She Became A Downfall Noble Lady-Chapter 39 - The Saying of the Eldest Familys
Chapter 39: Chapter 39 The Saying of the Eldest Family’s Patriarch
Chapter 39 -39 The Saying of the Eldest Family’s Patriarch
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After the family had dined, Ye Xinyan cleared and washed the dishes, while Qi Congming fell asleep on the heated brick bed, soothed by the Princely Heir’s whispered consolations.
Qi Younian, who sat beside Qi Congming, saw Ye Xinyan enter and beckoned her to sit down. He asked, “Before dinner, did you hesitate to speak because you were afraid the child might hear something inappropriate? Please, discuss with us. Now that your Great Uncle is coming, how should we negotiate with him? Otherwise, we could also involve your Great Uncle, give him a talking-to, and keep the child here for the time being until his injuries are healed.”
Nanny Jin also looked at Ye Xinyan with concern. The child was too pitiful; they couldn’t let him go back to that home. It would be best if he could stay permanently.
After pondering for a moment, Ye Xinyan said seriously to Qi Younian, “Grandfather, I’ve been thinking, since the Second Branch family does not care for the child, and since there is no male heir on your side to carry on the family line, why don’t we adopt Qi Congming into the Second Branch family as if he were your grandson, to continue your lineage?”
“This, this…” Qi Younian was stunned. He was fortunate to have acknowledged a granddaughter, and now Ye Zi was suggesting adopting Qi Yourong’s son… could such good fortune be true?
However, he wondered what his younger brother thought. Would he be willing?
Ye Xinyan continued, “We can’t go over the Great Uncle’s head with this matter. My suggestion is to have Nanny Jin invite the Great Uncle over now before my Great Uncle arrives, and settle the matter with him first.”
Qi Younian hesitated, “Will it work? The child might be scorned in his own home, but if we want to take him, I’m afraid his stepmother won’t agree. She might not wish for Qi Congming to have a better life.”
Ye Xinyan scoffed, “She doesn’t get a say in this. The fresh wounds upon Qi Congming’s body pile atop old ones. It’s evident to anyone that she dislikes, even despises, the child. As one of his closest uncles, the absence of heirs in your household makes adopting an unloved child from the family quite reasonable. She can’t refuse it.”
Having explained her reasoning for the adoption, Ye Xinyan’s tone grew serious, “There’s one thing you need to be prepared for.”
“What is it?” Qi Younian asked.
“We’ve been here for two months now and have never heard the child speak. His expression is always blank. Although no significant ailments are visible on the surface, I can’t guarantee his mental faculties are intact. I need to ask if the child is not mentally complete, would you still want to adopt him?”
From the child’s appearance, he shouldn’t be foolish. But given his current unresponsiveness and silence, Ye Xinyan really couldn’t guarantee that he would grow up to be normal like other children. It was essential to discuss the worst possibility in advance, to prepare Grandfather for any future shock.
After a moment of hesitation, Qi Younian looked at Ye Xinyan and Nanny Jin, “Even if his mental faculties are not complete, he is still a living, breathing child of the Qi family. Instead of letting him suffer at the hands of a cruel stepmother, living a life worse than death, it would be far better to take him into our household. What concerns me is that caring for a child with mental challenges requires more effort. While I’m still here, it’s my undeniable duty, but considering my age, I don’t know how many years I have left…”
Qi Younian’s concern was that caring for the child would cause trouble for Nanny Jin and Ye Xinyan.
Nanny Jin quickly interjected, “Not to worry, I can take care of him. Based on his current state, he seems to be a normal child who’s just been frightened in that household; there shouldn’t be any significant issues. Even if there are, since he knows how to work, he can understand the basics like eating and toileting; at most he’ll be a bit unresponsive or silent. Such a child is easy to look after, much easier than the disobedient ones who are always causing trouble.”
Ye Xinyan, upon hearing Nanny Jin’s words, cast her a somewhat grievous look. Was Nanny Jin recalling her own family’s wayward young lady? If she could manage such a troublesome child, taking care of the well-behaved Qi Congming would naturally be no issue.
Her luck was truly unusually bad; she traveled to this era for no reason at all, bearing the title of the young miss of the Duke’s Mansion but reaping no benefits from it—only to follow along and suffer losses.
Seeing the look in Ye Xinyan’s eyes, Nanny Jin probably thought of the past as well, and her expression became somewhat embarrassed. Her young miss was just spoiled too much by the wife of the heir apparent, but she was actually a good child—just a bit difficult to serve, nothing else.
Having stated her position, Ye Xinyan also spoke directly, “Grandfather, what I’m talking about is only the worst-case scenario, just so you’re prepared. Even if Qi Congming wasn’t one of our own, if one were to encounter such a small, pitiable child on the road, clearly unable to survive, one should intervene. I myself wouldn’t want to stand by and watch him go back to suffer. If you’ve thought it through, let’s find a way to keep him here.”
Qi Younian felt relieved and said to Nanny Jin, “Then please bother yourself to make a trip and invite Ye Zi’s great uncle over to talk.”
It was better for Nanny Jin to invite the patriarch of the first branch; even if the old master wanted to know the reason, Nanny Jin could evade the question. If Ye Xinyan refused to answer Qi Yougui’s questions, then it would seem impolite.
Watching Nanny Jin hurry away, Qi Younian was extremely reflective. In this world, there were stepmothers with dark hearts like Madam Pang, the whole Third Branch family of scoundrels, but there were also kind-hearted people like Ye Zi and Nanny Jin.
Qi Yougui had originally planned to take a noon nap but was inexplicably called over by Nanny Jin. When he asked what was going on, Nanny Jin was elusive, only mentioning that the old master had an urgent matter to discuss. Further questioning yielded not another word from her.
Only when Qi Yougui, the patriarch, was ushered into the room by Ye Xinyan and seated on the kang did he suddenly notice a child sleeping there, curled up in slumber.
Looking puzzled at Qi Younian, Qi Younian said with a wry smile, “Big brother, please take a seat first, and I’ll explain everything slowly to you.”
Ye Xinyan served the tea and took over the conversation, “Grandfather, how about, I talk to great uncle?”
In Ye Xinyan’s view, although the mistreatment of Qi Congming by the Qi Yourong family was a clear fact with solid evidence, talking about adoption at this time might give outsiders the impression that Qi Younian was seizing the opportunity to plot for someone else’s child.
It was more appropriate for her, who was an adopted granddaughter from outside, to speak on this matter.
Ye Xinyan carefully recounted everything Nanny Jin had encountered at the Qi Family Third Branch, as well as her and Qi Younian’s worries about the child’s future.
In the end, she shared her idea: to adopt Qi Congming into their Second Branch family so that grandfather could have an heir to continue the family line.
As Qi Yougui listened to Ye Xinyan’s narrative, his expression kept changing until Ye Xinyan talked about the idea of adopting the child, at which point suspicion was clearly evident on the old master’s face.
After pondering for a long while, Qi Yougui finally spoke, “Old Second, you don’t have a son to carry on your line, so adopting a child indeed makes sense. Qi Congming, the child, is a bit slow and doesn’t talk much. His stepmother doesn’t pay him much attention, so adopting him shouldn’t be a big issue. However, talking about mistreatment,” Qi Yougui paused before finishing his sentence, “Madam Pang has been married into Clear Water Village for a few years now, and we all live in the same village, but I’ve never heard such claims before.”
