What Is Lost in Chu Is Found in Chu

[Cold-Blooded, Fierce Sharpshooter × Refined, Scheming Peacock]

What does it mean to be born with a fate that should have ended in infancy?

In the western market lived a fortune-teller known as the Jade Scale Matron. She weighed bones to tell fortunes, and her predictions were always accurate. When she weighed other people's bones, she added pearls and jade one ounce at a time. But when it came to Jiang Chusui, she took every last jewel off the scale, and still the beam remained suspended, unbalanced.

Then she calculated Jiang Chusui's birth chart. The page was filled with ill omens, with not a single sign of good fortune to be found.

The Jade Scale Matron studied it again and again, then finally asked in a trembling voice, "Miss, are you truly alive?"

Jiang Chusui didn't answer. She pointed to one part of the chart. "What does this 'Ten Evils and Great Defeat' mean?"

"You'll be unable to inherit your family's estate, and your family fortune will be squandered."

Jiang Chusui thought for a moment. "But I have neither father nor mother. What family estate could I possibly squander?"

Theme: Fortune and misfortune are intertwined.