After entering, you'll see a screen wall at the main entrance.
Li Mai: ......
Who built this house? It's so meticulous. She guessed that after entering the gate, you probably wouldn't see the courtyard directly. There should also be a screen wall and a corridor.
Because she could see there was another door further inside, which was open at the moment, and that was probably where horse-drawn carriages went in.
The main gate has a set of steps in front of it, and the threshold is very high, reaching up to the calves.
Judging from the layout, it was built by a merchant family. If it had been built by an official or someone with a title, there would have been at least three steps leading up to the gate.
The three men, including Old Man Zhou, remained silent and watched quietly.
If you ask them, they would never have imagined that they would one day have such a house.
Entering through the main gate and turning past the screen wall, there was indeed a corridor with a low lattice wall made of blue bricks. It had a roof on top of a roof, not the kind with carved beams and painted rafters, but you could tell that the wood was of high quality and had been painted in its original color to prevent weathering and keep the color of the roof of the corridor looking fresh.
Seeing this, Li Mai was relieved, and she felt very comfortable stepping on the corridor.
Li Mai turned to look at Old Man Zhou and asked with a smile, "Dad, how are you feeling?"
Old Zhou looked around. "It's fine. Wheat, isn't that price too cheap?"
Although six hundred taels was still an astronomical figure in his eyes, he felt that such a house must have cost at least a thousand taels.
Li Mai nodded and hummed in agreement. "Hmm, it seems the young master of the Lu family has taken quite a bit of money from us. I'll repay this favor elsewhere and help him earn this money back."
Old Zhou glanced at his daughter-in-law silently. He couldn't help but think that she was more domineering than his sons.
Perhaps this is the confidence of those who have real skills!
Walking along the corridor, they saw the scenery on both sides of the corridor, one side of which was a pool, but the water in the pool was frozen.
There are several artificial hills by the pond, and next to them is a grassy area covered with dry grass.
There are some large rocks by the pool where people can sit, as well as bluestone steps in the pool in the afternoon.
Li Mai wondered, "Could it be that people still sit here fishing in the summer?"
On the other side of the corridor is a large pavilion, surrounded by flower fields and low bushes; it seems that this is a small garden.
If you walk further ahead, at the end of the corridor is a hanging flower gate!
It looks very simple from the outside, but I didn't expect this hanging flower gate to be so beautiful.
Li Mai suddenly wondered if this house was built by some wealthy man for the woman he loved. It was clear that a lot of thought had been put into it; there were three screen walls protecting the courtyard from the main gate, showing that the people living here were well protected.
Passing through the hanging flower gate, you will see a central courtyard with three small gates: one to the west, one to the east, and one to the north. The north gate leads to the main courtyard, and the main courtyard gate is larger than the east and west gates, with double doors. The east and west gates have single doors.
One main courtyard and two side courtyards? Li Mai asked in surprise.
Just then, Zhou Quan also came out from the small door on the west side.
"Brother, is there another courtyard over there?" Zhou Lei went over to the small gate and looked inside.
“Yes, this is a small courtyard with stables and thatched huts. There are two main rooms and three west-facing rooms. Would you like to come and take a look? It used to be where the servants lived. The west-facing rooms were probably where the cooking was done, and the main rooms were where people lived. There are two large kang beds with mats on them.” Zhou Quan looked at Li Mai.
“Okay, let’s go in and take a look!” Li Mai nodded and followed him inside.
Old Man Zhou followed.
After the family visited the west courtyard, they felt that it resembled the courtyard where they now lived.
After coming out, we went to see the East Courtyard. The East Courtyard looked much more elegant than the West Courtyard. There was a flower bed in the courtyard, and there were flower racks around the flower bed, but there were no flower pots on them at this time.
The east courtyard has three main rooms, two south-facing rooms, and two east-facing rooms. There is also a side door leading outside in the corner of the east-facing rooms.
Li Mai was surprised, "Huh, we didn't see any side gates on the outer wall."
“Hmm, go outside. There’s an open space. Push it open and take a look. Nobody lives here now, and the side gate isn’t locked.” Zhou Quan went over and led her outside to take a look.
Pushing open the side gate, Li Mai saw a space about ten feet wide, which should be suitable for growing vegetables, and there was also a latrine in the corner in front.
After seeing the three main rooms, Li Mai felt that the east courtyard was enough for a family to live in on their own.
Our whole family is coming, and this big house can accommodate everyone.
Finally, they went to the main courtyard. Once inside, it was immediately apparent that the layout of the main courtyard was different from the other two courtyards.
The main courtyard actually has the feel of a mansion in the capital.
The house was built very luxuriously and elegantly. Although the roof was a simple gable roof, it had eaves, and the exposed rafters were all painted with real patterns.
I don't know if this regulation is normal, but it looks very nice and expensive.
The courtyard was paved with blue bricks and had an osmanthus tree. Judging from the thickness of the tree, Li Mai felt that the courtyard had been built at least thirty years ago. Unless the tree was a large tree that was transplanted when the house was built, it was impossible to tell.
There are three main rooms, but no west wing, no east wing, and no south wing. However, there is a small door on both the east and west walls.
Zhou Quan said with a smile, "I've looked at it. The west wall leads to the outhouse, and the other side is the pigsty. The east wall leads to a place that looks like a martial arts training ground. It's very flat, and the soil isn't loose soil like that used for planting. It's solid, as if it's been trodden on and deliberately compacted."
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