Chapter 76: Mastermind of All Affairs

“Just now, Chang Leyuan used King Wen’s sixty-four hexagrams. You said it was very accurate for predicting current events, but now you say it’s Six Lines,” Xiao Lianshan pressed.

“Six Lines is one of the most widespread methods of forecasting. Its variations include Plum Blossom Numerology, Guanyin Divination, and King Wen’s sixty-four hexagram interpretation. Compared to orthodox Six Lines divination, it’s much simpler,” Gu Anqi explained quietly to Xiao Lianshan.

“King Wen’s sixty-four hexagrams evolved from the Six Lines... What exactly is Six Lines?” Yue Qianling asked with interest.

I smiled and lowered my voice to speak.

“Six Lines Eight Trigrams divination originated in the Zhou dynasty. The Six Lines refers to the process where the diviner holds three copper coins in their hands, closes them tightly, contemplates the matter to be divined, infusing the thoughts into the coins. After shaking the coins and placing them in the divination tray, they are cast six times to form a hexagram. Then, the lines and their changes are interpreted, combined with the line texts from the Book of Changes and the time’s stems and branches, to judge the development and outcome of events.”

No sooner had I finished than Zhou Fu in front of me lifted his head and spoke slowly.

“The sixty-third hexagram of the Book of Changes, Already Completed Hexagram. Water and fire have completed their process. The upper trigram is Kan, representing water; the lower trigram is Xun, representing fire. Water above, fire below—water extinguishes fire. This is the image of the Already Completed Hexagram. A gentleman observes this image to prepare for times without trouble, guarding against calamity before it occurs.”

Xiao Lianshan listened, bewildered, not understanding a word. He was about to ask when he saw me writing again at the table and, excited, asked, “Do you know what dish it is this time? Quick, tell me!”

“This is a contest, there are rules. If he doesn’t say, I can’t speak. I’ll tell you later,” I replied with a smile.

“You know again? If you know, why aren’t you up there?” Yue Qianling retorted irritably.

I kept rubbing my forehead and smiled bitterly. Oddly enough, I felt uneasy for reasons unknown.

Zhou Fu lowered his head, looked at the dish in front of him, pondered for a moment, and said confidently, “The hexagram’s image is to prepare for times without trouble, to guard against calamity before it happens. It means responding to change with constancy, using stillness to counter movement. Water over fire must boil—indicating movement. What kind of water over fire remains still...”

“Oh, what’s there to think about? Boiling water doesn’t make noise; noisy water isn’t boiling. After water boils over fire, it becomes quiet!” Xiao Lianshan muttered to himself. The courtyard was so quiet his voice carried far.

Zhou Fu’s eyes lit up and he turned to Xiao Lianshan, nodding gratefully. “The bystander sees clearly. Young man, thank you. I already know what the dish is!”

Xiao Lianshan looked confused, spreading his hands helplessly and murmuring, “I... I didn’t say anything.”

Zhou Fu looked at Gu Xiaotian and said confidently, “Water over fire—this hexagram is stillness. Boiling water is silent. A gentleman observes this hexagram; a gentleman is upright, converses with scholars, associates with no commoners. Since it is stillness, take the latter—no commoners among associates. The dish is white, take ‘white’. Boiled water is white... Ha, this dish is Boiled Cabbage in Water!”

Gu Xiaotian nodded, signaling his attendant to uncover the silver lid on Zhou Fu’s chosen dish.

Beneath the lid was indeed a bowl of cabbage in clear broth—simple and elegant, the broth crystal clear; the cabbage tender green, perfectly shaped. Upon seeing it, one felt refreshed and invigorated, the aroma extraordinary, a dish more precious than delicacies.

The courtyard erupted in exclamations. Xiao Lianshan quickly checked what I had written earlier—sure enough, it was “Boiled Cabbage in Water.”

Gu Xiaotian nodded in satisfaction, pointed to a seat for Zhou Fu, and tapped the table rhythmically, waiting for the next diviner.

Lu Yong stepped forward. Gu Xiaotian actually stood up, apologizing, “Brother Lu, today’s contest is strictly impartial. Sorry for making you stand so long. When it’s over, I’ll pour you a drink myself to make amends.”

“Since it’s a contest, everything follows the rules. Today, here, you and I are strangers. No need to mind,” Lu Yong said calmly, waving his hand.

After speaking, he raised both hands to calculate. When his fingers stopped, Yue Qianling whispered, “Why doesn’t he use coins? What’s he doing with his hands?”

“This is Palm Hexagram. The saying goes, ‘Eight Trigrams in hand, the world is mine.’ The Book of Changes is profound. Ordinary people need tools to cast hexagrams, but Lu Yong has mastered it so thoroughly he can cast hexagrams with his hands alone,” I explained.

“Why does he use both hands?” Xiao Lianshan couldn’t hold back his curiosity.

“Because the previous two diviners predicted the dish’s name. Asking the same thing: first time accurate, second time less so, third time unreliable. The further along, the harder the prediction. So Lu Yong uses both hands to cast two hexagrams for mutual verification and deduction.”

“The further along, the harder it gets?!” Yue Qianling frowned slightly and glanced at me. “You’re like a block of wood. Three people have already gone, how long are you going to wait? I don’t know what you’re thinking.”

“If Yan Hui isn’t acting, he must have his reasons. Don’t be anxious. Yan Hui always acts with discretion,” Lan Qing smiled at me, comforting.

Lu Yong slowly lowered his hands and spoke with composure, “I cast two hexagrams: the Heaven Hexagram and the Well Hexagram. Heaven is the ‘Dragon in Difficulty finds water.’ Heaven is vigor, uprightness, and strength—thus the image of a dragon in difficulty finding water. A dragon in difficulty is trapped in a deep abyss, unable to stretch, until heavy rain descends and thunder roars, allowing it to soar. The other is the Well Hexagram—‘A dry well springs forth.’ The well is a passage; water emerges from the well, hence the image of a dry well springing forth. A dry well that has long ceased to yield water suddenly, after rain, produces a spring that flows endlessly.”

Hearing the hexagram images and interpretations, I already guessed the dish’s name. Before I could write, Xiao Lianshan grinned at me. I whispered in his ear, “The dish is Dragon Well Shrimp.”

No sooner had I finished than Lu Yong, full of confidence, pointed to the dish he chose and declared calmly, “I used two hexagrams for mutual verification: the first is Dragon in Difficulty finds water, the second is Dry Well springs forth. They complement each other, but a dragon in a well, even if it finds water, cannot stretch; the well’s water, however deep, is too shallow for the dragon. As the saying goes, ‘A dragon swimming in shallow water is mocked by shrimp!’”

Lu Yong glanced at Chang Leyuan and Zhou Fu, who were already seated, and said with vigor, “Two people are seated before me, both upright; the dragon in the well... A dragon swimming in shallow water is mocked by shrimp. The dish must be Dragon Well Shrimp!”

Without waiting for Gu Xiaotian’s nod, Lu Yong confidently uncovered the silver lid on his dish.

Sure enough, the plate revealed plump, jade-like shrimp, fresh and tender, with bright green tea leaves, graceful colors, and a unique flavor—the famed Suzhou-Hangzhou dish, Dragon Well Shrimp.

Compared to Chang Leyuan and Zhou Fu earlier, Lu Yong’s casting, deduction, and naming of the dish was seamless and efficient, showing his divination skills were clearly superior. Even the audience in the courtyard erupted into applause.

Lu Yong sat down, leaving four seats. I noticed Yue Qianling was staring coldly at me. I knew she was impatient—not that I wouldn’t go, but I was waiting for Ouyang Cuo. If he was my greatest rival in this contest, I still knew nothing about him.

The next contestant was Teng Guoyuan.

His name came from Gu Anqi’s mouth. He was quite renowned in Hong Kong’s metaphysics circles. Gu Anqi told me Teng Guoyuan’s standing in Hong Kong’s metaphysics world was no less than anyone here.

As the fourth to take the stage, the spectators in the courtyard hoped for even more spectacular divination.

Like Lu Yong before him, Teng Guoyuan chose a dish and cast hexagrams with his hands. The only difference was he repeated the process three times.

“Why does casting hexagrams become more complicated as the contest progresses? Chang Leyuan and Zhou Fu seemed relaxed, but Teng Guoyuan seems to be struggling,” Xiao Lianshan asked idly.

“If you ask the same question more than three times, divination loses its efficacy. Teng Guoyuan’s process is complicated because he’s the fourth diviner. He has to consider the changes and connections among variant, mistaken, and moving hexagrams. This is where skill is truly tested,” I replied, eyes fixed ahead.

“Why does he cast three hexagrams repeatedly?” Yue Qianling, watching the previous predictions, grew more interested.

“Taoists say, ‘The Way produces One, One produces Two, Two produces Three, Three produces all things.’ That’s the principle—things shouldn’t be repeated more than three times. In divination, the same question shouldn’t be asked three times. Compared to the previous contestants, Teng Guoyuan faces much greater difficulty, so he casts three hexagrams to deduce their changes.”