She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 715 - 713 Something is Not Right

Chapter 715: Chapter 713 Something is Not Right

The ten or so burly men were tall and nearly filled the entire front hall. There were four guards from Duke An’s Mansion behind Qi Younian, while another four stood to either side.

When Ye Xinyan stepped out, her presence immediately attracted the attention of many people in the front hall.

The gaze of those troublemaking strong men towards Ye Xinyan was indifferent, showing no surprise at the sudden appearance of a woman in what had been an exclusively male assembly.

Ye Xinyan’s eyes flickered. They must have thoroughly investigated their opposition and come prepared, right? If that was the case, then there must be more to their disturbance than mere competition between peers, perhaps some other reasons were involved.

Fearless even of Duke An’s Mansion’s people, their backing must be very strong. Could it be that even if they took the chaos as an opportunity to give Miss Ye a severe beating, they’d only face superficial punishment in the end, then receive enough silver to find another place and live the good life from there on?

Qi Younian, seeing that the men had no special reaction to Ye Xinyan’s presence, felt somewhat relieved.

It seemed the leader continued to shout, "We know you’ve got backing, but just having backing doesn’t mean you shouldn’t leave a way out for others, right? By setting up these two big signs here, aren’t you luring all the patrons into your Guangsha Construction, leaving us little alley businesses no way to support our families and make a living?"

Qi Younian once again clasped his hands in a polite gesture, replying with a pleasant expression, "Brother, being a craftsman is in itself a kind of business, and it’s all about using one’s skills. No one is hindering our brothers from opening shops on the streets, are they? Besides, Guangsha Construction doesn’t have the capability to monopolize every single project in the entire world."

Two men standing next to the leading ruffian immediately rushed in front of Qi Younian, yelling, "What kind of talk is that, old man? Are you mocking us for not having the silver to open our own shops? If we can’t afford to open shops, does that mean our entire families should starve to death?" The crowd followed suit, clamoring in agreement.

Qi Youyian explained, "Brother, that’s not what I meant. We all need to make a living, and this is my way of making a living. I started out by taking on small jobs to earn a living. Surely, after saving up some silver, it doesn’t make sense that I can’t expand my family business just to avoid competing with others, does it?"

"You’re just using your wealth to drive us to death!" A middle-aged man from behind the leader, his face covered with bulging veins and holding a wooden stick, swung it with a "thwack," striking a courtyard model displayed on a stand. In an instant, wood chips flew everywhere, and the display stand itself was knocked down on one side.

When had the guards of Duke An’s Mansion ever tolerated such an insult? Under Duke An’s protection, they watched as these villains openly destroyed Miss Ye’s business; how could they possibly endure this?

Qiao Shan stepped forward with a stride, reaching out to grab the ruffian, but someone slid in front to block him. When Qiao Shan pushed, he failed to move him aside, indicating that this person was also a martial practitioner.

Before Qiao Shan could act, that person had already kicked the property destroyer to the side, then turned to Qiao Shan and Qi Younian with clasped hands, apologizing repeatedly, "We came here to seek justice, and this man is indeed a brute. Please don’t lower yourselves to his level, sir and master. I beg for your generosity, your generosity."

Qi Younian held back Qiao Shan. They had only eight guards and were not at an advantage. It was best not to take action until they understood what these people intended to do and until the government officers arrived to control the situation.

While this man was apologizing, the leader was still shouting loudly, talking about not being able to make a living and the like. The few who followed behind him were just as indignant, continuing to clamor and knocking over more display racks in a row.

Whenever a dispute was on the verge of turning physical, there was always someone who stepped in to mediate.

Ye Xinyan watched with a cold eye, noticing that the leaders kept glancing in her direction, their gaze, however, not on her but rather on the door from the front hall to the backyard, then growing even louder as if waiting for someone from the backyard to come out.

Ye Xinyan narrowed her eyes; it seemed that these people’s intention was not to cause trouble here but to target something more specific. She glanced back. Behind her, only the artisans from the Construction Industry remained. Fearing that the intruders would bring chaos or cause unnecessary harm, she had instructed them to stay in the back hall. Was this a fortunate coincidence?

Could it be that these people were after the artisans? Wanting to beat them up badly or even maim them?

To deal with those men, did it have to happen here in the front hall, under the public eye? Couldn’t a carriage accident be staged on the way home, breaking arms or legs, or having something fall from the sky to injure them? Why fight here of all places?

At this moment, outside the entrance of Guangsha Construction, there was still a large crowd of onlookers. Some even took advantage of the chaos to rush in. Among them were people who obviously worked regularly with their hands, caught up in the agitation and cursing angrily with the men, as if genuinely afraid the Qi Family Construction Business would steal their livelihood.

At this stage, it was becoming difficult to control the rhythm of the disturbance.

Then a voice cried out from the crowd, "Where is Lai Changyou? Lai Changyou works for them. Why doesn’t he come out? He was originally working well for Du Family Construction but was lured away by these foreigners’ high pay. They’re disrupting our capital’s construction market-regularities!"

Another voice joined in, stirring up the crowd, "It’s precisely because of such disloyal people that outsiders like the Qi family can take over the livelihood that we depend on. If all of us craftsmen refused to work here, naturally they wouldn’t be able to carry on the business."

"Exactly, it’s because of people like Lai Changyou, who see profit and forget loyalty, that our market order has been thrown into chaos. Let him come out; let them all come out. They dare to do but not to own up, is that it? Afraid to show their faces, aren’t they?"

"These ungrateful wretches! Helping outsiders oppress our brothers, let them come out and explain themselves!"

Seeing this situation, Qi Younian quickly realized the people’s intent. It seemed they were not there to target the Guangsha storefront but rather to cause trouble for the Guangsha artisans. All the commotion in the front hall was to wait for people from the back to come and help, creating an opportunity to confront the artisans.

One of the men stepped forward and shoved Qi Younian hard, demanding, "Where are Lai Changyou and the others? Call them out. They owe us an explanation!"

Others, seemingly instructed, pressed forward as well.

Qi Younian stepped back and said to Qiao Shan, "Get them out."

Ye Xinyan, stationed near the back door, shouted, "Drive them out? Can they still be driven out now? Knock them down first, then talk!"

With Qiao Shan leading only eight guards, and several of the dozen or so rowdy men being martial practitioners, the small front hall crowded with people became a site of mutual combat, which could end up affecting others inside the room. Cries of pain echoed intermittently from the front hall.

Most of these cries of pain were issued by the craftsmen who had arrived later.

Qi Younian retreated next to Ye Xinyan and said, "What are you still doing here? Go back to the rear courtyard. If you stay here and get hit by them, that would be bad."

Ye Xinyan looked outside and asked, "Where did Yuan Shang go?" Yuan Shang was nowhere to be seen, and although the disturbance had been going on for a while, government officers had not come to inquire, which seemed amiss.