She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 508 - 506

Chapter 508: 506

Jiang Yifan had spoken the truth: the place was indeed very far, and the carriage had been traveling for nearly two Shichen. They had set off at Mao Hour and continued on until Si Hour. Sitting at the front of the carriage, Qi Jiaer exclaimed, "Look! What is that ahead? Is that the Peach Blossom Forest?"

Then, lifting a corner of the carriage curtain, Qi Jiaer’s little head peered in, his bright eyes making a round from Madam Yin to Ye Xinyan and Zhou Biyao, speaking to Madam Yin, "Aunt, there’s a huge expanse of trees ahead, all of them flowering. Do you want to go out and take a look?"

"Oh my, sit tight and be careful not to bounce off," Madam Yin quickly steadied his shoulders, "You have to be seated firmly before you can enjoy the sight of flowering trees. Look at how you’re sitting; what if you fall off?"

Qi Jiaer scrambled back into the carriage, turned around, threw open the curtain widely, and pointed ahead, "Aunt, look up front, those are flowering trees, right? And sister, you look too."

Following the direction that Qi Jiaer pointed, Madam Yin saw indeed a vast sea of flowers ahead, blooming splendidly; it was certainly a peach grove.

"Such a vast peach grove is indeed rare. You guys should take a look as well," Madam Yin turned and said to Ye Xinyan and Zhou Biyao.

Zhou Biyao was the first to look outside and at one glance exclaimed, "Wow! It’s so huge."

She turned to pull Ye Xinyan along, "Sister Qi, you have to see this. I’ve never seen such a large patch of peach trees before. Actually, I’ve never seen such a large expanse of any flowers thriving in such abundance."

Ye Xinyan leaned out and saw that the carriage was traveling down a slope, below which was a large forest. The scene resembled those modern peach trees grown for their ornamental pits, with pink and white blossoms covering the sky like a vast curtain.

"Indeed flourishing. To grow such a grove in an uninhabited wild requires many years; it’s truly not easy," Ye Xinyan poked her head out for a look, then retracted to say.

Qi Jiaer, face full of excitement, snuggled up to Ye Xinyan, wrapping his arms around her neck, "Are we going to enjoy the outdoors here? Lord Jiang said we would also have lunch here, eating the barbecue we brought. Brother Shi Yu also said he would help me look for pheasants and hares and if there were goats and deer, that would be even better; we could roast them to eat."

Ye Xinyan laughed, "The first thing you talk about is food; you’re becoming a little glutton."

Qi Jiaer let go of Ye Xinyan, pouting with grievance, "Sister, you’re looking down on me. Xiao Si said a glutton is someone who only knows how to eat and can’t do anything else."

Ye Xinyan quickly offered a conciliatory smile, "Not at all. Xiao Si is just talking nonsense; what Sister said was a compliment. Eating also requires discernment. Have you ever heard of ’a cow chewing on peonies’? Haven’t you? Well, let me tell you, have you seen peonies? The ones at Landlord Liu’s house, those precious ones that bloom so beautifully... "

Ye Xinyan rambled on, "So, fine things must be appreciated. Just like peonies, they should be enjoyed by those who know how to appreciate them. If given to cows, they’ll just get chewed up, and cows will even find them unpalatable, a complete waste.

"What Sister means is that Qi Jia has discerning tastes, knows to appreciate, hence delicious food should be savored by someone who knows to enjoy it like Qi Jia. You understand, right? This is a compliment."

Zhou Biyao tightly pursed her lips, fearing that she might burst into laughter. Even when fooling a child, only Sister Qi could interpret ’glutton’ quite this way.

Ye Xinyan gave her a warning look; she hadn’t meant to make fun of Qi Jia at all. In her era, ’glutton’ was an affectionate term, specifically used to describe oneself and those liked. If it was someone disapproved of, the word used would be ’rice bucket.’

Qi Jia looked confusedly at Ye Xinyan and Zhou Biyao, Sister’s explanation seemed somewhat reasonable yet not quite right. And looking at Sister Zhou’s expression, the incredibility seemed even greater.

He turned his head and asked Madam Yin, whom he trusted a great deal, "Aunt, is ’glutton’ really as Sister describes?"

Madam Yin helplessly glanced at Ye Xinyan, took Qi Jiaer into her arms, and said, "Your sister means that she likes you very much. Whatever she calls you, it means she loves you."

"Mm-hmm," Qi Jiaer readily accepted Madam Yin’s explanation and said, "Nanny also said the other day that Grandpa, Sister, Aunt, Brother Sanshun, Lord Jiang, Uncle Guan, Sister Zhou..."

Qi Jiaer, counting on his fingers, nearly mentioned everyone he knew one by one, "...they all like me."

Madam Yin smiled so broadly she could hardly close her mouth, "Yes, yes, our Brother Jia is such a sensible child, of course everyone likes him."

Zhou Biyao pointed at Qi Jiaer, laughing incessantly, "Brother Jia, think hard, there must be even more people who like you that you haven’t thought of yet."

Outside the carriage, Guan He asked Jiang Yifan with a sidelong glance, "Can ’glutton’ really be explained like that, as a compliment?"

Jiang Yifan hesitated for a moment, then nodded affirmatively, only to be scorned by Guan He, "Look at your lack of ambition."

Last year’s harvest was good, and the winter snows fell generously. The peach grove thrived, and the blossoms were exceptionally tender and fresh, lacking the brittle thinness of wild peach flowers. Each one was splendid, with buds full of dewy freshness.

The group walked a way into the peach forest and stopped in a clearing among several trees.

Maid servants unloading from the carriage started setting up canopies, mats, and eating utensils. Madam Yin helped Ye Xinyan out of the carriage by holding her hand and turned to admire the surrounding scenery.

"Yuanfan really is thoughtful, to locate such a forest far away," praised Madam Yin.

Ye Xinyan ignored Madam Yin’s words and pointed to where the maids had arranged the canopy and fur mats, "Mother, you’ve been jostled in the carriage for two shichen, you must be tired. Please sit and rest a while." Is this what counts as thoughtful? Wasn’t it just seen in passing? To use that as a compliment, I really do give up on my mother.

Zhou Biyao retracted her gaze from the surroundings, going with Madam Yin’s words, "Madam is right, if it were not for Lord Jiang leading the way, where would we have found such a beautiful scene? This vast sea of flowers, it nearly makes one believe they are in the Immortal Realm."

Ye Xinyan muttered under her breath, her mouth twitching unseen, an inexperienced little girl, is this the Immortal Realm to you? If I let you see a bit more of the world, wouldn’t you turn into an Immortal straight away.

As Madam Yin settled onto a mat, she shouted to Qi Jiaer, who had already started running wildly, "Brother Jia, don’t run too far, the forest is large, be careful not to get lost."

"Okay, got it," answered Qi Jiaer, while continuing to run back in a circle, pointing in another direction, "Over there, the flowers are green, really, the centers are light green." Without waiting for a reply from Madam Yin, he pulled Qi Sanshun in another direction and ran off, with Jiuhua and Zi Ning hurriedly following behind.

Ye Xinyan watched the figures of the children running ahead and murmured, "It’s not like we’ve kept him trapped; why does he act as though he’s been let out after being caged for so many years, so wild?"

Jiang Yifan, having arrived at her side without her noticing, smiled and said, "Although Brother Jia used to play and run around wildly, he probably has never seen such a vast expanse of peach blossoms before? Children are very curious and get excited at new things, it’s only natural."