She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 233 - 232 We Are from the Liang Residence

Chapter 233: Chapter 232 We Are from the Liang Residence

Upon hearing that someone from Anshun’s Household had asked the young lady to prepare pastries at their mansion, a servant nearly laughed out loud and asked Nanny Jin, "What’s the background of this Liang family, to summon people for service even though they clearly know all the young ladies from the Prefectural Magistrate’s Family are eager to associate with ours? Are there really such brainless people?"

Nanny Jin replied with a smile, "Nanny Qiao has never encountered such situations in less prominent places; there are plenty of people who haven’t seen the world and think the sky is the limit from the bottom of their wells. The head of the Liang family is the brother-in-law of Lord Zhou, the Prefect of Yuyuan Prefecture. They already had some family assets and were considered a well-off household in Qingyuan County. Now that the brother-in-law has not only been promoted but is also serving in Yuyuan Prefecture, they’ve been showing off excessively, acting as if they’re the most important family under the heavens."

The words ’showing off excessively’ left the servants of Anshun’s Household bewildered, "Showing off what?"

Ye Xinyan overheard Nanny Jin and a servant from Anshun’s Household speaking the local dialect so fluently and found it amusing. Seeing that the servant from Anshun’s Household indeed did not understand, she could not help but laugh, teasing Qi Jiaer who was playing on the side, "Qi Jia, today I seem to have heard a bunch of you teasing Brother Sanshun, saying that he has started to show off, right?"

Qi Jia stopped playing with his tangram and replied seriously, "That’s right, everyone says that since our great uncle’s household now has a business, and although Brother Ershun isn’t involved in it, he’s learning to rear livestock under Manager Cui at the cattle farm and making money, the family’s days are prosperous so they say Brother Sanshun has started to show off. But Brother Sanshun denied it, saying he wasn’t showing off and he still plays with everybody as usual. I also feel Brother Sanshun hasn’t been showing off."

Ye Xinyan laughed merrily and said to a servant from Anshun’s Household, "Nanny Qiao, now you know what ’showing off’ means, right?"

Nanny Jin chided, "You’re such a mischievous child," and then turned to explain to the servant from Anshun’s Household, "It’s just the local way of saying puffed up with arrogance, rash, and self-conceited."

Nanny Liu, who was sewing, looked up with a smile and said, "It’s quite an apt description in the local dialect for someone puffed up with arrogance and acting disorderly; aren’t they just ’showing off’?"

The household burst into laughter at Nanny Liu’s amusing words and further thought about the shallow person’s self-conceited antics, finding it extremely entertaining. They chatted and joked about it, exchanging comments.

Upon hearing from Anshun Household’s servant that a fairly good household from a small county town dared to request their young lady to prepare pastries at their residence, Lian Gui became annoyed. Without needing Nanny Jin’s instruction, he prepared a carriage early the next morning, and along with a few servants and guards who followed on the road, waited outside the courtyard of the second branch of the Qi family.

That very morning when Nanny Jin went to the town snack shop, not only was she accompanied by a couple of servant women from both a prince’s residence and the Duke’s Mansion, but also servants and guards on long journey assignments from the Duke’s Mansion, making her departure carry some degree of prestige.

The Liang family’s servant had also arrived early and, familiar with the route, approached the snack shop without even noticing the robust men standing beneath the eaves.

A house servant with a keen eye rushed to open the curtain for Manager Chang before him. Nanny Jin, sitting by the window, caught sight of the approaching group and exchanged glances with Lian Gui outside under the eaves.

Just as the Liang family’s servant lifted the curtain and hadn’t yet properly seen what was in front of them, they were suddenly pushed out by a flurry of hands. They only caught a glimpse of four old woman servants flashing out from inside the door.

Behind them, Nanny Jin followed out with a smiling face.

Nanny Jin slightly bent her knees to the eight people from the Liang Residence and said, "I apologize to you all, but please find another place to dine in the future. Our little snack shop operates on thin margins and truly cannot cater to esteemed guests like yourselves."

Seeing that he was only confronted by a few old woman servants, Manager Chang raised his voice angrily, "What kind of business are you running here? Since when does it make sense to turn away customers? You open for business, and I come to patronize; you cannot simply say you won’t cater to someone."

Manager Chang spoke and then signaled to the strong house servants he had brought with him, "Protect the two young ladies as you take them inside, and if anyone dares to stop you, beat them to death."

The house servants, part of whose job was to beat people up, rushed forward without a word as they heard Manager Chang’s order. Their hands hadn’t even touched anyone when they were suddenly kicked away by several lightning-fast feet coming from the side. One of them was even grabbed by the collar and thrown onto the road, where he fell.

Among the four old woman servants brought by Nanny Jin, there was Old Madam Ding, who had been sent by the royal mansion to the Qi family and was said to have some knowledge of boxing. During her days with the Qi family, she had never really had a chance to show off her skills.

Old Madam Ding stood in front of the snack shop and, with a sweep and a push of her hands, the two leading house servants did not get the chance to react. They fell backward together. They almost knocked over two vibrantly dressed maids with them, terrifying the pair into hopping aside to dodge.

Manager Chang was stunned by the swift action that unfolded before his eyes. His eyes widened in astonishment for a moment before he started shouting all around, "They’re beating people, they’re beating people! This snack shop ignores the law and dares to attack its customers." He then turned to call out to the few servants who were clumsily getting up, "You useless things, you can’t even handle a few people—what good are you? Get up and beat them for me!"

The house servants were also incensed. For the past two years, because of a promotion for a senior lady from the Liang family, these servants had enjoyed a great deal of prestige in Qingyuan County and had never been subjected to such humiliation. Now, being yelled at by Manager Chang again, they immediately got up and rushed forward once more.

Nanny Jin also seemed very anxious on the side and said to Qi Ercheng, "Ercheng, get the shop assistants to go up and block them. We can’t let them start fighting. Old Madam is of high age and mustn’t be hurt by such wicked people."

Thus, Ercheng and a few others rushed up, pulling and dragging in an attempt to break up the fight, while two assistants from Great Crane House also followed, joining in the ruckus. Old Madam Ding didn’t need to make another move; just with the people brought by Lian Gui, the Liang family’s house servants were given a good beating.

Manager Chang and the two maids jumped anxiously outside the crowd, gesticulating and saying to the people around, "We were just patronizing their little store—refusing to serve us is one thing, but they even attacked us. Everyone, please witness this for me. See how overbearing this store is, it’s simply intolerable..."

Duke An’s Mansion is also a prominent household in the capital city, and the guards from the Duke’s Mansion naturally wouldn’t be intimidated by a small-town manager. Annoyed by Manager Chang’s shouting, taking advantage of the chaos, one of the guards reached out, pulled Manager Chang in, and gave him several punches to the ground.

For a while, the front of the snack shop was filled with continuous cries of pain, and more and more onlookers gathered around, each commenting on who was right or wrong.

In a gap between Manager Chang’s wailing, he screamed as if he was being slaughtered, "This is outrageous, completely outrageous!... We are from the Liang family, the Liang family’s... you don’t want to live anymore..."

The harvest season had not yet ended, and Jiang Yifan was planning to take another round of inspections. From afar, he heard loud cries for help, and as he turned the street corner, he saw a commotion in front of the Qi family’s snack shop that nearly blocked the entire street.

Jiang Yifan frowned.

Shi Yu hurriedly asked, "Should I go over and check it out?"

Jiang Yifan said, "Let’s go together." As he spoke, he spurred his horse around and headed towards the snack shop. Shi Yu, a few minor officials, and servants hastily followed.