In the blink of an eye, Lucian had stayed with the Fu family for five years.
Relying on the guidance of Sham Diviner to advise the younger generation and annotate some ancient texts, he had also used Sham Diviner to avert the disasters that struck the Fu family more than a dozen times.
Over time, even other prestigious families came to know that there was a formidable diviner here, rumored to possess the means to forcibly change fate and avert disasters.
"Your Excellency, whatever the Fu family has given you, we'll triple it!"
"As long as you join us, we guarantee the best treatment!"
Lucian had heard countless similar offers, but of course, he rejected them all—because where Fu Xuan was, he was as well.
===
Today was another bright and breezy day.
Lucian had just settled lazily into his reclining chair, his straw hat barely lowered over his face, when the sound of hurried footsteps came—trying hard to appear steady, yet approaching quickly, each step tapping like a rapid drumbeat.
Hearing the footsteps, Lucian silently curled his lips into a smile, unnoticed by anyone.
Before long, Fu Xuan's figure appeared beside the reclining chair.
Today she wore a clean, refreshing moon-white robe, and her hair had been carefully combed and tied into a simple bun, revealing a smooth forehead and the graceful line of her neck.
In her hands, she carefully carried a lacquered food box.
Lucian didn't move, keeping his straw hat over his face as if asleep.
Fu Xuan stopped by the reclining chair, took a deep breath—like someone mustering courage—then cleared her throat.
"Ahem... Teacher?"
Her voice was deliberately calm, yet the man lying on the reclining chair gave no response, only the steady rhythm of breathing.
Fu Xuan waited a few seconds, her delicate brows knitting slightly, then tried raising her voice a little.
"Teacher!"
Yet still no movement.
Fu Xuan stared at the unmoving straw hat, bit her lip, and seemed to make up her mind.
In the next moment, she bent down, leaned closer, and with a hint of playful mischief, reached out her finger and quickly poked Lucian's forehead through the straw hat.
"Hey, wake up... You promised we'd discuss some philosophy today..."
Fu Xuan's voice surprisingly carried a faint trace of coquettishness, which made Lucian's lips finally curve into an irrepressible grin.
Lucian lifted a hand, flipped his straw hat aside, and his smiling eyes immediately captured Fu Xuan's face, so close at hand, along with the flicker of panic and shy embarrassment in her gaze at being caught.
"Hm?" Lucian's eyes drifted from her slightly flushed cheeks to the food box in her hands. "And what did you bring today to bribe your teacher?"
He deliberately emphasized the word 'teacher,' making the heat on Fu Xuan's face deepen, and her fingers tightened slightly on the food box.
Trying to keep her composure, Fu Xuan set the box onto Lucian's lap.
"It's not a bribe!" Fu Xuan's delicate chin lifted ever so slightly, forcing herself to keep her lady-like aura. "I made these snacks... myself..."
As she spoke, her voice grew softer toward the end, while her expression turned even shyer.
Why?
Because every time she shared snacks with Lucian, there would always be those small, intimate gestures like wiping her mouth, patting her head, and flicking her forehead...
Lucian's gaze swept over Fu Xuan's reddened ears, and his grin deepened.
He sat up slowly, reached out, and gently lifted the lid of the food box, causing a sweet aroma of pastries to drift out.
"Mhm, smells pretty good..."
He nodded, speaking in an offhand tone, then looked back at Fu Xuan's face.
"So then, Little Xuan..." Lucian patted the grass beside his recliner, where a clean cushion had somehow appeared. "What do you want to debate with your teacher about today?"
Under the warm sunlight and the gentle breeze, the pond reflected the shadows of trees and the sky above, and also mirrored the two figures sitting closely by the pond.
One was lazy and carefree, the other seemingly serious, yet unable to hide the joy sparkling in her eyes.
It was just another day in the five years of their debates and lessons together—until the day Fu Xuan turned eighteen, when the news the Fu family had been waiting for all this time finally arrived from the Divination Commission—sent directly by the Xianzhou Yuque's Master Diviner, Jingtian.
[Today I cast a hexagram: the future of the Fu family's sole daughter, Fu Xuan, lies in the position of Master Diviner. Thereby, I declare, she is now permitted to enter the Divination Commission and take me as her master.]
"It finally came!"
Master Diviner Jingtian's announcement exploded through the Fu family like a bombshell.
Even the maids holding trays of tea trembled, the wrinkles on the elders' faces crinkled into blooming smiles, and even the pair of stone lions at the gates seemed ready to leap up and dance.
It was only natural.
All of them had been waiting for this day to come.
Without wasting a moment, all the family higher-ups immediately gathered to discuss the matter of discipleship.
"You all should've already heard—the Master Diviner himself said it! He said my Little Xuan is gifted beyond compare and wants to train her personally!"
Fu Qian rubbed his hands as he paced across the main hall, his pink mustache twitching with excitement.
"Although this was foretold years ago, it dragged on until today."
"Haha, if my daughter had entered the Divination Commission earlier, she'd already be a Master Diviner by now!"
He suddenly turned to the side, gripping Fu Xuan's shoulders with both hands.
"My daughter, this is the chance to bring glory to our family!"
Fu Xuan was shaken so hard that her hair ornaments jingled loudly under her father's grip.
However, instead of happiness, her gaze dropped to a stubborn sprout of grass growing between the bricks—her lips pressed into a tight line, her expression reluctant.
From the corner of her eye, she glanced toward the empty corridor.
In this meeting, the figure who always lounged lazily in the Starrest Pavilion was unfortunately absent.
"Father… I want to think—"
Fu Xuan, twisting her sleeve embroidered with cloud patterns, wanted to say something, but before she could finish her words, she was interrupted.
*Thump!*
"What's there to think about!"
Suddenly, her second granduncle banged his staff against the ground and exclaimed with a frown.
"Xuan, the Divination Commission's Grand Library, the Divination Platform, the Deca-Light Reflection Barrier Matrix that only the Master Diviner and the Arbiter-General can use, the Cloudpeer Telescope—which of those isn't—"
"I don't want to take the Master Diviner as my master!" Fu Xuan cut him off, her gaze hardening into defiance. "I want to take Guest Elder Lucian as my master!"
Her words froze the main hall in an instant, cutting off all the cheers and congratulations.
Now, the elders' expressions looked as if they had swallowed many strales whole, while Fu Qian gaped, his mustache stiff in midair.
"Guest Elder Lucian, when interpreting hexagrams, can even casually note the variant ancient texts..." Fu Xuan continued—her ears bright red, but her back straight—though her voice grew smaller and smaller until it was barely a murmur. "He even can defy fate itself... and he's... he's handsome..."
Upon hearing this, Fu Qian's entire body instantly stiffened.
If his daughter said Lucian had great ability, he had no objection, but if she said Lucian was handsome... then he had reason to worry.
"Child, listen to reason."
Gazing seriously at Fu Xuan, her second granduncle tried to give advice.
"Guest Elder Lucian is impressive, I admit, but haven't you already called him teacher?"
"Take the Master Diviner as your master, and keep Guest Elder Lucian as your teacher—there's no conflict! You could learn from both of them."
"Didn't you always want to study in the Divination Commission? Without becoming the Master Diviner's disciple, you won't become the best diviner."
At this, the other elders nodded in agreement.
Why abandon one when you could have both?
One should know that the status of the Master Diviner's disciple was enough to make countless people in the Xianzhou Yuque fight to the death for it.
In fact, Fu Xuan had originally wanted to study in the Divination Commission, becoming the Master Diviner's disciple, but now, all she could see in her mind were the moments she had spent with Lucian.
If she became the Master Diviner's disciple, she wouldn't be able to speak with Lucian every day like always, making her life feel boring and tedious—and that wasn't what she wanted.
If it had been years earlier, when she was still absorbed in her studies, she would've happily agreed to become the Master Diviner's disciple in an instant, but after spending so much time with Lucian, just reading books every day felt meaningless.
Debating with Lucian—that was what made her feel alive.
"I don't care!" Fu Xuan stomped her foot in anger, the tip of her embroidered shoe kicking up a puff of dust. "In that case, I'll earn my way into the Divination Commission and make the Master Diviner step down by my own ability! My fate won't follow a single path written by your divinations!"
With that, she turned and ran away—straight to find Lucian.
"Little Xuan!" Fu Qian reached out but caught nothing more than a single strand of fallen pink hair.
He then looked at the elders in the main hall, then at his daughter's disappearing figure, before suddenly slapping the table.
*BANG!*
"Screw it—I'll listen to my daughter!" Fu Qian exclaimed with firm determination. "If she won't take the Master Diviner as her master, then so be it!"
Compared to his family's empty glory, he cared more about his daughter's will and happiness.
Upon hearing the patriarch's words, all the elders' faces sagged.
Even though this was a golden opportunity for their family, this father and daughter duo were just too stubborn to take it!
===
Meanwhile, in the courtyard of the Starrest Pavilion, Lucian was dozing off with a book covering his face when it was suddenly lifted away.
In the next moment, a familiar voice came right by his ear.
"Teacher, do you want a disciple or not?"
===
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