She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 402 - 401: The Thing for Killing Time

Chapter 402: Chapter 401: The Thing for Killing Time

As planned, Jinrong, Ye Xinyan, and their party hurried along, only managing to enter a town by sunset, where they stayed at an inn that the guards had booked in advance.

After freshening up and resting for a short while, Ye Xinyan received a message from Jinrong inviting her to join him in a private room of the inn’s main hall for dinner.

The town where they stopped was not large—even though the guards had booked the best inn available, it was still quite basic. The main hall of the inn could fit seven or eight tables and had been partitioned by Hongzhi and his men, with the private room taking up nearly half of the hall’s space.

Jinrong purposely shared a table with Ye Xinyan and, while they dined, discussed the proposition from Jiang Yifan about operating the railway carriages in the capital, seeking her opinion and asking whether she would like to undertake the task.

Ye Xinyan hadn’t expected Jiang Yifan to make such an arrangement. After some thought, she felt that it was indeed doable—having something to occupy her time in the capital would spare her from idleness and the trouble others might cause. Moreover, as she would be assisting His Highness Prince Yu, this substantial reason would allow her to come and go from Duke An’s Mansion freely, making things much easier for her.

However...

"It is doable," said Ye Xinyan after finishing the soup in her small bowl, wiping her hands as she spoke, "but, Sixth Master must be aware that this is all theoretical for us; we’ve never actually done it before. There may be imperfections in the process which will require time and manpower to adjust and improve."

Jinrong nodded, "That’s true. Yuanfan and I have thought about this, and Yuanfan even said that if you, Ye Zi, could plan during the trip, once you arrive in the capital, you could start immediately. At the very least, you could get things running while you’re there, ensuring any issues are addressed promptly."

"That’s good to know. Also..." Ye Xinyan looked candidly at Jinrong and said, "This task will take considerable effort. Sixth Master is entrusting it to me, so what remuneration do you plan to offer?"

Jinrong almost spat out the food he had just put into his mouth when Ye Xinyan asked him this question.

Nanny Jin was used to such matters and didn’t find it strange, but Song Ping’s household raised their eyebrows in surprise. No one had ever explicitly informed her of her Young Lady’s true identity, but serving in a large household before, she surmised that anyone treated with such consideration by His Highness Prince Yu and Duke An’s Mansion must be none other than the Duke’s own daughter.

As for why the Young Lady was not residing properly within the Duke’s Mansion, why she carried the reputation of an Abandoned Wife—that was beyond her guess. Even though the daughter of the Duke’s Mansion held a high status, she wondered, was it not inappropriate to discuss Silver Coin so directly when assisting a royal prince who had been conferred a title?

Ye Xinyan, unable to see the expressions of Nanny Jin and the people of Song Ping’s Household behind her, could see the reactions of Hongzhi and a attendant standing behind Jinrong.

With a sweep of her gaze that registered the change in their expressions, she returned her attention to Jinrong and asked with a raised eyebrow, "What, is there a problem with what I’ve said?"

After Jinrong managed to swallow the food in his mouth, he replied with an unclear expression, "No problem, there’s certainly no problem. I just don’t quite understand. You’ll soon be returning to Duke An’s Mansion, and when that happens, won’t the wife of the Princely Heir’s Silver be readily available for your use? Why are you still so concerned about Silver?"

Twisting the handkerchief in her hand, Ye Xinyan replied, "As Sixth Master said, that is my mother’s Silver. What I’m talking about is Silver that I earn by myself—those are different."

Although they knew each other quite well by now, Jinrong still felt surprised by Ye Xinyan’s candor. Was she implying that her mother’s Silver was hers, belonged to their house, but that there was no reason not to earn his Silver if it was offered?

"One thousand taels," Jinrong named the amount of the remuneration, additionally specifying a condition, "You’ll need to organize and normalize the entire operation of the Railway Carriages."

"Two thousand taels is too little, make it two thousand taels," Ye Xinyan said.

Right now, it wasn’t about whether the task was worth the money or not, but in this world, only she knew the operational model and the strengths and weaknesses of the Railway Carriage. Her study of Western transportation history was not in vain; this was a classic example of knowledge being transformed into silver.

If she couldn’t even earn this money, could she live up to her identity as someone who had traveled a thousand years into the future? Could she honor the ancestors from exotic lands who had poured their hearts and blood into the development of the capitalist economy? This was not about her being money-driven, but a matter of principle that could not be compromised.

Jinrong looked at Ye Xinyan’s resolute face, pondered for a long while, and then offered another price, "I suddenly feel that the price I gave earlier was too high, you didn’t actually do much. Eight hundred taels would be a more reasonable sum."

"Let Sixth Master find someone else then," Ye Xinyan’s face sank immediately as she stood up, threw the handkerchief in her hand to someone of Song Ping’s Household, and turned to leave.

Two thousand taels of silver was already a conscience price that could not be more fair -- eight hundred taels, what was he thinking?

His Grace can look for someone else. The western Railway Carriage went through many setbacks before it finally operated successfully, with a great deal of money poured into it during the process. He would need to pay a hefty ’tuition fee’ to buy experience and lessons.

Seeing Ye Xinyan turn her face in an instant, a smile that couldn’t be suppressed appeared on Jinrong’s lips, "Alright, alright, two thousand taels. Let’s go with that, two thousand taels it is."

Ye Xinyan lifted her chin and dropped a sentence, "The little woman has a lot on her plate after returning to the capital, I might not have the time. Let me think about it." Then, without a moment’s hesitation, she returned to her room.

Sheesh, this young miss may not even be willing to serve, just as His Highness Prince Yu said, this young miss’s mother has plenty of silver. It’s only a matter of whether this young miss is willing to take it and how much.

Jinrong chuckled and shook his head, continuing with his meal. He truly didn’t understand how Ye Xinyan, who grew up in luxury, had become so money-driven, especially since her time after fleeing from Duke An’s Mansion had been tough. It seemed that this habit was now hard to kick.

After the initial excitement of the first few days, Qi Sanshun and Qi Jiaer began to tire of the journey.

The two of them no longer took turns sitting in the carriage and on the shaft with much enthusiasm, spending most of their time huddled in the carriage, playing with the toys Qi Jiaer had brought. Sometimes they would lift the cotton curtain of the carriage window and absentmindedly lean against the opening to look out, occasionally exchanging a word or two, clearly displaying their resignation and boredom.

With more than half a month to go, Ye Xinyan found the two boys pitiable and racked her brains to recall some games that boys liked and that were suitable for playing in a small space.

She wasn’t a boy and didn’t have a deep impression of the games boys played. The only game that seemed suitable for boys and that came to mind was a type of land battle game. However, she had to think carefully about what that game entailed and its rules.

She instructed the guard arranging accommodations at the next stop to have a carpenter saw fifty small wooden blocks, each eight inches long, half an inch wide, and a third of an inch thick, planning to make a set of the land battle game to pass the time for Qi Sanshun and Qi Jiaer.

Upon hearing this order, the guard was momentarily stunned, then astutely asked if they needed to be polished.

Ye Xinyan thought for a moment. It would not be good to delay the work of the guards because of smoothing the wooden blocks. Besides, letting the two lads do it themselves could also temper their impatience. In the end, she decided to buy two files and do the polishing herself.