transformation in the face of misfortune, while the Celestial Arches denote distinguished prominence, a sign born with unique advantages.
Moreover, the divination included the presence of the Celestial Leader as a noble star, symbolizing overt assistance and assured divine aid at critical moments.
Xu Qing had nothing to say; indeed, if one were to discuss it, he also seemed to be within the game, conforming to the divinatory symbols.
Furthermore, there was an evident sign in the Parents Palace, with the double stars of the Purple Star and Heavenly Palace guarding together, indicating a strong family background and parental care, akin to the destiny of a privileged second generation like that of Shang Shaoyang.
When Xu Qing divined up to this point, he paid it no mind, for no matter how wealthy the destiny, it was still a mortal fate. Unversed in the path, unskilled in the esoteric, no matter how excellent the fate seemed to him.
But how could a mere shopkeeper father and a mother intent on drowning him result in a divination of the Purple Palace's twin stars in harmony?
After seeing the montage of Madam Chen, and understanding the infant's family environment, Xu Qing once suspected his Purple Star Astrology had malfunctioned.
However, standing at the morgue entrance, Xu Qing again employed the Purple Star Astrology, divining meticulously, only to find the divinatory signs remained unchanged, even slightly improved.
The Official Rank Palace, Wen Chang casting exams, wisdom dispels calamities.
The Travel Palace, twins assisting, benefactors gather.
The Fortune and Virtue Palace, Tian Tong transforming into fortune, profound blessings.
Xu Qing was left dumbfounded: could this infant truly be the literary star descended to experience mortal life?
After asking three times, having drawn similar divinatory signs twice, he ceased divining further.
In his eyes, no matter how blessed the infant's fate was, it still required Lady Baosheng's saving grace…
The two apprentices in the morgue were still excited, truly appearing to enjoy autopsies.
Xu Qing found it amusing, sensing some solidarity in this path.
He couldn't help but wonder where Wang Lingyuan found these two apprentices.
Outside the morgue, seeing Xu Qing about to leave, Wang Lingyuan hurriedly called out, "Junior brother, wait!"
As he spoke, Wang Lingyuan removed his fish-skin gloves and handed over a packet of tea leaves.
"What's this?"
"This is Zhoushan Green Top Tea, brought by the county magistrate upon his appointment. Take it and try it, junior brother."
Accepting Wang Lingyuan's goodwill, Xu Qing said, "I am indeed short on tea leaves, so many thanks, senior brother."
Upon hearing Xu Qing's words, Wang Lingyuan was visibly pleased.
"This arm of yours, junior brother?"
Wang Lingyuan was meticulous; when Xu Qing conducted an autopsy, he only used his right hand, which was still fine, but when receiving tea leaves, he should have extended both hands, yet he still only extended the right hand.
In his eyes, his astute junior brother would never commit such an impolite act, so it could only mean something was wrong with his arm.
Wang Lingyuan's concern was evident, and seeing this, Xu Qing purposely lifted his left arm, revealing the left hand donning a silk glove.
"It's nothing serious, just some scabies. No big deal; I've already applied ointment for it, so it should heal within a couple of weeks."
Upon hearing this, Wang Lingyuan's expression tensed, advising, "Don't take it lightly. I've heard some corpses carry corpse poison. You often handle corpses, so you must be careful."
Corpse poison? Xu Qing hid the corpse-poisoned left hand in his sleeve, baring a smirking mouthful of Corpse Teeth that could infect a person into a zombie with one bite, and casually said, "Rest assured, senior brother, I will surely take adequate precautions, and will in no way let corpse poison near me."
As the two were chatting, Zhao Zhonghe, who left earlier, returned, his appearance sweaty, signifying urgency.
"Old Wang, fetch me the murder weapon that killed the Liu Family wife, as this is a flying trespass fire letter signed by the county magistrate..."
Flying trespass is the government's authorization for a Government Official to arrest suspects and interrogate them, while fire letter is for transmitting urgent documents, required for extracting and forwarding evidence.
Upon seeing the handwriting and seal imprint on it, Wang Lingyuan hurriedly fetched the washer paddle and handed it over.
Witnessing this, Xu Qing felt a stir and asked, "Chief Zhao, what is this about?"
Zhao Zhonghe wiped his sweat with his sleeve and replied, "The county magistrate is interrogating the suspects and needs the murder weapon to confirm the murderer of the Liu Family wife. The Liu Family is causing quite a stir at the moment, and I must hurry over."