She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 319 - 318: Mother’s Love

Chapter 319: Chapter 318: Mother’s Love

Zhao Gang, upon hearing this address of "Uncle Zhao," felt an influx of complex emotions. Miss Cousin really had changed from the past.

Although he was a servant at Marquis Zhongyong’s Mansion, the three young misses of the Mansion were all courteous and understanding, and being of a higher status, they rarely interacted with him. Instead, it was Miss Cousin who gave him many worries. As Great Aunt didn’t want anyone from Duke’s Mansion to loathe Miss Cousin, many issues were usually handled by her brothers, and most often, it was he, her attendant, who dealt with these matters.

When Miss Cousin was young, she used to call him by his name, Zhao Gang. As she grew up, she gradually started calling him Old Zhao. Now, with this address of "Uncle Zhao," Zhao Gang felt a surge of many emotions.

Zhao Gang’s throat felt somewhat constricted, and he calmed his emotions before saying, "Lady Qi holds a distinguished status and should not neglect the proprieties. It would be better to call me by my name or Old Zhao."

Confronted by Zhao Gang, Ye Xinyan felt a sense of familiarity, similar to when she interacted with Nanny Jin, and without much fuss, glanced at him and retorted, "At this point, what does it matter whether one’s status is ordinary or not? How extraordinary can it be? Even if one’s birth is noble, if one day you fall into hard times and become penniless, you might end up no better than the common folk. Just like Uncle Zhao, who earns respect through his own abilities, that’s what truly commands respect. Let it be, I’ll call you Uncle Zhao, and you can just call me Ye Zi."

Cheung Wusi also chuckled and chimed in, "If Ye Zi says so, she is sincerely treating Master Zhao with the respect of an elder generation. Master Zhao, just follow Ye Zi’s wish. Don’t go against the child’s intention."

As Cheung Wusi said this, he suddenly remembered how Ye Xinyan addressed Wong Qiao and couldn’t help but add with a laugh, "Consider me, an old man who brought Wong Qiao a long way here, yet in front of Ye Zi, I don’t receive the treatment that Master Zhao gets. Ah Qiao is the youngest son of my sworn brother, so by seniority, he is indeed an uncle to Ye Zi. However, Ye Zi disdains Ah Qiao’s younger age, and she hasn’t once called him ’Third Uncle’ to this day."

Zhao Gang couldn’t help but laugh. This was indeed Miss Cousin’s usual manner. When she called him Zhao Gang as a child, Great Aunt had tried very hard to correct her, but like Old Master Cheung said, it was no use.

Looking again at Ye Xinyan’s stubborn and indifferent expression, Zhao Gang no longer argued. Miss Cousin had encountered a great change, and they had only just met; it was not necessary to argue over these matters.

Zhao Gang redirected the topic back to Qi Younian’s departure, "Steward Lian from Duke’s Mansion mentioned that His Highness Prince Yu wanted to construct another mansion’s courtyard. Could it be Old Master Qi who is undertaking this work?"

Cheung Wusi nodded, "That’s right, it’s a big project. Although my brother and I have a background in construction and have taken on several big tasks before, we have never worked on projects for officials and the imperial mansions. This project is also very urgent, so my brother took Ah Qiao and several craftsmen ahead to prepare, with the hope of getting everything ready for the start of construction to make the building process quicker."

"I see," Zhao Gang said with a tinge of regret, "I wonder how long the old master will be gone. Our general and Great Aunt sent along a New Year’s gift for the old master. They instructed me to express our gratitude in person, no matter what."

Hearing Zhao Gang say this, Ye Xinyan suggested with a smile, "Grandpa will probably be busy until mid-December before returning. How about Uncle Zhao stays for a while longer, so you can meet my grandpa when he comes back before returning to the capital?"

Zhao Gang saw Ye Xinyan looking at him with hopeful eyes and felt touched, but he couldn’t really stay for very long, "I’m afraid I can’t stay long. When I left, Great Aunt emphasized over and over again how I should make a quick trip and that she’s waiting for my letter. If I’m delayed too much, Great Aunt might worry, fearing that something has happened at Lady Qi’s place."

Ye Xinyan glared at Zhao Gang, speaking with great displeasure, "Uncle Zhao, you keep saying you treat me like the master, but you don’t seem to listen to me at all. How come you just can’t agree with me and stop calling me Lady Qi?"

Zhao Gang paused for a moment, seeing Miss Cousin’s expression and sensing that she was on the verge of getting angry, he nodded and with some difficulty said, "Then I’ll follow Ye Zi’s wishes."

"This is more like it," Ye Xinyan pouted, showing a grudging satisfaction.

As for Zhao Gang’s inability to stay longer, she didn’t try to persuade him further, only muttering quietly, "Everything’s fine here, what could possibly go wrong? Really."

It had only been since yesterday that Zhao Gang arrived at the Qi family’s place, and it was then that he finally saw Ye Xinyan exhibiting some youthful girl behavior. Seeing her disappointment, he couldn’t bear it and changed the subject, saying, "Great Aunt and the general not only brought gifts for Old Master Qi but also prepared a lot of things for Lady Qi, including all kinds of clothing, jewelry, and many items that girls would need. If we weren’t in such a hurry that we couldn’t use a carriage, Great Aunt would have probably brought even more, maybe even a whole caravan of carriages."

Indeed, that was the case. Zhao Gang and his group had to travel light to make the round trip before the new year. Madam Yin had originally prepared many things, but since Zhao Gang and the others were traveling by horse, they couldn’t carry much, so they had to choose carefully and reduce their load repeatedly until they had the bags they brought with them now.

In addition to what each of their horses carried, they brought along an extra horse, loaded with three large bundles of fine furs.

Thankfully, they were swift men and fast horses, and all of them were robust fellows, which spared them from the attentions of the night-time highwaymen, and they arrived at Clear Water Village without incident.

Zhao Gang turned to the two attendants sitting beside him and said, "Go and bring in the gifts that Great Aunt and the general have prepared."

The two attendants went out and called the others they were traveling with, bringing in several bundles they had just untied into the room.

Zhao Gang smiled at Ye Xinyan while pointing to a few neatly wrapped large bundles, saying, "These few packages are especially entrusted by Great Aunt, specifically brought for Ye Zi. Even I don’t know what’s inside; Great Aunt wouldn’t let anyone see."

Zhao Gang, still smiling, pushed those bundles towards Ye Xinyan, then picked up another package, and as he opened it, he said, "This is what the general brought for Old Master Qi and Old Master Cheung, fox fur. Due to the rush for time, Great Aunt didn’t know the measurements of Old Master Qi and Old Master Cheung, otherwise she would have had the tailors in the capital make fur robes for the two lords and then brought them."

Inside the opened bundle were several pieces of dark brown furs that had been properly cured, the fur soft and glossy, all of a consistent good quality fox fur.

Cheung Wusi had seen his fair share of fine things, but such high-quality fox fur was rare, extraordinary for even one piece, let alone several pieces of uniformly colored fur. He subconsciously caressed the supple fur with his hand, and, lost in the sensation, he momentarily forgot to speak.

Zhao Gang unwrapped two more bundles, revealing fine light-colored mink furs, "These are for Young Master Wong and Brother Jia prepared by Great Aunt; the two pelts here are for making hats for them."

Zhao Gang then picked up a few more bundles. Inside were various silk fabrics, rare dry goods and dried fruits. Inside a separate box were small children’s ornaments, things like golden and silver lock necklaces, which were to be worn by Qi Jia. There were also two hats with jade pendants, said to be for Qi Younian and Cheung Wusi.

Beyond these, Madam Yin also prepared some gifts for the Qi family’s main branch and third branch, though not many, each was exquisite and rare. Even the several servants from Prince Yu’s Mansion and Duke An’s Mansion received one or two simple pieces of jewelry.