Chapter Sixty-Eight: New Plans
As Lu Jingbai walked out of the main courtroom, he was greeted by Xuan Yan, who was waiting for him. Before Lu Jingbai could even ask any questions, Xuan Yan reported, "The incense lit in the side hall was mixed with some 'bewitching incense,' which caused that young master Lin to have fantasies and rush to confess."
"The size of that robe was altered before it was delivered."
"The oil shop delivered this."
After Xuan Yan finished reporting everything, he took out a slightly worn account book from his pocket.
Lu Jingbai quickly covered himself with his wide official robe. As for why they were whispering these things on the road, it was because someone was secretly spying on them at their residence.
"Is there any news from the governor?" Lu Jingbai asked softly.
"Next month," Xuan Yan said in a low voice.
Lu Jingbai's face darkened. From the moment he discovered the clues about the illegal salt trade, he had been actively reporting it, but all he had encountered was obstruction. He knew that the case involved a wide range of people, and it wouldn't be a big deal if it only involved a few merchants.
Now that the report has been submitted to the governor, it is still being delayed again and again.
I heard this news last month, and it's still "next month." Now that the evidence is almost gathered, let's get straight to the point!
"Young Master," Xuan Yan called softly, "Madam only wishes for your safety and well-being."
Lu Jingbai lowered his eyes to look at Xuan Yan and said indifferently, "Rotten wood in the mountains will rot if it is not carved. If we are timid and hesitant in our actions, how are we any different from that rotten wood? We might as well just rot away!"
“But that person won’t like it,” Xuan Yan reminded him.
The current emperor is sixty-three years old and is very suspicious, while the crown prince is twenty-three years old and is in the prime of his youth. The two sides are already showing signs of conflict, which is the real reason why the head of the family asked the young master to stay here.
However, if this matter of smuggled salt gets involved, given the young master's temperament, if he hits a wall and finds that reason is useless, he might resort to the "better to die than bend" approach.
“Honest advice is always hard to hear, so I will go first,” Lu Jingbai said in a deep voice.
This night was destined to be sleepless. Shen Zhiyi chose to stay at a nearby inn. The village chief said that he and Li Shitou could stay in a shared room, but she stopped him and booked two adjacent superior rooms, claiming that if someone sneaked in in the middle of the night, they could look after each other.
He portrayed "persecution complex" to its fullest extent.
However, this was not an exaggeration. Shen Zhiyi deliberately set up simple rope traps in the windows and doors, and actually caught several thieves with dirty hands.
So much so that Li Shitou didn't dare to sleep soundly and stood guard in front of Shen Zhiyi's door.
None of the three of them actually slept well.
The next day, as soon as the yamen opened, Li Shitou led three tied-up, thin men into the yamen. The group felt safer inside the yamen and waited until 3:45 AM.
The Lin family sent their steward, who was humble and cooperative. Shen Zhiyi successfully obtained the land deed for Jigong Mountain, but looking at her own name on it, she still felt it was not quite real.
“Miss Shen, there are still some free-range chickens on the mountain that haven’t been collected yet. I hope you can grant us a few more days,” Steward Lin said helplessly, taking out a few taels of silver from his hand and handing it over. “Please be lenient.”
Shen Zhiyi pushed the money back and said, "Of course, but it's still best to clarify things in front of Registrar Zhou. What exactly is a few days?"
Butler Lin paused for a moment, then said, "How about the eighth day? After all, some stray chickens like to wander off, so we'll have to search for them..."
“Okay, then on the 8th at 9:00 AM, I will lead people to Jigong Mountain to officially take over,” Shen Zhiyi confirmed earnestly.
"No problem, thank you for your understanding, young lady," Butler Lin said with a smile.
Previously, they only knew that Jigong Mountain had fertile soil, but they didn't know that the Lin family bought the mountain specifically to raise chickens!
No wonder outsiders are strictly prohibited from going up the mountain, and there are always people guarding the foot of the mountain.
As soon as they stepped out of the government office, Shen Zhiyi asked, "Grandpa Village Chief, Uncle Shi Tou, is there anything you want to buy?"
Upon hearing this, the village chief knew that once he got his hands on those ninety-odd taels, he wouldn't be able to keep them. He quickly said, "Girl, let's go back to the village as soon as possible, so that your Grandma Qin and those aunties won't worry. Come on, let's go quickly."
"Stone, hurry up too," the village chief said to Li Stone, who was walking behind.
"Hey, while you're at it, buy some..." Before Shen Zhiyi could finish speaking, the village chief pulled her towards the city gate.
They hurriedly boarded the oxcart back to the village, but the scene was not as peaceful as the village chief had imagined. Instead, they heard Shen Zhiyi chatting with the driver about the price of oxen.
"You can buy it for fifteen taels?" Shen Zhiyi asked in surprise.
"Yes, and with the cost of the cart frame, it'll be another two ounces," the driver sighed.
Shen Zhiyi turned her head and looked intently at the village chief, almost as if she wanted to say, "Let's buy an oxcart too."
“Girl, think about your house, your land… everything requires money,” the village chief said slowly.
Shen Zhiyi calmed down. She wasn't scared by the money, but rather she began to consider what the rebuilt houses should look like and how to plan for Gongji Mountain.
Upon seeing this, the village chief's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was finally at ease.
As they passed the foot of Jigong Mountain, the village chief specifically said to Shen Zhiyi, "This is Jigong Mountain. It's only half an hour's walk from our village and very convenient to get to the town."
As the village chief spoke, the oxcart headed to the upper left. In comparison, Jigong Mountain was in a more convenient location than Xiaba Village. To the right, it led to the town, and to the left, it led to Xiaba Village, Yugou Village, and Fushan Village. Another road led to Mugong Village, making it easily accessible in all directions.
Unfortunately, I didn't have enough money in my pocket, so I could only watch for now.
Shen Zhiyi withdrew her lingering gaze from Jigong Mountain and focused on what she could hold onto.
Before the oxcart even reached the stone tablet in Xiaba Village, voices could be heard: "Look, isn't that Chen Yatou?"
This incident worried the entire village, so Shen Zhiyi quickly waved to them and shouted, "I'm back!"
As they spoke, they got off the oxcart. Shen Zhiyi helped the village chief walk into the village, and Zhao Daya and the others standing at the back of the crowd squeezed through.
"Zhiyi, I knew you'd be alright!" Zhao Daya shouted at the top of her lungs, drowning out the concerned voices of the others.
Shen Zhiyi was deeply moved by this fervent concern. She reached out and hugged Zhao Daya, then pulled Tang Huaya and the others together. The group of girls embraced each other, and she laughed, "Lord Lu is such a good official, he must be able to see through everything! I'm even planning to rebuild my house."
“Your little shack should have been repaired a long time ago…” Zhao Daya stopped talking to herself, suddenly remembering something she had heard earlier, “Building a house is very expensive.”
Without Shen Zhiyi needing to say anything, the elders walking around in layers heard the words "building a house".
The village chief, who was walking ahead, suddenly turned around and asked, "What? Girl, are you going to demolish it and rebuild?"
Her comprehension skills are like those of ten Zhao Daya, hitting the nail on the head.
"I wanted to take advantage of this time of slack farming season," Shen Zhiyi said slowly. "I'll have to trouble the uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters in the village then."
"We're all family here, we'll definitely handle it perfectly for you!" the surrounding villagers said kindly, without mentioning wages at all.
Shen Zhiyi happily agreed, but she couldn't refuse to give what she was supposed to. She not only wanted to build a greenhouse with a firewall, but also wanted to try to build a modern bathroom. If that didn't work, she would have to think of other ways to improve it.
This "compensation" was undoubtedly a hot potato in her hands. The number of thieves was increasing day by day, and Shen Zhiyi couldn't sleep well all night. Even though she had set up anti-theft measures, people still managed to sneak in.
Being tormented like this every night, before she could even spend any money, Shen Zhiyi felt like she was going to have a nervous breakdown.
Instead of waiting any longer, she quickly checked the pipe layout and area calculations on her blueprints, and then, accompanied by the village chief, went to find Uncle Xu Shui, who was skilled at building houses in the village.
"Ah Shui, do you think this can be built?" the village chief said, handing over the straw paper.
Xu Shui rolled up his sleeve, which was half too short, and took the paper. The more he looked at it, the more his brows furrowed. He couldn't help but ask, "What is this thing? Is it buried underground? How did its tail end up here?"
"This is a water pipe, and it uses..." Shen Zhiyi explained meaningfully, but since she wasn't sure about the material of the water pipe, she explained its effects more clearly.
“In that case, we need to find a kiln to specially fire this thing,” Xu Shui said seriously. “If it’s a special production, we also have to report to the government, which will cost a lot more money.”
"It's alright, this..." Before Shen Zhiyi could finish speaking, the village chief quickly interrupted, "What do you mean 'it's alright' if we can't manage it properly?"
“According to this diagram, that water pipe is very important,” Xu Shui said, stating the facts.
This water pipe is not only key to whether the bathroom is clean or not, but also important because it eliminates the need to fetch water. Of course, the existence of this pipe also demonstrates the progress of the construction industry.
"Would ceramic tubes work?" Shen Zhiyi couldn't help but ask.
"If even porcelain won't work, then I can't think of anything that will," Xu Shui said helplessly.
"Besides the pipe, how much would it cost to build the house in this picture?" the village chief couldn't help but ask.
Xu Shui glanced at Shen Zhiyi and then said, "Eight taels of silver is enough."
Shen Zhiyi planned a house with two living rooms, two bedrooms, one bathroom, and one kitchen. The fire wall and kang (heated brick bed) were installed in one go, so there was no need to plan the path of the stove. The most expensive expense was the water pipes. So, excluding the water pipes, it would only cost one or two ounces more than a normal house.
"That's alright." The village chief nodded in satisfaction.
"Then let's get started?" Shen Zhiyi asked tentatively.
“Move! We’ll move soon. Anyway, you shouldn’t stay there anymore. It’s like this all day long…” the village chief said with a headache, as Shen Zhiyi helped him walk outside.
Shen Zhiyi secretly winked at Xu Shui behind the village chief's back, and finally got through this hurdle!
After escorting the village chief home, Shen Zhiyi returned and, seeing that Xu Shui was still at home, secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Uncle Shui, thank you for today."
"It's nothing, compared to Yingcao's matter, this is a small matter," Xu Shui said, then looked worried, "But Chen girl, if you were to install water pipes in your room, it would cost at least eighty taels. With that money, you could build a brick house!"
Shen Zhiyi knew that the price did not include labor costs, and she probably wouldn't have much of the hundred taels left. But some things couldn't be cut back, so she said, "I know."
"Then I won't say anything more," Xu Shui said helplessly.
"But we have to keep this a secret from Grandpa Village Chief for now," Shen Zhiyi said with a smile, as if she herself wasn't the sucker who spent eighty taels to build a mud house.
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