Jianjia smiled and said, "I will send someone to inquire tomorrow."
Yu Jiao closed the box. Before her elder brother left, he sent someone to give her two thousand taels of silver notes. Together with the money she earned from making seal incense for Lianxi Temple, she now had a total of ten thousand taels, which should be enough to buy a two-story house.
If that's not enough, she still has a lot of things in her warehouse, which can be worth a lot of money if she pawns them.
After taking a bath, Yu Jiao was still thinking about this matter while lying on the bed. She only looked at the house with two entrances because she took into consideration that Yu Qizhe was a small official who had just entered the officialdom. If he bought a big house in the inner city, he would inevitably be gossiped about. Besides, Yu Qizhe lived alone, and the house with two entrances was enough. Even if Uncle Mengshan and Aunt Song came to Beijing in the future, there were still east and west wing rooms for them to live in, which would be enough.
The next day, Yu Jiao was teaching Tao Ge'er how to write when Jian Jia came back from outside. She had a smile on her face and said, "Miss, what a coincidence! The broker said there is a house with two entrances in Yong'an Lane, facing north and south. Would you like to go and see it yourself?"
Yu Jiao put down the pen in her hand and said, "I'll go take a look."
Seeing that Tao Ge'er also put down the pen in his hand and stood up with her, she couldn't help but smile and said, "You continue practicing calligraphy, I'll be back soon."
Ever since his elder brother left home, Tao Ge'er has been sticking to her very closely. Yu Jiao originally thought that he would stay with her for a few days and then go back to Dongyuan. However, when Madam Liu and Nanny Wei came to pick him up some time ago, Tao Ge'er still didn't want to leave.
Seeing that Tao Ge'er had learned a lot of words from her, Mrs. Liu simply asked Tao Ge'er to live in her yard.
Tao Geer felt a little disappointed when he heard this, and sat back in his chair, "Then you should come back earlier."
Seeing that he looked a little pitiful, Yu Jiao coaxed him with a smile, "I'll bring you some pastries from Qipinzhai."
Tao Geer was happy at this, picked up the pen, and urged Yu Jiao, "Third sister, go quickly."
Yu Jiao returned to the wing room and changed into a lotus pink jacket and flowered silk skirt. Jian Jia buttoned up her collar and said, "Wei San has gone home to see his mother. Let Li Jing drive today."
Yu Jiao nodded, asked Bai Lu to stay in the yard to take care of Tao Ge'er, and went out with Jianjia alone.
Yong'an Lane is not as close to the imperial palace as Zanmao Hutong, but it is not on the edge of the inner city either. It only takes less than half an hour to get to the palace gate or the six ministries by carriage or sedan chair.
There are bustling markets around it, which makes it very convenient for daily shopping. It is also close to the moat, and you can see the boats and pleasure boats on the river from a distance.
When the carriage arrived at the entrance of the alley, the broker came up to greet them with a smile and led Yu Jiao into the alley.
Those who live in Yong'an Hutong are all upstarts like Yu Qizhe who have just entered the officialdom and do not hold high positions. It is relatively quiet inside the hutong. The house with two courtyards is at the end of the alley. Although it has only two courtyards and the courtyard is not as grand as the ones in the royal palaces and marquisates' houses in Zanmao Hutong, it has an elegant layout. As soon as you enter the door, you will see a small courtyard with a rockery made of Taihu stones. Next to the rockery is a pond with water lilies in it, which makes the small courtyard look particularly exquisite.
There is a hanging flower gate on the north side of the courtyard. After passing through the hanging flower gate is the main courtyard, which has the main house, east and west wing rooms, and the back house, connected by a corridor. There are clusters of bamboos planted beside the path, as well as a few banana trees and Deutzia odora. There are osmanthus trees planted by the wall with small white flowers. You can smell the rich fragrance of the flowers when you stand in the courtyard.
The broker peeked at Yu Jiao's face and saw that she was satisfied, so he led her to the main house. "This house was renovated only a few years ago, and the rooms are all new. The original resident was a clerk in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and he was also an elegant man."
Yu Jiao followed him to look at the east and west wing rooms. The paper on the windows was newly pasted, and the paint on the beams and pillars had not faded, so there was no need to renovate them.
After agreeing on the price with the broker, the house deed was transferred. Jianjia followed the broker to the government office to deposit it. Yu Jiao stayed alone in the courtyard, sitting in the small pavilion next to Ditang waiting for Jianjia to come back.
She had just sat there for a while when she heard a thud. She looked towards the courtyard wall and saw a man falling from the top of the wall and falling on the magnolia flower under the wall.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
