She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 686 - 684: What did you say to him?

Chapter 686: Chapter 684: What did you say to him?

Jiang Yifan pointed to two stalls not far away and said, "Since we’re here, why not try them? Look, those sweet donuts and deep-fried gluten are nice, and there are sauces too." He suddenly spotted a stall ahead, "How about trying that one? I’ve eaten the dried vegetable cakes from that owner before, and they taste really good. This stall has always been in the Western Market. You’ve never been to the Western Market, so you must have never tried them. How about buying one to taste?"

The Western Market was akin to a modern farmer’s market, and Miss Ye, being of noble status, naturally wouldn’t be seen loitering in the Western Market.

Ye Xinyan glanced at Jiang Yifan, then turned her gaze to the stall selling dried vegetable cakes. Watching the cakes sizzling in the pan and frying to a golden brown, Ye Xinyan felt her craving stir; they looked so appetizing.

To tell the truth, whether it was in Duke An’s Mansion or back in Clear Water Village, all the food there was far from being as commoner-friendly and street-stall-ish.

Before, Ye Xinyan has often lamented that she was not destined to enjoy such simple pleasures; others found luxury restaurants and lavish meals a supreme delight, while she found them bland and tasteless, nowhere near as flavorful as dumplings from a street stall, the thick soup noodles, or the spicy soup.

Ye Xinyan cast a glance at Jiang Yifan, "Then, shall we just eat one?"

After all, she and Jiang Yifan were already engaged, and she was to be Jiang Yifan’s future wife. Although it was possible to meet acquaintances in the bustling street, even if she were seen eating while walking, any embarrassment would reflect on Jiang Yifan, not her.

As for herself, if she wanted to maintain a dignified image in ancient times and be the virtuous and moral woman, then she could only stay obediently in the inner court, married off and raising children. The difficulty of being such a virtuous woman was too high; she admitted she couldn’t do it.

Jiang Yifan didn’t think too much of it, and upon hearing Ye Xinyan agree to try, he immediately smiled and said, "You can’t go wrong listening to me. I’ve eaten from that stall many times, and the taste is really good. Ah Yan, wait a moment; I’ll go buy one for you."

"It’s so hot." Ye Xinyan held the paper-wrapped dried vegetable cake in her hand, flipping it over twice due to the heat.

Jiang Yifan hastily took the cake back, "I’ll go ask the owner for two more pieces of paper to pad it with."

Before Ye Xinyan could stop him, Jiang Yifan turned back, left two copper coins, and directly took two more pieces of paper from the stall to wrap around the cake.

Ye Xinyan, holding the dried vegetable cake still warm despite the three layers of paper, felt an unusual warmth in her heart. Although there were many things she could do herself, having someone else do them for her seemed not too bad after all.

She took a bite of the cake, chewing it, and indeed, it was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and savory to the taste.

Watching Ye Xinyan sucking in the air while chewing, moving the hot food quickly from side to side in her mouth, Jiang Yifan chuckled and said, "How is it? I wasn’t wrong, was I? The taste is good, right? Eat slowly, it’s not good to rush with hot food."

Ye Xinyan nodded, too occupied to speak, and bit off another mouthful. This was the authentic taste of street food, belonging to the same category as the hot snacks she used to sell on street corners, fresh from the pot or oven.

Sigh, nostalgia hit her; the common folk’s food was so much more agreeable indeed. It’s true, your origins determine everything.

Guan He, who was walking ahead of them, seemed to sense something and turned back to look. He made a face at Jiang Yifan, then gave Ye Xinyan a disdainful look, turned back to take a sugar-coated haw from Zi Ning, and bit into a whole one, not minding if the sourness made his teeth hurt.

Ye Xinyan was taken aback and nearly choked on a piece of dried vegetable cake in her throat.

Ye Xinyan chewed hard to swallow the food, then said indignantly, "You, as a senior brother, don’t have an ounce of propriety yourself, yet you have the nerve to look down on others. What was with that look of his?"

Jiang Yifan smiled and advised, "He was just taking a glance, nothing more. The Mother-in-law wants to arrange his marriage, doesn’t she? Things will get better after he’s married. Actually, the senior brother is not as irresponsible as you think; it’s just that having been alone for so many years, he is used to being unrestrained and fears that domestic life will trap him and inadvertently harm Zi Ning. He does care about Zi Ning and is not belittling her."

Ye Xinyan gave Jiang Yifan a sidelong glance, thinking it shameless for her unruly senior brother to even speak up for him.

Noticing that the people around them were bustling by and not paying attention to their conversation, with only Shi Yu, Shi Shu, and a few others close by, she looked at Jiang Yifan, half-mockingly, and asked, "On the fifth day, Wong Qiao accompanied Lady Zhao to the Great Awakening Temple to offer incense. After returning and bringing Lady Zhao into the house, he did not even enter his own room and instead left, disappearing for half a day. He went to find you, right?"

Jiang Yifan was momentarily taken aback, thinking that the topic had changed too abruptly.

He had been immersed in the intimate language of the fiancés, when suddenly the conversation shifted...

This matter certainly couldn’t be kept secret, since someone at the Great Awakening Temple had approached Wong Qiao, they probably also monitored the movements of Wong Qiao and his mother. Ah Yan made this guess because of their familiarity with each other. As for Prince Fu, he probably saw it with his own eyes and was certain of it.

"Yes, he was feeling troubled and went to talk to me," Jiang Yifan said.

Ye Xinyan, eyeing Jiang Yifan askew, asked, "He must have sought advice from you, what did you tell him?" Wong Qiao wouldn’t come to you without it affecting their mother-son dynamic; they might have given up and acquiesced. But after meeting with you, Wong Qiao actually had a major confrontation with Lady Zhao; she cried and made a scene, and they almost had a falling-out."

"This..." Jiang Yifan was a bit at a loss for words, uncertain whether he should divulge the details.

Ye Xinyan curled her lips and, seeing that no one was close by, whispered, "So you told him to go ahead and do it, since he was working for Sixth Master anyway and it made no difference where he thought about it, ’for gold shines everywhere.’

Jiang Yifan nearly choked on his own saliva. Although it was true that gold would always shine wherever it was, was it really appropriate here? He hadn’t quite put it that way.

The woman Jiang Yifan admired was indeed different from anyone else. What began as a sentimentally touching moment turned on its head with just one glance from the senior brother, altering the ambiance drastically. It was truly unexpected.

Ye Xinyan gave Jiang Yifan a smug look. "You guys are pretty ruthless, you know. He’s already decided to work for your Sixth Master, and you still incited a quarrel between him and his mother that almost took her breath away with anger."

Jiang Yifan wore a warm smile, as if whispering sweet nothings to Ye Xinyan, but his tone was very cautious, "In such matters, it’s best to be careful. The woman who relayed the message to Aunt Wong yesterday asked Xiuqin about Wong Qiao’s attitude on her departure. If he had accepted Prince Fu’s task willingly, others might become suspicious of him. In case Prince Fu loses trust and gets rid of him directly or sends him to some remote place, that would be a real loss."

Ye Xinyan blinked, realizing that was the case. Wong Qiao, considered to be an honest child, actually had some acting skills? And he even managed to anger Lady Zhao ungratefully?