After dinner, An Dashan refused Captain Zheng's request to stay and went back to the inn. After returning to the inn, An Dashan asked An Yong why he wanted to get engaged so suddenly. An Yong said, "Dad, there is no need to go into the details. The governor's daughter and I are indeed in love, and the governor thinks highly of me, so he wants to marry his daughter to me."
An Dashan didn't want to ask any more questions, so he said, "Since you are willing, we have no objection." An Dashan asked An Ning again, "Ningning, you just said you want to buy a house here, are you serious?"
After hearing this, An Yong turned to look at An Ning. An Ning nodded and said, "I am serious, Dad. Think about it, my eldest brother is now a fifth-rank military general and is about to marry the governor's daughter. I can't let my future sister-in-law live in the governor's mansion or rent a house, right?"
An Dashan and An Yong thought it made sense, so An Yong took out a thousand taels of silver from his pocket and said, "This is a reward from the emperor. I was thinking of giving part of it to my family and using the rest for betrothal gifts. Now that my younger sister is here, I have to be a hands-off manager."
An Ning did not refuse, and took the banknote, saying, "Don't worry, big brother, I will do this for you beautifully and gloriously." Then he took out a banknote of 100 taels from his pocket and said, "Big brother, you can't be without money, you can use this money first."
An Yong refused: "No, I haven't used up all the money you gave me last time, and my salary has also increased, so it's enough for me to spend."
Seeing this, An Ning said nothing more, took the banknote back, and said, "Okay, I'll go and rest first. I still have to go see the house tomorrow."
Because they had agreed to go see the house the next day, An Dashan and An Ning went to Captain Zheng's house to find Zhao after breakfast, while An Yong went to the military camp.
When they arrived at Captain Zheng's house, Zhao had already packed up and was waiting for An Ning and his daughter. When she saw the two men coming, she said, "I have sent someone to make an appointment with the broker. He is waiting in the house now. Let's go over now!"
An Ning and An Dashan naturally had no objection. An Ning followed Zhao and got on Zhao's carriage, while An Dashan followed behind in a mule cart. An Ning and Zhao were chatting about family matters, and soon they arrived at the house that Zhao mentioned.
An Ning helped Zhao get off the carriage. A man in his thirties came out to greet her and said, "Madam Zheng, I have asked someone to clean the house. Do you think it is satisfactory?"
Zhao nodded and said, "You Zhangya people always do things without worrying about others. Let's go in and take a look."
The second half of the sentence was directed to An Ning. An Ning nodded and followed Zhao into the yard. An Ning walked in. As soon as she entered the gate, what caught her eye was a large screen wall. Next to the screen wall were the reception room and study in the front yard. Next to the gate was a row of back houses.
Going further in, there is a hanging flower gate. Going through the hanging flower gate is the inner house. The inner house covers a large area, with five main rooms and two side rooms on each side. There are three side rooms on each side of the main room, one bright and two dark. The living room is in the middle and the bedrooms are on both sides. There is also a small garden in the middle. Because no one takes care of it, several flowers of various kinds are blooming in disorder.
The reason why this courtyard is sold at a high price is that this three-courtyard is different from the ordinary three-courtyard. There are two small courtyards on the left and right rear sides of the main courtyard. The layout of the small courtyard is similar to that of the main courtyard, but the main house of the small courtyard is three rooms. The three courtyards are in the shape of a Chinese character "品", and there is a large garden in the middle of the three courtyards, and there are rockery and pavilions in the middle of the garden.
The last entrance is the back room, which is the kitchen and the room for servants to live in.
An Ning looked around and was very satisfied with the layout of the house, so she nodded to Zhao. Seeing An Ning was satisfied, Zhao turned to look at An Dashan and asked for his opinion. An Dashan looked at Zhao with a questioning look and nodded.
Seeing that both the father and daughter were very satisfied, Zhao began to bargain with Zhang Yaren. An Ning had never seen Zhao like this before, so she admired Zhao even more. Finally, under Zhao's fierce attack, she bought the house for 750 taels.
An Ning said to Zhang Ya Ren again, "Zhang Ya Ren, don't bother two masters with one thing. Look, I have bought this house, but I don't have any servants in it. I wonder if Zhang Ya Ren has anyone suitable?"
Zhang Yaren smiled and said, "This girl has found the right person. I don't have anything else but houses, shops, and many servants. Let's go and take a look today!"
An Ning naturally had no objection. She turned around and asked Zhao, "Aunt, is there anything wrong at home?"
Zhao smiled and said, "No, if there is anything wrong at home, I will accompany you!"
After several people left the house, Zhang Yaren locked the door and brought everyone to the Yahang.
Zhang Yaren was very efficient in his work, and soon the yard was filled with men and women with dazed expressions and tattered clothes.
An Ning looked at the servants standing below and said, "I want to hire a cook. Who of you can cook? Please step forward." As soon as she finished speaking, three women came out.
An Ning walked over to the three people and observed them carefully. She found that one of them looked pale and thin, and seemed to be in poor health. An Ning thought that the cook must be in good health, so she shook her head and walked to the next one.
The other two were both strong and robust. An Ning said, "Stretch out your hands, both of you. Let me see."
The two women stretched out their hands. An Ning looked at them and saw that one of them had short nails and her hands were clean. However, the other woman's hands were relatively clean, but there was some black mud in her nails. So she said to the one with clean nails, "Stand aside."
The woman hesitated to speak, and An Ning saw this and asked, "What do you want to say? Just tell me."
The woman said, "Miss, I was sold along with my family. Please be kind and buy me, my husband, and my son!"
When An Ning heard this, she said, "Where are your husband and your son?" As soon as she finished speaking, two people walked out of the team. One of them was an honest man in his thirties, and the other was a boy about ten years old.
An Ning said to Zhang Ya Ren, "Zhang Ya Ren, if we buy the whole family, how much would you like?" Zhang Ya Ren said, "The couple are both young and strong. Although the child is still young, he will be very useful if he is trained."
An Ning shook her head and said, "As you can see, my newly bought house is in need of manpower, and I don't have the time to train servants."
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