She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 707 - 705

Chapter 707: 705

The capital was abuzz with various rumors about the matter, but no one had any concrete information, and who would dare to approach Duke An directly to inquire? After all, when the Emperor was in Yangxin Hall, only Zhang Cunhai was attending, and it’s believed that unless His Majesty took the initiative to mention it, Zhang Cunhai certainly wouldn’t speak of it, let alone anyone foolhardy enough to probe the Emperor’s trusted aide for information.

Fortunately, there were those who genuinely worried about Miss Ye and dared to knock on the door to ask about her situation. It was natural for Zhao Gang to make an inquiry at Duke’s Mansion.

Ever since Marquis Zhongyong learned that his legitimate granddaughter had extorted six thousand taels of silver from Han Yanhui, he had been continuously lamenting. His granddaughter was truly a handful, but what could he do when she was so capable of fighting her own battles and even managed to pull off such a feat?

The worry had not yet settled when he heard that His Majesty the Emperor had summoned her, dressed as a man, for an audience. Although it was later known that both Duke and his granddaughter had emerged unscathed, he was still perplexed.

Therefore, Yin Long simply couldn’t accept the persuasion of Yin Xiaocheng and insisted on having Zhao Gang come over to inquire about the details.

Duke An received Zhao Gang, and given that the Emperor had summoned Ye Xinyan in Yangxin Hall with the apparent intent of keeping the conversation’s content a secret, who would readily disclose such a matter, especially when the Son of Heaven had almost succumbed to internal injury due to her cunning arguments?

Thus, even though Duke An was extremely satisfied with his granddaughter’s outstanding performance, he couldn’t reveal the details of the event since no message had come from the palace.

For all these reasons, Duke An’s response to Zhao Gang was rather vague, mentioning only that His Majesty actually had nothing of importance, merely chatting idly with his granddaughter about business because it was improper for her to have an audience alone, which is why he accompanied her.

Nevertheless, the whole "nothing of importance" provided a definitive answer to the question of the Emperor summoning a lady to the palace.

With Duke An appearing as usual and Duke An’s Mansion showing no signs of change, going about each day as normal, people knew that Duke’s Mansion and Miss Ye had suffered no loss or fright.

These were individuals who had been navigating the Imperial Court for years; they could sense the direction of the wind. Just seeing that Miss Ye had managed to visit Yangxin Hall was enough for them to realize that she had indeed attracted the Emperor’s attention, and even her farce at Marquis’s Mansion had gone unpunished.

The Ye Family was clearly gaining more royal favor, right?

When word got out, both the Imperial Academy Libationer, Mr. Ji Xiaoyuan, and Madam Zhou felt uneasy. The Ji Family could be considered relatives by marriage to Duke An’s Mansion, yet ever since the mother of their fourth daughter-in-law was suppressed by the Duke’s Mansion, the fourth daughter-in-law’s position within the Ye Family had plummeted, and it seemed that whether or not they had that granddaughter hardly made a difference anymore.

Ye Xinyi, on the other hand, was even more angered. Her grandfather was a warrior, and she had never expected him to hold her in high regard. Before she made any move, she just wished that Ye Xinyan, that wretched girl, would attract less attention, so that when people gossiped, they wouldn’t involve her as well.

Every time that despicable girl caught the public eye, she would inevitably be dragged into it. In the past, discussions about Ye Xinyan, the legitimate granddaughter, had always highlighted her own excellence. But now it was different. The wretched woman was first noticed by His Highness Prince Yu, then highly praised by her grandfather. Just when Xinyi thought her grandfather’s actions would be a joke, unexpectedly, the Emperor summoned Ye Xinyan by name.

When people talked about that despicable girl, they looked at her with different eyes, as if her past reputation for virtue and intelligence had been stolen.

Ye Xinyi realized once again that as long as Ye Xinyan, that vile woman, existed, she would never be able to hold her head high in this lifetime, and the wealth and properties of Duke An’s Mansion would also be out of her and her mother’s and brother’s reach, completely overturning her understanding of the past twenty-some years. She couldn’t stand others taking what belonged to her, her mother, and her brother.

Xinyi thought about the servants who had once served her father and two brothers and wondered where her grandfather had sent them. She knew she needed to bring those people back to her side quickly.

If we talk about who benefitted the most from this whole affair, it was certainly not Ye Xinyan, but Jiang Yifan.

In Madam Yin’s current view, no matter the reason, a girl being gossiped about is ultimately not a good thing. Moreover, her daughter and Jiang Yifan had just agreed on a marital arrangement, and now her daughter was causing a commotion again; this was not easy to explain to the Jiang family.

After she learned that her daughter had visited Han Mansion, shining like a nugget of gold, and had once again become the focus of gossip, she began to occasionally send rare foods and goods to the Jiang family to express her apologies.

The day before the fifteenth of the first month, Duke An’s Mansion once again sent over a dozen green mandarins and several jin of tender green onion seedlings to the Jiang family, prompting Mrs. Jiang, Lady Qin, to finally address the doubts in her heart and summon Jiang Yifan.

No wonder Lady Qin was confused; she was originally from Cloud Central Province and had no connections in the capital. The few times she had gone out since coming to the capital were only to attend two banquets hosted by Duke An’s Mansion and Marquis Zhongyong’s Mansion. At that time, Ye Xinyan had stayed at home and had not stirred up any trouble.

By the time Ye Xinyan started causing a commotion, Lady Qin had barely gone out and had no idea that her future daughter-in-law was once again a spectacle for the capital’s residents to behold.

When Jiang Yifan came in, Lady Qin was looking at the basket of greens and green mandarins in wonder. The maids and Nanny Hong beside her were evaluating and discussing how rare and precious these items were during this season.

Jiang Yifan couldn’t help but smile wryly upon seeing these items. In the past, his mother-in-law had blindly believed her daughter’s side of every story, thinking that her daughter could do no wrong. Now that Ah Yan had become sensible, her mother was constantly worried she was doing something inappropriate, ironically feeling much more regret towards her son-in-law, whom she had previously been greatly displeased with.

Since Ah Yan had caused trouble at the Han Mansion, Madam Yin had not stopped sending things to his home. And now, his own mother had begun to sense that something was amiss.

Upon seeing Jiang Yifan, Lady Qin immediately waved him over, "Yuanfan, come here quickly, look, the Duke’s Mansion has sent things over again. At this time of year, fresh vegetables and fruits are extremely rare; why do they keep sending them to us almost daily?"

Jiang Yifan glanced at Nanny Hong and the two maids standing in the room, a rare look of embarrassment appearing on his face.

Seeing his look, Nanny Hong chuckled, "It seems the Eldest Son finds it hard to speak, so we’ll leave and give you some space."

Before Nanny Hong’s words could settle, Jiang Yiyuan stepped into the room with a smile, asking, "What is it that’s so hard to say? Nanny can leave, but I’m staying. I want to hear what this interesting matter is all about."

Lady Qin immediately shooed him away, "What are you butting in for in your brother’s in-law family matters? Go out and play with the other young lads."

Jiang Yiyuan’s eyes immediately lit up, "Duke An’s Mansion? Is it about Miss Ye causing trouble at the Han Mansion? Big brother, I was just about to ask you about it, what exactly happened? The rumors out there are pretty wild." The flames of gossip burned brightly.

Upon hearing this, Lady Qin’s heart skipped a beat—it really was Ye Xinyan’s matter. Seeing her second son’s glee in hoping for chaos, she feared the matter was not minor.

She hurriedly pulled Jiang Yifan to sit beside her on the heated kang, "Yuanfan, what exactly happened? Tell your mother."

Seeing Jiang Yifan’s hesitant look, Nanny Hong promptly led the two maids out of the room.