She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 102 - 101: The Second Visit to the Little Shop

Chapter 102: Chapter 101: The Second Visit to the Little Shop

Jinrong, who had slandered Jiang Yifan, was indifferent to the other’s attitude and remained languid, "How can it not be related? After you heard the great idea from someone else, you immediately wanted to shirk them off and start your own cattle farm to earn silver and achieve political merits. Isn’t that shameless?"

Jiang Yifan, holding his teacup, paused for a moment and said with a frown, "Ye Xinyan has already said that she only wants cow’s milk. Once the cattle farm is set up, we can just supply her family’s shop directly with it. Why force her to do something unnecessary? Moreover, that is not something a woman of her standing should be handling. If she messes it up and loses silver, that’s a minor issue, but it would be a complete waste of valuable time."

Jinrong burst into laughter, "So, are you considering your ex-wife’s interest now?"

Hearing Jinrong speak like this, Jiang Yifan felt uncomfortable all over. Thinking about the future cultivation of Qingyuan County and how it couldn’t proceed without the cattle managed by Ye Xinyan, he felt even more displeased.

"Forget it, since you, Sixth Master, have already decided to let Ye Xinyan set up the cattle farm, just treat it as one of Sixth Master’s enterprises and manage it well. I came here planning to serve the court with my abilities, with or without large-scale cattle breeding, I can still be recognized for excellence within three years. As for you, Sixth Master, thinking about the prosperity of Yuyuan Prefecture in the future, you really have taken on a lot of work."

"Is that really necessary? So petty," Jinrong said with a slant of his eye, giving Jiang Yifan a cutting comment.

Jiang Yifan lowered his head to drink his tea and no longer bothered with him.

After some thought, Jinrong reached out to nudge Jiang Yifan and asked, "Hey, don’t you find it strange about Ye Xinyan? In the capital, she was really thoughtless and arrogant. How is it that since she left Duke An’s Mansion, she’s suddenly become so astute after her circumstances worsened? Could the luxurious life in the capital really make people that daft?"

Seeing that Jiang Yifan acted as if he hadn’t heard, Jinrong continued to talk to himself, "When I saw her at the end of last year in the western part of the capital, I noticed a big change in her. At that time, I was only surprised that she could keep her cool and hide in the filthy and impoverished slums for so long. Now, looking at her again, the changes in this woman are even more significant. You were her husband for a few years after all, don’t you feel any incongruity?"

Being married to Ye Xinyan was something Jiang Yifan least wanted to mention, so he didn’t even glance at Jinrong, putting down his teacup and turning to look at the official documents.

Jinrong stretched out his arm and pushed him, "Could you just say something? Here I am helping you gain political merit, and you are full of resentment. You are one of the rarer young talents of recent decades, you brought home a treasure, yet couldn’t keep her down? You should really think about the reasons, learn a lesson or two from it, so you can be prepared and have some experience for when you marry again, right?"

How bad would Jiang Yifan’s luck have to be to end up with another wife like Ye Xinyan? He thought of Jinrong as a friend, yet Jinrong was cursing him like this!

"Enough already, can we talk about something else?" If not, you are free to go, Sixth Master. As a subordinate, my duties are numerous, and I’m afraid I don’t have the time to entertain you."

Jiang Yifan suppressed his urge to glare at Jinrong. An idle prince and a union with Duke An’s Mansion were considered a good match. Since Ye Xinyan is such a treasure, why didn’t Prince Yu marry her into his mansion earlier?

Although Jinrong was occasionally unreliable, after all, he was a prince, and it involved a prince and a prominent noble family of the court; some things were better left unsaid.

Jiang Yifan pulled back to avoid Jinrong’s pestering and continued to bury his head in the official documents.

But Jinrong didn’t regard Jiang Yifan’s protest and lazily withdrew his hand, saying, "Stop pretending, I know you too well. Ever since you left that little eatery, you’ve been full of thoughts about the lawsuit, how could you focus on official documents? Let’s go out for a stroll, see if there’s any suitable wasteland nearby. We should have an idea about these matters, we can’t rely entirely on a woman’s words, can we?"

Jiang Yifan, annoyed, put down the documents he couldn’t concentrate on. He wanted to complain about Jinrong, but didn’t know what to say.

What really disconcerted him was the drastic change in Ye Xinyan. It was so big that it felt like she was not the same person anymore. He indeed didn’t want to see this woman, didn’t want to have anything to do with her. However, the down-and-out Ye Xinyan seemed even more unwilling to see him. Apart from borrowing silver on the road that one time, she hadn’t even given him so much as a glance afterward.

If this woman were in charge of the draft cattle in Qingyuan County, farming is a significant achievement for a local official. Wouldn’t he still be entangled with this woman...

Jiang Yifan felt a headache coming on.

While pulling Jiang Yifan outside, Jinrong said, "This isn’t just my affair. You need to put up half the capital." He was determined to drag this kid into the water and see if he would remain so aloof.

Jiang Yifan’s face was as calm as water, following Jinrong outside. In his opinion, Jinrong was just someone who loved to watch the excitement without worrying about the consequences, deliberately making things difficult for him by insisting on dragging him along.

It seemed it was time to find a capable assistant.

.....

Within three days, the snack shop had the pleasure of hosting Prince Yu for the second time.

That morning, Jinrong arrived quite early, probably right after breakfast; perhaps to avoid suspicion, he was still accompanied by a sullen-faced Jiang Yifan.

Ye Xinyan had no respect for Jiang Yifan’s sulky face either—a mere ex-husband, did he think he was irresistibly charming? Did he really suppose that she, Ye Xinyan, would eagerly entangle herself with him? How vain!

As for the matters between the two of them, oh, the matters between the original owner and her husband, if Jiang Yifan had any backbone, he would not have agreed to the marriage arranged by Duke An’s Mansion in the first place. If the original owner had married someone of equal social status, perhaps she would not have ended up in such a dire situation...

Well, that’s not quite right. With the original owner’s personality, if she had married into a noble and prestigious family of her social standing, she most likely would have been schemed against to the point of obliteration, without even a chance to escape.

That’s off-topic, though.

She’s talking about Jiang Yifan’s backbone now—having any would mean he shouldn’t have married the legitimate granddaughter of Duke An. As the youngest Top Scholar in fifty years, it shouldn’t have come to the point where he kicked out his wife, only to be expelled from the capital himself shortly after.

To prevent Jiang Yifan from thinking she was trying to cling to him, Ye Xinyan still kept her distance and let her grandfather welcome the distinguished guests.

The shop was very quiet in the early morning, with no customers visiting. The simple and bright tables and chairs inside were spotlessly clean, creating a refreshing and pleasant atmosphere.

Qi Younian led Jinrong and Jiang Yifan to a table further inside, while Nanny Jin had already brought over the refreshments.

Jinrong sat down carefreely and ordered Nanny Jin, "I heard from the kids next door that your apple pie is quite delicious. Bake a few and bring them up for a taste."

"Yes, this servant will immediately instruct the kitchen. Please wait a moment, Sixth Master," Nanny Jin hurriedly agreed and withdrew.

Ye Xinyan showed herself just briefly and, after another glance at the digits written by Qi Jiaxue, continued to retreat to the partitioned area to freeze her ice cream.