She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 168 - 167: Why Care This Time

Chapter 168: Chapter 167: Why Care This Time

Jinrong fell silent for a moment before instructing Hongzhi, "Didn’t you bring back quite a few snacks from the Qi family yesterday? Share some with Lord Jiang. And also, relay a message from me, tell him that Clear Water Village is also under the jurisdiction of Qingyuan County, and with the autumn harvest approaching, that village still has over a dozen draft cattle which can be of use during the harvest. Let Lord Jiang find time as soon as possible, so I can visit the cattle farm with him."

"You want to send snacks to Lord Jiang?" Hongzhi, without awareness, missed the main subject of visiting the cattle farm and blurted out untimely.

If it hadn’t been inconvenient for him to do so from behind his desk, Jinrong would have kicked him, "Can you be any more disgraceful? You know those are snacks; if you can eat them, others can too. What, are you feeling heartache over it?"

"No, no, that’s not what I meant. I meant, Lord Jiang always acts with integrity; he probably isn’t the type to be greedy for food..." While Hongzhi was explaining, he remembered how his own Sixth Master had indulged in the cheese yesterday. Wasn’t that suggesting his master acted without integrity?

He quickly glanced at Jinrong and hurriedly corrected himself, "No, no, that’s not what I meant either. Having some snacks doesn’t count... What I mean is, I’ll go to the county government office right away."

Jinrong said impatiently, "Go where? Do you think Lord Jiang would be in the county government office at this hour?"

Hongzhi immediately hung his head. Alright, the excuse he found to slip away quickly was very poor.

Anyway, not wasting time on this witless boy, Jinrong’s tone grew heavy as he gave instructions, "Go find Uncle Wan, and have him arrange for the advisors in the capital to meet with Duke An. Let them know that the Duke’s granddaughter has already passed away; that’s an undeniable fact.

Don’t mention one; even if ten or eight women resembling the Ye Family’s Second Miss appeared, none could replace one’s own child, nor is it necessary to follow dubious rumors and be led by the nose by those with insidious intentions. It’s just a country girl who resembles the Ye Family’s granddaughter; it doesn’t warrant a major fuss or further gossip.

Also, tell Duke’s Mansion about Nanny Jin encountering a woman who resembled her former mistress and how she willingly followed the lady from the Qi family because of her attachment to her previous master."

Hongzhi’s eyes lit up as he quickly agreed. With these words from the Sixth Master, regardless of whether the Ye Mansion had the intention to silence Lady Qi, they wouldn’t dare to underestimate her lightly. Moreover, this message also served as a reminder to Duke An’s Mansion, that if they disregarded this matter, then Lady Qi would have nothing to do with Duke An’s Mansion.

After agreeing to the task, and seeing that Jinrong didn’t dismiss him, Hongzhi didn’t dare to speak further, only standing by carefully, inwardly lamenting his misfortune. If only it had been Hong Wu reporting to the Sixth Master today, that would have been much better; he could then mischievously tease Hong Wu afterwards.

Jinrong watched him for quite a while before suddenly asking, "Did I talk too much with Lady Qi about the matter today?"

"No, not at all, not at all," Hongzhi, tense all over, replied repeatedly before realizing, awkwardly, that his response had been a bit too quick, and his performance today was off by quite a bit.

As expected, Jinrong’s expression immediately soured. "Are you implying that I indeed talked too much today? Hongzhi, you’ve grown up, starting to lie to your master now."

Hongzhi instinctively took a half step back and beseeched with a pained expression, "Sixth Master, please see the truth, my response was a bit too quick, but I definitely didn’t lie. You making things unpleasant for Lady Qi... isn’t that normal?"

Uh, Jinrong’s eyes widened. This boy just needed more training. If left untrained for too long, he’d become brazen enough to criticize his master!

Jinrong, slightly annoyed, waved it off. Okay, there were other matters to discuss with this boy; the training could wait; he’d find an opportunity for that later.

"If it’s always like this, why did Lord Jiang take issue with it this time?" He admitted to himself that when it came to women, as well as how to treat them, he was rather clueless.

On the other hand, Jiang Yifan wasn’t much better. Jiang Yifan’s parents only had him and his younger brother—no sisters at all.

How should I explain this to the Sixth Master? Hongzhi stole a glance at Jinrong and mustered up the courage of someone heading to the execution ground as he said, "In the past, when Sixth Master had disagreements with Lady Qi, it was always in a comparatively open setting, with many outsiders present. However, today, in that private room, other than Lady Qi, everyone there was from our mansion."

Jinrong gave him a slanting look, "Continue."

Hongzhi almost wanted to cry, "Well, even though Lady Qi manages affairs under the Sixth Master, she is ultimately a woman, and she is not a family servant of our mansion. The two of you dining alone outside, that in itself is not something... that can be easily explained."

Jinrong picked up a book from beside him and hurled it at Hongzhi, angrily saying, "You little bugger, why didn’t you say this earlier?"

Hongzhi didn’t dare to dodge, took the hit, then quickly caught the book, swiftly smoothed it out, and placed it back on the edge of the desk before hastily retreating. His face bore a look of grievance, and his heart cried out continuously, "Sixth Master, we can’t be so unreasonable, such matters, do they even need to be mentioned by someone else?"

"Get out!" Jinrong probably realized it too, that indeed, there was no need for someone else to remind him about such matters.

In the midst of Jinrong’s angry shouting, Hongzhi rolled away with great relief at his fastest speed.

Jinrong watched Hongzhi roll and scramble out of the study, confused as to what was going on with Jiang Yifan.

This behavior from Young Boy Jiang was not right. Was he considering their past marital status and unable to let go of Ye Xinyan? Or, after seeing a different Ye Xinyan in Qingyuan County, did he harbor other thoughts? Or was it just because he was Ye Xinyan’s ex-husband, worried that Ye Xinyan might attract some rumors, that it would reflect badly on him?

Jinrong pinched the bridge of his nose, reflecting that this was also his neglect. After all, Ye Xinyan was Jiang Yifan’s ex-wife, and maintaining an appropriate distance was certainly necessary.

Today, he should have talked to Ye Xinyan strictly about the matter at hand. Guessing motivations and bottom lines was really unnecessary and caused nothing but distress and dissatisfaction between the brothers.

.......

Zhou Biyao sat silently in the carriage, saying nothing all the way. Upon returning to the guest quarters of the Liang Residence, she merely had Nanny Zhong relay a message to Steward Nanny at Lady Liu’s side, then sat quietly by the window of the living room, watching the garden’s autumn flowers and plants that were no longer flourishing.

Nanny Zhong brought in some tea and, seeing Zhou Biyao still unwilling to speak, tentatively asked, "Second Miss, you’ve been out since early this morning and must be tired. Why don’t you sit back down to rest and have some tea to soothe your throat?"

Zhou Biyao, a beat too slow, turned her head to look at Nanny Zhong and complied by sitting back down on the couch.

Nanny Zhong placed the tea cup on the small table and said, "The Liang Residence’s kitchen has made new chestnut cakes and water chestnut cakes today. Great-grandmother specifically asked someone to send some over for the Second Miss. Would you like to try them?"

Zhou Biyao sipped her tea without saying whether she would have any refreshments but instead asked Nanny Zhong, "Nanny, what is that stone mill Lady Qi mentioned used for?"

Had the Second Miss been silent all this way just because she was pondering this question?

Nanny Zhong looked at Zhou Biyao and casually smiled, saying, "That is simply a common farming tool, used to grind wheat or various grains into powder. The same device is used in tofu workshops and by common households; it’s incredibly common and simple."