56: Chapter 54 The Cousin 56: Chapter 54 The Cousin Ye Shijie waited for Jiang Li in the small building next to the tea house.
Early that morning, he had soone wait outside the Jiang Residence to deliver a ssage to Jiang Li’s maid.
Ye Shijie had arranged to et her in the tea house building, and though the word was passed on, it was uncertain whether Jiang Li would personally keep the appointnt.
Yet, Jiang Li ultimately arrived.
It wasn’t ti for her to go to school, and this place wasn’t too far from Mingyi Hall.
A brief conversation with Ye Shijie wouldn’t affect her school ti.
Jiang Li tidied herself up thoroughly before coming to the eting.
Inside the tea house, Ye Shijie wore a plain, blue-gray robe.
Although the color was simple, on closer inspection the fabric was exquisite, with rare double-needle embroidery adorning the cuffs.
The youth was well-ford with thick eyebrows and large eyes, quite handso, but his gaze towards Jiang Li still carried a hint of wariness.
“Cousin Ye,” Jiang Li said as she sat down opposite Ye Shijie.
Seemingly jolted by the term “Cousin Ye,” Ye Shijie froze for a mont, not knowing what to say.
After a long pause, he finally spoke stiffly, “Why did you help yesterday?”
In the urgency of yesterday, Jiang Li’s sudden appearance had aided Ye Shijie, and he was very grateful to this young lady who had co to his aid.
But sitting under the light that night, he suddenly felt sothing was amiss.
Wasn’t Miss Jiang the Second of the Jiang family of the capital the daughter of his deceased aunt, his own cousin?
If it had been anyone else who had co to his aid, Ye Shijie might not have given it much thought, but the fact that it was Jiang Li made him refuse to believe there was no conspiracy involved.
After a sleepless night, Ye Shijie decided to talk directly to Jiang Li and get to the bottom of things.
“When I call you Cousin Ye, do I need to stand by and watch my own relative be swindled in the street without lifting a finger?” Jiang Li’s response was natural, as if surprised by Ye Shijie’s question.
Ye Shijie found himself unexpectedly choked by Jiang Li’s matter-of-factness, and after a while, he scoffed coldly, “Stop joking.
Don’t you look down on us rchants?
What brings up the talk of relatives?”
Jiang Li, hearing this, asked in surprise, “What do you an by that?”
Ye Shijie glared at her, “When Grandmother traveled all the way to the capital to take you to Xiangyang, didn’t you berate in front of the entire Jiang family that my Ye family were lowly rchants, and you wanted to cut off all ties with the Ye family?” As Ye Shijie spoke, his chest heaved violently, clearly agitated.
“Grandmother fell seriously ill upon her return and rested in bed for a whole year before recovering.
And now you talk of relatives, is this so kind of joke?”
Jiang Li stared at him, blinked her eyes, and marveled, “Did I really say such things before?”
Ye Shijie: “…”
“Perhaps Cousin Ye is mistaken,” Jiang Li shook her head, “I don’t rember ever saying such things.”
“You don’t rember?” Ye Shijie said mockingly, “But everyone from the Ye family present at the ti rembers!”
“Ah, then it seems I indeed said those words.” Jiang Li sighed inwardly; no wonder the Ye family severed ties with the Jiang family.
If the Second Miss really did say such hurtful words to old Madam Ye, it would be strange for them to nd the relationship.
However, she was not willing to take on the bla for sothing she was not responsible for.
Jiang Li continued, “I just really can’t recall it now.
Cousin Ye, may I ask how old I was when I allegedly said those words?”
“Coldly, Ye Shijie replied, “Five years old.”
“Five years old,” Jiang Li frowned, “I should have been old enough to understand things then, but I alone don’t rember it.
Don’t you find that odd, Cousin Ye?”
“What excuse are you thinking of making now?” Ye Shijie stared at her.
“I want to say that I was young at the ti, and my grandmother was far away in Xiangyang.
My mother passed away early, and my father was busy with politics, so it was mostly my stepmother who looked after .
Whatever I said, it certainly wasn’t without people teaching or even threatening to say those words.”
Ye Shijie was about to scoff a few words, but he was caught off guard by the earnest look on Jiang Li’s face.
The words Jiang Li spoke were actually her own conjectures.
The young Miss Jiang the Second had been young, yet she had managed to utter such hurtful speech.
Moreover, the idea that rchants were lowly—if Miss Jiang the Second truly believed that, it must have been soone else who instilled such viewpoints in her.
With Jiang Li’s current observations of Ji Shuran, Ji Shuran’s malice could very well have been directed at the young Miss Jiang the Second.
Whether Ji Shuran coaxed or threatened, it certainly wasn’t Miss Jiang the Second’s idea but rather the will of soone else influencing her.
Ye Shijie fell silent for a mont.
Jiang Li’s words had caused so wavering in his heart.
Although he held resentnt towards Jiang Li, her expression at the mont didn’t seem to be feigned.
“So, what do you want to do now?” After a while, Ye Shijie finally said, “Do you want to repair old relations with the Ye Family?”
Jiang Li laughed, “I rely lifted a finger to save Cousin Ye once, and Cousin Ye thinks I want to repair old relations with the Ye Family.
You might as well know, Cousin Ye, that if I really wanted to nd relations with the Ye Family, I wouldn’t use your affair to do so.”
“Hmph.” Ye Shijie snorted, his expression no longer as hostile as it had been at the start.
“You speak lightly and appear to be uttering words in defense of justice, who doesn’t know how shrewd you are at heart?
Otherwise, why didn’t you send Liu Zimin to the authorities, only giving him a way out?”
The previous day, during the argunt between Liu Zimin and Ye Shijie, Jiang Li intervened.
With just a few words, she turned the tide; Liu Zimin was originally without a chance to recover, yet Jiang Li actively offered Liu Zimin a way out, allowing him to escape his predicant.
“The land of Yanjing is complicated with various forces intertwined and nurous governnt households.
Although the Ye Family is wealthy, it holds no official position.
It’s like unprotected fat at, everyone wants a bite.
Wasn’t Cousin noticed by Liu Zimin because of your wealth?”
Ye Shijie furrowed his brows.
“The Ye Family is wealthy, but it’s also a civilian family.
Small officials don’t dare to fight with higher officials, let alone civilians against high-ranking officials.
Letting Liu Zimin off is actually for Cousin’s own good.
If Cousin doesn’t relent, the Residence of Taichang Minister will certainly not let things slide.
The Liu Family can afford the struggle, but the Ye Family cannot,” Jiang Li said.
Ye Shijie discovered that when Jiang Li said these words, her expression softened a bit, with an undertone of frustrated hatred.
The commoners do not fight against officials, a sneer of irony flickered in Jiang Li’s heart.
Wasn’t that the truth?
Even the Xue Family, despite being an official family, was regarded as nothing more than chaff in the eyes of soone as noble as Princess Yongning, to be disposed of at will.
Justice and fairness did exist in the world, but it all depended on what you relied on; backed by absolute power, even unreason becos reasonable.
Ye Shijie said, “Of course I know that, otherwise I wouldn’t have spared him once.”
Jiang Li, seeing Ye Shijie like this, understood well that the legitimate eldest grandson of the Ye Family was not a person of impulsive recklessness.
She asked, “I forgot to ask, Cousin, how co you are in Yanjing City?”
Without reason, coming from Xiangyang to Yanjing City, there must be a cause, right?
“I am studying at the Imperial College,” Ye Shijie looked at Jiang Li with a sowhat provoking tone.
“As you said, the Ye Family are commoners, powerless to protect our family fortune, so I’ve co to the capital to study and enter officialdom.”
“You want to be an official?” Jiang Li realized.
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