Jing Yuan had been the General for many years.
He had never seen an attack on the Divination Commission by only three people, nor had he ever heard of an incident where an attack on the Divination Commission only resulted in the Master Diviner's clothes getting shredded.
There were benefits to living a long life.
See? Didn't General Jing Yuan just encounter such a rare event?
"So, this is the conclusion you reached after communicating with them? You didn't miscalculate, did you? When you left the house, did you really divine a 'Great Fortune' for yourself?"
Jing Yuan suspected that Fu Xuan had made a mistake after leaving the Matrix of Prescience.
After all, the magnitude of the calculations was different; mistakes were inevitable.
"General, with such a major issue concerning the Divination Commission, how could I possibly speak carelessly? It was precisely because I received a 'Great Fortune' after multiple divinations and confirmed that the other party had no malicious intent that I dared to confirm what he said."
Fu Xuan stated that she too had professional ethics and would absolutely not joke about the future of the Divination Commission.
Jing Yuan fell into deep thought, unsure for a moment whether he should trust his own wisdom.
To be honest, in his view, throughout the entire exchange, the other party had clearly been manipulating the Master Diviner. The topics they brought up had expertly probed her stance and temper, and they had even laid on the flattery so thick at the end that she believed the other party was a kindred spirit from another civilization.
Fu Xuan had already lost the initiative in the process of communication and probing.
No matter how Jing Yuan thought about it, he felt it was highly likely that Fu Xuan had fallen for the outsiders' trap.
Noldrei's every sentence avoided delving deep into Xianzhou matters, yet in reality, every sentence grasped many of the Xianzhou's contradictions.
Whether it was the relatively awkward position of the Divination Commission...
It seemed like they were talking about diviners and ordinary people, but in reality, they were talking about the conflict between the Divination Commission and the other commissions.
It seemed like they were talking about the interests of the collective versus the individual, but in reality, they were talking about the differences between the long-life species and the short-life species.
The Xianzhou, in fact, upheld the interests of the long-life species. Naturalized Xianzhou people were, in fact, unable to empathize with the long-life Xianzhou people.
You talk about becoming Mara-struck after eight hundred years, but I have to watch my wife and children grow old and die in a few short decades.
The two sides simply could not understand or empathize with each other, to say nothing of being forcibly prevented from seeking the legendary secrets of long life.
Jing Yuan believed that everything Fu Xuan said was likely true.
Out of trust for his Master Diviner, Jing Yuan decided to temporarily believe that these three outsiders were beneficial to the Xianzhou.
However, before that, Jing Yuan still had to persuade the Master Diviner! It wasn't as if she had never made a wrong divination before. It was impossible for her to be right every single time.
"Fu Qing... I mean, would you perhaps like to perform another divination after the Matrix of Prescience is repaired? It's not that I don't trust your abilities, but I hope to check for any omissions."
"What if? Right? Fu Qing, would you really dare to take responsibility for these outsiders?"
Fu Xuan was silent for a long time before replying, "I understand. I will continue to oversee the repairs at the Divination Commission."
After she finished speaking, she left, having taken Jing Yuan's words to heart.
Jing Yuan sometimes felt that Fu Xuan was, in fact, a little bit schizoid.
Simply put, when faced with a bad fortune, Fu Xuan would think of "defying fate" and try to manipulate the situation to change the unfavorable outcome.
But when faced with a good situation, Fu Xuan would instinctively follow her heart and go with the flow.
But here was the problem: if Fu Xuan discovered that one could defy fate, didn't that mean that when you had good luck, your enemies could also defy fate through their own efforts and manipulation?
Only diviners could defy heaven, but non-diviners couldn't?
There was no such logic under the heavens.
For Jing Yuan, there was no so-called influence of fate. He operated under the default assumption that his enemies also possessed the ability to defy fate.
But Jing Yuan couldn't say this to Fu Xuan.
He couldn't just tell Fu Xuan that no matter how the Divination Commission divined, he would not act according to their results.
Jing Yuan's course of action included observing the situation, comparing strengths, accounting for unexpected forces, and even natural disasters.
But it would never be based on the Divination Commission's observations to influence his decisions.
As a general, he naturally couldn't give his subordinate such hopeless words.
On the contrary, Jing Yuan not only didn't believe that Noldrei was supporting the position of diviners, but he felt that Noldrei had, in fact, completely refuted the very existence of diviners from a theoretical standpoint.
For those unwilling to be slaves to fate, divination was already meaningless.
For those willing to be slaves to fate, why bother with divination at all?
'Fu Qing, oh Fu Qing, sooner or later you'll be sold by an outsider and still be counting the money...'
Jing Yuan openly had Fu Xuan continue to probe Noldrei's group, while on the other hand, he arranged for others to secretly monitor their movements.
But he didn't think that monitoring would have any effect.
The other party was also someone who liked to operate in the open; they wouldn't resort to such low-handed tricks.
"What a hassle..."
Jing Yuan looked at the empty Seat of Divine Foresight and said helplessly, "Fu Qing, your journey to succession is far too long. Don't let me become Mara-struck before I see you grow enough to take over."
The General was truly worried. If the Master Diviner continued to think like this, she might come to some incredible conclusion.
That's right. The Divination Commission just needed to obediently divine the good and bad fortunes of a situation, while the General considered...?
Wait, that's not right. The General's considerations were already more extensive than the Master Diviner's.
Fu Xuan did not receive the affirmation she had hoped for. She left with an air of defiance.
But Fu Xuan didn't know that Qingque also left with a bit of a defiant air.
It was just that Qingque's defiance was all directed at the game of Celestial Jade.
"Kong! Final Tile from the Wall!"
"Robbing the Kong! I win!"
With the pleasant sound of the tiles being pushed over, all of Qingque's pent-up frustration from her real-life misfortunes was repaid at the mahjong table.
"Thank you, thank you! I feel bad taking so many credits. I'll treat everyone to dinner tonight!"
The young woman waved her hand magnanimously, the very picture of a queen of the mahjong table.
As the saying goes: unlucky in office, lucky at the gambling table!
Qingque's gloom from the day vanished without a trace with each win.
She even felt a little embarrassed, as if she were bullying a few novices.
Senti frowned and asked with dissatisfaction, "I say, are you sure you're not using divination to play? How come you win every time?"
Qingque immediately became anxious and defended herself, "You have to trust my sportsmanship! It's just a few meals' worth of money. I wouldn't go so far as to bully novices!"
Noldrei pondered for a moment, exchanged a look with Ely, and said, "Alright then. To prove your sportsmanship, let's bet something bigger!"
Qingque became alert. "No way. You're not thinking of causing trouble, are you?"
Why would Noldrei do something like that?
He immediately stated his terms. "What I mean is, does your Xianzhou have any places where a man can... have some fun? If I win, I want you to take me there to play!"
Qingque's eyes bulged in shock. She almost fainted.