Chapter 685: 287 Scare_2
It was coincidence that on the very next day, Shen Qian encountered Ma Peng on his way to his duties. Ma Peng’s favorable impression of the Shen family had plumted because of Yueyao.
Shen Qian asked a few routine questions before asking, “My wife ntioned that Yueyao has fallen ill; do you know how serious it is?”
Ma Peng asked with an unsuspecting tone, “Where did Lady Shen hear that Yueyao was ill? Who knows who’s been spreading such rumors? Uncle Shen, Yueyao is in perfect health and seldom gets sick.”
Shen Qian’s expression turned sour: “In perfect health?” If she was in perfect health, why would she use being unwell as an excuse to avoid attending my wife’s birthday banquet?
Noticing the displeasure on Shen Qian’s face and feeling awkward, Ma Peng said, “Uncle, there might be a misunderstanding in this matter. Yueyao did not know yesterday was Lady Shen’s birthday banquet.” Zhuang Ruolan had told Ma Peng about this the night of her conversation with Yueyao.
Shen Qian found this odd: “What do you an she ‘did not initially know’?” This statent certainly held so implications.
Ma Peng faintly sensed that the Shen family had done this on purpose. Yueyao was now orphaned and not in good standing with the Lian family—essentially lacking any support—and Lady Shen seed fickle, likely wanting to call off their engagent. Now that Shen Qian had inquired, Ma Peng saw no need for secrecy and bluntly said, “It was only last night that I learned from my wife that Yueyao hadn’t received an invitation from your household. My wife intended to have Yueyao accompany my sister to the banquet, but Yueyao was convinced that Lady Shen deed her ominous and was purposely not giving her an invitation, so she insisted on not going.”
Shen Qian’s face stiffened; he hadn’t expected this layer of subtext.
Yueyao herself hadn’t anticipated that Ma Peng would give Lady Mu such a stark dose of the truth at Shen Qian’s. Of course, whether it was of any use or not was sothing only Shen Qian knew.
Yueyao was preparing to head to the countryside manor, but the continuous rain for two to three days delayed her journey. Finally, when the skies cleared, Yueyao sent Xiang Wei to the Marquis Jingning’s Residence. Upon her return, Xiang Wei looked at Yueyao with a peculiar expression.
Touching her clean cheek, Yueyao asked, “What’s wrong? Is there sothing on my face?” She had beco unnecessarily anxious after going out.
Xiang Wei said, “An Imperial Censor has impeached Lord Bu.”
Yueyao was baffled: “Lord Bu? What’s his impeachnt got to do with ?”
Xiang Wei explained, “Two months ago, a river channel in Hengyang was completed. The Ministry of Works dispatched officials for inspection, and initially, Minister of Works planned to have Lord Ma lead the inspection team. However, coincidentally, Lord Ma reported being unwell and unfit for long-distance travel, so an official surnad Bu took his place. Yesterday, a morial from Hengyang arrived stating that after three days of torrential rain, the newly built levee burst its banks, drowning thousands and destroying countless farmlands and hos. The Imperial Censor accused Lord Bu of dereliction of duty and accepting bribes. Now, Lord Bu has been taken into custody by the Dali Temple.” As for the final outco, it would depend on how severe the consequences were.
Yueyao’s mouth fell open: “No way!” She then caught Xiang Wei staring at her, which made her shiver, and Yueyao asked, “What does the flooding in Hengyang have to do with ? Why are you looking at like that?”
Xiang Wei wouldn’t be easily fooled: “Why did you rush back with Mingzhu that day? And why did you insist on bringing Lord Ma with you to the Zhaohua Temple upon your return? Others may not know, but I’m well aware. Lord Ma was in good health and fully capable of leading the inspection. So why didn’t he go?” Xiang Wei was certain that Yueyao was the cause.
Yueyao shook her head: “And here I thought you were accusing of sothing! Mingzhu dreamt that the Lady of Marquis Jingning was unwell, and I too had a nightmare of misfortune befalling my uncle. Such ominous dreams had worried, so I returned to the Capital City to visit the Zhaohua Temple for prayers with my uncle.”
Xiang Wei humd in acknowledgnt before asking, “And then?”
Yueyao now felt relieved: “Don’t you know the rest? I drew a very inauspicious divination stick for my uncle that predicted a great peril. I sought Master Xuan Tian’s help for a redy, and he said as long as my uncle avoids long journeys for the next three months, the on would be resolved on its own.” Yueyao hadn’t expected Master Xuan Tian’s solution to be so effective.
Xiang Wei asked skeptically, “All this because of a nightmare? Isn’t that too dramatic? Even more dramatic is that Ma Chengteng actually took it seriously.”
Yueyao glanced at Xiang Wei: “You’re by my side every day and still don’t know , as if I could keep secrets from you.”
Xiang Wei found it hard to believe, but with Yueyao always by her side and no other reason making sense, it now seed they had to credit Master Xuan Tian’s exceptional divination skills.
The disaster in Hengyang caused great uproar, and the Emperor, furiously enraged, made Lord Bu the first to suffer the consequences. He imdiately dispatched an imperial envoy to Hengyang to thoroughly investigate the matter.
Ma Chengteng broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing the news. If he had been leading the inspection in Hengyang, he would have been the one in trouble. Fortunate for him, he hadn’t gone, or else…
Ma Chengteng didn’t dwell on hypotheticals. With the Emperor in a foul mood, he dared not ask for leave to go ho, restraining the urge and diligently attending to his responsibilities.
Once he was off duty, Ma Chengteng hurried ho to Begonia Garden and sought out Yueyao. He had been able to avoid this calamity all thanks to Yueyao.
Yueyao feigned ignorance: “Uncle, I only dreamt of misfortune befalling you, nothing beyond that.” Actually, Yueyao indeed was unaware of the events from her past life, and she felt that this life differed from the last, where her uncle had died from anger caused by Ma Yue and not from being dismissed.
What Yueyao did not know was that in her previous life, Ma Chengteng did take on that duty, but caught a chill on his way back to the capital and, while critically ill, learned of the thousands in gambling debt that Ma Yue had accrued. The shock and anger led to his death just a few days later.
By the ti the Hengyang incident surfaced, Ma Chengteng had already passed away, and it would have been impossible to pursue a dead man’s accountability. Moreover, the true culprits for the river channel disaster were the Hengyang officers and the Magistrate who had embezzled the funds ant for construction, so the Emperor did not posthumously punish Ma Chengteng. Yueyao was unaware of this at the ti. Thanks to her “butterfly effect” in this life, Ma Chengteng had successfully avoided this colossal disaster.
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