She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 643 - 641 Not Calm Anymore

Chapter 643: Chapter 641 Not Calm Anymore

Ye Xinyan glared at Jiang Yifan, withdrawing her hand into her sleeve and sulkily looked away.

"Letting an elder come to the shop to see me doesn’t seem proper, does it?"

Jiang Yifan frowned, "It’s not like they can come to Duke’s Mansion for a visit, that would make my mother uncomfortable." He guessed they wouldn’t agree to that either; their relationship hadn’t progressed to that point yet. Visiting Duke An’s Mansion without established mutual consent wasn’t customary. Plus, there were some things that simply couldn’t be asked within Ye Family’s grounds.

"Otherwise, how about visiting my mother’s Pastry House? It’s a place for leisurely conversation, without regard to the time of day, and you can stay as long as you like. If Auntie doesn’t mind, my mother can keep her company when she’s there."

Jiang Yifan immediately nodded in agreement, "That sounds good, let’s do that. How about we set it for today during the Shen Hour, is that okay? After the nap, I’ll accompany my mother to Shengyu Snack House, order some refreshments, and we sit and talk while waiting for you, alright?"

Ye Xinyan was taken aback, "Why the rush? Didn’t Auntie just arrive last night? Shouldn’t she rest a bit more?"

Jiang Yifan looked slightly embarrassed, but quickly composed himself and said, "Time is of the essence, isn’t it? If we don’t hurry, we won’t be able to complete all the pre-wedding rituals before the new year. My mother has been sitting in a carriage for almost ten days; it might be good for her to get out and experience the most popular Pastry House in the capital."

Ye Xinyan immediately recalled what Jiang Yifan had said about unmarried couples and the Lantern Festival, feeling her face heating up. She glanced at Jiang Yifan sidelong. It certainly wasn’t her being embarrassed, but embarrassment on behalf of this fellow—this had nothing to do with her.

"Should I go back and prepare then?" Jiang Yifan asked tentatively.

Ye Xinyan gave him another sidelong glance. It was typical—the moment a man gets a wife, he forgets about his mother. If it were Lady Zhao from Wong Qiao, wouldn’t she be wailing and cursing him for his unfilial and heartless behavior?

"Okay. No rush, let Auntie come over after she wakes up from her nap, whenever that may be. I’ll head to the Pastry House first and reserve a room. I’ll wait there for Auntie. Anyway, it’s been quite some time since I last checked on my mother’s business; it’s a good opportunity to see how it’s going," Ye Xinyan said.

Jiang Yifan beamed at Ye Xinyan, extremely pleased—that kind of understanding and considerate daughter-in-law was liked by everyone.

Watching Jiang Yifan exit through the corner gate, Ye Xinyan then remembered the old woman servant who was on gatekeeping duty and the several people from Song Ping’s Household.

The gatekeeping old woman had been chatting with Song Ping’s family while occasionally glancing at Ye Xinyan and Jiang Yifan; she had certainly seen Jiang Yifan holding hands with the young miss.

Gatekeepers held a low status among the servants in the mansion, but they were well-informed. In the past six months, the frequency of Lord Jiang’s visits to Duke An’s Mansion had become common knowledge, especially among the gatekeepers.

At that moment, confronted by Ye Xinyan’s gaze and recalling what she just saw—the image of Lord Jiang and the young miss hand in hand—regret filled her. Why couldn’t she control her own eyes? What was there to see, anyway?

There was currently no relationship between the young miss and Uncle Jiang. If rumors spread of them engaging in unseemly behavior, it wouldn’t sound good.

The old woman hurried forward a few steps, bowed to Ye Xinyan, and with a smile said, "Lord Jiang mentioned he had urgent matters with the young miss, I guess you’re done now? We were just standing by here, and in such a short while, you’ve finished speaking with him, that’s quite fast. Besides, it’s really cold standing outside in this freezing weather."

Ye Xinyan nodded her head, realizing that the servants at Duke An’s Mansion were now much more disciplined and even knew how to smooth things over for their masters.

Watching the old woman servant return to the gatehouse by the corner gate as usual, Ye Xinyan turned and walked back to her own courtyard.

With noon approaching, she still had to explain the situation to Madam Yin, who she knew would be overjoyed and likely agree immediately.

Fortunately, she was at ease speaking with Madam Yin, and with a thicker skin, she did not feel shy about discussing such matters.

As expected, before lunch, Ye Xinyan told Madam Yin about Lady Qin’s desire to meet with her.

Madam Yin was sitting on a low stool in the main room, and upon hearing Ye Xinyan’s words, she showed no anger at her daughter being questioned. Instead, she broke into a wide smile. She readily promised to pick an excellent private room for their meeting and, with excitement, clapped her hands saying, "This is great news! Why didn’t you tell me sooner that you’d already discussed getting engaged before New Year’s? This way, people will know during the New Year’s gatherings, that my Ah Yan and her husband have reconciled. What a wonderful thing, we won’t give them any chance to gossip anymore."

Uh, reconciled again, and she’s brought up ’husband’ now, but hasn’t the engagement been set yet?

"Ah Yan, it’s been several years since Mrs. Qin has visited the capital, and her first outing upon arrival is to our Shengyu Snack House. We must treat her well. What pastries should we serve?" Madam Yin continued to express her joyful mood, not considering for a moment that she was a daughter-in-law of Duke An’s Mansion and needed not to be so deferential to the wife of someone from the gentry.

"Also, I’ve asked someone to find their tutor and ask for a leave of absence for the two boys, so we can take Brother Jia and Brother Shun with us. You go meet with Mrs. Qin yourself, and have Righteous Guan take the boys to another room. After the meeting, we can take the boys out to shop for New Year’s items, letting them choose whatever they like..."

As Ye Xinyan listened, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Wasn’t her mother spoiling the children too much? To think of skipping lessons just to go out for snacks and shopping, and to be so indulgent.

When Ye Xinyan returned to the capital with Jiang Yifan and the others, it was already winter, and it was not a good time to enroll the children in school. Therefore, Duke An had hired a private tutor to teach Qi Jiaer and Qi Sanshun at Duke’s Mansion.

"Isn’t this inappropriate?" Ye Xinyan remarked. "Letting them take leave just for some snacks would surely displease the tutor."

Madam Yin waved her hand with casual indifference and replied, "The New Year is just a few days away; the tutor should be preparing to take a break to attend to his family matters. In fact, I was thinking of starting the New Year’s holiday in a day or two." Then, without a hint of carelessness, she decisively added, "Or let’s just do it today. I’ll tell the tutor to start the holiday from now and resume classes after the first month of the lunar year."

In the brief moment that Ye Xinyan was stunned, she came to understand. It was only a matter of a few days sooner or later. After all, she resolved to find a more reliable school for the two of them to attend next year; for this year, she would let it be.

Indeed, if this were modern times, children would already be on winter break, too busy playing to even think about doing homework.

When Ye Xinyan and Jiang Yifan decided to meet with Lady Qin, she felt quite rational about it, and her mood had not fluctuated much.

However, after lunch, as she was trying to take a nap, the thought of meeting Jiang Yifan’s mother in the afternoon and setting the marriage date in a few days made her feel quite restless. Tossing and turning, she found she couldn’t sleep at all.

She lay in bed with her eyes closed until the Wei Hour, when the sound of Qi Jiaer’s footsteps running into the room roused her from her lethargic state, and she sat up listlessly.