Chapter 130: Chapter 130
Chapter 130
Yueqian was completely unaware of the chaos that had erupted in the Qin family. After Mu Heng carried her away, along with his two younger siblings and little Qu Yi, they eventually arrived at the official government office.
This place was a government establishment, where the land transaction inspection department was located. Yueqian was gently set down by her husband, and then she walked inside with an air of arrogance. The two children exchanged glances again. They had heard their sister-in-law talk about her proficiency in acting before, which they hadn’t understood then, but were starting to comprehend now.
Qu Yi, who was also adept at acting, understood Yueqian’s actions well. Although she didn’t know why the young miss intentionally chose to display her fierceness rather than evoke pity by appearing weak, she said nothing to bother her. She knew her mistress was intelligent, so whatever choice she made must be the best one.
"Where are all the officials? I, Yueqian, have returned to the capital today and wish to purchase a house. Someone, present the prices of the available houses for this mistress to review," Yueqian called out loudly. Her familiar voice left the people stunned.
In fact, they had already known that the eldest young miss of the Qin family, the exiled evil, had returned to the capital once more. What they hadn’t expected was...her appearance right before them.
"E... Eldest Young Miss Qin," a young official working for the government nervously stepped forward. His job involved advising the people on land transactions. In a day, there were many people come and go, whether they intended to buy or sell. Generally, most people came to sell.
Commoner’s life was quite difficult in this era, a consequence of the recent war. They were a kingdom under the rule of the Hu Kingdom, which required them to send numerous tributes. Consequently, people had to bear higher taxes.
Nobles were somewhat better off as they had various businesses generating income for them. However, many still struggled significantly. There were many nobles like that. Being a noble meant they must take care of more people, and the more servants they had, the higher their taxes were. As a result, many low ranking nobles could no longer sustain such expenses and either relocated or reorganized the household matter.
Every month, smaller families would sell their land, which was their asset. Some even went so far as to sell their large manors and move to smaller ones to reduce the number of labors needed for upkeep.
Well, regardless of the reasons, Yueqian requested to see the layout plans of the houses they had drafted. She selected one she liked, which was of medium size—not too small, but not too large. However, considering the number of people she had with her, it was still somewhat spacious.
Because the property’s location was not near any major noble manors, there was plenty of land around the house. If her family expanded in the future, there would be enough space to build several small additional buildings.
Yueqian paid 10,000 silver taels to acquire this manor. It wasn’t very expensive because it wasn’t a grand manor nor was it close to the market. Moreover, this manor had only changed hands once. If the previous owners hadn’t had to move to another city for the family head’s higher position, they likely would have kept this property.
It was a pity that if left untouched, the house would have become abandoned. So, rather than keeping it, the previous owners decided to sell it and use the funds to establish themselves in another city.
The government officials handled the transaction very quickly, possibly because they feared that this Yueqian might cause a big commotion. They didn’t want her to stay there even for half a minute longer. Soon, Yueqian’s money was paid, and the land was now in her hands.
"Sister-in-law, is it true that you bought a house?" Xiao Long asked, not understanding the documents they were signing, but he heard what his sister-in-law said to the officials.
Buying land for 10,000 gold taels was an amount they couldn’t even imagine in their lifetime, yet his sister-in-law spent it so easily. This left Xiao Long’s mouth hanging open when he saw the stack of banknotes. His eyes nearly burned with fear. After he was lost in his though until his sister-in-law finished the process, he realized that his sister-in-law had spent that money to buy a house.
But was it really true? Could his sister-in-law be so foolish? How could she spend 10,000 gold taels on a house? Hadn’t she said they would move elsewhere? Why then spend such an enormous amount of money?
"It’s true," Yueqian smiled slightly as she answered Xiao Long.
How could she not understand what the young boy was thinking? His eyes couldn’t hide his questions. It wasn’t just Xiao Long; the others were probably thinking the same. Only Mu Heng didn’t seem to doubt her actions.
The young woman smiled slightly at the corner of her mouth. How could she tell the four of them that this was just a short-term investment? She was spending 10,000 gold taels now to turn it into more than 20,000 gold taels later.
Yueqian didn’t believe that no one would buy her land. She remembered that in the novel, this manor was left with the government for a long time until the second male lead arrived and rented it from the government for two months. It was then that he discovered the secrets of this manor.
This manor was indeed an old one and had only been owned by a single family. The head of the family didn’t know much about cultivation, so he didn’t understand the significance of the underground spring beneath their artificial waterfall. He never mentioned it to his descendant who was the head of the family either. With the artificial waterfall there, everyone assumed it was simply a beauty of it. They didn’t meddle with it or cause any damage.
But the second male lead was different. Perhaps because he was destined to support the heroine, he discovered this secret by chance after renting the manor for just two months.
It was a Yin Energy Spring, beneficial for women’s physical cultivation. It helped prevent illnesses and could even expel toxins from the body. When the heroine of the story was poisoned, he, knowing about the good stuff in his manor, hurriedly brought her here for treatment.
After that, the Yin Energy Spring became widely known. At that time, the manor was still government property, and many people rushed to buy the land. Naturally, the Young General spent a large amount of money to purchase this manor, all to give it as a gift to his beloved wife.
Currently, the price was 10,000 gold taels, but soon its value would be comparable to a large manor. Unfortunately, the novel didn’t specify how much the hero eventually bid for it. It was a secret meant to touch the heroine’s heart, showing how much her lover cared for her. However, it had never been mentioned again. There was only the part of people’s intense bidding, with the male lead who acted mysterious somehow winning the property.
Well, she didn’t plan to sell it just yet. Her household included three women, including herself, so it would be good to use its benefit for adjusting their internal energies while staying here.
The first person who needed to strengthen her body was the frail Qu Yi. Huan’er had improved significantly after eating nutritious food; she now gained some weight and wasn’t as weak and thin as before. But children’s bodies could still develop a lot more, so preparing their bodies was the best course of action.
Moreover..., Yueqian didn’t really intend to sell for profit. The price of 20,000 gold tales she set was meant to squeeze the Art Institute. If she were to give it to the hero according to the novel’s plot, Yueqian would feel like it was a waste.
Thus, the price of 20,000 gold taels was a “friendly” price between her and the Art Institute. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be better to keep it for herself in the future? However, Yueqian didn’t want to keep it either. Selling it to the Art Institute was a good option in case she had to sell the manor to someone else. But if she insisted on keeping it, she feared that the land might be seized back one day.
In the future, who knows what position she and her husband might hold in the Bai Kingdom, and when the two kingdoms might go to war again? If that day came, she and her husband would lose the right to own land, and the manor would be seized immediately.
To prevent that from happening, Yueqian couldn’t keep hold of this secret-laden manor in her name forever.
“Don’t think too much. Let’s go see our manor first, shall we?” Yueqian smiled. She looked at the children with gentle expression.
They didn’t know what she knew, so some things didn’t need to be explained.
The beautiful woman took the children’s hands and led them into the manor, with Mu Heng following behind and Qu Yi trailing after him. None of the four had ever been to the capital before, so after seeing the bustling market atmosphere, they were very excited. The children stopped to look at various things occasionally. They mostly liked those unfamiliar foods.
Of course, along the way, people tried to keep their distance from Yueqian as much as possible. However, they didn’t mind. Since people were trying to avoid them, it turned out to be a good thing, making their walk much easier, with no need to jostle with others.
Once they left the market, the spacing between houses increased. Nonetheless, there appeared large manors surrounded by many security inspectors. They had now entered the wealthy district.
Yueqian led the children to the newly purchased manor. It was quite far from the populous areas, but there were still minor nobles living on either side, ensuring its security was not lax.
"We’ve arrived, this is our manor," the beauty said to the two children. Xiao Long stood still, hesitant to enter after seeing the towering walls, something he had never seen in the town they came from. Such high walls were quite intimidating for them.
"Don’t be tense, go in. We still need to do some cleaning today. If we’re too slow, we won’t have anywhere to sleep," Yueqian urged them. Mu Heng nodded in agreement. He didn’t care much where he slept, but he definitely didn’t want his wife to sleep in a dirty place.
When their big brother led the way and opened the door, the children finally had the courage to walk in. Their little legs trembled slightly, but once inside, they were both very excited.
Since arriving, they had never been inside a manor of a powerful family before, so they didn’t know what was inside. They had only seen the walls of each manor. This was the reason why when they saw the entrance, the well-trimmed flower garden, or even the many large buildings lined up inside, they were thrilled.
"Second Brother, these flowers are beautiful."
"Huan’er, I can hear the sound of a waterfall. There’s a waterfall here!" The two children were equally delighted by such beauty. Yueqian walked in with a smile, and Qu Yi was stunned. She had never seen such a beautiful place before. However, the young girl knew her place, so she simply admired the surroundings while staying behind to close the manor door as a servant should.
"You really suit a place like this," Mu Heng, who had been secretly watching his wife, said suddenly out of adoration. Seeing the beautiful flowers in the manor and his beautiful wife gazing at the children with affection, his heart stirred deeply.
Mu Heng immediately realized that Yueqian was more suited to being a young miss than living as a commoner as they had been. Even though she was beautiful before, she deserved to live like a heavenly fairy. This impressed him greatly and created his resolve. No matter what... he should ensure his wife lived in a grand manor! Mu Heng’s ambition grew once again.
