Chapter 206: Madam Yuan Seeks a Favor_l
Wei Qingwan shook her head, “Forget it, I’m not good at these things. I only happened to find a problem with Wei Qingruo today and thought of discussing it with you. I never thought it would be useful.”
Nanny Li sighed, “Miss, take it easy. Although we can’t outwit Wei Qingruo for now, her arrogance and bullying will bring about her downfall. There will be a day when she suffers.”
Eyebrows lowered, Wei Qingwan appeared rather helpless but managed to console Nanny Li, “You have also worked hard, Nanny. You made a round trip and even got scolded by my mother for today’s matter.”
-Never mind me, this is something I should do. That Wei Qingruo hides in her comfort and cares not for the life of her family is a fact. I am upright and not afraid of blame, it’s just that her eloquent explanation confused the situation. She’s always using Madam Yuan as a human shield, acting as if knowing her is such a big deal!” grumbled Nanny Li angrily.
“That’s her skill, being able to sweet-talk someone as distinguished as Madam Yuan. I don’t have such an ability, it means Earn the incompetent one. Forget it.
Nanny, you can go busy yourself,” said Wei Qingwan.
Then Wei Qingwan waved her hand, dismissing Nanny Li.
###
Just after Wei Ruo dismissed Mrs. Yun with Madam Yuan as an excuse, Madam Yuan sent her close maid, Qingyi, to invite her to visit the magistrate’s office, claiming that she had something to discuss with Wei Ruo.
Wei Ruo didn’t ask much, she just changed her dress and rode the carriage with Xiumei.
After two days, the main road in the Government City was cleared of snow and carriages could now pass.
The houses and shops on both sides of the road were imbued with hints of the
New Year, adorned with red festive decorations.
But compared to previous years, the festive atmosphere was noticeably subdued.
Today is the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. Usually, every family would be busy preparing for the New Year’s festivities at this time.
But this year, many families, especially the Yuan family, just didn’t have it in them.
Although Wei Ruo was not completely aware of the situation in the prefecture’s office, she could make educated guesses.
Given the current state of the Taizhou prefecture, unless Yuan Zhengqin, the incumbent magistrate, was an incompetent official who didn’t care about the people’s life or death, he would surely be busy and worried.
Upon her arrival at the Prefecture, guided by Qingyi, Wei Ruo went to the main residence in the rear court where Madam Yuan lived.
Upon seeing Wei Ruo, Madam Yuan welcomed her warmly.
“I am really sorry for bothering you on the 29th,” Madam Yuan apologized to
Wei Ruo.
“It’s nothing, Madam. If there’s anything you need from me, feel free to tell me,” Wei Ruo knew that if it wasn’t something significant, Madam Yuan wouldn’t have called her over at such a time.
Madam Yuan sighed, “Indeed, I do have a favour to ask. Taizhou Prefecture has been going through a lot lately, and every single thing is driving my husband to distraction, leaving him no time or energy for other issues. That’s when I thought of you.”
“The heavy snow recently has indeed added a lot of troubles to the Taizhou
Prefecture,” Wei Ruo said.
“It’s not all about the snow.” Madam Yuan sighed again, “This year has truly been a calamitous one for the Taizhou Prefecture. Trouble comes wave upon wave.”
■’Are you referring to the Japanese Pirates? Have they been active again recently?” Wei Ruo asked.
Madam Yuan shook her head, “The Japanese Pirates have been quiet these few days, though we don’t know if they are genuinely peaceful or just waiting for an opportunity. The Anti-Japanese Army is on high alert. What I’m talking about is an internal problem. Since we’re on good terms, I won’t hide it from you A major event that occurred halfway through last month. Seventh Prince, who was supposed to report to the Taizhou Prefecture to become the Military Governor of the Anti-Japanese Army, was ambushed not long after he entered Taizhou prefecture. All his followers were either killed or injured, while the Seventh Prince himself has gone missing.
“The Seventh Prince is missing?” Wei Ruo was shocked.
How could this happen? That’s impossible!
In the original book, there was no description of the heavy snow in Taizhou Prefecture because the Wei family was not in Taizhou Prefecture at this time and was irrelevant to the plot.
But the Seventh Prince is the male lead, all major events related to him had been described in the original book.
In the original book, there was no segment about the male lead being attacked and disappearing.
We Ruo tried hard to recall the events in the original book during this period. This was when the relationship between Wei Qingwan and Chu Lan was heating up.
In the book, Wei Qingwan was taken to the prince’s residence by Chu Lan. During this period, she was plotted against by women in the residence, barely escaped death, and was almost killed.
Chu Lan dropped everything at hand to take care of her until she fully recovered.
During this time, Wei Qingwan was helpless and vulnerable. Chu Lan was distressed, and their affections for each other grew stronger.
Wei Ruo remembered that when the original text came to this section, it specifically mentioned that Chu Lan originally had a great opportunity for merit at this time. He was supposed to be the military governor of the Anti-Japanese Army. However, worried about Wei Qingwan’s safety as she was on the brink of life and death, he gave up the opportunity and passed it to Sixth
Prince.
So that’s where the problem was.
Wei Ruo didn’t expect that being in a relationship could provide such an advantage, helping to avoid risks.
Another surprise was that due to the absence of the meeting between the main characters, and due to Wei Mingting’s death not happening, it caused a butterfly effect, which directly led to the male lead of the original text disappearing.
If Chu Lan just died like this, could it be considered that she indirectly retaliated against her past self?
Madam Yuan said, “I was also quite shocked when I heard about it. It probably has something to do with the struggle for imperial power. However, it just so happened to occur in the Taizhou Prefecture. And it just so happened to occur on the way to take office as a Military Governor of the Anti-Japanese Army, right when they were about to rendezvous with the Army. Therefore, both the Government Office in the prefecture and the Anti-Japanese Army got involved.”
Listening to Madam Yuan’s explanation, Wei Ruo then understood that the reason Wei Mingting had been so busy lately was not just because of the Japanese pirates, but also because of this issue.
Madam Yuan said, “Anyway, let’s not talk about the Seventh Prince anymore. Those court struggles are not something we can get involved in, and worrying about him won’t help either. If he is fortunate enough to survive, that would be the best outcome. If he can’t, there’s nothing we can do.”
After saying that, Madam Yuan sighed heavily, “I invited you here to discuss something within our capacity. The heavy snow in recent days, the cold weather, both the top and bottom of Taizhou Prefecture have been tormented.” -I’ve heard some about it, many houses were collapsed by the snow, many bamboo groves fell over, leaving many people homeless.”
However, Wei Ruo didn’t know what she could do.
She could only provide shelter for a limited number of people. The people at her manor were alright for now, the houses were newly built and hadn’t collapsed, and there was enough food in the manor.
Given her current financial power and capability, that was all she could do. “Yes, what you heard is the truth. Many people have died in Taizhou Prefecture, and few of them were killed by falling or being crushed. Most died of cold or sickness,” Madam Yuan told Wei Ruo about the recent situation.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Wei Ruo asked..