She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 720 - 718: Pretty Good Kung Fu

Chapter 720: Chapter 718: Pretty Good Kung Fu

The day after Jinrong arrived at Guangsha Construction Firm, Zhang Chang, Zhao Qiusheng, and Liu Qing officially took up residence at Guangsha Construction to work on the preliminary preparations for laying out the railway lines, alongside Qi Younian. These preparations included not just familiarization with the construction process, but also surveying and confirming the terrain.

Fortunately, Qi Younian and others had already done this once; now, it was simply a matter of expanding a sixty-li track into a thousand-li one.

Besides arranging preparatory matters for laying out the tracks, Guangsha Construction began a rather large-scale recruitment.

This time, the recruitment of craftsmen was much smoother than before. After the last disturbance, many people, including those in Jishui Lane, knew that the Qi family’s Guangsha Construction Firm was involved with the granddaughter of Duke An, and that its owner was on very good terms with His Highness Prince Yu.

This recruitment was made all the more prominent because Guangsha Construction had undertaken the court’s railway transport project.

That is to say, this construction firm now had the backing of the government office, so which craftsman or construction firm would dare to mess with such an entity?

At this point, many people became intrigued. Within the capital city, the civilian construction firms with court connections already had their fixed craftsmen. Guangsha Construction, being an outsider and newly established, was now recruiting craftsmen for the railway project. Did this mean that those craftsmen without a steady job could find a long-term place to stay, to earn a consistent wage?

Therefore, recruiting at Guangsha Construction this time was much simpler; craftsmen came in droves to try out for positions. This indeed confirmed what Jinrong had said, that a shout in Jishui Lane could easily gather a hundred and eighty craftsmen.

During the trial work, Ye Xinyan was assisting Qi Younian, considering her inferior ability in judging people compared to Qi Younian, she focused only on professional drawing and the Construction Regulations.

In the initial trial, the focus was on selecting craftsmen with refined technical skills. Their identities and which sides they were on were not considered for the time being, because they already had plans to set traps for their rivals opportunistically.

First, they would recruit people, then conduct detailed background checks, filter some out, and keep others. Of the ones who remained, of course, strict management was necessary to see who could be retained for important purposes.

After just three days of trial work, on the fourth day after leaving the government office, Jiang Yifan came to the Qi family with his investigation results.

Jiang Yifan, together with Qi Younian and Ye Xinyan, discussed and eliminated twenty people from the forty craftsmen initially shortlisted, with nearly ten of them having clearly questionable identities.

Looking at the remaining thirty names, Jiang Yifan sighed and said, "Liu She, Qu Youjiang, and Tan Jingui have good skills, but their identities are somewhat improper. There are also two less skilled ones who have problems; I’ve already marked them.

Ah Yan, your suggestion is bold indeed—who deliberately keeps spies to let the enemy act? If we’re negligent and lose control of the situation, we’ll have a problem."

Ye Xinyan said nonchalantly, "After all, they’re always going to try to cause trouble one way or another; suggesting or not doesn’t make much of a difference. It would be best if we can control the damage to the project, but even if we can’t, it’s their own malevolent intent that leads to their wrongdoing. We just need to uncover the mastermind and secure the evidence."

Jiang Yifan paused, exchanged a glance with Qi Younian, and both smiled. It was really that simple—if they could mitigate the harm caused by the spies, great; if not, they could simply focus on catching the big fish.

Jiang Yifan raised his eyebrows at Ye Xinyan in approval and said, "Ah Yan, you see the big picture clearest."

"Of course," Ye Xinyan replied, somewhat proudly lifting her chin, which made Jiang Yifan itch with admiration.

Qi Younian shook his head with a wry smile.

After Ye Xinyan made her suggestion that day, she seriously considered it. At first, she was somewhat worried, but after careful thought, her concerns dissipated. As long as they could identify everyone connected with the spy, they could use the engineering losses to provoke the Emperor’s anger and deal a heavy blow to their opponents.

As for the accomplishment of the construction project... To topple a huge power, some price must be paid. What was there to fear from a loss of some achievements?

Having discussed the craftsmen, and while there was still some time before dinner, Jiang Yifan asked Qi Younian, "The incident the other day was quite dangerous. Fortunately, the other party had no masters, and the Duke’s Mansion’s guards barely held on until the Sixth Master arrived. Do Grandfather and Ah Yan intend to find a few more skilled people to help out?"

"Oh?" Qi Younian looked at Jiang Yifan with an inquisitive gaze.

Jiang Yifan smiled and said, "I’m acquainted with a martial artist whose skills are not bad, and he’s recently been traveling. He will arrive near the capital in a few days. If the elderly gentleman is interested, I could try to have him stay and help watch over the engineering affairs."

"Yuanfan knows a master?" Qi Younian’s eyes brightened at hearing this. "If Yuanfan says his skills are not bad, then they must be good. It would be best if we could have him stay, and I appreciate Yuanfan taking the trouble."

Jiang Yifan quickly waved his hand: "Don’t say such a thing, Grandfather. We are family, and we are engaged in the same endeavors. It’s hardly any trouble at all."

Ye Xinyan expressed her surprise, "You’re actually acquainted with someone from the Jianghu? What does he do for a living?" Her surprise was heavily tinted with skepticism.

The area around the capital? Why not enter the capital? And travel—such a high-end activity is not something just anyone can do. It requires a substantial family wealth as a foundation. Otherwise, one must resort to some other means to acquire the necessities of life and travel.

Jiang Yifan found it difficult to respond when Ye Xinyan asked such a pointed question. He rubbed the corner of his forehead and said, "What do you think? I’d like to hear your thoughts."

Qi Younian also looked towards Ye Xinyan. He hadn’t thought this much into it. There were many eccentric experts in the world, each with their own way of life. But if one really delved into it, it seemed indeed to be an issue. However, Yuanfan’s character was evident, and anyone he befriended, even if slightly flawed, couldn’t be too bad. As Yuanfan’s fiancée, it wouldn’t be right to directly question him, would it?

Ye Xinyan had no intention of questioning her future husband out of her own volition. Furthermore, she genuinely wasn’t trying to cast doubt on Jiang Yifan’s friend, but rather she was simply curious.

In her memory, the earliest novels featuring chivalrous warriors systemically described Zhan Zhao as a famous hero who could travel the world because he came from a family with constant income.

Moreover, after Hero Zhan spent some time as a chivalrous warrior, his family’s constant income was no longer sufficient to support his expenses. Before he found a proper job—that’s right, before he started working for Lord Bao—he did engage in robbing the rich to aid the poor. That involved sneaking into the homes of the unkindly rich at night to steal Silver Tael for personal use, and when he encountered people stricken by poverty and illness, he would generously donate, taking advantage of others’ generosity.

Facing the gaze of both, Ye Xinyan pondered for a moment and then said, "I’ve heard people say that some who call themselves chivalrous warriors in the Jianghu must resort to robbing the rich to sustain themselves."

Jiang Yifan blinked in surprise. His Ah Yan knew about these things?

Qi Younian almost choked on his tea, thinking that his granddaughter was spouting nonsense to scare them.