She Became A Downfall Noble Lady-Chapter 55 - Sketch

Chapter 55: Chapter 55 Sketch

Chapter 55 -55 Sketch

Jinrong picked up another folded paper and said to Wan Yan with a smile, “Uncle Wan, you see, this one looks the least like a bird, right?” He then proudly claimed, “The one that looks least like a bird actually flies the best.”

“Hongzhi, take this and fly it for Uncle Wan to see.”

Hongzhi was stunned, thinking that it wasn’t appropriate for Sixth Master to be doing this. This was a toy for a three-year-old child, and he, the personal attendant of the master, was a proper grown man, wasn’t he?

Filled with resignation yet daring not to be negligent, Hongzhi stepped forward, took the toy meant for toddlers, imitated the child’s manner, blew on the top of the Paper Bird, got a feel for the force needed, and tossed it straight out.

After all, Hongzhi was a man, and with his throw, the paper airplane glided upwards at an angle, then took a turn and flew out beyond the low wall of the courtyard.

Wan Yan and Hong Wu, among others, had never seen such a thing and were astounded as they watched it flutter and drift away, managing to glide out of the courtyard.

Hongzhi sighed with annoyance, not even having a chance to apologize to his master as he hurriedly dashed out of the courtyard to chase after the Paper Bird. After all, who else had the strength and the skill, and whose master valued this object so greatly?

Jinrong had initially been intrigued by the new toy and had brought it back to see how it was folded. He hadn’t expected that throwing it just once would be so interesting.

Watching Hongzhi scramble out in an undignified manner, Jinrong couldn’t help but laugh heartily without any sense of propriety.

“Hong Wu, fetch some paper. Let’s see how these things are folded.” He had nothing else to do, so why not learn to fold them? Later when he returned to the capital, he could entertain his nephews, adding a glint of fun to their otherwise dreary royal lives.

Tossing paper birds with other children could foster their relationships, and the simple, straightforward game of chasing the Paper Birds was certainly better than having a group of youngsters constantly playing mind games with each other, wasn’t it?

When Jinrong casually unfolded one of the folded papers, he noticed that the paper was used and had drawings on both sides.

At first, he glanced at it without much interest, focusing on the fold lines, with another piece of plain paper at hand, planning to replicate it and fold a paper bird with movable wings.

But as he examined it closely, he realized that the drawn patterns were different – it was not the usual flowers, birds, or landscapes depicted, but rather something that resembled a kind of apparatus.

After some thought, Jinrong abandoned the idea of studying the fold lines and instead unfolded the other three Paper Birds. Out of the four pieces of paper, only the Paper Bird was made from a plain sheet, while the other three were cut from the same sheet that had haphazard lines drawn all over it.

He pieced the three sheets together and looked them over carefully on both sides. A quarter was missing from this larger sheet, so the sketch was incomplete and the whole picture indecipherable. However, from what he could tell, his guess was right – the sheet depicted some kind of apparatus.

After examining it for quite some time without understanding its purpose, he instructed Hong Wu, “Go and invite Master Jiang over. Tell him I need to see him about something.”

…

Jiang Yifan found it odd that Jinrong was looking for him and wanted him to come right away. What could be so urgent for an idle prince who never planned to meddle in affairs, especially in such a secluded place?

Jiang Yifan didn’t ask Hong Wu any questions but rode to Jinrong’s temporary residence and went straight in.

Entering the back hall, he saw His Highness Prince Yu bent over the table, focusing intently on several pieces of paper.

Jiang Yifan was about to pay his respects according to custom, but Jinrong grabbed him and pointed to the corner-missing piece of paper, saying, “Yuanfan, look at this diagram. Could it be the design for some kind of device?”

Glancing at it, Jiang Yifan saw nothing unusual; it was just a roughly drawn sketch. So he asked, “Even if it is a device, what of it? Where did you get this diagram? Why don’t you just ask the person who drew it?”

Could it be that he was overthinking it? Jinrong stared at Jiang Yifan for quite some time before saying, “I went to Ye Xinyan’s stall for breakfast today and saw her child playing with a few pieces of folded paper, said to be folded by Ye Xinyan herself. I thought they were interesting, so I took them to learn how to fold.”

As for Ye Xinyan, he was getting more and more puzzled by her. In just a few months, not only had her personality changed drastically, but many things she did were sophisticated and delicate, which was truly perplexing.

That said, it was understandable that he, a man, did not comprehend Ye Xinyan. But Jiang Yifan, her former husband, should know something, right? Even if she had been spoiled and lost her true nature, her daily behavior should have revealed glimpses of cleverness.

And yet, Jiang Yifan was even more speechless about Jinrong, an official prince, already in his late twenties, actually snatching toys from children…

After Jinrong finished speaking, he saw Jiang Yifan looking at him with a strange glance and angrily said, “Jiang Yifan, after all, I am a prince. Could you tone down that look, so I can keep some face?”

Jiang Yifan spread his hands innocently, “Prince Yu, I didn’t say anything, did I?” Let alone Prince Yu’s status, even an ordinary grown man playing with folded paper would be embarrassing, even if nobody mentioned it.

After staring at him for a long while, Jinrong, unable to outface the calm and composed Jiang Yifan, waved his hand irritably, “I won’t argue with you, let’s discuss this diagram. I think it’s a new contraption, the structure isn’t very complex, but it appears to be something that can rotate and move. Look here…”

Jinrong pointed to the front wheel of the bicycle, “Is it possible that the things on both sides of this wheel are part of a mechanism?”

Upon hearing Jinrong’s explanation, Jiang Yifan examined the diagram again, but given that a part was missing, it was truly difficult to discern what it was actually depicting.

Jiang Yifan ventured a guess, “It seems like something that rotates the wheel.”

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Jinrong thought for a moment, then asked, “Do you think this is a civilian device, or something used for transportation or even siege weaponry?”

Jiang Yifan rolled his eyes, speaking with irritation, “Only you, a prince, would see an obscure object and link it to the safety of the court. Don’t you see how simple this device is? If siege weapons were so easily found in rural areas, wouldn’t our Great Xia Dynasty be in constant turmoil? It’s quite a stretch of the imagination, Your Highness.”

Taking another careful look, Jinrong realized the object truly wasn’t very complex and gave an embarrassed smile, “Isn’t it because it looks like something that could be pushed, that I thought a bit too much?”

Hearing that the sketch depicted something movable, Jiang Yifan asked another question, “You said this was folded by Ye Xinyan? Didn’t you inquire where she got the sketch from? It can’t possibly be her own drawing, can it?”

In Jiang Yifan’s opinion, even though the sketch was clumsily drawn and of poor quality, he did not believe that it was something Ye Xinyan could have drawn.

Now it was Jinrong’s turn to roll his eyes, “You were her husband for three years; if you don’t know something about her, how am I supposed to?”

Composedly sitting back down, Jiang Yifan responded, “Then when you go for breakfast again, you can ask yourself.”

Jinrong couldn’t wait until the next time he went for rice tofu. He suggested, “Her food stall is a fixed spot and should be registered at the Yamen. Have the market official check it out and see where she’s from. Once I know the place, I can send someone to investigate.”

“That sounds good,” responded Jiang Yifan. It was a simple matter, and since there were records, it would be easy to check, “Then I’ll head back first. Once I find out Ye Xinyan’s residence, I’ll inform Sixth Master.”