She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 232 - 231: Come to the Mansion to Make Desserts

Chapter 232: Chapter 231: Come to the Mansion to Make Desserts

Ye Xinyan pinched the bridge of her nose and waved her hand at the many people present, "Alright, since it’s a matter of courtesy, Nanny Liu, please organize the items and leave some pastries for Sister-in-law Yan to use, then you may leave. I’ve never heard of anyone sending a gift that comes with a person to process the gift into a finished product that can be used."

Nanny Liu felt this was the best outcome they could have hoped for, hastened to agree, and took Sister-in-law Yan down to rest.

Anshun’s Household looked over the multitude of fabrics and utensils with no idea how to deal with them, and could only let them be handled by others. Thankfully, the eldest daughter still understood propriety and did not keep the royal tailor.

Sister-in-law Yan knew she had not completed her task well and returned to report with a heavy heart. By the time she got back to the residence, it was already time for dinner.

As soon as Sister-in-law Yan saw Wan Yan and was about to greet him, he said, "Come with me, you’ll report directly to Sixth Master."

Jinrong saw Sister-in-law Yan in the dining hall and listened to her recount the whole sequence of events. Afterwards, he asked in detail about Ye Xinyan’s response and her exact words. His expression did not change much as he dismissed Sister-in-law Yan.

Sister-in-law Yan left without understanding what was going on, and was even more puzzled upon returning. She was just thankful that even though she had not completed her task well, she had not been punished—it was nothing short of a stroke of luck.

After Sister-in-law Yan left, Jinrong dined silently, pondering for a long while, until a hint of helplessness appeared on his face. It seemed that Ye Xinyan had no immediate plans to marry, and the strategy of giving gifts to gain favor did not seem very effective. Worse, if he was not careful, it could make Ye Xinyan more guarded.

Although Ye Xinyan did not avoid men in her daily speech and actions, she was very cautious and proper when it came to the exchange of items. This made things even more difficult.

Luckily, this time he had only used the tailor from his residence to test Ye Xinyan’s reaction. If he had straightforwardly sent her clothes and jewelry, would he have been turned away?

To capture the attention of this miss, he’d have to be even more careful and heartfelt in his efforts.

...

After sending off the Zhou siblings, Madam of the Liang Family, Lady Liu, was unaware that Sixth Master Rong they were interested in had already agreed to compete for Ye Xinyan based on individual abilities.

She waited for Liang Qiyuan to return from his outing and shared with him about the Zhou family’s daughter and her connection with Lady Qi, including her own thoughts on the matter.

Liang Qiyuan frowned and thought for a while, still feeling it was beneath them, "She’s nothing but a peasant woman, moreover, an abandoned one. Even if she has ties with Sixth Master Rong, it would only be in the capacity of a servant, and it’s not even certain if she has the ability to manage affairs. We are a prestigious clan of Qingyuan County, Wanwan is a maiden awaiting marriage, how would it look for her to associate with an abandoned peasant?"

Lady Liu pondered and also felt that it would be embarrassing for their daughter to interact with a peasant, and said, "Biyao mentioned that Lady Qi is very skilled at making pastries. How about this, I’ll send someone to the snack shop to pass on a message: our household enjoys Lady Qi’s pastries very much, but it’s inconvenient for us to visit her shop to eat them. We should invite Lady Qi to our residence to make some of her specialty pastries, and we will certainly reward her generously afterward. Does the master find this acceptable?"

Liang Qiyuan nodded, "That sounds more appropriate, we should have her serve us, after all, we cannot treat another household’s servant as our distinguished guest."

"Good, I will send someone to the snack shop right away with the message, and have Lady Qi come to our residence tomorrow to make pastries."

Lady Liu started arranging for someone to go to the snack shop and instructed her own daughter to treat Lady Qi with care when she arrived, to get on good terms with her first before anything else. Amidst Liang Wanqiu’s extreme reluctance and utter disdain, a servant of the Liang family conveyed the message to the snack shop.

The day after Ye Xinyan went to the county government office to discuss things, a servant from the Liang Residence came to deliver a message to the snack shop.

Nanny Jin was still unaware that His Highness Prince Yu had sent tailors to her house, bringing fabrics and making clothes. She had settled the shop’s affairs early and was planning to go out to buy some fabrics to make new clothes for her young lady when she received the oral message from the Liang Residence, feeling extremely astonished.

Zhou Biyao was the precious daughter of the Prefectural Magistrate’s Residence, and even Zhou Biyao had come to form a connection. The Liang family was just an ordinary gentry in Qingyuan County, yet they were putting on airs, wanting the young mistress to go to the Liang Residence to make desserts for them, what a great face they have!

The Liang family didn’t seem to understand, a simple inquiry would reveal the status of the Qi family in Clear Water Village and the scale of the industries they managed; perhaps then they wouldn’t make such unreasonable demands.

Nanny Jin immediately responded that Lady Qi worked for Sixth Master Rong and couldn’t arbitrarily go to other households to work without the Leader of the Family’s permission.

Lady Liu had originally planned how to receive Lady Qi the next day, in a way that would not compromise her own dignity yet allow more interactions with her. But after receiving such a reply, she was both shocked and angry. Did this country woman think that, just because she was backed by the Leader of the Family, she could disregard the Liang family? She was merely a filthy manager who reared livestock in the countryside; she didn’t realize her own weight.

She had to make her realize that the Liang family was a gentry in Qingyuan County that could be counted on, with the Prefect of Yuyuan Prefecture as their support, someone not to be trifled with.

Lady Liu intended to immediately send someone over to smash up the snack shop, but then thought better of it, considering that Qi Ye always worked for Sixth Master Rong, and it wouldn’t look good in front of Sixth Master Rong.

After some thought, Lady Liu summoned the butler and instructed, "Starting tomorrow, allocate two taels of silver from the accounts every day, take two good-looking maidservants, along with a few servants, to the Qi family’s snack shop for some desserts and broth. Remember, occupy the place for a full day each time, and don’t let anyone else into the shop during that time, saying that our family’s women cannot be bumped into by others."

So, the next day, the snack shop was patronized by seven or eight lower servants from the Liang Residence, including two maidservants dressed in fine clothing. The person in charge claimed to be surnamed Chang, a steward of the Liang Residence, and because there were young ladies among them, they needed to maintain the Liang Residence’s dignity and could not be bumped into; thus, during their mealtime, no outsiders were allowed in.

Following the instructions of their mistress, Lady Liu, the group spent nearly two taels of silver on food throughout the day, occupying the place for the entire day.

On the first day, Nanny Jin endured it for the sake of peace and did not mention it to Ye Xinyan.

But then it happened two days in a row, every day, and even the busy Ye Xinyan noticed that the amount of cheese powder used by the snack shop was incorrect. She asked during her leisure time after dinner if the snack shop business was not doing well.

Nanny Jin briefly explained the situation to Ye Xinyan, then said, "You’ve been busy with lots of things lately, so don’t worry about the shop’s affairs; I can handle it. I didn’t want to start a conflict with them before, hoping that after roughing it out for two days, they would find it meaningless and leave on their own. I’ll bring some people from home tomorrow, and if they don’t leave then, that’s fine; but if it’s the same as these two days, I’ll have someone block them out. If they still don’t heed the warning, then I’ll just have them thrown out."

Ye Xinyan was actually not worried about the snack shop, but was curious about what the Liang family meant. She asked, "Did the people from the Liang Residence only say they wanted me to make desserts for them, and nothing else?"

Nanny Jin scoffed, "They said that their Miss Cousin mentioned Lady Qi is skilled at making desserts, and their female relatives wanted to enjoy fresh desserts without suitably coming to the snack shop, so they invited you to their house to make it on the spot. I found their words so rude that I replied immediately."