Chapter 21 The Ancient Scholar Used as Cannon Fodder (Part 21) Xie Zian...
Xie Zian seemed to have endless things to say, and chatted with Chu Nanfeng for quite a while without showing any signs of stopping.
Later, it was Guard Xu who brought over pen and ink, and Chu Nanfeng painted a picture of red maple leaves on the spot, which finally appeased the boy.
"He truly is a painting fanatic who will be remembered for all time," Lin You exclaimed. From the moment Chu Nanfeng began to paint, Young Master Xie's eyes had never left the painting.
Only when Chu Nanfeng got up to say goodbye did he reluctantly put the painting away and personally escort him downstairs.
Chu Nanfeng handed him the blueprints of the last house they had looked at that day. "Brother Xie, if you still have some spare change, you might as well buy this house. You might find some treasure there, and it will surely cheer you up."
Xie Zian casually agreed, but in his heart he didn't think much of it. His mood had already improved a lot. What treasure could bring him more joy than Brother Chu's paintings?
Seeing that the servant had taken the item from his hand and disappeared around the corner at a leisurely pace, Xie Zian then asked the servant:
"What is Brother Chu carrying? It looks familiar."
"The signature roast duck of Zuiyunlou, that's where I ran into him while he was buying roast duck," Xu Wuchen interjected at this moment.
"Three hundred coins each, but unfortunately they're already cold, they've probably lost half their flavor."
Xie Zian immediately glared at him angrily, "Xu Wuchen! Why didn't you say so sooner?!"
"What good would it have done if you had told me earlier? Could you have bought another one? Don't tell me that the roast ducks are already sold out. Even if there were some left, you didn't bring any money with you."
Xu Wuchen ignored his glare and stood aside with his arms crossed. "The Marquis has ordered me not to lend you any more money. You should think about how to pay for today's drinks."
Young Master Xie angrily tore off his jade pendant and threw it to the restaurant manager, saying, "I'll bring the money to redeem it tomorrow."
Seeing him turn and leave with the painting, Xu Wuchen paid for the wine, took the jade pendant back from the shopkeeper who was pale with fright, and followed him in a few steps.
That evening, Chu's mother put the duck, which had already cooled down, back into the pot. It tasted pretty good, and the family of three enjoyed a delicious meal.
The coachman who came with them had nothing to do, so he rented a carriage from the Chu family and took on odd jobs outside the capital city. At least they didn't have to pay for his meals.
Young Master Xie was still sulking and hadn't eaten dinner. He squatted in his room looking at the painting. This painting of red maple leaves seemed similar to the one his father had taken away, but the artistic conception was different. Brother Chu was truly amazing.
Xie Zian looked at it for a long time before remembering that Brother Chu had given him something else. He opened it and found it was a blueprint of the house.
He could understand the blueprints, but what did they have to do with the treasure? Xie Zian scratched his head and thought for a while, but still had no clue.
Just then, a knock came at the door, and from the voice, you could tell it was that bastard Xu Wuchen. "The door's unlocked, come in."
Xie Zian rolled his eyes as he looked at the food box in Xu Wuchen's hand: "Xu Wuchen, you're a dignified fifth-rank bodyguard with a sword, can't you do something productive? You've been watching me for almost half a year!"
"Yes, you've caused trouble seven times in just six months, and one of those incidents even reached the Emperor's ears." Guard Xu opened the food box, and the aroma of the food wafted out, causing Xie Zi'an to immediately sniff.
Young Master Xie, who hadn't eaten all day, turned his head away, indicating that he still had backbone and wouldn't eat if he said he wouldn't. But then his stomach started growling.
Seeing Xu Wuchen's suppressed laughter, Xie Zian gave up and picked up his chopsticks to eat, while simultaneously shoving the house's blueprints into his hands.
"Brother Chu gave me the blueprints, saying they're related to a treasure. Take a look and see if there's anything wrong with them. To me, they just look like an ordinary house."
Xu Wuchen didn't notice anything at first, until he glanced at the address marked in the corner. Wasn't this the house that had been confiscated from the General of the Western Expedition?!
Guard Xu suddenly stood up. "Something's not right with this house. Let's go find the Marquis!"
Xie Zian hurriedly swallowed the food in his mouth, drank a cup of tea, and rushed to his father's courtyard.
Lord Xie was still awake, gesturing at a map. When he saw the two of them approaching, he merely glanced at them.
Xu Wuchen handed over the blueprints, saying, "This is the house that will be auctioned the day after tomorrow. There seems to be something strange about the side rooms of the house. I will go to the house tonight to take a look."
Lord Xie frowned and looked for a while, then waved his hand, "No need to investigate secretly, just take your men and search tomorrow."
"I want to go tomorrow too! Also, this time it was all my doing, Dad, give the painting back to me!" Xie Zian quickly made his request.
Lord Xie glanced at his son. "Did you really discover that? You've improved quite a bit; you've learned to use your brain now."
Xie Zian was momentarily speechless, but still told the truth: "...It was Brother Chu who discovered it, but if it weren't for me, Brother Chu wouldn't have said it!"
Unable to resist his pestering, Lord Xie had no choice but to return the painting box to him, which he hadn't finished looking at yet. The brat was becoming increasingly disrespectful.
The next day, Xie Zian and Xu Wuchen led a group of people to move dozens of large boxes out of the house that General Zhengxi had bought. General Zhengxi and his family, who had already been released, were arrested and imprisoned again.
The capital was immediately thrown into a state of panic, with fewer people on the streets than usual, and even the auctions became much quieter.
Of course, this description of the desolation comes from Qian Youcai, who had witnessed it once before, where there were more than twice as many people as there are now.
This type of auction differs from traditional auction houses; it takes place in multiple separate venues, including those for selling jewelry and antiques, home furnishings, shops, houses, estates, and even servants and servants.
The relatives of the General Who Conquers the West were imprisoned, while the servants were brought here to be sold. This was the first time Lin You had ever seen an ancient human market, and he felt very uncomfortable.
There were the fewest people buying houses here, but a few well-dressed ones were seen. They were said to be stewards of noble mansions, and they made their living from land and shops. They didn't seem interested in the small houses.
The auction manager nodded slightly to Chu Nanfeng before pulling out a house and starting to bid, "A house on the east side of Nanshi Street, starting price one hundred and eighty taels."
"I am willing to offer two hundred taels," Chu Nanfeng stepped forward and called out.
The manager seemed unwilling to waste time on this trivial matter, and before anyone else could speak, he directly wrote a receipt for Chu Nanfeng.
Then he continued bidding: "A house in the western part of Sanliu Hutong, starting price two hundred and thirty taels..."
"Why is this house so cheap? Did we buy the wrong one?" Lin You still couldn't figure it out even after he paid the money and received the land deed.
"It was the steward who did it on purpose; he must have been informed beforehand," Chu Nanfeng explained patiently. "I just don't know if it was Brother Xie or Lord Xie."
"So, do we need to buy anything else? Like shops or land?" Lin You looked at the more than five hundred taels of silver she had saved and suddenly felt like she had made a lot of money.
"We can't buy farmland and estates around the capital, and no one in our family knows how to run shops, so we won't buy any for now."
Chu Nanfeng stopped, quite satisfied. Knowing that Lin You liked lively atmospheres, he even led her around for a while.
This is a place set up by the government. Today, the main purpose is to deal with the things confiscated from the house, and the majority of them will be auctioned off. They don't plan to participate in the auction anymore.
Several stalls were set up selling small items, including clothes, shoes, teacups, teapots, hair accessories, and more, giving it a feel of a flea market.
One of the stalls was quite interesting; it had a bunch of boxes in three different sizes, and you couldn't tell what was inside at all.
Small boxes cost 100 coins each, medium boxes cost 200 coins each, and large boxes cost 500 coins each.
The seller said that the value of the item is at least higher than the selling price, but of course, it's hard to say what his pricing standard is.
Some people bought them out of curiosity and opened them on the spot. Some contained purses and handkerchiefs, while others contained children's toys. Most of the items were old, so it was hard to say whether it was a loss or a gain.
I did hear that someone unearthed a silver hairpin, the material alone costing an ounce of silver, but most of the time it's just ordinary stuff.
This is similar to opening blind boxes in later generations, which emphasizes randomness. Even if you don't need something, you still want to buy it to see what you might get.
Lin You had never played with blind boxes in her previous life, and she didn't want to spend money on a bunch of useless things. With a quick thought, she turned into a tiny creature and crawled into the box.
"Chu Nanfeng, the seventh box in the third row contains writing brushes and ink, and there's a very beautiful inkstone." Chu Nanfeng bought the box for two hundred coins.
"The third box in the second row contains some toys; my little sister should like them." This box only costs one hundred coins.
"The first box in the third row contains some needles and thread. There are many colors of thread, so Godmother should like it." This box only cost one hundred coins.
Lin You picked out two more items before finally stopping, satisfied. She didn't deliberately choose expensive things; they were all things her family could use.
When Qian Youcai came to find him after buying what he needed, he saw that Chu Nanfeng was carrying five boxes in his arms and was walking much slower.
He hurriedly stepped forward to take it and handed it to the young waiter who had come with him. Unexpectedly, the seemingly composed Master Chu actually liked this kind of little trinket.
"Lord Chu, have you bought the house?" Qian Youcai asked.
Chu Nanfeng straightened his clothes and smiled sheepishly, "I bought it. I had nothing to do, so I just wandered around."
"Prime Minister Chu, would you like to buy some servants? After all, the house still needs people to look after it and keep it clean."
Qian Youcai glanced at the slave traders and reminded them, "These servants from wealthy families are better at interpersonal relationships, and Prime Minister Chu will inevitably need them in the future."
Chu Nanfeng shook his head, "No need. My family is small, and these people have too many complicated thoughts."
There were twenty or thirty people in that corner, divided into three groups, still complaining and arguing with each other; they were indeed quite cunning.
Lin You looked at the child being held by an old nanny and suddenly asked curiously, "Chu Nanfeng, could there be that general's child among them? Perhaps a loyal servant would switch his child with the young master's, or something like that."
Chu Nanfeng paused, looking at the group of people: "Is Sister talking about that gray-clad old woman? The child in her arms has a five-point resemblance to her in terms of eyebrows and eyes."
The child behaved freely, showing no signs of being disciplined; he couldn't possibly be the young master of the General's mansion. How could you, elder sister, have such an idea?"
"His act of treason should warrant the execution of his entire family, right? ...Aren't there often stories like this in novels?" Lin You smiled awkwardly, as if she had asked a common-sense question.
"The General's Mansion is guilty of treason, which will bring disaster to the whole family, but it will not be executed. If there are pregnant women or children under the age of eight, they can be spared the death penalty."
But if someone were to impersonate another, the entire general's mansion would be doubly guilty, not only implicating their relatives and friends, but also condemning these servants to death. Who would take such a risk?
These words startled Lin You; she had no idea there were so many rules in ancient times.
She hesitated for a moment, but still asked, "Chu Nanfeng, the people from the General's Mansion have been arrested again. Is it related to the account books and letters we found?"
"Yes, that should be crucial evidence, but the General's Mansion deserves its punishment," Chu Nanfeng said calmly.
Lin You felt a mix of emotions and remained silent for a long time. She could understand that treason was a capital offense, but the practice of implicating others was truly cruel.
Chu Nanfeng didn't try to persuade her. This world was crueler than hers, and she might encounter an even crueler world in the future. It was a good thing that her older sister could understand things a little better.
Qian Youcai didn't buy a house, but he did bid on two small shops. After the two of them went to complete the transfer procedures, it was already late, so they went straight back.
After helping to deliver the items to the guest quarters, Qian Youcai picked up Qian Duoduo, who had spent the whole day there, and left. He had a pretty good haul for the day.
Lin You stared blankly for a long time before finally speaking:
"Chu Nanfeng, when you marry a wife in the future, you must choose carefully and find a father-in-law who won't break the law!"
Even in modern times, the laws of each country are different. She has neither the ambition nor the ability to change the world; she can only try her best to adapt to the rules here.
Chu Nanfeng blinked, finally revealing a somewhat bewildered expression. It was a good thing that his older sister could figure things out so quickly, but why did her focus shift to something like her father-in-law?
Having calmed herself down, Lin You happily watched Chu Qing open the blind boxes. In the first box, besides the inkstone Lin You had mentioned, there were some pre-cut stationery, two delicate calligraphy brushes, and several old books.
"Sister, you've chosen very well. Although these books aren't ancient texts, they are handwritten copies that can't be bought on the market, which is quite rare." Chu Nanfeng took out the books and inkstone, leaving the rest for Chu Qing to play with.
The second box contained two boxes of Go stones. The stones were made of high-quality stone, smooth and round, and cool to the touch.
"Thank you, sister, I like it very much." At the bottom of Chu Nanfeng's book box was a wooden Go set. He didn't take it out often, and he didn't know how his sister knew that he liked to play Go.
A note from the author:
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