Time Travel: The Noble Family
Chapter 404 - 142: Decline

Chapter 404: Chapter 142: Decline

Zhuang Ruolan thought the name Keyue was very good. Just as Ma Peng had said, it sounded nice and had a good meaning, but thinking about Yueyao’s origins, she couldn’t help but hesitate. Their daughter had been born in an inauspicious month, so would letting Yueyao name her bring bad luck?

Cai Yun looked at Ruolan, who was exceedingly troubled, and said, "Young lady, don’t you remember that the senior monk at Zhaohua Temple said Cousin Miss was fated with Buddha and was a person of great fortune. Could Master Xuan Tian’s words be wrong?"

Cai Yi countered from the side, "If Cousin Miss really had such great fortune, she wouldn’t have been rumored to be a jinx, so I feel it’s not appropriate."

Cai Yun had no rebuttal since the fact that Cousin Miss had lost her parents was unchangeable, "This name is truly excellent, at least I haven’t heard of a better one." Actually, this name wasn’t one that couldn’t be found between heaven and earth, it’s just that its meaning was very auspicious.

Cai Yi grumbled, "Cousin Miss is deliberately giving us a difficult problem." Cai Yi didn’t deny that the name was good—pleasant to hear and with a good meaning. If this name had been given by the Eldest Young Master, they would not have had so many qualms.

In the end, after much vacillation, it was Cai Yun who spoke up, "Young lady, if anyone is said to have good fortune, it should be the Old Lady. Why not ask her for advice?" The Old Lady of Duke Mansion was more than eighty years old, having enjoyed a lifetime of glory and wealth, and now was surrounded by a full house of children and grandchildren—definitely a person of great fortune.

Zhuang Ruolan shook her head, "Let’s consider it further," she said. Ruolan was also aware that despite enjoying a lifetime of wealth and an enviable posterity, the Old Lady was not favored by the Duke.

Of course, the most important reason was that Zhuang Ruolan didn’t like the Old Lady much. Having lived in the Duke Mansion for many years, she felt the Old Lady was partial and always made things difficult for her grandmother and aunt. Moreover, Ruolan thought that if they were to specifically request the Old Lady to name her daughter, it would only fuel more gossip among the Duke Mansion’s folk.

Soon, Zhuang Ruolan was no longer troubled.

When Ma Chengteng heard that Yueyao had named his granddaughter, he gave his immediate approval for the child to be called Keyue. Ma Chengteng believed that everything in Ma’s Mansion had come from Yueyao; Yueyao was a child of great fortune, and to Ma’s Mansion, she was a Lucky Star. Naturally, the name she picked was the best.

When Ruolan heard that her father-in-law had finalized the name, she stopped fretting. In truth, the name was indeed lovely, and she found it hard to let go of it.

In the March youth examination, Ma Yue failed again. He had been participating since he was eleven and had now been taking exams for five years. He hadn’t even passed the Scholar level.

Ma Chengteng had intended to find a marriage for him once he achieved Scholar status, but with another failure, he was so angry he wanted to beat him to death.

Previously a skeptic of fate, Chengteng’s views shifted after his sister visited Yueyao in a dream. After Ma Yue failed again, he believed what Nanny Deng said—that Ma Yue was incompetent—so he no longer held any expectations for Ma Yue, and thanks to Ma Peng, he wasn’t too disappointed. Now, he only wanted to arrange a good marriage for Ma Yue so that he could settle down. As long as Ma Yue could support his own small household in the future, Chengteng would be content.

Instead of reflecting on his own lack of knowledge, Ma Yue, influenced by the words of his attendants, went to Ma Chengteng and claimed Keyue was a bringer of misfortune and that having such a person in the mansion would disrupt the household’s peace. Ma Yue requested that Keyue be sent away, "Father, I’m not speaking nonsense. I’ve had her birth date examined, and even the high monks said it’s not good, that she is a person who is detrimental to the family." After speaking, he presented the Monk’s written judgment.

Ma Chengteng did not even look at the papers and immediately applied family discipline to Ma Yue, yet with Ma Yue’s indiscreet rambling, those with ulterior motives still managed to spread the story.

Because of this, Ma Peng was utterly disgusted with Ma Yue. His own failure to pass the examination was being shifted blame upon his daughter—could there be anything more absurd? Ma Peng called for Cai Yun, "This must be kept from the young lady. Whoever dares to tell her will be beaten to death." His wife was already worried about this issue. If she heard such rumors, she would most certainly be furious. This was definitely something his wife should not find out about now.

Cai Yun wasn’t worried about the people in the mansion, but she was concerned about those from Duke Mansion and Madam Bao. In Duke Mansion, although the Duchess and the Heir’s Wife both cherished the young lady, there were many others in the mansion who did not get along. And there was no need to mention Madam Bao, who seemed to always step on the young lady’s sore spots.

After a moment of thought, Ma Peng said, "Until Ruolan is out of her confinement, do not accept any invitations." If guests were to visit without invitation, he instructed the steward to prevent them from entering the back courtyard.