She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 655 - 653

Chapter 655: 653

Ye Xinyan finished speaking, and then looked towards Zhang Cunhai and Wan Yan, "If the Grand Steward and Uncle Wan don’t have any other instructions, I will leave the rest to you gentlemen. It’s time for this modest woman to take her leave."

Zhang Cunhai bowed slightly and said, "Miss Ye is too courteous. There’s nothing more from me, but I don’t know if Lord Liu and Eunuch Wan have anything else."

Hearing this, Ye Xinyan flicked her sleeves, bowed her knee to Wan Yan without even glancing at Liu Ting, and turned to leave.

Jiu Yue, who was standing by the door, glanced at the people inside the room and quickly followed. Following Miss Ye really opened one’s eyes—it was a breath of fresh air. That Lord Liu, a fifth-rank official at the court, didn’t even get an ounce of attention from Miss Ye.

As she walked out, Ye Xinyan thought to herself, had she just offended the officials from the Ministry of Works? It seemed that she needed to earn money diligently, to support Jinrong as much as possible with financial strength to help him rise to power. Otherwise, would the Qi Family Construction Business struggle in the future or even face retaliation, such that the hard-earned construction business could be stolen away?

...

After hearing Zhang Cunhai’s report, the Emperor pondered with a stern face for a long time before finally saying indifferently, "This old man, Duke An, has actually raised his granddaughter to be so tricky."

Having spoken, he felt his tone might be a bit too harsh, so he added, "At least she is capable of doing things, not completely without merit."

Then he asked Zhang Cunhai, "You just said that Ye Xinyan wants to reconcile with Jiang Yifan, is that correct?"

Zhang Cunhai had previously been unsure of how to respond, so he hadn’t dared to speak up. But now hearing the Emperor’s question, he quickly nodded in agreement.

The Emperor showed a bit of surprise and asked, "The Duke’s Mansion is currently in marriage negotiations with the Jiang Family, and Ye Xinyan is still able to go out and handle business? Jiang Yifan has no objections?"

He suddenly felt somewhat embarrassed for the Ministry of Works under his rule—to address urgent projects, they actually needed a woman, who was in the middle of marriage negotiations, to make a public appearance and come to the rescue. It seemed somewhat reasonable that the woman had even brazenly extorted three thousand taels of silver.

Zhang Cunhai stole a glance at His Majesty, bowed, and replied, "I have inquired with Wan Yan and Liu Qing, the steward from Prince Yu’s Mansion. In these past few years, most of the new dealings of the Qi Family were managed by Miss Ye. Even if Miss Ye does not follow the entire process, she sets the protocols and offers guidance from time to time. Lord Jiang is aware of these matters."

The Emperor nodded, "This Jiang Yifan also seems to be a man with discernment."

Afterward, the Emperor no longer concerned himself with this matter. Wang Xian should think about it himself. It was an issue decided by the Imperial Court, yet the Ministry of Works had been dragging its feet and not getting it done. Without experiencing some hardships, they wouldn’t learn their lesson.

The silver allocated to each department by the court was accounted for; aside from major emergencies, the expenses for all matters were covered by this allotted silver. It was the inefficiency and sluggishness of the Ministry of Works’ officials that necessitated external assistance.

Moreover, the external help they found was a tough nut to crack. It was now up to Wang Xian and Prince Fu to bear the cost themselves. By taking a little less from construction projects, the three thousand taels of silver could be accounted for.

Let alone the fact that in these three thousand taels of silver, the Ministry of Works officials had been inefficient and had been openly swindled by a ’woman of decent family’ for nearly double the silver.

What Ye Xinyan’s initial asking price was, remained unknown. But the amount that started at three hundred taels for apprentices soon became five hundred taels. Faced with a woman’s vexations, who would specifically find someone to reason with her?

Would anyone dare to approach Ye Tang and tell the old man, "Duke, please talk to your granddaughter and get her to lower the price for undertaking the construction work"?

Wouldn’t that be embarrassing? Presumably, with Ye Tang’s temperament, he would wave his hand dismissively with just four words: "Do it yourself."

And what to do then? What if it again annoyed Ye Xinyan, and in a moment of folly, she doubled the wages again. Who would they find to reason with at that time?

Heh, the thought itself was amusing.

Zhang Cunhai saw that the Emperor was in a good mood, and he too felt relaxed. Ye Xinyan, that granddaughter of the Ye Family, wasn’t bad—arrogant, perhaps, but someone who conducted her affairs openly was a straightforward person indeed.

Wang Xian naturally did not have the guts to seek Duke An for a negotiation. To confront Duke An with reasons? Just by thinking with his toes, he would know what dire consequences awaited.

What irritated him was that Liu Ting had no sense of adaptability. Originally, he intended for Liu Ting, an official with some pride, to handle the Qi Family Construction Business and dampen the sharpness of the Ye Family girl.

Who would have known that this pedantic and inflexible fool would venture there and end up squandering three thousand taels of silver inside and out?

He definitely didn’t have the nerve to ask the court for those silvers, as Zhang Cunhai had been present throughout the entire process and even heard clearly how Liu Ting reported back to the Ministry of Works. Of those three thousand taels of silver, at least fourteen hundred were concocted by Liu Ting himself.

Having no other choice, the Ministry of Works had to reallocate its own resources to scrape together the three thousand taels of silver.

Wang Xian harbored a fire in his heart. Affairs that could usually be settled for a few dozen taels of silver now escalated to three thousand taels. Had he known earlier, he wouldn’t have procrastinated and would have arranged everything sooner. He thought that if they had hurried the work in the past few days, it would have been completed by now.

Three thousand taels of silver, oh, just the thought of it made him feel a pang in his liver.

Humph, let’s see what the Qi Family sends over and hope he doesn’t find any discrepancies. But to draft a plan and dare to demand so much silver from the court, he really wanted to see if the Qi Family’s documents were carved with decorations!

......

The Qi Family had a large contingent of people arrive that day, including officials and eunuchs. It was said that there was a eunuch among them, one who served His Majesty closely, the Grand Steward who oversaw all the eunuchs in the palace. Even several high-ranking Grand Secretaries had to show deference to him.

Such a significant event was naturally known to Lady Zhao, who resided in the back courtyard of the Qi Family’s separated residence.

Initially, she didn’t take it too seriously. However, soon after it was said that things were nearly finished and that there would be a chance to rest in the next couple of days, Wong Qiao became busier than ever.

He toiled from dawn to dusk at the North City shop, leaving before daylight and only returning after dark. Moreover, he brought back business to handle at home, working late into the night under the lamplight to rush the job.

Lady Zhao had asked in detail and found out that it was related to the court officials’ visit that day, with the court having a task they couldn’t complete and commissioning it to the Qi Family Construction Business.

Upon hearing this, she became unwilling. What did they mean by commissioning it to the construction business? Who in the Qi Family Construction Business could take on such a commission? Wouldn’t it all fall on her Ah Qiao?

After pondering all night, Lady Zhao had breakfast the next morning and went to the outer courtyard to seek an audience with Qi Younian.

Qi Younian had been in the capital for some time now and had become somewhat familiar with the neighbors. He had nothing special to do that day and had arranged to go out with Old Man Li from next door to check the architectural styles of a few small temples in the southern part of the city.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard from his servant that Lady Zhao was looking for him.

Qi Younian was surprised in his heart. Lady Zhao should have discussed matters with Wong Qiao. Why would she come to him so early? Despite his surprise, Qi Younian still invited Lady Zhao into the parlor to talk.

Lady Zhao came in with a young maid of hers, and after exchanging greetings, she sat in a seat off to the side, hesitating to speak several times.

Seeing that Lady Zhao seemed to be in a difficult position, Qi Younian took the initiative to ask, "Seventh younger brother’s wife, do you have a matter that troubles you?"