She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 225 - 224: A Disgrace to Modern People

Chapter 225: Chapter 224: A Disgrace to Modern People

Jinrong, upon seeing Ye Xinyan’s look filled with barely concealed emotion, quickly cleared his throat and said, "It must have been tough for Lady Qi to make this trip, please have a seat."

Ye Xinyan thanked him and, following Jinrong’s gesture, sat down at the seat at the bottom end of the small table.

Shi Yu beckoned a servant boy to serve Ye Xinyan some tea, then brought in a small clay stove to warm the kettle on top before she and the servant boy withdrew and gently closed the door from outside.

Ye Xinyan, without standing on ceremony, picked up the teacup before her, gestured towards Jinrong, and then slowly began to sip. She had left early that morning after breakfast to ride to the county and hadn’t yet had a chance to drink any water.

Having waited for Ye Xinyan to sip half the cup of tea, Jinrong spoke in a deliberate manner, "This is the situation, the other day at the workshop construction site, we saw the contraptions used by the Qi Family Construction Business were quite ingenious. It sparked some other ideas, and I wanted to discuss them with Lady Qi."

"Hmm," Ye Xinyan hummed noncommittally.

Jinrong, somewhat helpless against Ye Xinyan’s cautious demeanor, chuckled and asked, "It seems Lady Qi isn’t eager to hear what we think of those contraptions."

Ye Xinyan shook her head, honestly admitting, "I’m not in a hurry." After all, it wasn’t her who had the ideas. Why should she be eager? Even if she were, she couldn’t reveal that—it would be foolish.

Jinrong watched Ye Xinyan for a moment, wondering how they could proceed with the conversation. He turned to Jiang Yifan and said, "Yuanfan, perhaps you should explain."

Jiang Yifan, caught between Ye Xinyan’s lack of urgency and Jinrong’s off-beat approach, couldn’t help but feel torn between laughter and tears. The worst was Sixth Master, using the Qi family’s ideas. If they’d get straight to the point instead of beating around the bush!

Hearing Jinrong suggest it, Jiang Yifan didn’t hold back, addressing Ye Xinyan directly, "The Qi Family Construction Business may have just started working in the countryside, but the tools they employ are refreshingly innovative, particularly that railway cart."

When Ye Xinyan heard him mention "railway cart," her downcast eyes flickered slightly—so it was indeed about the railway.

Jiang Yifan, keenly picking up on Ye Xinyan’s reaction, didn’t inquire further, but simply continued, "Sixth Master and I noticed the railway greatly assists in the smooth and effortless movement of carriages, and we were thinking that if used on the crowded streets for transportation of goods, the same carriages could travel faster and transport more cargo."

Ye Xinyan had spent the entire day unable to figure out what role the railway could serve in this era, only to hear Jiang Yifan lay it out so plainly: carriages! Of course, horses pulling carriages could operate efficiently on railways.

She felt like crying at her own stupidity; she was an absolute fool. There was no need for her to innovate; she simply had to recall examples of successful use from the past, yet she had spent so long without it crossing her mind.

In Europe, well before the industrial age, there was an extended period of using railway carriages, pushing their development to the extreme, until mature industrialization brought widespread use of trains and electric cars for various forms of transportation, marking the end of the railway carriage era.

This important part of Europe’s transportation history, something so well-known, had completely escaped her mind when she used the railway cart on the construction site. Even more egregious was that, despite having seen Jiang Yifan show interest in the railway and guessing for so long, she still hadn’t figured out how to apply railways practically in this era.

She had utterly failed the many years of education she received, the information-rich era of the internet. It was a shame that she was born in the modern world a millennium later; she even doubted whether her presence here was just an embarrassment to modern people.

Jiang Yifan saw that after uttering only these few sentences, Ye Xinyan immediately displayed intense dejection and listlessness, her face the picture of despair. He glanced at Jinrong, wondering... could they carry on the conversation? Ye Xinyan wasn’t contemplating something rash because they had stolen her idea, was she?

Could it be that Ye Xinyan had long thought of using the railway in more places, dreaming of making more money from it in the future, only to see them catch on and decide to use it elsewhere first, which led to her current frustration?

Thinking this, Jiang Yifan couldn’t help but feel guilty. Here they were, a group of men, officials of the court and imperial relatives, scheming to take away a woman’s means of earning a living; it indeed seemed unacceptable.

"Well," Jinrong was surprised by Ye Xinyan’s reaction and ventured, "Lady Qi, the method of using the railway belongs to your Qi family. If Lady Qi is unwilling for us to use it, that is also understandable. However, if others see it or if it gets talked about among the craftsmen, it seems there’s no way to prevent other construction businesses from using it."

Ye Xinyan was still caught in self-reflection and self-loathing, barely able to muster her energy. She looked weakly at the two men and said, "We simply decided to use the railway for convenience in transporting bricks and other materials. If Sixth Master has other ideas, feel free to use it; it has nothing to do with my family. If that’s all there is to discuss, then there’s no problem; I won’t interrupt any further and will take my leave."

She truly planned to return and thoroughly reflect. With her foolish mind, how dared she even think of doing big business or running a large construction company? She might as well earn some silver from having the initiative, but later she would likely be outsmarted by the wise people of the past and lose everything.

Perhaps, she should just focus on her small piece of land and live a modestly wealthy and contented life.

She waved her hand weakly, preparing to rise.

Jinrong quickly raised his hand, gesturing her to sit, "Not so fast, not so fast, Lady Qi. We haven’t finished speaking. Please, stay; there’s no rush. It’s not too late to leave after."

Ye Xinyan furrowed her brows, standing before the two men, not knowing what else they had to say. After all, applying the railway in more areas was indeed something Jiang Yifan thought of first, and she had no reason to stop its widespread use. She never even thought of stopping it; wasn’t that enough? What more was there to say?

Jiang Yifan was also somewhat frowning, what exactly was causing her such a strong emotional reaction? If she left without saying a word, he would remain troubled.

He too stood up and with a gesture of respect, inquired, "Just now, after Lady Qi heard what I said, you seemed very upset. If it’s not about the railway, what else could it be? Could Lady Qi perhaps enlighten us, so we might be more cautious in our actions and avoid offending the Qi family?"

Ye Xinyan was taken aback. Yes, why? Just because she hadn’t thought of the railway carriage? It seemed she was indeed overly emotional, unable to bear someone from the past, a true standout, discovering something she had not, and that unsettled her?

"My apologies, I was thinking of other matters, not about the railway application mentioned by both of you. I’m very sorry," Ye Xinyan apologized and slowly sat down again.

Even if she had thought of it, what could she have done? Given the capabilities of the Qi family or hers, it was simply not possible to broaden the use of railway transportation. Was she going to leverage power from someone influential and be a trailblazer, as a woman giving directions in a man’s world?

It seemed she had never entertained such thoughts or possessed such ability, did she? Besides, being an official was exhausting, more burdensome than doing business and it didn’t bring in money. If she ever entertained the notion of Female Honorific or Matron, that would be madness.

Thinking this way, Ye Xinyan’s mood gradually calmed. Let them have it, she thought. Like with the cattle farm, if it could truly be promoted, it would be a good thing for both country and people. Why not be happy about it?