It takes less than half an hour to ride a horse from Xiangyang City to Fengcheng. The two city gates are separated by an open space in the middle, surrounded by mountains. In fact, if there is no internal strife and the defending soldiers are responsible, it is very difficult for foreign enemies to break in. Xifeng is easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The Prince of Duan lacked governing ability and was later poisoned to death. He also lacked capable subordinates, which allowed Duke to take advantage of the situation. If he had been a capable person, Xifeng would not have been so badly damaged.
To be honest, the Great Jin Dynasty had long been in chaos. After several years of war, it was time to determine who was superior. The late emperor, that incompetent ruler, had passed away, and the princes seemed to be mediocre, cowardly, and unable to win the hearts of the people.
It turns out that of the five factions, the two big leaders died in Xifeng. Now only the Crown Prince, the Duke of Zhenguo, and the Prince Xian are left. Looking at them, the Prince Xian is the most reliable. If nothing unexpected happens, the Prince Xian should be the one to ascend the throne in the future.
"What are you thinking about? You're distracted while I'm talking to you. We're here." Song Zhuiyan shook her head speechlessly.
"So fast." Song Tantan shook her head, putting the messy thoughts out of her mind. These kinds of national affairs were not for her to worry about; she was in no way going to fight for power and profit.
"Where is this?" She looked up at the unassuming gate in front of her and looked at Zhong Qingyi suspiciously. They had only been in Fengcheng for a short time when Zhong Qingyi came to pick them up and said she would take them to a place to stay, not anyone's mansion.
"Let's go inside and talk," Zhong Qingyi said with a mysterious smile.
Alright, stop keeping me in suspense.
After Song Tantan entered the house, she found Ye Moxun weeding in the yard. Several dogs were lazily lying in the corridor, their eyes half-closed. Hearing the noise, they all looked up and looked over. When they saw that it was an acquaintance, they continued to comfortably close their eyes.
"You're here! Perfect timing. Quickly clean up the place so we can settle in for the night." Ye Moxun wiped the sweat from his forehead, his breath coming in short gasps.
"You called us over in such a hurry because you wanted us to do some work. Why didn't you hire someone to do it?" They were no longer the poor people who only had a few dozen taels of silver. They had plundered a lot of gold and silver jewelry from Boss Cao, although the larger items were all in Song Tantan's spatial storage.
Ye Moxun only had two hundred taels of silver on him. It wasn't that he didn't want to carry more, but silver was too heavy and a burden. Besides, silver wasn't very useful in this world. Now, no, from a few years ago until now, the most valuable thing was grain.
The Great Jin Dynasty is too incompetent. The people have no food to eat. In recent years, people are not thinking about how to make money, but about how to get food. Nothing is more important than rice.
"Is it about money? It's all for you. I carefully selected this place; it's clean, safe, quiet, and there are no shady characters around. It's perfect for long-term living," Ye Moxun explained.
"How was it chosen?" Song Tantan sensed something amiss.
"This house was originally owned by the prefect of Fengcheng. It only has two courtyards. Because the location is relatively remote, and the prefect had many properties, it has always been vacant and has never been rented out. Of course, no one who came here has died here either." The last sentence is the key point.
The prefect of Xifeng City had long been killed by Duke, and his family members were also taken away. Therefore, the property under the prefect's name became Duke's property. Duke's general's mansion was originally the Duan Prince's mansion, which was converted into a general's mansion after he occupied it.
Duke swallowed up all of the property of Prefect Duan, except for this small two-courtyard house which was not in his name. It is estimated that Duke did not want it, and another reason is that the place is relatively remote.
A general's mansion is like being in the city center, the most bustling area in modern times, while this house is closer to the suburbs, and it takes at least half an hour to walk to the market.
Song Tantan's eyes lit up, and she walked to Ye Moxun's side with a smile, implying, "Then this house is ours. All the paperwork is complete, with the house deed and land deed, and the official seal is affixed, right?"
"Don't you trust me to handle things? Everything is in order, and no one can take it away from us in the future." No matter who becomes emperor or who comes to Xifeng to take up a post, this house will belong to them.
“Um,” Song Tantan glanced at her aunt and Uncle Zhong, then whispered in Ye Moxun’s ear in a voice only the two of them could hear, “whose name is on the property deed?”
“Mine,” Ye Moxun answered slowly. Seeing that she was glaring at him and about to get angry, he immediately told the truth and lowered his voice. “And yours too. It’s all on the house deed and land deed. Aunt Song and my uncle also have houses, but they’re in other places.”
"Really? Where are they all?" Song Tantan was excited again.
"My uncle's house is close to the market, and there is an academy and a bookstore nearby. The surrounding area is full of wealthy families. Although they are all merchants, many people have fled in the past, and many have been killed by Duke. The remaining people are either smart or have relatively weak financial resources. They are easier to get along with than those noble families."
Duke killed the merchants because he coveted their money.
"Where is my aunt's house?"
Ye Moxun smiled. "It's in an ordinary residential area, surrounded by scholars, moderately wealthy families, and a place with many intellectuals." But that was in the past. Now, where isn't chaotic? Duke has almost wiped out the people of Xifeng.
"Then why do you share a house with me? Why can't we each have our own house?" Song Tantan suddenly thought of this. What was Ye Moxun up to? If he didn't take possession of more houses now, he would have to buy them later when things settled down, which would cost a lot of money.
They now control the entire Xifeng area. It's so easy for them to take over a few houses and get some property deeds and land deeds, but things might not be so easy in the future.
Ye Moxun lowered his eyes, concealing the fleeting guilt in his eyes. He had naturally acquired another house, but he didn't say anything. The reason was known only to himself.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
