Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Don’t Involve Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Don’t Involve Jiang Yifan was sowhat puzzled. How could Prince Yu, Jinrong, with his noble status, recognize soone in the small Qingyuan County? And soone who was selling breakfast from a street stall at that? The difference in status… was just too great, wasn’t it?
Jinrong said with a proud smile, “I ca today just to give you a heads-up, lest you get startled when you encounter her during one of your inspections and that wouldn’t be good.”
“Oh?” Jiang Yifan raised an eyebrow. “So you’re saying, I know this person?” It was indeed rare for anyone to startle him.
Jinrong slapped the fan in his hand against his palm, “You can’t just say you know that person, you know her all too well.”
“Who is it?” Jiang Yifan put down the docunt he was holding, feeling an ominous premonition.
Jinrong took another sip of tea before he slowly spoke, “It’s the supposed-to-be-deceased eldest miss of Duke An’s Mansion, your ex-wife, Ye Xinyan. She is now running a street stall, selling snacks.”
Jiang Yifan rembered an encounter two months ago and his brow furrowed unconsciously, his complexion changing. Ye Xinyan? She ca to Qingyuan County?
Jinrong was not able to shock Jiang Yifan as much as he expected and said with surprise, “Aren’t you shocked that Ye Xinyan isn’t dead and has appeared in Qingyuan County safe and sound?”
He then realized, “Do you know that she didn’t die?”
Jiang Yifan didn’t bother to hide it, “On my way to Qingyuan County to take up my post, I encountered her. She borrowed one hundred taels of silver from .”
“Borrowed, borrowed one hundred taels of silver?” Jinrong almost spat out his tea. “The eldest miss of Duke An’s Mansion, even if she escaped, should have so valuable jewelry with her. Any piece of jewelry should be worth several hundred or even a thousand taels of silver, right? Does she really need to borrow silver, and one hundred taels at that?”
Jiang Yifan shook his head, “I don’t know what happened, but she seed to be in a very difficult situation at that ti, wearing ragged clothes made of coarse cloth and drinking a bowl of wild vegetable soup.”
“Drinking wild vegetable soup? Are you sure that was Duke An’s legitimate granddaughter?” The string of bombshell revelations made it extrely difficult for Jinrong to accept.
Although he had previously seen Ye Xinyan in the capital disguised as a commoner, at that ti, she was avoiding being pursued by Duke An’s Mansion, which likely was to conceal her identity.
But what about drinking wild vegetable soup and borrowing silver from Jiang Yifan? Could it be that she was really rash enough to escape without bringing any silver?
Jiang Yifan sneered back at him, “Isn’t Sixth Master quite sure that the person you saw is Duke An’s Mansion’s eldest miss?”
Jinrong rolled his eyes and fell silent. Indeed, if he could recognize Ye Xinyan, then Jiang Yifan, who had been married to her for three years, would be even more certain.
Seeing that Jinrong had nothing more to say, Jiang Yifan no longer bothered with him and lowered his head to continue with his official duties.
Yet Jinrong couldn’t contain his curiosity and thought for a mont before asking, “Aren’t you curious as to why Ye Xinyan is doing manual labor?”
Jiang Yifan gave him a glance but continued working on the docunts, ignoring his question.
Jinrong continued, “I find it strange. It’s been just over half a year since the incident at Duke’s Mansion last year. Not only have Ye Xinyan and her nanny managed to do so small business to earn money, but now she has an old man and a young child with her. I wonder what their relationship is with her?”
“There’s another child now?” Jiang Yifan was puzzled. When he had encountered them on the road in February, the people with that woman and Nanny Jin were an old man. How much ti has passed since then? And now there’s suddenly a child.
Jinrong nodded repeatedly at Jiang Yifan, “Yes, yes, there’s a child, and also an old man, and they both seem to co from poor backgrounds. Young Boy Jiang, tell , how did Ye Xinyan, a noblewoman from the capital with a prestigious background, get mixed up with these poor folks in such a short ti?”
“And there’s more, the personality of Ye Xinyan really has changed a lot from the past. I had Hongzhi give her a hard ti on several occasions, and although she was seething with anger, she still managed to speak kindly to Hongzhi. You know, even if she’s a runaway miss from the Duke’s Mansion, her status is not ordinary, and to be so accommodating in front of a servant, she’s truly different than before.”
“Yuanfan, do you want to go see for yourself?” Yuanfan was Jiang Yifan’s style na.
Jinrong’s gossiping deanor seed like it would never end.
Without a choice, Jiang Yifan said, “Sixth Master, since the Ye Family has already declared that woman dead, let’s not dwell on this, shall we? As long as she lives her life quietly, then she has nothing to do with you or , nor with Duke An’s Mansion, or even the capital. As for whom she associates with, it doesn’t matter at all. Qingyuan County may be a remote little county, but there are two good restaurants. From now on, Sixth Master shouldn’t go to that food stall anymore.”
“How could I not?” Jinrong imdiately objected, his face showing reluctance, “The stall has its own flavor. She, Ye Xinyan, is the one who escaped, so why should I, Sixth Master, avoid her?”
Jiang Yifan pinched the bridge of his nose and said, “Fine, Sixth Master, you just go and eat, just don’t talk too much, and don’t ntion . I don’t want to lay eyes on her.”
“She’s a fallen woman and you are the head of Qingyuan County, you have no need to avoid her. Let tell you, the snacks from her family are quite good, why don’t you try them too?”
Jiang Yifan glared at Jinrong and spoke irritably, “Easy for you to say when you’re not the one suffering. Let make it clear to you, go have your breakfast and don’t drag into this. If that woman finds out I’m the county head here and starts making trouble…” Jiang Yifan snorted twice, “Hmph, I dare not make friends with Prince Yu.”
Jinrong’s expression froze. This damned Young Boy Jiang, he’s the only one who caught his eye over the years, and now the boy was getting spirited. It was infuriating that he couldn’t find anyone else with such learning, knowledge of martial arts, and sharp wits. He was truly at the boy’s rcy.
……
Today, because of Jinrong’s ddling, Qi Younian’s family of four arrived ho late, and Nanny Jin and Ye Xinyan were busy preparing lunch.
The wounds on little Qi Jia’s back had healed quite a bit, and since Nanny Jin was busy working, no one restrained him. The little guy had probably never lived such an idle, carefree life and followed Nanny Jin around step by step, occasionally trying to pick up various utensils to help, and making Nanny Jin stop him frantically in her haste.
“Oh, my little ancestor, why do you need to do anything? How about you sit and rest for a while?”
The little guy looked perplexed, holding a winnowing basket and not knowing what to do with it. After all, without smaller buckets or wooden basins in the house, what could he do?
Ye Xinyan might have understood Qi Jia’s uneasiness; she called out to him, “Qi Jia, co here, sister will make sothing fun for you.”
Ye Xinyan had never spoken to him in the sa gentle and soft-spoken manner as Nanny Jin and Qi Younian had.
At that mont, hearing Ye Xinyan’s friendly invitation, the little guy hesitated, looking at Ye Xinyan as if he didn’t want to approach, yet he also seed afraid not to. While he vacillated, Ye Xinyan forcefully took his hand and led him into the house.
Qi Younian watched the siblings’ retreating figures with a smile and asked Nanny Jin, “Do you know what Ye Zi is going to make for Jiajia?”
Nanny Jin shook her head, “That child is getting more and more clever every day, one never knows what novel ideas she’ll co up with next. Didn’t she just say that she wanted to make a cart for Jiajia? Hopefully, it’s a good toy that little Xiao Jiajia will like so he doesn’t always think about working.”
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