Chapter 27: Murky Waters

This morning’s sheep’s milk was personally prepared by Wei Yunlan using the supplies from her space.

As for the freshly squeezed bucket, concerned about potential issues, she left it untouched on the cart.

As they set off, Ningshuang, the head maid beside Wei Yunlan, addressed Old Madam Feng in front of several families. “Old Madam, we still have quite a bit of freshly squeezed sheep’s milk left today. My family’s children can’t drink it all, so why don’t you buy some to take home and add a bit of sugar to cook it for the little ones? It’ll be sweet for them, and we won’t have to carry it on the road.”

The younger members of the Feng family, especially the youngest ones, stared eagerly at the wooden bucket, their eyes practically shining with greed.

Freshly squeezed sheep’s milk, like yesterday’s, was worth twenty copper coins, and today’s offering seemed like a good deal.

However, Old Madam Feng wore a stern expression and coldly huffed, “Your family finds it troublesome to carry along, so my family doesn’t want it either? We wouldn’t want it even if it was given for free!”

“What? Milk?” The chubby little grandson of the Feng family was stunned.

Refusing a free benefit was not in his nature!

“Milk my foot! Hurry up and eat!”

Old Madam Feng slapped the little grandson’s head, leading the group away.

Wei Yunlan didn’t miss the flash of panic in her eyes.

Ah, so she is scared.

As she noticed Madam Liang preparing to get into her carriage with the help of her maid, and glancing in their direction, Wei Yunlan slightly nodded in greeting before shaking her head at Ningshuang. “Forget it. Since no one wants it, let’s cover it with cloth on the cart for now and add it to the porridge at noon.”

Ningshuang smiled brightly and replied, “Miss, it just so happens we have some white sugar left. Sheep’s milk porridge with sugar will be fragrant and rich—just as good as sheep’s milk cheese.”

The Feng family children, who were busy packing and waiting to depart, perked up their ears, nearly drooling at the thought.

Wei Yunlan knew she had achieved half of her goal and no longer focused on the Feng family.

Let them be the ones to stumble over their own schemes; the truly important matter was the impending calamity!

Wei Yunlan had never experienced a dragon’s tail sweep or an earthquake, and her understanding of these disasters came solely from books she had read in her spare time.

She recalled seeing in a natural history book that a dragon’s tail sweep typically accompanied strong winds, heavy rain, and thunder.

Her father had read even more than she had, so this point was corroborated by him.

Yet, at this moment, the autumn sky was clear and sunny, showing no signs of impending rain.

Suizhou was adjacent to Liangzhou; logically speaking, the weather in both regions shouldn’t differ too much.

Compared to a dragon’s tail sweep, Wei Yunlan leaned more toward the possibility that the disaster about to occur was an earthquake…

She shared this suspicion with Seventh Lady Yu.

In addition to needing the guards from Tianshu Pavilion to cover for them, Wei Yunlan had a personal motive.

After all, Tianshu Pavilion was a very mysterious and powerful organization, and the pavilion master was known to be broad-minded and compassionate toward the people.

By informing Seventh Lady Yu of her speculation about the impending disaster, she was also indirectly warning the Tianshu Pavilion. If the calamity had not yet struck, perhaps her early warnings could save more lives.

“Ugh, what’s wrong with this water?”

Just after setting off, Xie Guan opened the water pouch and took a swig, only to spit it out immediately.

Wiping his mouth, he turned to glare at the little official beside him. “How did you give me this water?”

The little official looked bewildered. “It’s just the well water from the back courtyard of the inn.”

“Try drinking it yourself!” Xie Guan threw the water pouch into the little official’s arms.

The little official opened the pouch and took a swig, only to sputter and spit it out like Xie Guan.

With a grimace on his face, he exclaimed, “Why is there so much sand in this water?”

“Why are you asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?” Xie Guan rolled his eyes in annoyance. Seeing the little official also looking confused, he waved his hand dismissively. “Forget it, there’s a river not far ahead. We’ll stop by the river, rest a bit, and refill the water.”

Today, Xie Guan’s horse was exceptionally fast.

A journey that should have taken nearly two hours was cut short by almost half, leaving the trailing convoy exhausted.

At the word “rest,” everyone immediately flopped down on the ground. Only the Liang family servants managed to maintain a semblance of order, attending to their master’s need for water and meals.

The little official beside Xie Guan took the water pouch and headed toward the river to refill it. However, as he reached the riverbank, he gasped in surprise.

“What’s this? Why is the river water so yellow today?”

If the well water they drew at the inn this morning was merely slightly muddy, then the water in this river was practically brown.

It was so murky that it was impossible to drink—even washing clothes in it would be considered unclean.

Xie Guan and the Liangzhou soldiers also dismounted and gathered by the river.

Xie Guan was from the capital and, although he had escorted prisoners to the north twice before, he had never seen this kind of situation.

He inquired of the Liangzhou soldiers with a puzzled expression, “Do any of you know why this is happening?”

The Liangzhou soldiers also had no definite answers.

Liangzhou was mostly mountainous, and this murky river water looked like the kind that would occur after a flash flood in the mountains. But the problem was that they had already left the mountainous region, and they were now on flat terrain—how could they possibly encounter a flash flood?

“Maybe it’s going to rain,” one of the Liangzhou soldiers casually speculated.

Another Liangzhou soldier beside him shook his head. “I don’t think so. The weather today is quite dry, not humid at all. It shouldn’t rain.”

Before they could reach a conclusion, a shout erupted from the back of the convoy.

“What’s wrong with these horses?”

Everyone turned to look in the direction of the cry.

The problem was with the three horses pulling the Liang family’s carriages. All three were suffering from severe diarrhea, and they were clearly agitated, unwilling to let anyone approach.

A stench spread across the riverbank, causing the Bai family and the Feng family to move away from the Liang family.

Madam Liang covered her nose and questioned repeatedly, “What’s going on? Why are horses like this?”

The stable boy, with a stiff expression, replied, “It might be something wrong with the fodder they were fed at that inn yesterday.”

“Then why are the other horses all right?”

Madam Liang’s eyes flashed with anger. The officials’ and soldiers’ horses, the Wei family’s mules and sheep—all were fine, but only their horses and sheep were affected. What was the reason for this?

Just as Madam Liang was about to press for answers, a maid beside her screamed.

“Madam, it’s not good!”

“Look at the young master!”

Following the maid’s terrified gaze, Madam Liang saw that her youngest son, who had been following beside her, had inexplicably developed numerous red spots on his neck, and his breathing was becoming rapid, as if someone were choking him, and he was struggling to catch his breath.

“Little Jun!”

Madam Liang completely forgot about the horses and sheep.

Her entire heart was consumed by her youngest son, who was born to her after she turned thirty. He had always been her favorite, the apple of her eye, and she had never encountered such a crisis.

Madam Liang was in a panic, and in addition to the medical woman from her own family, she also sent for Madam Liu, the old lady’s personal maid, to examine the boy.

While chaos reigned by the riverbank, and everyone’s attention was on the Liang family, several children who had quietly snuck over to the Wei family’s side picked up a pot of steaming sheep’s milk porridge and ran toward the back.

But before they could reach their mouths, Old Madam Feng rushed forward and knocked the pot over.

The Feng family’s young grandson immediately turned red with anger and yelled,

“Grandma, why did you do that?!”

Not far away, Madam Liang, who had just helped her son lie down and pleaded with Xie Guan to send someone for a doctor, heard the commotion. Her body stiffened, and her eyes flashed like sharp swords as she turned to look at Old Madam Feng, as if she were staring at a dead person.