Mind reading saves the whole family; I'm firmly in the role of a charlatan.

Chapter 405 Taking Someone Else's Blame
The worst thing you can do when you're talking is to suddenly make a big turn in your speech.

The couple, who had been smiling from hearing about their daughter's fortunate destiny, froze when they heard the word "only".

"Just what?"

"Don't panic, it's nothing serious."

Third Aunt and her husband: "..." Your tone doesn't sound like it's nothing serious!
“That’s right.” Du Anrao felt it was necessary to clear the name of the master who had diagnosed the young lady’s fate. “According to this young lady’s birth chart, she was loved by her elders in her family during her childhood. Although she may have encountered setbacks, she is likely to receive help from benefactors, turn bad luck into good, and turn misfortune into good fortune.”

So, there's really nothing wrong with the fortune teller giving your daughter this analysis based on her birth chart.

The third aunt and her husband weren't stupid either; they immediately understood Du Anrao's implied meaning.

"Then what happened when Ningning was sick that time? She..."

"You may have fallen into a misconception. In fact, whether a person's birth chart is good or bad does not mean that their fate in this life is entirely determined by their birth chart and will not change."

Xi Jingyue frowned slightly, instantly grasping the key point: "You mean, one's birth chart is only the foundation for their future life, and there are other factors that influence their future trajectory. Simply put, fate can be changed?"

“That’s right. A person’s environment, the people they come into contact with, and even the decisions they make in a flash of inspiration can all affect the final outcome.” Du Anrao’s eyes brightened, and he looked at Xi Jingyue with a look of appreciation and satisfaction.

"That's what they say, but generally speaking, as long as your fortune doesn't experience a precipitous drop or a meteoric rise, the resulting changes in trajectory won't be too significant and can mostly be ignored."

Third Aunt frowned slightly: "According to your explanation, was Ningning's hospitalization that year due to a significant change in her fortune? But why? What caused such a drastic change in her fortune that it affected her health?"

Du Anrao pondered for a moment, his expression becoming somewhat grave: "If I'm not mistaken, Miss's tribulation is likely an accident in which she took someone else's place."

"Taking on someone else's behalf?" The third aunt and her husband exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with doubt.

Xi's cousin, who was also involved in the incident, turned pale, clearly frightened by Du Anrao's words.

"Looking at her entire birth chart, at the age of eight, the Moon should have entered the Friendship Palace, bringing smooth sailing, peace, and friendships. However, due to some accidents, the main star of your Life Palace shifted and did not fall into its proper position. The main star of the opposite palace was transformed into a negative star and clashed with it. Tianji and Jumen entered the Illness Palace, which was very unfavorable to her health."

The third aunt and the others were completely bewildered and looked utterly confused.

Seeing this, Du Anrao quickly summarized the key points, explaining, "Simply put, she was supposed to go to a new place that year, meet some new friends, make friends smoothly, and be overjoyed. But because of a certain person and a certain event, her fortunes took a turn for the worse, and she developed health problems, causing her to miss out on making the friends she was supposed to make." The third aunt and her husband were stunned. If they remembered correctly, their daughter was supposed to start elementary school that year, but she was hospitalized for several months due to illness. Even after being discharged, she needed to recuperate, which delayed her enrollment by several months, so they simply postponed it to the following year.

According to Du Anrao, this actually makes sense.

"Most importantly, judging from the position of this opposing palace's ruling star and its state within the palace, the culprit that caused her fortune to deteriorate should have some degree of blood relation to her. If nothing unexpected happens, her illness and hospitalization that time should have been her way of taking on the other party's calamity. Moreover, from the perspective of cause and effect, your daughter's hospitalization that time should also be directly related to him."

Upon hearing Du Anrao's words, the two third aunts turned ashen-faced.

Her daughter was too young to remember, but she and her husband remembered it very clearly. At the end of the year their daughter had the accident, her husband's sister-in-law suddenly came to stay with her son. She said that her brother-in-law had to go abroad for some business, and she also had to go to work. The child was still young, and she was really worried about leaving him alone at home.

It just so happens that they also have a child. They're used to herding one sheep or two, so they asked them to help take care of the child, and the father would come back to pick him up.

When the third aunt learned about this, she was very unwilling. She was already tired from taking care of her own child and had no energy to take care of someone else's child. Besides, it was not like her family was short of money to hire a nanny. If she didn't have time to take care of the child, she could have just hired a nanny to take care of this. Why did she have to come to her house?
But the other party seemed to have anticipated her thoughts and directly brought up her mother-in-law as a powerful figure. In order not to put her husband in a difficult position, the third aunt finally reluctantly agreed to her sister-in-law's unreasonable request and left her son behind.

Unexpectedly, not long after that, her daughter wandered into the artificial lake behind her house and accidentally fell into an ice hole.

It was around the time of the Lunar New Year, and the spring chill was still in the air. Many relatives' children came to visit and offer New Year's greetings. A large group of children gathered together, and it was unclear who started it or who caused the trouble. In the end, only her daughter, the host family's child, got into trouble, while the guests' children were unharmed.

Perhaps fearing the host's wrath, all the children gave the same testimony, stating that it was her daughter who first suggested going to the artificial lake, and that she insisted on going on the ice, which led to the tragedy.

They were afraid of danger and didn't join in the recklessness; they even tried to dissuade her, but she wouldn't listen. With a few words, she absolved herself of all responsibility and shifted it all onto her daughter.

Third Aunt didn't believe it. As her mother, she knew her daughter's personality all too well; she would never do something so mindless and dangerous.

However, the artificial lake was located in a relatively remote area, and it had snowed a few days before the incident. The surveillance cameras in that area were frozen over and had not completely thawed, so they could not capture anything. Moreover, the eyewitnesses at the scene gave such consistent and confident accounts that she could not investigate even if she wanted to.

Hearing Du Anrao say this, the third aunt couldn't help but recall the scene when she and her husband rushed to the scene after receiving the news, and their daughter had just been pulled out of the water, soaking wet, pale and lifeless. She also recalled the fear and despair she and her husband felt when they waited outside the emergency room after she was taken to the hospital and received several critical condition notices from the doctor.

Her heart felt as if it had been deep-fried in a pan of oil; resentment and bitterness surged up within her, making her so angry that she almost exploded.

The third uncle, seemingly noticing his wife's discomfort, squeezed her hand reassuringly and said in a hoarse voice, "You mean, my daughter's unfortunate fall into the lake and subsequent hospitalization was very likely... not an accident?"