She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 110 - 109: Sue Your Family

Chapter 110: Chapter 109: Sue Your Family

As soon as Granny Tan’s words left her mouth, they caused Ye Xinyan to frown deeply. Just having a bit of family wealth means you can forget all decency and become unable to understand kind words?

Ye Xinyan sneered inwardly while her gaze shifted back and forth between Grandma Tan and Liang Wanqiu several times, feigning confusion as she asked, "This... please forgive my ignorance, madam, I thought your Miss was acquainted with the two distinguished guests in my shop, so there was no need to avoid each other. Is it not so? Just now, your Miss even took the initiative to talk to one of the gentlemen, I wasn’t mistaken."

No sooner had Ye Xinyan finished speaking than Grandma Tan nearly stepped forward to cover her mouth, and the serene and elegant demeanor Liang Wanqiu managed to maintain was lost as her pretty face turned red with embarrassment, glaring fiercely at Granny Tan.

This peasant woman is truly detestable; if she continues like this, won’t she directly accuse the Eldest Miss of the Liang Household of being loose and lacking manners?

Mother Yang quickly came out to smooth things over, "Lady Qi, you were not mistaken, the two gentlemen are very prestigious, one is Sixth Master Rong, the other is the magistrate of Qingyuan County, Lord Jiang. Both gentlemen have a brotherly relationship with the head of our household and are regular guests at our residence; we are well-acquainted with them."

That’s why Mother Yang is favored by her masters over Granny Tan—look how capably she handles things. The Eldest Miss of the Liang Household would certainly not lack that little bit of silver, and we cannot let her get a reputation for dining and dashing.

However, the silver can be paid, but this Lady Qi... cannot be left feeling smug.

Mother Yang’s demeanor became stern as she glanced at Liang Wanqiu, seeing her young mistress’s dark expression, clearly not willing to let things go.

"Lady Qi," Mother Yang called out.

Ye Xinyan’s demeanor was very pleasant, very humble: "Mother Yang, please speak your mind, anything you say is fine." Whatever you say, your mistress from the great Qingyuan family was also keen on speaking with a young man.

Ye Xinyan’s humility seemed a tad overdone, which made Mother Yang frown slightly, but still she lectured, "If your establishment hosts female guests, you should not allow men in the shop. Today it was our Miss; she is kind-hearted and does not take it to heart. If it were another girl, upon encountering such a situation in your shop, she might very well smash it to pieces."

Ye Xinyan sneered inwardly; if not for the presence of these two gentlemen, your prestigious family’s Miss would not have come to my humble establishment.

She replied with sincerity, "Mother Yang is right, my establishment is not high-class enough to host a young lady of distinction like Miss Liang. I’ll take note of this matter and ensure that in the future, such reputable young ladies will not experience this kind of situation. Only..."

Ye Xinyan appeared very puzzled, "I don’t understand—aren’t the two gentlemen guests of your household? Miss also took the initiative to speak with Young Master Jiang earlier; such actions, they do not count as being impertinent, do they?"

"How dare you!" Mother Yang’s face changed drastically, "Who are you, a peasant woman, to comment on the affairs of the gentry?"

Liang Wanqiu was also furious and embarrassed, her face flushing red. It was truly unspeakable for her to initiate conversation with an outside man, yet this peasant woman had just brazenly brought it up.

Ye Xinyan stood up straight and answered perfunctorily: "You’re right to reprimand me, madam, I’m just a little confused and didn’t mean to speak ill of your household."

Nanny Jin, fearing that her young mistress might lose her temper, hurriedly came forward to mediate, "Madam, my Lady Qi is simple-minded, she was merely speaking frankly about the matter and had no other intentions."

Mother Yang’s eyes moved between Nanny Jin and Ye Xinyan several times, her brows furrowed in thought as she considered how to proceed to prevent the peasant woman from speaking recklessly and smearing the good name of the young mistress, whilst still giving her a proper lesson.

Of course, the Liang family didn’t care about the small sum of silver spent in this shop, but since the young miss was displeased, it was necessary to discipline this woman so as to vent the mistress’s frustration. After all, even if Lord Jiang was a regular here, he was unlikely to hold a grudge against the Liang Residence and its Eldest Miss on account of a mere peasant woman.

Mother Yang had just thought of revealing the Liang family’s background to frighten these few people first, before deciding how to punish them.

But Liang Wanqiu couldn’t wait any longer.

Considering the way Jiang Yifan had glanced toward Ye Xinyan from afar, Liang Wanqiu felt particularly displeased. Not only that, this village woman dared to utter such a nonsensical speech, which made it even more embarrassing for her.

Her Liang household was originally a respectable family in Qingyuan County. With her aunt and uncle taking up the post of prefect in Yuyuan Prefecture, the Liang family’s status in Qingyuan County had risen even higher. As a lady of a distinguished family, she had stood there in front of him, Jiang Yifan, yet he had retreated far away at the first sight of her. And behind her, this village woman, he insisted on gazing at from a distance!

She was furthermore humiliated by the seemingly innocent words of this village woman and she couldn’t swallow this grievance!

The angrier Liang Wanqiu got, the more she lifted her chin, arrogantly addressing Ye Xinyan, "Lady Qi, if I had not come to your little shop, then fine, but now that I have, I cannot overlook your shop’s blatant fraud. Fortunately, your little eatery hasn’t been open long, and there haven’t been many deceived diners. I will not pursue past matters, but..."

Ye Xinyan’s complexion was also not looking good. This Miss Liang was hell-bent against her, not even afraid of her initiative to speak to young men spreading? She wanted to pin a crime of fraud on her, then legitimately shut down the eatery.

Seeing the change in Ye Xinyan’s expression, Liang Wanqiu felt a moment of satisfaction and continued, "I’m kindly advising you to close down your shop. Once closed, naturally no one will hold you accountable. If you don’t close, I’m afraid your little shop that deceives people’s money will face lawsuit."

Nanny Jin frowned upon hearing this. She had no idea about this Liang family’s situation, and if the Liang family truly had absolute power in Qingyuan County, it would be troublesome. Commonfolk really have a hard life, with no backing, no one dares to offend, never knowing when disaster could strike. How to cope with such days?

Nanny Jin turned her gaze to Ye Xinyan, thinking to herself: The Miss’ conduct these days meant she was destined not to be quietly forgotten among the commoners. In such case, finding a reliable force to back them was imperative; there was no better choice than His Highness Prince Yu.

Since the matter could not be resolved peacefully, Ye Xinyan was no longer inclined to play it low-key. She completely put away her smile and seriously asked, "Miss Liang, although my family’s eatery hasn’t been open long, its reputation is still good. All the diners who have patronized us have not expressed dissatisfaction with the food. May I ask, Miss Liang, on what basis do you say my family’s eatery deceives people’s money?"

To Granny Tan, Ye Xinyan’s question sounded like a challenge to the Liang Residence and its Eldest Miss.

She immediately grew angry, stepping forward and scolding, "If my Miss says your shop deceives people’s money, does it require evidence? Those who know what’s good for them will promptly close their shop and go back to where they came from. Daring to do business without even knowing about a Prestigious Clan of Yuyuan Prefecture? Don’t end up dead without knowing how it happened!"

Ye Xinyan sneered, "In the Great Xia Dynasty, there are laws and various levels of Yamen. If your Miss doesn’t need evidence for what she says, where does the Liang family place the court and the law? Does the Liang family have the authority to tower above the court and the law?"

Granny Tan was not as frightened as Ye Xinyan had expected; she was even slightly proud as she said, "What does a village woman like you know about law and Yamen? Our Eldest Miss is worried about the court and is thus stepping in to punish scoundrels like you. The court and Yamen would surely commend the Liang family. Not convinced? You can go to the capital city and file a complaint. The Liang family is waiting to see how you get out of Yuyuan Prefecture."

As Granny Tan said this, she even scoffed coldly, "The furthest you’ve probably been is Qingyuan County. Take this as an opportunity to see the world beyond Qingyuan County, if you have such fortune!" By the end, her tone had turned even more cold.

Ye Xinyan couldn’t help but frown. Could it be that Qingyuan County was really a place full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers? A small county town hiding a Prestigious Clan that could intimidate Yuyuan Prefecture? If the Liang family was truly such a hidden Prestigious Clan, and with Miss Liang troubling her, it would indeed be difficult for her to continue this business.

Should she go find Jinrong then? To question him why he brought such a peculiar person to their eatery, making it impossible for their business to carry on.

...Or should she hand the eatery over to a reliable manager and have their family concentrate fully on building up the cattle farm? The cattle farm was Jinrong and Jiang Yifan’s business, although she was just managing it, at least she wouldn’t have to endure such humiliation.