She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 600 - 598: What’s the Plan?

Chapter 600: Chapter 598: What’s the Plan?

Maternal Aunt Liu’s maid, Chun Xiu, came forward to clean up the porcelain shards on the floor and helped Maternal Aunt Liu up, urging, "Maternal Aunt, please get up, the ground is cold. It’s a good thing that Maternal Aunt Zhao moved out, you should look on the bright side."

Having calmed down from his initial rage, Ye Hongyang said, "Hurry and get up. Even if you were to cry to death here, no one would care. Why mistreat yourself and make your body suffer?"

Maternal Aunt Liu, with tears in her eyes, stood up with the help of Chun Xiu and sat on the kang bed.

Ye Hongyang took the handkerchief from Maternal Aunt Liu’s hand, held it in his own, and as he wiped her tears, he comforted her, "There, there, that scourge is a woman after all, and she will have to get married someday. When that happens, her husband’s family will restrain her, and we’ll be better off. Father and Mother are getting old and are inevitably confused. Don’t be sad because of that."

As Maternal Aunt Liu’s sobbing slowed, she thought resentfully that Duke An and Madam Yin were already in their sixties—they couldn’t live many more years, could they? She decided to do nothing now but wait for those two old fogeys to kick the bucket and then see how she’d deal with that little whelp, Ye Yuan.

So what if Duke An secured the Princely Heir title for that little whelp? If a person dies, can they take the Princely Heir title with them?

She was even less eager to rush into marrying off Ye Xinyan. Keeping her in Duke An’s Mansion, and letting her lead a lonely life wasn’t a bad idea—entering the Marquis Jingning’s Mansion would be her fortune. If it weren’t for the Marquis Zhongyong’s family covetously eyeing the situation, she would wait to find the most malicious family later on to turn Ye Xinyan into a slave, squeezing every drop of oil out of her bones.

Ye Hongyang still intended to get Ye Xinyan out of Duke An’s Mansion first. After sending Chun Xiu away, he whispered to Maternal Aunt Liu, "Today, Qu Mao came to find me in a hurry, asking when to set the engagement date. Don’t be angry. As long as that thing is married off, that’s all that matters. The rest—Madam Yin and Brother Yuan—are not to be feared, what’s to fear from a toothless tiger?"

Lifting her eyes, Maternal Aunt Liu realized there was no turning back at this point and reluctantly said, "Then let’s hurry it along. Considering how poor the Qu family is, they won’t be able to produce a decent dowry. Crown Prince, tell Qu Mao that the details of the dowry are trivial, but the noise and spectacle of the ceremony must be sufficient, making it known to everyone; only then can the marriage be firmly established."

Ye Hongyang reassured her, "Qu Mao is aware. He has already discussed his plans with me today. Not only will the ceremony be lively, but he also intends to widely spread the news about the union between Marquis Jingning’s Mansion and Duke An’s Mansion on that day. You just relax, when the time comes, she will have to marry whether she likes it or not."

Maternal Aunt Liu nodded, thinking of the future, and felt a little more at ease in her heart.

...

Ye Xinyan was completely unaware that Ye Hongyang had settled the matter of her marriage. The day after returning with Madam Yin, she received Qi Younian at Duke An’s Mansion. On the third day, she took Qi Sanshun and Qi Jiaer to Marquis Zhongyong’s Mansion to meet her grandparents, uncles, and aunts.

Then, she began preparing for the opening of the Qi Family Construction Business in the capital. It was the dead of winter now, nearing year-end, but that didn’t affect the construction business’s inaugural opening, aiming to establish its presence in the capital.

With presence and reputation, it would be better to secure jobs next year. Otherwise, by next year, a construction business run by foreigners and unknown in the capital would find it difficult to attract business without relying on Jinrong or Jiang Yifan to secure jobs.

It is better to depend on oneself for one’s own business.

Ye Xinyan tasked Song Ping and Yuan Shang with finding shop premises in the capital.

Yuan Shang was in charge of managing the logistics and external affairs for the Qi Family Construction Business. Initially, he was an artisan of average skill, but he was nimble in dealing with people and organized in his planning; Qi Younian had selected him to manage the housing and food for the business’s artisans and laborers.

After two years, Yuan Shang not only managed these affairs in an orderly manner, but also, remarkably, he was a straightforward person in conducting his business. Therefore, Qi Younian brought him to the capital city, planning to make significant use of his abilities.

Ye Xinyan had already planned some of the façade-related matters of the construction business when she was in Clear Water Village. To start a company, one must make some decoration, showcase physical buildings, and demonstrate technical strength.

It was necessary to have a display and explanation of building tools, as well as various architectural styles, construction documentation templates, and so on—all things that could be displayed were to be shown.

Over the past few years, the Qi Family Construction Business had completed several projects in Yuyuan Prefecture and the surrounding areas of Qingyuan County, including three different sizes of courtyards and several housing complexes.

For these constructions, in addition to the documentation and drawings required by the court, Zhou Biyao had also created simplified drawings of the designs. These drawings were perfect for use at the Qi Family Construction Business’s shopfront in the capital city.

Ye Xinyan planned to set up the headquarters of the construction business in the shop she purchased in the capital city, establishing various departments, including a technical department, materials department, archives, human resources, and so on, all modeled after modern group companies.

This time when she returned, she also handed over the complete documentation of the wooden railway from Clear Water Village to Peach Grove, as well as the operational records, malfunction and maintenance logs, to Jiang Yifan, asking him to discuss with Jinrong about what to do with it.

After all, it was Jiang Yifan who risked being demoted to approve the construction without prior consent. And the reason he approved the laying of the tracks was to use civilian resources to test for the court, to see if wooden railways could be used on a large scale.

Jiang Yifan, carrying the heavy rattan box filled with materials, contacted Jinrong immediately and took the materials to Jinrong Residence.

Jinrong, being constantly supervised and driven by the Emperor, now had more rules to follow, and only when he returned to his own residence or was alone with Jiang Yifan and a few other dandies he hung out with, could he relax and let loose.

After flipping through the thick stack of documents and the summary written by someone unknown that Jiang Yifan brought, Jinrong tapped the pile of papers in his hand and said to Jiang Yifan and Hu Jing, "The Qi family is now conducting their construction work more meticulously and correctly than even the court projects."

Hu Jing, also looking at a set of documents, nodded and replied, "With these materials, the cost of constructing railways by the court could probably be reduced by about sixty to seventy percent, Lord Jiang didn’t take this risk in vain."

Jiang Yifan smiled and said, "It’s just a section of wooden railway in a remote area, and I had already thought of the excuses beforehand, so where was the risk really?"

Putting aside those matters, Jinrong turned to ask, "Did Old Master Qi mention how he plans to start his construction business in the capital city, now that he has come here with Ye Zi?"

"I was just about to speak with Sixth Master about this. Ye Zi’s plan is somewhat unique," Jiang Yifan replied.

Jiang Yifan then relayed to Jinrong Ye Xinyan’s plans to start from the shopfront.

Jinrong was startled at first, then laughed and said, "This is indeed novel. But Ye Zi has always been confident in her undertakings, so she must have her reasons for doing so. We are laymen in these matters, truly not understanding the rationale behind her plans."

After pondering for a moment, he continued, "Real estate is expensive in the capital city, and it’s not easy to find a good shopfront. What kind of scale is Ye Zi looking for in a shopfront? I have Uncle Wan keep an eye out, or if a shop of mine is suitable, I’ll just give it to her for her use."