She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 199 - 198: Someone You Know

Chapter 199: Chapter 198: Someone You Know

Jiang Yifan felt displeased and, after solemnly giving Jinrong his due respects, he went to change his clothes, taking off his official uniform and putting on his everyday attire. He quickly wiped his hands and face and returned to the parlor.

As Jiang Yifan went to take a seat, he casually asked, "What sort of wind has blown the Sixth Master over to this humble official’s abode? You’ve been quite busy lately."

Jinrong was drinking tea absentmindedly and glanced at Jiang Yifan just as distractedly before saying, "Someone from Duke An’s Mansion has arrived."

"They’ve come to Qingyuan County?" No sooner had Jiang Yifan sat down than he stood up again, "Didn’t the Sixth Master send a message to Duke An?"

Jinrong looked at Jiang Yifan and slowly said, "What’s the rush? Sit down and talk."

"..." Jiang Yifan was briefly stunned before he realized that he seemed to have lost his composure.

Jiang Yifan slowly sat back down, picked up his tea cup, took a sip, and then asked, "Does the Sixth Master know their purpose for being here?"

Jinrong’s expression seemed puzzled and he said with a furrowed brow, "The person who came is a capable steward from Duke An’s Mansion, accompanied by two daughter-in-laws and two old woman servants."

Jiang Yifan asked in surprise, "What does that mean?" Could such a group be here to silence someone or for some other reason?

But what could four servant women do? Were these people like the two rough old women that Jinrong had sent into the Qi family’s home, who actually knew martial arts?

Jinrong ignored Jiang Yifan’s questions and continued, "There were also two large carts of household utensils and supplies, as well as fabrics and cloths." Jinrong looked sideways at Jiang Yifan and said, "I told you before to bring over a few maids and servant women from your household, but you wouldn’t listen because you were being too proud. Now, Ye Xinyan has more and more people around her, and even if you wanted to slip someone in, you wouldn’t have the chance."

"Who am I trying to slip into where?" Jiang Yifan said, displeased.

Jinrong, annoyed, pinched his forehead and continued to talk to himself, "Tell me, what is Duke An’s Mansion up to? Could Elder Master Ye actually swallow his pride and admit that the news about his granddaughter’s death that they released was false?"

Jiang Yifan recalled the woman who, standing alone and tilting her head back, confronted a crowd of people high on horseback with neither fear nor hesitation. If Ye Xinyan were to be acknowledged by Duke An again, he wondered if she would revert to her former self?

Jiang Yifan couldn’t help but feel troubled in his heart.

Jinrong nudged him and said, "Tell me, if Elder Master Ye really does that, what will happen to our cattle farm and my Dairy Products Store? The cheese powder, butter, and cheese recipes have probably just made it to the capital."

"And what will become of my Chief Steward?" Jinrong added with immense concern.

"What do you mean ’your Chief Steward’?" Jiang Yifan immediately glanced at him sideways.

Jinrong immediately snapped out of his self-pity and looked clearly at Jiang Yifan, counter-questioning, "What’s the matter? If he’s not my Chief Steward, could he be yours? At the time I asked you solemnly, you, asserting your scholar status and fearing for your career, didn’t want to be involved in the shareholding."

Jiang Yifan looked at Jinrong with disdain and mocked, "Sixth Master, even though Qi Ye is a woman and might work for you, your choice of words is quite inappropriate. Speaking like that, you could cause misunderstandings and ruin a lady’s reputation."

"Hmph," Jinrong said, "Lord Jiang, you speak as if her reputation isn’t already compromised. Does it need anyone else to ruin it?"

It took a while for Jiang Yifan to recover before he said, "Sixth Master, Ye Xinyan has changed from her past self. Back in the capital, she was merely overbearing, and nothing untoward regarding men and women had ever been criticized. Even the incident at Duke An’s birthday feast was merely a trap set by someone with ulterior motives – it was not her true nature."

Jinrong’s face lost its nonchalant expression, and he stared intently at Jiang Yifan, affirming, "You regret divorcing Ye Xinyan."

"I," Jiang Yifan was taken aback and denied outright, "I do not, I’m simply discussing the facts."

"That’s good then, because I have a matter for you." Jinrong leaned back in his chair, "The people from Duke An’s Mansion are staying at the Guest of Honor Inn in the county town. It’s not appropriate for me to go, so I want you to visit on my behalf. Consider it paying a courtesy call to those from the Yue Family who’ve come, to show sincerity and also to probe the intentions of the Duke’s Mansion.

You’re acquainted with the people from Duke An’s Mansion. The official in charge is Lian Gui, who has always served by Duke An’s side. The old woman servant is named Qiao, and she attends to the Duchess, known as someone from Anshun’s Household."

"Alright, I’ll find out what I can," Jiang Yifan agreed readily. "If they bring in another woman like that... alas, let’s wait and see." He would rather let Jinrong continue to treat Qi Ye as if she were a private servant of the royal mansion than to have the current Ye Xinyan revert to her old ways.

Jinrong had just left when Jiang Yifan, who had yet to seek out Cui Cheng, found that Cui Cheng was already requesting an audience outside.

As soon as Cui Cheng entered, before he could bow, Jiang Yifan asked, "What’s the matter?"

While bowing, Cui Cheng reported, "Our hired idlers heard that a few guests from the capital had arrived at the Guest of Honor Inn and went to inquire in detail, albeit indirectly, learning that these individuals are house servants from the capital’s noble families. I recognized them upon hearing the news and went to have a look. They were people from Duke An’s Mansion, Lian Gui, and someone from Anshun’s Household."

Cui Cheng glanced at Jiang Yifan’s expression before adding, "I only found out about the Sixth Master’s visit upon my return, and it’s about this very matter. Our people are not as meticulous as those deployed by the Sixth Master, and we learned of this much later."

Jiang Yifan waved his hand and said, "That’s not on you. The manpower deployed by the Sixth Master and his brothers is unmatched in this world. It’s already impressive that they noticed people from the capital’s noble families coming into Qingyuan County. Give some tip money to the one who brought the news and instruct them to continue working in this fashion."

Turning around, he instructed Shi Yu, "I’m going to change. You and Shi Shu get ready too, we’ll go together to the Guest of Honor Inn to pay a visit to the people from Duke An’s Mansion."

The visitors from Duke An’s Mansion occupied a series of top-tier rooms at the Guest of Honor Inn, and Lian Gui, the Duke’s Mansion steward, had finished dinner and was chatting in the main room of the guesthouse with the old woman servant from Anshun’s Household.

Lian Gui said, "This time, ma’am, we’ll have to stay in this rural place for a year or half at least. Remember what the Duke instructed: no matter who she is or what she’s like, we must ensure her safety and prevent her from being used by others, leading to any unpleasant rumors or having her identity exposed. We’ll adapt our actions to the situation thereafter."

Knowing that the task she had accepted was somewhat thorny, the woman from Anshun’s Household sighed and said, "Let’s just attend to this master for now and see how things go. Didn’t they say that a whole household of Prince Yu’s people has moved into the Qi family’s residence? This task is indeed difficult."

Her task was to ensure that if Qi Ye could live peacefully in the countryside, in Qingyuan County without worries about her identity being exposed, they would let this troublesome master continue living in this backwater. However, if someone with ulterior motives decided to cause trouble using this master’s identity, they would need to act before things became clear...

The problem was, with Prince Yu’s Mansion’s people watching over the Qi family, even if she succeeded, should Prince Yu’s Mansion insist on an investigation, she would have to be the scapegoat who could never speak the truth.