She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 195 - 194: Left to Avoid Suspicion

Chapter 195: Chapter 194: Left to Avoid Suspicion

Hu Jing casually picked up the stack of papers; the one on top only had a few lines of simple characters that seemed to record several types of materials. As he flipped through, he saw that one of the papers depicted something resembling wheels.

Instantly, Hu Jing thought of the children’s carts Jinrong had sent to her nephews in the capital. He looked closely but couldn’t figure out the mechanism, while he was sure they were definitely not wheels for carts.

"What is this drawn here?" Hu Jing pulled out the sheet and handed it to Qi Younian.

Qi Younian took it over, "Ah, these are pulleys. We’ve used them before, mostly wooden ones. Ye Zi said that if we get blacksmiths to finely forge a few iron ones, they would last much longer and save more effort. If several are combined together and a sturdy frame is put up when building high structures, it’ll be very convenient and save a lot of effort to lift things up."

"Pulleys, huh," Hu Jing searched his memory for this vaguely familiar device, "Oh, there is such a thing, seems like it’s used for lifting heavy objects."

Inwardly, Ye Xinyan curled her lips, thinking that someone who plays the role of an advisor should be well-read and knowledgeable in many areas. It was just a pulley, and he took such a long time to recall, speaking so uncertainly at that.

Yet, Hu Jing continued, "There have been records of pulleys since the Pre-Qin Dynasty. However, their application wasn’t very widespread afterwards." As he spoke, he picked up the paper again and examined it closely before asking Ye Xinyan, "How does Lady Qi know about such things, and that they can be used in daily tasks?"

Although Hu Jing had mentioned sources from the Pre-Qin era, it did not stop Ye Xinyan from looking down on him.

Ye Xinyan confidently explained, "The Construction Regulations mention pulleys. And this wasn’t my own idea; it was something I came up with after consulting with Wong Qiao." Although the Construction Regulations only briefly touched upon pulleys, they did indeed mention them, so she had good reason to be aware of them.

Ah. Hu Jing felt somewhat abashed under Ye Xinyan’s light gaze, realizing he hadn’t read the Construction Regulations. It seemed necessary to put some effort into such diverse readings. Moreover, even if he had read them, he couldn’t have applied them as promptly as Miss Ye did in practice.

Seeing Hu Jing about to flip through the stack of papers again, Ye Xinyan wanted to rush over and snatch them away. Then she wanted to tell him that casually flipping through someone’s notes was very impolite and an invasion of privacy.

Just as Hu Jing was about to pull out another sheet of rough paper, Ye Xinyan couldn’t resist. She stood up and approached, extending her hand towards Hu Jing and said with a somewhat ashamed look, "Mr. Hu, these are some ignorant ideas of mine that shouldn’t be seen by others."

Hu Jing probably also felt it was inappropriate to read a woman’s notes, so when Ye Xinyan reached out, he handed the stack back to her.

However, upon returning them, he pinched the one he had taken note of and pulled it out smoothly before presenting it to Qi Younian, asking, "Could the elder take a look at this? What is this supposed to be used for?"

Qi Younian, noticing Ye Xinyan’s somewhat astonished expression, chuckled and said to Hu Jing, "Lately, Ye Zi has been worried about our construction work, and together with Ah Qiao, they came up with a few ideas to expedite our output. This is something they discussed for securing scaffolding; if it can be made, it would speed up the erection of scaffolding."

"Oh?" Hu Jing took the paper back and scrutinized it thoroughly. If viewed according to what Qi Younian described, what was sketched on the paper was indeed recognizable.

Hu Jing laid the rough paper on the table and discussed Wong Qiao with Qi Younian, "Is this Ah Qiao that the elder mentioned the young man who was working in the courtyard earlier with Lady Qi?"

Qi Younian nodded, "Right, Ah Qiao is my seventh brother’s youngest son, named Wong Qiao. He has quite a bit of spiritual energy when it comes to construction."

Hu Jing was surprised and said, "If that’s the case, Young Master Wong should be Ye Xinyan’s elder. But just now, I heard Lady Qi address Young Master Wong by his name."

Ye Xinyan was organizing her drafts without even glancing at Hu Jing, putting on an act? Her home was filled with Jinrong’s people, she didn’t believe Hu Jing wouldn’t know who Wong Qiao was.

Qi Younian said helplessly, "According to seniority, it should indeed be so, but Ye Zi is stubborn, claiming there is not the slightest blood relation and is at a disadvantage for having to address someone of a similar age as ’uncle’..." The old man himself couldn’t continue, it was the first time he had ever heard such a rationale concerning matters of loss and gain.

Hu Jing gave a wry laugh, voicing the words Qi Younian had left unspoken, "This, you can’t really talk about loss or gain, right?"

"Can’t we?" Ye Xinyan looked up, her tone cool as she said, "Those good-for-nothings and loafers on the streets who go around calling themselves ’brothers’ and ’grandfathers,’ aren’t they just taking advantage of people and hurling insults?"

"This," Hu Jing was taken aback, "That’s not the same, is it? Young Master Wong’s father and your grandfather addressed each other as brothers, that’s not without relation."

"How could Mr. Hu speak so? According to Mr. Hu’s reasoning, if tomorrow my grandfather brings home a bosom friend, should I follow my grandfather’s seniority and call him ’Grandfather’?"

Ye Xinyan gave Qi Younian and Hu Jing a sideways glance, what was all this about? "Moreover, how I address Wong Qiao shouldn’t affect Sixth Master’s business, should it?"

By the way, Ye Xinyan glared fiercely at Hongzhi, who was stupidly staring at her. Did he think she hadn’t seen the sullen expression on Wong Qiao’s face when they entered the door just now? Did everyone think they could come to her house and talk nonsense, treating the Qi family like their own territory?

Feeling the glare from Ye Xinyan, Hongzhi quickly averted his astonished gaze. Alright, Aunt Ye might be quite unreasonable, but who made her so difficult to provoke? He’d better stay out of her way.

Hu Jing cleared his throat twice, still unable to think of a rebuttal to Ye Xinyan’s twisted logic, and could only apologize to Qi Younian, "I was just curious and asked a few extra questions. There was no other meaning, please forgive any offense, sir."

Qi Younian said hastily, "It was just some idle talk, there’s no offense taken, Mr. Hu is overthinking it."

Asking outright for someone else’s recipe that they use to earn silver was extremely rude. Therefore, Hu Jing, a personage of the royal court, had personally come to explain the difficulty and importance of the matter to Qi Younian and Ye Xinyan.

After the business was completed, Hu Jing did not linger and confirmed with Ye Xinyan the methods for making cream cakes and three other types of cheese pastries, recording them all.

Having finished, the time was no longer early. Qi Younian wanted to keep Hu Jing for lunch before letting him go, but Hu Jing insisted that there were matters waiting for him at the Jinrong Residence. In the end, Qi Younian instructed Nanny Liu to pack up the meatball cheese and several other pastries they had made the night before, claiming it was for Mr. Hu to eat on the way, and then sent Hu Jing off with the utmost courtesy.

As soon as Ye Xinyan stepped out the door, she saw that the table which had been set up in the yard had disappeared, and Wong Qiao, who should have been busy next to the table, was also nowhere to be seen.

With an unfriendly gaze, she looked at Hu Jing and Hongzhi. She knew that Wong Qiao had probably seen Hongzhi’s face and had excused himself to avoid suspicion.