Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 627 House

It is not easy to come to the capital from afar, so naturally you have to bring some local gifts for your relatives and friends when you return.

Since returning from Zhuangzi, Song Ying has been planning to go shopping. Lin Wenxuan enthusiastically served as their guide and made a list.

Song Ying took the list and said, "Let's go to Liubiju first to buy some pickles. I brought some back to Master from Beijing before. They're delicious and go really well with rice. We also have preserved apricots from Xishan, crispy dates from Yuzao Lane, tuckahoe cakes, and Polygonum flower candies. These can be stored for a long time and can be used as dry food to satisfy our cravings on the road."

Yuan Qing took the list from her hand, folded it, and put it in his sleeve: "No hurry, I'll take you somewhere first."

Over the past two months, Yuan Qing had frequently attended gatherings of scholars and even attended lectures given by great scholars at the Imperial College. Song Ying assumed he had found some elegant place and said with a smile, "Okay, we'll set off when Senior Brother comes out."

"It's just the two of us, we won't wait for him." Yuan Qing pulled her sleeve and went out without saying anything. A carriage with green curtains was already waiting at the door.

After getting on the carriage, the carriage made many turns and finally stopped in front of a two-story house with blue bricks and black tiles. Song Ying lifted the curtain and saw a plain pinewood plaque hanging on the black lacquered door. Inscribed with three neat regular script characters "Jingguanzhai" in indigo paint, although there was no gold decoration, it had a sense of elegance.

"Where is this?" She was puzzled. This house was clearly a family home. Aren't poetry and literary gatherings usually held in gardens or mountain temples with mountains and rivers and beautiful scenery?

Yuan Qing smiled without saying a word, walked forward and knocked lightly on the doorknob. The copper ring knocked on the ebony door, making a steady thud, which was particularly noticeable in the quiet alley.

Soon, an old man with white hair and beard pushed open the door and bowed respectfully when he saw Yuan Qing: "Master is back."

Then he glanced at Song Ying, and seeing that she was dressed like a girl, he bowed deeply and said, "Miss, how are you?"

Song Ying was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth and stared at Yuan Qing with wide eyes. What was going on?

Yuan Qing pointed inside and led her in with a smile, saying as they walked, "I bought this house. We can move in next year during the Spring Examination. We don't have to squeeze in with other people at the inn."

"You, aren't you?" Song Ying considered his words carefully. "Isn't it too early to buy a house now? Besides, it's a two-story building, which is too big!"

The Yuan family's situation is just beginning to improve, but they still don't have enough money and have to spend it on important things.

This house is so large and so close to the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue, so it must have been very expensive. It's really not appropriate to spend so much money on a house that you won't need until a few years later.

After walking around the screen wall, the view suddenly opens up. In the square courtyard, the blue brick floor is paved and the light is so bright that you can see your reflection in it.

In the southeast corner, a pomegranate tree stands tall, its branches twisted and vigorous like a dragon, and its crown spreads out like a green cover, casting mottled light and shadow.

It was August, and the branches were already laden with fist-sized green fruits, a few of which were beginning to turn red, just like the shy cheeks of a young girl, faintly visible among the green leaves.

An old woman in an indigo cotton dress came out of the main room, holding a rag. Seeing the two of them, she quickly tucked the rag under her waist and saluted, saying, "Master, Miss."

Seeing her, Song Ying felt something was wrong again: "Wait, you bought a slave?!"

When Yuan Qing nodded, she was even more shocked. She felt as if Yuan Qing in front of her had been possessed by someone, and what he did was completely out of character.

"You go down first, and come back to clean up later." Yuan Qing ordered the servants to leave and pulled her to sit in the main room. "I want to ask Doctor Lin to move in and help take care of this house."

"Didn't you buy two servants?" Song Ying was increasingly puzzled. Meeting Yuan Qing's resolute gaze, a flash of enlightenment suddenly struck him. "You bought this house for Master, right?"

Yuan Qing raised the corners of his lips slightly, "Yes."

"Why?" Song Ying still couldn't figure out the reason, "Master lives well in the Lin family, with family members taking care of him, and he's familiar with his daily life and expenses.

Not to mention whether or not I can get used to the sudden change of environment, there are only two elderly servants here, how can it compare to the safety of the Lin family? "

Yuan Qing didn't answer but asked, "If there hadn't been this redress, where do you think the connections that Doctor Lin has accumulated over the years would have been used?"

Song Ying was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood the key point. This time, in order to vindicate his master, his master had mobilized the favors and old friendships he had accumulated over half a lifetime.

For the Lin family, this was not a worthwhile thing. The master, as a member of the Lin family, exhausted his connections and damaged the interests of the Lin family for a dead person from another family.

Because she never married, Master's position within the Lin family was already delicate. If she hadn't saved the entire family with her miraculous healing, she would have been driven to ruin by those harsh words.

Now that he has exhausted all his connections to redress his wrongdoing, there must be many people in the Lin family who are dissatisfied. The gossip that was suppressed because he saved the lives of the entire family is likely to surface.

In this case, moving out would actually be cleaner and allow everything to go as you wish.

Song Ying's heart suddenly felt warm, as if someone had brewed a cup of warm sweet wine in her heart. Yuan Qing was so thoughtful and considerate because he valued her.

"You've thought it through!"

Looking around, I saw the newly planted green grass in the courtyard, dotted with morning dew, shimmering like broken gold in the morning sun. The pomegranate tree, with its lush branches and leaves, stood tall like a canopy, casting a cool green shade in front of the west wing.

The layout of the house is full of ingenuity, and the carved partition windows in the main house are particularly ingenious - the diamond-shaped lattice with a swastika pattern in the center not only filters the scorching sun into fine gold foil, but also allows the whole room to be immersed in soft light.

The sunlight shines through the intricately carved window lattices, outlining a pattern of sparse and slanting shadows on the blue brick floor. One can imagine that when the sun moves westward, the light and shadows will seem alive, slowly moving around the house.

The more she looked at it, the more satisfied she became. The back house in the front could be used as a servant's quarters and stables, and a carriage could be purchased to make it convenient for her master to travel.

The bright room in the main house is used to receive guests, the second room is used as the master's bedroom, and the east wing is used as a study, which means purple air coming from the east.

The back row of rooms are left for the maids to live in. Well, add some strong servants. This house is located in the East City. Most of the neighbors are civil officials from the six ministries. There are imperial censors patrolling the city every day. The villains will never dare to act rashly here.

Hey, wait!

She looked at Yuan Qing and asked, "How much does this piece of land and this house cost? Do you have enough money?"

As she spoke, she calculated how much money she had left.

Yuan Qing raised the corners of his lips slightly, "It's enough. I borrowed some from Chen Yunze before coming here."

Song Ying blinked, blinked again, and suddenly glared at him: "Did you expect this before coming to the capital?"

She originally thought that Yuan Qing was the same as her. It was only after arriving at the Lin family that she realized from the words and behavior of the Lin family members and servants how they treated their master in a subtle way.

But now it seems that he had thought of it a long time ago!

Sure enough, he still thinks long-term!