Chapter 93 Part 4: The Ye Family

“This is your your older female cousin, Jia’er and older male cousin Ru Feng.” Ye Ming Xuan continued introducing.

Ye Jia’er was a year older than Jiang Li, she was born graceful and easy-mannered. To be honest, she didn’t resemble someone born from a merchant family, instead she projected the image of an educated official’s daughter. She had curiosity in her sight as she looked at Jiang Li, but she maintained her smile and nodded towards Jiang Li.

Ye Ru Feng was not as friendly as Ye Jia’er. He harrumphed loudly then turned his head to the side, refusing to look at Jiang Li.

“Your uncle Ming Yu will only come back in a few days, currently he’s not here.” Ye Ming Xuan said.

Jiang Li nodded: “Grandmother…….”

“Recently, old madam’s health hasn’t been too good,” Ye Ming Hui hesitated for a while before speaking: “If she knows that you have come, she will inevitably be excited, so wait for a while before telling her. What do you think, Ah Li?”

Before Jiang Li could reply, Ye Ru Feng had coldly spoken up: “Better not to see, what if grandmother sees her, gets angry and gets sick again?

“Ru Feng!” Zhuo-shi admonished him.

Ye Ru Feng stopped talking. Jiang Li said: “I’ll listen to uncle Ming Hui.”

Ye Ming Hui nodded and said to Guan-shi: “Go and find an empty courtyard and put it in order first for Ah Li to stay for the time being.” He then said to Jiang Li: “The second child and you must be very tired after rushing for several days on the road. Don’t think about anything first today and take a good rest. If there’s anything to say, just say it tomorrow.”

Jiang Li was stunned. Ye Ming Hui’s words were polite yet estranged. Completely treating her like a guest coming from afar, or a not so close visitor. She sighed deeply in her heart, Jiang second miss and the Ye family’s barrier was really too deep, it simply wouldn’t be resolved in a short while. Even Ye Ming Xuan, who had been in contact with her for a long time, had still not completely dispelled all his doubts towards her. He was suspicious whether her returning to Xiangyang was the decision made by the Jiang family.

The road still had a long way to go.

A sincere smile floated on her face and she said: “Many thanks uncle Ming Hui.”

Compared with the two uncles, the two aunts looked to be at their wits’ ends. Both unable to be estranged as the two Ye brothers, yet they also couldn’t be too intimate, appearing very contradictory. Jiang Li wanted to laugh, thankfully they did not have to continue interacting. After Guan-shi gave her a clean room to stay in, apart from the two servant girls by her side, there was no one else around.

It was calm at last.

Tong’er closed the doors. The room that the Ye family gave for Jiang Li was pretty good with nothing out of place. Jiang Li sat down, Bai Xue boiled tea and in a low voice, Tong’er softly said: “Miss, the people of the Ye family obviously didn’t allow you to see old madam Ye on purpose.”

Everyone could see, although her second cousin Ye Ru Feng’s words were a bit unpleasant to hear, it was undoubtedly still a fact. Old madam Ye’s health was not good, and towards this outer granddaughter, it was really unknown how she would feel to abruptly meet like this. So to speak, today, the other people in the Ye family were frightened.

“Miss, it’s really not good. After seeing old madam Ye, let’s go back to Yanjing right away.” Bai Xue also said: “If the Ye family continues to be like this in the future, it will be rather uncomfortable to keep staying here.”

The Ye family had good self-restraint, thus they not only did not drive her out, they still served her with good food and drinks, moreover their etiquette was thorough. However, it’s precisely this thoughtfulness that made people feel even more uneasy, just like a visitor in a strange family’s house.

“No matter, as a newcomer, each one of us needs the process to be familiar with each other.” Jiang Li smiled, “besides, the matter at that time was my mistake first. The Ye family behaving this way is much better than what I originally envisioned. Let’s wait for a few more days, we’ll talk again after I finally meet with the old madam.”

She came to Xiangyang this time, returning home to visit relatives was fake, to see old madam Ye was also fake, the truth was to ask about Xue Huaiyuan’s affairs. However, now she must not rashly go out and ask around, which would instead attract people’s suspicions. Even if asking around, she must overturn Xue Zhao’s case and had to spend a lot of effort. The Ye family was a strong tree behind her back. But at the moment, no matter how, she must build a good relationship with the Ye family, dispel their former hatred; this was the top priority of what she must do.

It must be carefully thought through.

……

On the other side, inside Ye Ming Xuan’s room, Zhuo-shi was in the middle of interrogating him.

“Without rhyme or reason, why did Jiang Li suddenly come over? What are you doing, not even giving a heads up, even older brother was shocked.” Zhuo-shi paced back and forth, “what should we do now? People outside saw that she’s staying in our residence, it’s hard to avoid rumors. This……. You really are!”

Ye Ming Xuan was between laughter and tears: “How could you place the blame on me? She herself proposed to go back to see mother. Even both old madam Jiang and Jiang Yuan Bai said something, what can I do? Can I still block my own niece from returning? It would look unsightly if other people saw it.”

“Hmph, it’s simply from seeing the older cousin now became an official in the Ministry of Revenue,” Ye Ru Feng coldly ridiculed: “still saying that we, as merchants, look at profits only. The way I see it, their Jiang family, as the chief a.s.sistant in court, is also self-interested. Previously, when no one from the Ye family served as an official, they hurriedly claimed to have no relations. Now seeing that the Ye family started to have social connections, they immediately stick closer.”