She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 559 - 557: This Place is So Luxurious

Chapter 559: Chapter 557: This Place is So Luxurious

She led Lady Zhao to a courtyard that had been expanded from the Second Branch family’s quarters and took them into the main house with rooms both inside and out.

In the outer room of the main house were piled up the belongings Lady Zhao and her company had brought. Lady Zhao glanced at Ye Xinyan and the attending maidservants before checking the luggage, sweeping her gaze thoroughly over the heap without showing too much eagerness.

Ye Xinyan understood the hardships faced by the impoverished and respected Lady Zhao’s choice in her daughter-in-law, but she truly disliked the shrewdness that constantly flickered in Lady Zhao’s eyes.

"This girl is called Qing Min," Ye Xinyan indicated the maidservant by her side, "Before Wong Qiao returns, let Qing Min take care of both of your daily needs. There is also a coarse old woman servant in the courtyard responsible for cleaning and miscellaneous chores; if Qing Min isn’t around, and Seventh Grandma needs assistance, she can ask the old woman servant for help. Seventh Grandma must be exhausted from the journey, so I won’t disturb you further. Please settle down and rest for a bit. Nanny Liu will send someone to invite you to dinner later."

After Ye Xinyan left, Qing Min said she was going to fetch water. As soon as the door closed, Xiuqin immediately sprang up and circled the room, scrutinizing it from the outside. Then, turning back, she clung to Lady Zhao’s arm, exclaiming, "Auntie, this place is so luxurious! Are we going to live here from now on and never move again? Look at these tables and chairs, they are so beautiful, carved with flowers. And over here, these two gorgeous cabinets are a matching set, decorated with full patterns and shiny handles, surely made of brass."

As she spoke, she drew Lady Zhao closer to the cabinets, "Auntie, feel this, even the new furniture we made isn’t as smooth or as polished. Look at these patterns, aren’t they beautiful? And the dressing table mirror, so bright and large ..."

Lady Zhao’s room had been prepared early in the morning, everything was in order long before Wong Qiao’s departure.

In Qi Younian’s view, Lady Zhao was not an outsider. Out of respect for their youngest brother who met an early death at the border pass, he and Cheung Wusi should take great care of Lady Zhao.

Ye Xinyan was empathetic to Qi Younian’s guilt and sentiment towards the past, so she arranged Lady Zhao’s accommodations with standards comparable to Zhou Biyao’s and her own quarters, with room furnishings and even curtains and window papers chosen of the finest quality.

These decorations, although perhaps inferior to those in Duke An’s Mansion, were rare luxuries in the countryside and in Yuyuan Prefecture. It was no wonder Xiuqin was so awestruck by them.

Lady Zhao frowned slightly, pulling Xiuqin’s hand away, and said, "Go, sit down properly. We have just entered the household and must remember to behave with dignity. We cannot appear as if we’ve never seen the world, lusting after wealth, lest we be looked down upon. Restrain yourself for now, there will be plenty of time in the future for you to look around. Ah Qiao will return after the New Year, and you can take all the time you want then."

Xiuqin stepped back and surveyed the room once more, chuckling softly, "I remember, Auntie, we’ll be living here now. When cousin comes back, we’ll move in to live with him. Cousin is the best craftsman, able to earn silver for Uncle’s family by working; cousin’s living quarters surely won’t be any worse."

Before Lady Zhao could reply, Qing Min’s voice came from outside, "Madam Zhao, I’ve brought water."

"Oh, Miss Qing Min, please come in, please come in. There’s no need for such politeness with Miss Qing Min going in and out," Lady Zhao hurriedly went up to take the water from Qing Min, "Here, let me take it. We all come from humble origins, there’s no need for such attendance."

Qing Min smiled but did not let go, instead adding more water to the brass basin, "It’s the maidservant’s duty. Madam Zhao, please check if the water temperature is alright? Miss, please take a seat and wait for a moment. After Madam Zhao has washed her hands and face, the maidservant will change the water for Miss to freshen up."

"Thank you, Sister Qing Min," Xiuqin sat down in a chair by the window, delightedly chiming in.

......

When Ye Xinyan returned to the outer courtyard, Qi Younian and Cheung Wusi were not in the room. In the chilly weather of the twelfth lunar month, the two men simply stood under the eaves of the guest room, saying nothing but wearing a look of sorrowful silence.

Ye Xinyan walked up to Qi Younian and asked indignantly, "Grandfather, Grandfather Cheung, is this really the virtuous and kind Seventh younger brother’s wife you spoke of? To me, she doesn’t seem like a tolerant and easy-going person at all."

Qi Younian and Cheung Wusi exchanged an embarrassed look. Qi Younian cleared his throat and said, "Well, cough, Ye Zi, Lady Zhao is young and has to live her life alone with a child, so her nature is inevitably a bit sterner. She doesn’t understand Second Miss Zhou and is worried that Second Miss’s high status would make it difficult for her to be a good mother-in-law if her family were to bring in such a daughter-in-law. This is a normal human reaction, understandable."

Cheung Wusi chuckled awkwardly at the side and kept saying, "No rush, no rush, we’ll persuade her slowly."

Ye Xinyan gave Qi Younian a sidelong look of disdain and said with a wrinkled nose, "Grandfather, it’s not that I’m unreasonable, but Seventh Grandma is really going too far. If she didn’t want to, she could have just said so. If she were a bit more gentle in nature, even her refusal would have been much more tactful. Yet Seventh Grandma chose such a way to express her unwillingness.

Anyway, I can’t accept it. I only acknowledge Wong Qiao and Zhou Biyao. As for Seventh Grandma and that Xiuqin, I’ll have to see if they are on the same page as me before I can decide if we can get along."

Qi Younian was originally feeling very depressed, but seeing Ye Xinyan’s displeased expression, with her eyebrows and eyes furrowed together, he couldn’t help but laugh, "Alright, I know you’re a good child. Look at you, frowning like that. Later, I will talk to Nanny Liu, you need to learn more about how to behave. How will you hold your own in the circle of official ladies when you return to the capital if you keep acting like this?"

Hold her own? She had never even considered trying to hold her own among the female relatives of officials.

Ye Xinyan glanced over them again and, turning around, said while waving her hand behind her, "Alright, I’ll go check on Biyao first. Really, what a mess, to be made to kneel by someone, and an older senior at that, it’s just an unwarranted catastrophe."

Watching Ye Xinyan head to the back courtyard, Cheung Wusi sighed, "Ye Zi is right; the way Seventh younger brother’s wife managed this matter is indeed not very good. Second Miss Zhou is a good girl and comes from a good background. Any ordinary family would be overjoyed to have her as a daughter-in-law. How could they be unwilling? I really don’t understand what Seventh younger brother’s wife is thinking."

Qi Younian too sighed, "We underestimated the situation. Perhaps if it had been you or me going to Hezhou and explaining things properly to Seventh younger brother’s wife, it might have been better."

As Ye Xinyan entered the back courtyard, she saw Nanny Huang, Nanny Zhong, and a group of maids standing in the yard despite the chilly weather, which made her pause in surprise. What’s this about? Had both the front and back courtyards’ people agreed to stand outside, pondering the Zhao incident in cold contemplation?

"Nanny Huang, why aren’t you all inside?" asked Ye Xinyan.

Nanny Huang looked at Nanny Zhong, who said with difficulty, "The wife of the heir apparent is persuading Second Miss in the room. The mistress was afraid that Second Miss would be embarrassed, so she sent us out." Displeasure was evident on Nanny Zhong’s face. That Lady Zhao was utterly detestable; how dared she embarrass their young miss like that! If it weren’t for Third Master Wong’s intervention, the master would have surely punished her with a beating.