Capítulo 19: Chapter 19 Redefining the Itinerary
Ye Xinyan didn't feel any shame—now was not the time to worry about face. Since Jiang Yifan had no plans to send her back to Duke An's Mansion, she might as well give it a try. If she could borrow some Silver Tael, the rest of their journey would be easier, faster, and safer.
She truly feared that during the two or three months it would take to reach their destination, something might befall her grandfather or Nanny Jin. In this era of poor information, underdeveloped transportation, and non-existent medical security, common folk simply could not afford to get sick or have accidents.
Upon hearing that Ye Xinyan wasn't there to trouble him but to borrow Silver, Jiang Yifan couldn't help frowning. After all, Ye Xinyan was from Duke An's Mansion, and even if she had fallen on hard times, she shouldn't be so shameless, right? She had the nerve to ask him for Silver!
Ye Xinyan didn't share this perspective and just watched Jiang Yifan nervously, gauging his reaction. Seeing his brow furrow, her heart skipped a beat for fear her plan would fail, and she hastily amended her request, "If you're short on cash, then... fifty taels?"
Jiang Yifan's frown deepened. This Ye Xinyan, to fall to such a state. For a few Silver Coin, to bow so low?
This didn't sit well with Ye Xinyan. For better or worse, Jiang Yifan had been her husband for three years. Even if they mostly despised each other, they still had the name of husband and wife, didn't they? His family was considered local gentry, and yet he wouldn't lend his ex-wife fifty taels to get through tough times.
Such character! She decided to retract her earlier assessment that Jiang Yifan wasn't completely lacking in integrity.
But, but, circumstances dictated actions, and who asked her to be in such difficulty now?
Ye Xinyan swallowed her pride, lowering herself even further, and with as much humility and timidity as she could muster, she said, "Otherwise, could you lend ten taels? You always carry some Silver with you when you're out. Surely you can spare Ten Taels of Silver?"
Ten Taels of Silver was already very little!
But with those ten taels, she could purchase an animal to pull a cart; perhaps the three of them could even take turns riding, conserving their strength.
Jiang Yifan's brow didn't relax in the slightest, and his expression grew even more unpleasant. Could the hardships of life truly change one's nature and pride?
Ye Xinyan didn't know what Jiang Yifan was thinking. Seeing his expression, she immediately became furious. Her anger burning, she forgot the precariousness of her current status.
She slammed the bowl she held onto the ground, not caring about the crisp breaking sound of the coarse porcelain or the wild vegetable soup splashing everywhere. She stood up straight, pointed at Jiang Yifan, and exclaimed angrily, "Master Jiang! That's enough, don't you think? There's a limit to kicking someone when they're down! As a daughter of the Ye family, I was ruined by your hands, and you just cast me out without a second thought. I didn't even ask you for compensation for my youth, did I? Can you measure the three years of my youth in Silver?"
Jiang Yifan's expression relaxed suddenly, as if to say, there it was—that haughty and unreasonable woman. He had almost thought he'd seen a ghost.
Ruin her? It was yet to be decided who had ruined whom.
And what on earth was this 'compensation for lost youth'? What an absurd idea she had come up with!
He turned and whispered to Shi Yu beside him, "Give her a silver note for one hundred taels." Considering their current attire and the safety of converting a one hundred-tael silver note into cash silver, he added, "And give them some silver pieces as well."
They already had silver pieces. Nanny Jin was about to speak, but Ye Xinyan glared at her fiercely, and she immediately closed her mouth.
It was a matter concerning the whole family's next course of action—how could Ye Xinyan not be anxious?
Ye Xinyan withdrew her fierce gaze, only to find herself looking directly into Jiang Yifan's eyes.
Jiang Yifan confirmed to himself once again that this woman's true nature was unchangeable. No wonder there was a saying that the land could shift but not one's nature, how true it was. Considering that Ye Xinyan had fallen to such a low point and yet still retained the same temperament, showing neither gratitude nor kindness to the nanny who followed her through trials and toils but remained as domineering and fierce as ever.
Jiang Yifan didn't want to take another glance at that woman, and said to Shi Yu, "We'll go ahead and wait for you up front." Leaving behind the sadden-faced Shi Yu with the other three, they turned their horses around and galloped away.
With the soup bowl no longer in her hands and clutching silver, Ye Xinyan naturally had no complaints about the dust stirred up by the horse hooves and beamed as she carefully stored the silver note and a few silver pieces handed to her by the servant.
Shi Yu's face was expressionless, and with a cold demeanor, he followed the young master's instructions to deliver the Silver Tael to Ye Xinyan, feeling nothing but contempt for his former, distasteful mistress.
Looking at her shallow smile, for just over a hundred taels of silver, she could laugh like that; she truly brought shame to Duke An's Mansion. It was a good thing the young master discarded her; if she had continued to be his wife, in the future, the young master and they would not know how many hardships they would have to endure, how much face they would lose.
Shi Yu quickly handed the silver to Ye Xinyan, too impatient to listen to her words of thanks, and immediately mounted his horse and rode off.
Ye Xinyan's words of thanks were merely polite, and since she had no intention of associating with this servant, she naturally didn't mind Shi Yu's behavior. Moreover, with so much silver in hand, this hefty sum now secured their journey, so she had no concern for the servant's attitude.
For the current Ye Xinyan, one hundred taels of silver indeed represented a significant sum. Ten taels of silver could support a family for a year, so one hundred taels was truly a fortune.
Nanny Jin looked at Ye Xinyan with concern. Ever since the incident at Duke An's birthday celebration, the young miss's personality had greatly changed. Although the change was for the better, today's matter was really quite inappropriate. How could the young miss casually ask someone for silver?
Ye Xinyan, aware of what Nanny Jin was thinking, casually said while storing the silver note and silver pieces, "Nanny needn't worry so much; I'm not one of those shallow-minded people. This was directed at that Jiang fellow, if it were anyone else, even if I wanted to borrow silver, I would weigh the pros and cons."
Qi Younian, who had been stunned for quite some time, finally found a chance to speak, asking, "Ye Zi, who was that person?"
Ye Xinyan's face bore an awkward smile as she stuttered, "That, that was my ex-husband."
"Oh." So that was it.
Qi Younian felt somewhat enlightened. The granddaughter he had acknowledged indeed came from a wealthy family. Looking at the impressive dress and entourage of her ex-husband, he was definitely from a rich household.
This incident reassured Qi Younian even more. Ye Zi had run away, yet her ex-husband didn't show much malice towards her, which was enough to prove that Ye Zi's identity was not in question, and that she hadn't lied to him.
Ye Xinyan regretfully looked at the shattered bowl and the spilled wild vegetables on the ground. She had no choice but to serve herself another bowl of wild vegetable soup and said to the two, "Let's eat first. After eating, there's no need to hurry on the road; let's head to the nearest town. Now that we have this silver, we can re-plan our journey."
She couldn't let grandfather push the wheelbarrow any longer. With nearly two thousand miles to go, they couldn't have him faint from exhaustion by the time they reached Eastern Yu.
Nanny Jin looked in the direction where Jiang Yifan had departed, worryingly saying, "Young Master, no, why would Master Jiang come here? Even if he were going home, he wouldn't pass through this area."
Ye Xinyan, sipping on her wild vegetable soup, said indifferently, "Never mind him, he can go wherever he likes; it's none of our business."
"Young Miss." Nanny Jin was completely at a loss for words.
Ever since the young miss left Duke's Mansion, she had become indifferent to past people and events; now, she didn't even take her former husband to heart. She must have been deeply hurt by her past experiences.
Ye Xinyan's attitude towards her ex-husband puzzled Qi Younian as well, but with Nanny Jin unable to offer more words, he was even less sure of what to say. Besides, it seemed that Ye Zi preferred not to mention the past, so he had no choice but to set his queries aside.
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