She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 709 - 707: Then, Just Don’t Go

Chapter 709: Chapter 707: Then, Just Don’t Go

Forget it, I’ll just tell the truth.

Jiang Yifan knew his mother was not easily fooled and thus spoke candidly, "On the eighth day when I returned, Ah Yan wrote a compensation list and sent it to Han Mansion. Due to some discrepancy in the amount, Han Mansion did not acknowledge it. Therefore, the next day, Ah Yan dressed as a man and personally went to Han Mansion to demand it. Left with no choice, Lord Prime Minister Han welcomed Ah Yan into the Prime Minister’s Mansion, and later, with His Highness Prince Yu intervening, the two parties finally settled with six thousand taels of silver."

"Six thousand taels of silver!" Lady Qin and Jiang Yiyuan exclaimed in unison.

Lady Qin was initially amazed by Miss Ye’s audacity and shamelessness, but then the grand sum of six thousand taels of silver replaced that astonishment.

She asked in shock, "Why would Young Master Qi wear such expensive jewelry to see a street performance?" She then added with heavy skepticism, "What kind of jewelry could be worth that much silver?"

Meanwhile, Jiang Yiyuan eagerly said, "Big brother, I’ve changed my mind; I want to learn kung fu with Big Brother Guan. Hanging out with Big Brother Guan and sister-in-law pays off, you can get big advantages."

"What nonsense!" Lady Qin rebuked.

She then frowned at Jiang Yifan and said, "Han Mansion ignored the compensation issue, surely because the amount she demanded was incorrect. Miss Ye’s temperament is problematic; it will cause trouble in the future."

Jiang Yifan gave a wry smile internally. Guarding Duke An’s Mansion and Marquis Zhongyong’s Mansion in the capital, as well as managing Prince Yu’s business, if she were still to bear everything meekly, that would truly be strange.

Jiang Yifan reassured, "Mother, don’t worry, Ah Yan knows her limits." Seeing Lady Qin raise her eyebrows, he hurriedly continued, "Her temperament simply cannot stand seeing her children at a loss; it’s not that she always wants to take advantage. I was not aware of her visit to Han Mansion beforehand; I will gradually advise her. She is very willing to listen to others’ advice these days."

Despite what Jiang Yifan said, he felt guilty inside. Based on his past experience, Ah Yan only had two responses to unwelcome advice: one was to completely ignore it, and the other was to agree upfront but then do as she pleased afterward.

He indeed wanted Ah Yan to be happy, for none of the elders from the Ye Family, Yin Family, or Qi family could do anything about her. However, his mother might not easily accept Ah Yan’s way of doing things. Yet, he thought, if Ah Yan wanted to deceive his mother, it should be quite easy.

Lady Qin was indeed worried. She had met Xinyan at the Pastry House before the New Year, and they had met several times since. Indeed, the young lady was different from before, displaying kindness and sincerity in every gesture.

But her unruly nature was still there—such a woman was really not the best choice for a daughter-in-law. However, who could blame her son for liking her? Look at him now, always speaking up for his wife.

Jiang Yifan didn’t wait for Jiang Yiyuan to contradict him and went on to say, "The other day, His Majesty the Emperor heard about Ah Yan visiting Han Mansion dressed as a man, probably to help salvage Miss Han’s reputation, and sent eunuchs to Duke An’s Mansion with an oral decree, asking Duke An to bring his granddaughter, dressed as a man, to an audience. His Majesty used the same method Ah Yan did, sending eight eunuchs who accompanied Duke An and Ah Yan to the palace. So there’s much discussion about Ah Yan being able to enter the palace as well."

Lady Qin listened, her eyes widening in disbelief—this bride they had married into the family was truly connected to high places.

"Being important officials of the court, does His Majesty the Emperor perhaps favor Lord Prime Minister Han a bit more? That’s why he would go out of his way to restore Miss Han’s reputation," Lady Qin speculated.

Jiang Yifan gave a vague answer, "Perhaps."

The Emperor likely wasn’t so interested in Miss Han herself, but rather because she was about to marry into the royal family and become Princess Consort of Prince Yu.

However, when Ah Yan was summoned to an audience, it was due to the Emperor taking a particular interest in her; otherwise, even if the Emperor wanted to show consideration for Duke An’s face, he could have simply instructed Duke An to keep his granddaughter in check—there would have been no need for such trouble.

Clearly, this summons out of interest was very satisfactory to the Emperor.

The process of Ah Yan’s audience in Yangxin Hall with His Majesty the Emperor was unknown even to him, but he noticed a trivial matter that others disregarded.

Many overlooked that on the same day Ah Yan met the Emperor, His Majesty wrote a short phrase on a piece of paper and sent it to the Minister of the Honglu Temple with a message to learn more about the art of speech.

The interpretation of the few sentences on that piece of paper was utterly baffling yet exquisitely ingenious. The literal meaning seemed to be at complete odds with the interpreted utterances, but upon careful consideration, they indeed aligned perfectly. Such a way of speaking bore traces of Ah Yan’s usual expressions.

Just from the Emperor’s action, it is evident that the Emperor not only valued Ah Yan’s personal abilities but also must have liked her temperament. Otherwise, he would have surely regarded her as a scheming and deceitful woman, rather than showing such clear appreciation.

Lady Qin sighed worriedly, "This is really troubling; Miss Ye’s temperament... In these few meetings, she seemed quite steady, so why does she get so fierce when things are stirred up?"

Jiang Yiyuan didn’t care about Lady Qin’s worries at all, and said nonchalantly, "Mother, you said yourself that you found Miss Ye quite good in these few encounters, and that’s enough. We cannot just swallow our pride when our own brother is bullied. If someone can remain composed even after being bullied, it’s usually nothing more than a cover-up out of helplessness."

Lady Qin shot him a glance, scolding, "Mind your own business and go study."

Jiang Yiyuan looked to Jiang Yifan for help, only to hear him say, "How old are you to be acting so wise? Go do what you need to do."

Jiang Yiyuan was immediately displeased, "Big Brother, you’re not acknowledging someone with good intentions here, I’m on your side."

In his heart, Jiang Yifan firmly decided that no matter what, he couldn’t let his brother get involved with his senior brother. Young Master Qi’s two children were innately kind-hearted; they only clashed with others because they couldn’t stand hearing bad things said about their sister. Whereas his own second brother truly loved chaos.

If he were to mingle with his senior brother, who knows what kind of turmoil they would create? He would then be the one to clean up the mess for this little brother.

Suddenly, Lady Qin remembered her son’s plans for the Lantern Festival and tentatively said, "Yuanfan, you mentioned before about meeting up with Miss Ye on Lantern Festival to go see the lanterns together... Maybe you shouldn’t go. There’s a lantern pavilion in Duke An’s Mansion; it’s quite nice to watch the lanterns there."

Jiang Yifan glared at Jiang Yiyuan, who had stirred up this trouble; he hadn’t mentioned anything about Ah Yan to his mother because he didn’t want her to worry and prevent him from going out to see the lanterns with Ah Yan. However, this troublemaker kept egging on until all details were spilt, leading their mother to speak out against it.

With a pleading look, Jiang Yifan said, "Mother, please don’t worry, Ah Yan is not the type who’s unreasonable or who will definitely seek trouble with others. Besides, I will be there, and I won’t let anything happen with Ah Yan there."

Lady Qin looked skeptically at her eldest son, thinking of the years of hardship her son had endured and the long wait to finally get the chance to go out with the girl he liked. He had always been steady since childhood and never gave them any reason to worry. Although Lady Qin wasn’t fully reassured, she said no more.