She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 657 - 655: No Need to Come Over

Chapter 657: Chapter 655: No Need to Come Over

Qi Younian looked at Lady Zhao for a long while before sighing deeply.

How could matters have escalated to this point? With such thoughts in her mind and this thorn in her heart, she would probably make mistakes in everything she did from now on.

"At the time of the negotiations, the Seventh younger brother’s wife was not present and is unaware of the situation. Lord Liu is the Director of the Ministry of Works, an imperial appointed official of the fifth rank. As soon as Lord Liu began speaking, he offered a monthly wage of three taels of silver per craftsman, with double pay for rushing the work over the New Year."

Lady Zhao’s eyes widened in disbelief. Were these kinds of words even possible to say? Was he trying to fool a child?

Seeing Lady Zhao’s expression, Qi Younian could only continue speaking. Not explaining would mean that he had not finished his point, which might lead to misunderstandings by Lady Zhao. If he explained everything truthfully, but Lady Zhao still did not believe, then it would be her problem.

"It was Ye Zi who refused to accept these terms, preferring to not take the job rather than accept the conditions. In the end, Lord Liu had no choice but to agree because the project document needed to be expedited urgently. The price of three thousand taels was proposed by Ye Zi in a fit of anger during the conversation with Lord Liu, who then agreed after doubling the initial offer," Qi Younian explained.

Lady Zhao sneered with furrowed brows, "Big brother, are you trying to deceive me because I’m a woman who hasn’t seen the world? Even if the Ye Family’s miss is powerful, when facing an imperial appointed official, could she really turn a business worth one tael into one hundred? Even if Duke An is influential, the court still belongs to His Majesty, not to the Ye Family."

"Seventh younger brother’s wife, choose your words carefully!" Qi Younian’s mind thundered, his face changing suddenly.

Such words should not be spoken lightly. But faced with the stubborn and determined Lady Zhao, he could not say much more. Warning her more might only make her think she had caught him out. Even without any ill intentions, if she just complained to neighbors, and those with a knack for stirring trouble spread her words, it would bring misfortune upon the Duke and Ye Zi.

With a silent sigh, Qi Younian realized this was probably a case of good intentions gone awry. The Seventh brother was a gentle and tolerant person, and Ah Qiao was a good child, which is why he and Cheung Wusi had always treated Wong Qiao like their own, and everything had been fine for so long.

People often say that it’s easy to share hardships, but difficult to share wealth. This doesn’t just refer to the wealthy party, but also because the less affluent party harbors a bad state of mind.

After a long silence, Qi Younian said, "Originally, Ye Zi had discussed with me about giving Ah Qiao a ten percent share in the construction business. Given that Seventh younger brother’s wife has spoken to this point, a partnership is naturally out of the question. We will settle this ten percent in silver with Ah Qiao before the end of the year.

Additionally, I had also promised to buy a house for Ah Qiao to live in when they marry, and I am currently searching for it. This promise still stands. From now on, the Qi Family Construction Business will no longer need Ah Qiao’s services. Let him start his own business."

"What?" Lady Zhao looked up stunned, her face full of disbelief. She knew that the Qi Family Construction Business had brought only a few people from Clear Water Village, and there were not many with exceptional skills. Without Ah Qiao, how would the Qi Family Construction Business continue to get work and operate in the capital?

What kind of situation was this? It was simply a matter of harming others without benefiting oneself.

With Qi Younian behaving like this, it wasn’t just the Qi family that would suffer losses, but her Wong Residence would be even worse off. They were not like the Qi family, which had the support of Duke An’s Mansion. She and Ah Qiao were new to the capital, strangers in a foreign land, with Ah Qiao lacking any foundation. If they were to split off and start their own business now, how could he possibly hold up a construction business in the capital?

This realization made Lady Zhao somewhat angry. The Qi family had a backer and foundation, while her own Ah Qiao had talent and skills. Wouldn’t it be better if they complemented each other? Why insist on not doing business to the point of pressing Ah Qiao down? Were they still considered family?

If she had known this would happen, it would have been better not to come to the capital at all. Having lived in Clear Water Village for over a year, she knew that Ah Qiao had a good reputation in Yuyuan Prefecture and Qingyuan County. If they had stayed in Qingyuan County, Ah Qiao would surely have been able to start his own construction business.

"Big brother, what do you mean by this? Are you trying to drive me and my child away? We’ve only been in the capital for two months. If we split off now, Ah Qiao won’t be able to establish a construction business on his own."

Qi Younian rubbed his forehead in sorrow. In the past, when he dined with his brothers, they often said that wives are troublesome, but it’s just not possible to do without one.

He had not married and had no wife, so he did not truly understand how vexing a wife could be. However, now, looking at Lady Zhao, he felt speechless, as if the clear truth could not be explained.

Since he couldn’t clarify, he might as well not speak of it, and let Ah Qiao and her mother discuss it instead.

"Seeing that New Year’s is upon us, of course, we cannot split up you and your son now. I will have Song Ping to promptly look for a house. Once everything is arranged after the New Year, you two can move out. Regarding the business this time, wait for Ah Qiao to return tonight. Discuss with her if you feel uncomfortable about it, or if my younger brother’s wife needs help with preparing for the New Year, then she doesn’t need to go to the store tomorrow work."

After Qi Younian finished speaking, he shook his head to himself, excused himself, and stood up to leave.

Lady Zhao watched as Qi Younian left, unable to say anything further, but her heart was seething with anger.

Initially, Fourth Brother Cheung wholeheartedly agreed to bring Ah Qiao out, claiming that the brothers were as close as siblings and that if the eldest brother was wealthy, it surely would benefit Ah Qiao too.

This trip to the capital was also decided after their discussion, touting a wonderful opportunity that brought her and her son to the city. But now, just over two months later, they were planning to leave them in this unfamiliar place.

It was fortunate that they arrived in the capital where high-ranking officials from the court came directly to the Qi family to discuss business, making it known that this was how the Qi family operated.

If it were like before, where all matters were solely managed by the women of the Ye Family, it’s feared that Ah Qiao would have worked for the Qi family as labor all her life without knowing how much they were exploiting her.

Lady Zhao, accompanied by her little maid, returned to her room irritably, paying no attention to Xiuqin who followed her, but just frowned and sat silently on the Kang bedstead.

Xiuqin had been waiting for Lady Zhao to come back. Seeing Lady Zhao return with a gloomy face, her worry grew even more intense.

This morning, when Lady Zhao had gone to talk to Qi Younian, she didn’t tell her much, but Xiuqin knew all about Lady Zhao’s daily complaints. As the New Year approached, Lady Zhao’s complaints increased, especially knowing that less than ten days before the New Year, the Qi family had taken on a business deal worth three thousand taels of silver, and her cousin was even busier. Lady Zhao felt even greater discontent.

Her aunt must have had something more serious than today’s cloudy weather and possible snow on her mind when she went to see Old Master Qi. The most likely scenario was that she was going to reason with him.

But what if the reasoning did not go well?

The more Xiuqin thought about it, the more her heart raced. These good days were not easily come by. If her aunt fell out with Old Master Qi, that would be bad.

Her cousin, with his skills, could earn enough to keep the family fed and warm, but what about her? Now, she lived with her aunt and cousin in the Qi household, and the Qi family covered all her living expenses without a second thought.

But if they were to leave the Qi household, her cousin was just a craftsman, and no matter how good his skills, he couldn’t earn as much as the Qi family had. Under such circumstances, the living expenses for someone useless like her would be a significant cost. Would her aunt and future cousin’s wife be willing to support an idler for nothing?