Chapter 408
"This house has been bought?" It wasn't that Zhan Feiyu was being stingy, but they were merely passing through Minhe Prefecture. At most, they would see the Eight Sceneries of Minhe and write eight poems to match them. It was unlikely they would be so wealthy as to buy this Muxiang Residence.
He Nuan placed the pastries on the table and replied with a smile, "Seventh Master sent word that staying at the inn was unsafe."
This Muxiang Residence was located in the bustling area of Minhe Prefecture, only half a street away from the Minhe Prefecture Office, making it the safest place. In the early years, this Muxiang Residence was built by a merchant. For safety, not only was it located near the prefecture office, but the walls were also built extremely high. The backyard of Muxiang Residence was a maze made of shrubs, and there was a secret room in the garden that led outside the house, making it the safest place.
"How much silver did it cost?" It wasn't that Zhan Feiyu was being stingy, but they would stay in Minhe Prefecture for at most half a month. Buying this house would be a waste. Even if she didn't go to the capital to find a teacher, she would likely return to Nanxuan Prefecture in Jiangnan Circuit, which was thousands of miles away from Longyou Circuit. "Why don't we sell it after we leave?"
"Three thousand taels. Because the price was not low, it hadn't been sold." He Nuan poured a cup of fruit tea and handed it over, seeing her young lady's disappointed expression without surprise.
The pastries at the entrance no longer tasted fragrant. Zhan Feiyu looked at the exquisite reception hall. Three thousand taels was not a small sum. A Tongzhi's annual salary was only two hundred taels, and a prefect's was only five hundred taels. After deducting living expenses and social obligations, it would take ten years to buy this house.
"So they took us for fools?" Zhan Feiyu could imagine the joy and excitement of the house owner at that moment. They hadn't sold it for several years, and suddenly someone was willing to pay three thousand taels. They probably set off firecrackers to celebrate before Asheng could even haggle.
He Nuan didn't quite understand Zhan Feiyu's heartache at the moment. After all, her young lady had always been generous, having sent two hundred thousand taels to the border with ease. This house only cost three thousand taels, yet her young lady was so reluctant.
Just as Zhan Feiyu was about to speak, there was a sudden bang from outside. The noise could be heard even from a distance.
"Miss, my brother is outside." He Nuan immediately became vigilant. They bought Muxiang Residence because the inn was unsafe. Yet, in broad daylight, someone dared to cause trouble at their door. He Nuan had to guard against someone taking the opportunity to kill them.
"Let's go out and see." Zhan Feiyu stood up, recalling that He Sheng had mentioned that the Yuan Residence had sent two people to keep watch. Now that someone was smashing the door, Zhan Feiyu couldn't help but suspect it was the same group of people.
Muxiang Residence not only had high walls but also a reinforced gate with rows of copper nails, so they didn't have to worry about people breaking in for a while.
Hearing the footsteps behind her, He Sheng turned and walked towards Zhan Feiyu. "Miss, one of them is Steward Hong, who sold us the house."
"Open the door... hurry and open the door..." The constant banging on the door continued. The person outside not only knocked but probably also hit the door with wood earlier, which caused that loud bang.
Zhan Feiyu was just thinking that buying the house was too wasteful. Upon hearing He Sheng's words, her dark eyes lit up. "Could they have changed their minds? We only bought the house yesterday, and we haven't gone to the yamen to finalize the contract yet, have we?"
"We agreed to go to the yamen at Shenshi today." He Sheng also heard that not only Steward Hong was there, but also Liu Zhongren from the real estate agency.
"Open the door." Zhan Feiyu nodded understandingly. No matter the reason, as long as the contract wasn't finalized, the house wasn't theirs.
He Sheng glanced at the shadows, confirmed that the four people protecting Zhan Feiyu were all present, and then walked over to open the main door.
"Oh..." The door opened suddenly. Steward Hong, who had been banging on the door with great force, stumbled in and fell face first, causing the surrounding onlookers to burst into laughter.
Zhan Feiyu looked closely and saw a dense crowd of people standing outside the main gate. Besides the onlookers, there were about a dozen people in the center. They were all young but carried an air of ruffianism, like street thugs.
Struggling to get up from the ground, Steward Hong wiped the blood from his mouth that had been knocked out by his teeth and then wrongly accused He Sheng, shouting, "Are you doing this on purpose? You didn't open the door earlier when I was knocking. I thought you were a good person, but I didn't expect you to be so cunning!"
Ptooey! After cursing, he still felt unsatisfied and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. It was evident that the fall had been quite severe.
"Steward Hong, why are you talking to a servant? Make him pay silver!" A thug yelled loudly. They often extorted money. If they met someone without money, they would extort ten or twenty wen. Since He Sheng had spent three thousand taels to buy Muxiang Residence, he should pay a hundred or eighty taels.
"Yes, pay silver! You made Steward Hong fall so badly, his bones are probably injured. It takes a hundred days for bones to recover. Steward Hong is someone who makes a fortune every day. How much money will he lose due to this delay!"
A thin, dark thug standing next to Steward Hong's eyes darted around. He Sheng and He Nuan had ordinary features and wore simple clothes like ordinary servants. The thug's gaze fell on Zhan Feiyu, who was clearly the young master of the house.
Yesterday, Zhan Feiyu's two carriages entered the city, and they finally went to the largest restaurant in Minhe Prefecture to eat. Wu Laizi was loitering in front of the restaurant at the time, intending to find a fool to extort some silver from, so he noticed Zhan Feiyu's group.
Wu Laizi made up his mind and spoke arrogantly, "Pay five hundred taels. If you don't have five hundred taels, we won't leave today!"
Hiss! A collective gasp of surprise arose. Not only were the onlookers shocked, but even Steward Hong and the dozen thugs were stunned by Wu Laizi's words. This was five hundred taels! They had never seen so much money in their lives.
"What a bunch of blind fools!" Wu Laizi sneered disdainfully, his gaze sweeping over Zhan Feiyu's head. Would someone who bought a house for three thousand taels without haggling be short of money?
Besides, this young girl looked like she had been pampered since childhood. Not to mention the expensive hair accessories on her head, just look at the white jade pendant with lotus cloud patterns that was holding down her skirt. Wu Laizi had seen a similar sized one in a jade shop before. The jade quality looked even less translucent than this one, but the shopkeeper had asked for three hundred taels at the time. The key was that the gentleman who bought the jade pendant had directly handed over the silver notes without batting an eyelid.
Wu Laizi felt that asking for five hundred taels was too little. However, looking at the young girl without any elders accompanying her, it was not appropriate for him to bully the weak. Five hundred taels was at most the price of one or two jade pendants, and this young girl could afford it.
Ignoring Wu Laizi's exorbitant demand, Zhan Feiyu looked at Steward Hong. "Are you afraid we won't pay the silver and run away? Although we haven't finalized the contract at the yamen, the house is here, and we can't steal it. Since you're here, there's no need to wait until Shenshi. Asheng, go get the silver notes and finalize the contract at the yamen."
"Yes, Miss." He Sheng immediately agreed.
The onlookers outside the main gate initially didn't understand why Steward Hong and these thugs were causing trouble at the entrance of Muxiang Residence. Now, upon hearing Zhan Feiyu's words, they realized that Steward Hong was afraid they wouldn't pay the silver, so he brought people to block the door.
"I'm not selling anymore! I'm not selling this house anymore!" Steward Hong shouted again, acting as if he were rich and not lacking money. He spoke rudely to Zhan Feiyu, "Consider it my generosity that you got to live here for free for a day. I'm not selling this house to you anymore. You should move out now!"
Anyone with a bit of temper would probably be furious at this point. When He Sheng bought the house yesterday, Steward Hong was extremely solicitous, calling him "big brother" and "little brother," as if they were sworn brothers.
He even generously told He Sheng not to rush to finalize the contract, allowing He Sheng and his group to live there first and to inform him if they needed anything. Steward Hong had some influence in Minhe Prefecture.
But who would have thought that after just one night, Steward Hong would turn his back on them.
He Sheng and He Nuan remained silent, but Zhan Feiyu's face darkened, and her clear voice carried a palpable anger. "We already agreed on the price yesterday, and the real estate agent was present. If you go back on your word now and say you're not selling, aren't you breaking your promise?"
Liu Zhongren, the real estate agent, had a bitter expression. He didn't know why Steward Hong was acting so crazy. Muxiang Residence had been for sale for five or six years, but due to the high price, it had never been sold.
Liu Zhongren was planning to persuade Steward Hong to lower the price and sell the house, but then he met He Sheng, this "fool." He bought it for three thousand taels without haggling. If they didn't go to the yamen to finalize the contract quickly, they might have to wait another five or six years to sell the house.