Chapter 55: A Roof Inspection With My Best Friend
thy of such precious treatment" 。It's really okay, I have a thick cloak on, so I'm not cold at all. 。The Emperor is discussing matters with the princes inside. As a lowly servant woman, it wouldn't b...The Minister of Justice, Jiang Feng, was thirty years old this year. He had only one daughter, Jiang Wanting, as his child. After many years of trying, he had always failed to have a son. Now, he had completely given up.
Jiang Wanting had originally planned to visit Ye Wenyan today. On the second day of the twelfth lunar month, she went to Su Wangfu with her father to attend a wedding banquet, but unfortunately, the banquet didn't take place and Ye Wenyan got into trouble.
She kept thinking about him afterward, even asking her father to go out of town to look for him. Unfortunately, it was snowing heavily that day, and the Jiang family's carriage skidded halfway on the road, flipping into a ditch with both people and the carriage.
Later, when the former emperor passed away, the city was under curfew. She had been cooped up until today before she could finally come out for some fresh air. Unexpectedly, as she reached the gate of the First Rank General's mansion, she witnessed this scene.
She immediately saw that this was Night Wenyan's scheme, feeling happy in her heart. She didn't mind the old lady ignoring her at this moment and walked straight to Night Wenyan's face, warmly reaching for her hand, "Wenyan, these days I really miss you. Now that my confinement is over, I wanted to come see you as soon as possible. Unexpectedly, I saw something happened in your house. Alas, when I left, I didn't prepare anything, just brought some freshly made snacks. I thought we could eat them together, but now with the situation at your house, we can't just indulge ourselves. I won't send these snacks to you, but to the old lady instead! After all, she is our elder!"
"Done, I took the snack box from another maid beside me: "Grandmother, please don't mind, they are all made by me. Although they don't look very good, they are better than eating leaves. Just hold on and tide us over until after we finish butchering the meat then we can have a proper meal."
The old madam felt incredibly humiliated, incredibly so. This was completely like being treated as a beggar in need of help, given a box of stale snacks to tide her over. What kind of emergency could that possibly save
So she didn't give Jiang Wanting any face, and coldly snorted: "Take it back, old woman doesn't need you to charity."
Jiang Wanting was not discouraged: "How can this be charity The Jiang and Ye families have always been on good terms. My father still remembers Uncle Jiang and General Ye to this day. He even talked about them with my mother yesterday, saying that such a good person just... disappeared."
The old matriarch hesitated. After all, her father was the Minister of Punishment. What did the Ministry of Punishment do It handled cases. Night Wenyan casually mentioned things like the truth behind deaths, and now almost everyone in Lin'an Prefecture was on her side. If she teamed up with the Ministry of Punishment, it wouldn't be good for the Ye family at all.
Then she changed her attitude: "Wanting, you are a good child. Thank you, and thank your father for not forgetting our family."
Jiang Wanting smiled, "Old Madam, don't be so polite, just take it. With this little gift, I'll also send some rice and noodles to Ye Wen and the others, those orphans and widows. That way, I won't feel any pressure."
Ye Wenyan looked at Jiang Wanting, who was wearing a blue dress and a blue cloak. He immediately remembered this person.
In the original owner's memory, there was quite a bit of information about this eldest sister of the Jiang family.
For example, Ye Si Jie and Jiang Da Jie met when Ye Si Jie was five years old, at General Ye's birthday banquet.
Because the old general was often away fighting, he rarely had a chance to hold banquets in the capital. When he finally did, almost all the high-ranking officials in Lin'an City attended.
At that time, Jiang Feng, who was only a Minister of Punishment, also came with his wife and children to celebrate the old general's birthday.
Jiang Wanting was a year older than the original owner. She had a fake, rebellious personality and was very brave. She even dared to ice skate alone on the large lake in the General's Mansion.
The original owner was more daring. Seeing her have fun, he had the servants bring a large wooden basin from the kitchen. Then he sat inside himself and let the basin drift on the ice noodles.
That's how the two met, playing together all morning and becoming good friends.
After growing up, our friendship remained unchanged. We would make time to meet every few days, have meals and chat, or go out on the streets to help people in need.
One was the eldest sister of a military governor's family, and the other was the eldest sister of the Minister of Justice's family. These two could walk sideways in the streets, and absolutely no one would dare to cause them trouble. Even members of the royal family had to give some face to General Ye Lao.
She also remembered the time when she went to Huachun Tower in the outer city to hire a courtesan. The original owner had scolded the courtesan, and Jiang Wanting had scolded the mama of the brothel instead.
In short, almost all memories about Jiang Wanting are violent. They were together like a whirlwind of passion.
"Ye Wenyan pondered more and more, finding Sister Jiang quite interesting. So he spoke up, smiling broadly at her: "Wanting, you must think this is a joke, but after the meat is carved, I'll invite you back to my house for a sit. We can chat and you can see how humble my current home really is."
Hearing this, Madam Xiao quickly took over the conversation: "That's temporary. It's because moving to a new courtyard has caused things to be in disarray. It will be sorted out in the next two days. The household is already preparing for it."
She smiled, "Alright, then I'll wait." Finished, she turned to the butcher and said, "Start cutting the meat!"
"Alright!" The butcher didn't know how many favors he had received from Zhu'er. That insider, as soon as Ye Wenyan started on his side, immediately picked up his big knife and shouted—— "Sister Night Four sent two catties of rib meat to the Old Madam! Sister Night Four sent a pig trotter to the Old Madam! Sister Night Four sent six ounces of pork belly to the Second Madam! Sister Night Four sent a pair of pig ears to the Second Master!"
Xiao felt like she was about to faint. How did he end up with six ounces of meat here Where did that number come from And what on earth is a pair of pig ears Was her husband only worth a pair of pig ears
The old madam felt that she had lost all face and was about to return home, no longer wanting anything to do with this mess. But before she could even turn around, someone shouted, "The rice merchant has arrived! The Ye family need not drink thin porridge with only a few grains any longer!"
She hesitated for a moment, her steps faltering as she watched the rice merchant clutching a booklet in his hand. He scribbled notes and called out: "Sister Ye Si sends fine rice one dou to Madam! Sister Ye Si sends coarse rice one sheng to Second Madam!"
The Xiao family was furious.
In a short while, the Jiang family's carriage arrived as well. The servants unloaded sacks of rice and noodles, and also bags of snacks and dried fruits purchased from the shops, piling them all before Ye Wenyan.
Jiang Wanting said to Mu Shi, "Mother, if you need anything in the future, please tell me. Don't be polite with me."
Mu repeatedly expressed her gratitude, and Ye Qingmei also thanked them.
Ye Wenyan nudged Ye Feiyu with his elbow. "Big brother, express yourself."
"What does it mean" Ye Feiyu didn't react.
"Thank you!"
Ye Feiyu hurried to follow suit and expressed her gratitude.
Jiang Wanting was a little embarrassed by Xie's words, her face flushed red. She held onto Ye Wenyan tightly and said, "I see that you still have work to do here, so I won't keep you talking today. There are plenty of opportunities anyway, and I'll come find you again tomorrow."
Then, he leaned over Mu Shi and said, "I'll come see your mother again tomorrow."
Jiang Wanting left, and the old lady didn't even get a goodbye. This made her feel that Jiang Wanting had come to cause trouble.
The front of the government office was utter chaos, with butchers hawking their wares and rice sellers shouting out prices. Then someone just broke down crying right there on the street, remembering General Ye Lao and wailing loudly.
The old matriarch scolded angrily: "What are you crying for Are you mourning"
Then someone replied, "It's meant to be mournful!" and effectively put the old lady in her place.
Night after night, seeing her grandmother being scolded, all that anger was vented on Ye Wenyan. She rushed over to argue with him at the time: "You dead girl, what do you want to do"
Ye Wen replied, "I'm buying you meat to eat!"
Ye Lianmian said angrily, "Who asked you to buy meat for us Our family doesn't lack meat. You're bringing shame upon the Ye family!"
"Embarrassed" Ye Wenyan shook his head. "I don't think so. All I know is that I have no meat to eat, and I haven't eaten any meat yet. What do you want from me"
"You—"
"What am I If you keep talking nonsense, I'll offer your golden hairpin to be traded for meat."
The night stretched on endlessly, and when they moved, she had also eaten a piece of gourd cake. All the good things were snatched up quickly, but this hairpin was only obtained yesterday by coaxing the old lady. How could she possibly exchange it for meat
She retreated back to the old lady's side, her face full of grievance.
Ye Feiyu couldn't bear to look any longer, so she called out to her: "Liánmián, come over here and stand with your mother."
Ye Lianmian tilted her head, pretending not to hear. Ye Feiyu shook her head and stopped calling out to her.
The old madam glared fiercely at Ye Wenyan, and Xiao Shi was also so angry that she couldn't hold back her fire by the six taels of meat and one liter of rice. Following Ye Lianmian’s failing steps, she asked Ye Wenyan: "Fourth Miss, you have made such a mess of things, where do you put the face of the Ye family"
Ye Wen said seriously, "I've put the Ye family's face on the line. The biggest thing in the world is to eat meat. Before I get my fill of meat, everything else is meaningless."
Xiao was about to speak, but Mu stepped forward, blocking the woman. "Sister-in-law, if you have something to say, just tell me. Since you are our elders, you should speak with us elders. The younger generation shouldn't interfere, it would be disrespectful."
Xiao immediately recalled the sight of Mu wielding a knife against her that day. Her heart skipped a beat, and the words she had on her lips died unspoken.
The old madam couldn't bear it any longer at this point. With a flick of her hand, she brushed past Jun Tao and scurried back home.
Ye Lianmian glanced at him and followed back. Only Xiao shi remained unmoved, while Liu shi and Ye Chulian stayed behind to continue watching the spectacle.
But it really wasn't very lively or interesting. The meat was already bought, and the rice merchant had recorded the quantities. Zhuier paid the silver, and the rice merchant went back to prepare the goods. They would be delivered soon enough.
Seeing that everyone was packing up and leaving, Xiao shi shook her head and was about to turn around.
Yetun suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Xiaoshi's wrist. "Second Aunt still has bracelets on her hands! With the current state of the household, who would have the audacity to wear such valuable items My gemstones aren't enough to buy everything, so how about you contribute your bracelet too Let's use it to buy some food for Grandma!"
Done, without any further ceremony, he snatched the bracelet from Xiao's wrist.
Xiao shrieked in pain, and Ye Wen said, "Don't cry out. First, offer this one up. I'll find you another exactly like it to send back later…"husband held more weight in Grandmother's heart than that bastard son, things wouldn't have come to this. This restaurant would have been yours already!" 。It's nothing, just be good in the future and...