In the Commanders of the Nine Gates, the Upper Three Gates never concern themselves with the trivial affairs of Jiangqi; it’s best if nothing has anything to do with them, so they rarely get involved in conspiracies and intrigues that could easily lead to big trouble. The Middle Three and Lower Three Gates, however, are very enthusiastic, because their own interests are directly at stake. The faction most hoped by the various forces of the The Foster Family to provide support is the The Sullivan Family, because Mr. Sullivan is extremely reliable in his actions, and the The Sullivan Family is wealthy, with formidable staff—whether it’s a shootout or playing official games of intrigue, having the The Sullivan Family backing you is extremely reassuring.

However, someone as shrewd as Mr. Sullivan would naturally never be drawn into the scheme, and with the The Sullivan Family’s vast wealth and influence, they’re not afraid of a change in leadership and don’t need to come calling, so they’re the most able to keep their composure and watch how things unfold.

As for Arthur Brooks, because his actions are too erratic, cooperating with him carries enormous risk; you might end up losing everything you’ve built to him instead. No one dares to recklessly drag him into the water. Instead, it’s Arthur Brooks himself who is itching to get involved, hoping to profit from the situation, making things even more complicated. Everyone inside is afraid he’ll come to their side, but also afraid he’ll go to someone else’s.

The black-backed swordsman Old Miller is a lunatic, so naturally no one seeks him out, while George King of the Eight Divinations has a small operation, and relying on his sharp tongue alone, it’s impossible for others to give up their positions, so he’s not of much use.

The only truly reliable one is actually my grandfather. Mr. Walker is loyal and righteous, has considerable influence in Jiangqi, and several excellent disciples each hold their own territory. His men are very obedient, his lower-level forces are strong, and he’s also wealthy. Most importantly, my grandfather gets along well with several parties, able to balance all sides, especially having a great relationship with the The Sullivan Family and being highly regarded by Mr. Sullivan. So several sisters from the The Foster Family all sent invitations, hoping to have my grandfather over for tea to discuss matters.

As for why my grandfather ultimately chose Foster Xiangu, that’s quite intriguing. It’s said that Foster Xiangu sacrificed something to gain my grandfather’s full support. What exactly went on between them, only they know.

In that era, women always had to pay a certain tragic price to gain something from men. Even for Foster Xiangu, beauty was just one factor. For women today, although the times are still similar, things have improved a lot. At least, when women take a step back, there’s no longer an abyss behind them.

I don’t know whether to feel relieved or even more sorrowful.

Eight Divinations George King

Eight Divinations, George King is a rather peculiar figure among the Lower Three Gates. The The Foster Family and The Sullivan Family are both large clans, establishing their own operations, with influence stretching from eastern Inner Mongolia to Lingnan—both Foster and Sullivan have power. But George King took a completely different path. From the beginning, George King’s operation was just one: a fortune-telling stall at the old tea market in Changsha. This stall was deep in a corridor, with a small incense hall behind it. He would interpret fortunes and tell people’s fortunes at the same time. If you wanted to buy goods, you’d pay six wen, and the fortune-teller would take you to the inner hall, where there was a large room full of treasures.

Normally, such a small operation would be easily eliminated, but George King’s stall had been running for generations, always thriving, and the incense hall was extremely popular.

People found it very strange, not knowing what the secret was. Later, it was discovered that George King had a peculiar business rule: every customer who came to buy goods would get a fortune told. Eight Divinations was the top fortune-teller in Changsha, and his predictions were extremely accurate, but he only told fortunes for buyers—this was called a complimentary reading.

Nowadays, this would be called a competitive differentiator or added value.

People in the field business and those dealing in stolen antiques are extremely superstitious. With the reputation of Eight Divinations, even those who didn’t want to buy anything would come just to get a reading, so business was always booming.

So just how accurate was Eight Divinations? The stories about him are almost legendary.

On the eve of Liberation, a broker came to George King’s incense hall to buy goods. He didn’t fancy anything except for an incense burner in the hall.

This incense burner wasn’t even an antique, showing the broker’s lack of taste. The attendant at the time asked George King for instructions, but George King was a stickler for rules: antiques are antiques, how could he sell the incense burner? So he refused. However, the attendant got greedy, thinking the incense burner was worth just a few coins—he could sell it, secretly buy another to replace it, and pocket the money.

So he secretly sold the incense burner, and, afraid George King would find out, hurried the man away. At that moment, George King watched him, waiting for him to ask for a fortune, but unexpectedly, the broker left without looking back, which George King found odd.

He called over the attendant to ask, and the attendant, frightened, confessed everything. George King told him that what he did was, first, an offense to the spirits, and second, an offense to the ancestors—both major taboos. He warned the attendant that he was likely to face retribution.

When George King said this, it was enough to scare someone to death. The attendant was so terrified that he immediately handed over all the money, admitting he was blinded by greed, and asked if there was any way to resolve it.

At that time, the attendant was about to go to the village to collect rent. George King cast a divination, frowned, and returned all the money from the incense burner sale to him. He told him to keep that money on his person, put the rent money at the bottom of the chest, and take it with him on the road. He also told him that the melon farmers over there would be exempt from this year’s rent.