jdhmnovel Chapter 179 Divergence
Chapter 179 Divergence
"Yes, I've heard that the magistrate of Ningcheng is a truly good official."
After listening to their conversation, a young man at another table scoffed disdainfully, "What's so good about it? If it were really good, how come the dike, which was reinforced just last year, has been washed away before the flood season even started? Doesn't that clearly indicate something fishy is going on? If you ask me, I bet that county magistrate embezzled government funds and now that things have been exposed, he just doesn't want to get arrested."
"That's not right. Wasn't it said that the magistrate was the most upright person, and that he was the first to go and investigate when he learned that the dike had been breached?"
The man continued, "How do you know he's not feeling guilty?"
These words reached the ears of all four of them without missing a single one.
Gu Peiyan and Qian Duoduo exchanged a glance, and then Gu Peiyan gave Qian Rong a look.
Qian Rong immediately understood and sat down next to the young man with his cup in hand: "What this brother said seems to make some sense."
Qian Duoduo moved slightly closer to Gu Peiyan and lowered her voice: "Is it possible?"
"Don't worry." Gu Peiyan calmly took a sip of tea.
Qianrong grew up by his side since she was a child, and they even studied together.
If Qianrong had a good family background, he could have passed the imperial examination and become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations).
Therefore, Gu Peiyan was very confident in his abilities.
The young man leaned back slightly and squinted at Qian Rong's clothes and appearance: "Brother, your clothes and accent don't seem like those of a local."
"Well, I am indeed from out of town, but I overheard you all chatting and became a little curious. Plus, you look very friendly, so I took the liberty of coming over to chat for a bit. I hope you don't mind?"
"Of course, come on, let's have a drink together." The young man put his arm around Qian Rong's shoulder like a close buddy and refilled his empty glass. "Let me tell you..."
Seeing this, Wei Dongning asked Xiao Wu to pause the video: "Wait a minute, I need to catch my breath."
"What's wrong? Are you hungry?"
"No, it's just that way he talks when he's drunk, it's so authentic."
She felt like she could smell the pungent odor of alcohol even through the screen.
Xiao Wu sniffed hard, somewhat puzzled: "Did I upgrade my system? Now I can share my senses? Then why can't I smell anything?"
"It's not important, I'm just describing it."
"Well, humans are just weird sometimes."
Wei Dongning chuckled and patted Xiao Wu's head: "You'll understand when you have the chance to become human again, no rush. By the way, I also wanted to ask you about the rumors surrounding that county magistrate. Which of them is telling the truth?"
Opinions about the county magistrate differed between the two sides, so she decided to ask Xiao Wu to put her mind at ease.
Even if she knew, she couldn't tell Gu Peiyan right now, but at least she could satisfy her own curiosity.
Xiao Wu quickly pulled up the relevant information about the county magistrate, but before Wei Dongning could even look at it, she heard rustling footsteps coming from the doorway.
Startled, Xiao Wu immediately turned off the screen.
She also reassured Wei Dongning, saying, "It's Sister Xiaofu. She's probably here to see if you're still awake."
While Wei Dongning was sleeping, Xiao Fu would come in to check on her every half hour.
If she wakes up, she can prepare some food for her.
As a result, Wei Dongning always slept soundly whenever she came in.
The last time Xiao Fu came in, she saw her hugging the blanket, her mouth slightly open, and a series of snores clearly reached her ears.
Xiao Fu also struggled with whether or not to wake her up.
Her main concern was that if she slept too long, she wouldn't be able to fall asleep at night.
Wei Dongning felt somewhat relieved knowing it was Xiao Fulai.
He withdrew his hand that had been reaching for the long sword hanging by the bed.
Hang one side of the bed curtains on the hooks, making it look like you've just woken up.
He fumbled to put on his shoes, lit the candle, and let the light fill the whole house.
Xiao Fu pushed the door open and came in, just in time to see Wei Dongning pouring water. She was a little surprised: "Oh, Madam, you're awake. Would you like something to eat?"
"I just woke up, I'm not eating. I'm not hungry either. If I am, there are still some pastries here, I'll just have a couple." Wei Dongning pointed to the plate of touhua ci (glutinous rice cakes) that she and Zhong Shuyue hadn't finished: "So as not to trouble Aunt Zhou and the others so late."
"It's okay, I can easily make a simple bowl of noodles."
"I'm really not hungry. You should go back to sleep too. I just got up to get some water."
"Then I'll bring the water in, you'll feel more comfortable after washing up."
"Alright."
She was so sleepy at noon that she didn't even know how she fell asleep, let alone wash up.
But now that she's awake, before going back to sleep, she feels she should wash up.
Otherwise, it always feels a bit awkward.
Xiao Fu quickly brought in the hot water, and Wei Dongning didn't dawdle and quickly took care of washing up.
With Xiao Fu as his witness, he lay back down in bed and beckoned to her: "Get some rest."
Xiao Fu doubted whether she could really fall asleep, but she also knew it was not her business, so she took the basin of water and left.
Once it was confirmed that Xiao Fu had settled down, Wei Dongning immediately picked up Xiao Wu and said, "Quick, let's continue."
“Ningbao, what you said seems rather ambiguous.”
"Little kitty, you need to keep your mind pure."
"I am very innocent."
"Really? I don't believe it."
"I won't let you see it." Xiao Wu couldn't argue with Wei Dongning, so he could only threaten her from a different angle.
Wei Dongning, however, was easily swayed by this, and shrugged: "Okay, you're the purest little kitten in the world. May I continue watching now?"
"Since your apology was sincere, I'll generously forgive you this once, okay?" Xiao Wu proudly raised his head and re-projected the documents that Wei Dongning hadn't finished reading.
As Wei Dongning flipped through the pages of information, she gradually became convinced that the county magistrate was indeed a good person.
His hometown had experienced floods when he was young, so he understands better what kind of impact floods can have on the local area.
Especially after turning to the last few pages, Wei Dongning became even more certain.
The imperial court did allocate funds last year, but after being skimmed off at each level, only half of the silver reached the county magistrate.
He still had to put all his money into it, which was barely enough to reinforce the dam a little.
He had hoped that there would be no floods in the spring, and that he could save up enough money to gradually reinforce the river embankment.
But as fate would have it, man proposes, God disposes, and God dealt him a heavy blow.
"Xiao Wu, I want to check on Gu Peiyan and the others."
"it is good."
Xiao Wu switched screens to rewatch the video he hadn't finished watching before, and played it at 1.5x speed as Wei Dongning had requested.
In the scene, the young man still insisted on his idea, his arm around Qian Rong's shoulder: "I don't believe there are any good people among these officials, otherwise how could our lives be so hard? Besides, who doesn't know that reinforcing the dikes can make a lot of money? If it were me, I wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to embezzle! And I guess he didn't expect such a big flood in the spring, so he acted recklessly."