The capital was vast, divided into four directions: east, south, west, and north. Walls within walls, starting from the outermost moat, to the outer city walls, the intermediate barbican, then the ramparts, and further still the inner city walls…
There were twelve gates in total, with three city gates corresponding to each direction.
Two land gates for pedestrians and carriages to enter.
One water gate, designed to facilitate the passage of ships traveling north and south.
At this moment, Su Xiaoqi and her group were heading towards Baozheng Gate on the south side.
Just as it was almost Su Xiaoqi’s carriage’s turn to pass through the city gate, several swift horses galloped towards them.
To avoid them, the carriage pulled over to the right of Baozheng Gate to wait.
After the fast horses passed, a carriage arrived. A gust of wind blew, and Su Xiaoqi glimpsed a familiar figure.
She had thought she wouldn’t see him for a long time after they parted.
After all, the capital was vast, with hundreds of thousands, even millions of people residing here.
Yet, unexpectedly, the capital felt small. Upon just entering the city gates, she saw him.
Of course, it wasn't the rider on horseback, but rather someone in a red lacquered carriage carved with bat motifs, traveling alongside their own carriage.
She merely glanced over, and her heart fluttered.
Though his attire was different from before, she recognized him at a glance. His skin had become fairer, and his face exuded a noble aura.
Su Xiaoqi stared blankly as the carriage passed by them without stopping.
She had initially intended to call out to him, but the cold wind reminded her that this was not modern times, where two buses heading towards each other might have their windows rolled down to greet acquaintances.
In the eyes of outsiders, as a married woman, leaning out to greet an unrelated man was somewhat improper.
She suppressed the urge, sighed, and leaned against the carriage wall, wrapping her cloak tighter.
Shen Yun glanced at her, a faint sigh escaping him. He had also seen the fleeting figure just moments before.
From the bottom of his heart, he did not wish for them to have any further interaction.
But life was unpredictable, and some things were not entirely within one’s control.
“Hey, hey, sit tight, it’s our turn to enter the city,” He Qiulei called out from outside.
The carriage entered through the southern city gate and proceeded along the main street before turning left and right through several other streets.
Finally, it stopped on a street that appeared relatively clean and open.
“Brother Shen, Sister-in-law, we’re here,” He Qiulei, who had been sitting on the carriage shafts in the biting wind, called out from outside.
Shen Yun responded, alighted from the carriage first, then turned to extend his hand to help Su Xiaoqi down.
Su Xiaoqi, being naturally nimble, merely used a bit of force to jump down. She looked at the two thick, vermillion-lacquered wooden doors. They were open, and a middle-aged man dressed as a gatekeeper stood before them, with a deferential expression.
“Originally, we could have driven directly to the second gate, but I thought since this is your first time here, you’d want to see the layout of the residence.
Since I’m familiar with it, I’ll take you on a tour,” He Qiulei said with a smile.
Shen Yun looked to Su Xiaoqi for her opinion, asking her considerately if she was tired.
Su Xiaoqi shook her head. She also wanted to see what kind of three-courtyard residence in the capital, worth five thousand two hundred taels, looked like.
The three of them entered from the left side of a screen wall carved with the motif of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea.
After seeing the front courtyard, it was undeniably large.
The front courtyard had two rows of side rooms and a large central courtyard, with a row of buildings behind it.
Three main rooms and two side rooms, suitable for receiving guests.
Moving to the second courtyard, upon entering, there was a small garden.
After passing through it, they encountered the ornate hanging archway that symbolized the second gate.
As Su Xiaoqi was the only female host that day, there were no strict formalities.
He Qiulei continued to lead the way, guiding them through.
The second courtyard had three smaller courtyards.
A main courtyard and two side courtyards, east and west.
He Qiulei enthusiastically introduced, “Look, this courtyard is very good. Brother Shen and Sister-in-law will live in the main courtyard, and these side courtyards can be allocated to children when you have them, which is more than enough.
There is also a back courtyard with a large yard, connected to a wing house behind it, which is where the servants reside.”
After the introduction, Su Xiaoqi had a general understanding.
The layout of this residence was indeed excellent.
Furthermore, the He family had frequently carried out repairs and maintenance.
As a result, it was clean and tidy, appearing very livable.
Su Xiaoqi paid particular attention to the bathroom in the main courtyard.
It had been renovated from the original lavatory. According to Su Xiaoqi’s wishes, it was paved with marble, and a custom-made squat toilet and a drainage ditch were installed.
Even the bathing amenities were complete, including a showerhead and a nozzle.
However, due to limitations in conditions and technology, it couldn't be as aesthetically pleasing as modern facilities. Su Xiaoqi opened a valve, and it was functional.
Seeing the satisfied expression on Su Xiaoqi’s face, He Qiulei chuckled heartily, praising Su Xiaoqi for being incredibly clever.
He had never imagined that a lavatory could be designed that way; it was simply too convenient.
He thought he would design one for his own home upon returning.
“You’re too kind. I can tell you, this is likely the first successfully renovated bathroom in the Great Liang Dynasty. You have development rights,” Su Xiaoqi said with a half-joking squint.
“What, are you really selling it?” He Qiulei was genuinely tempted.
Without Su Xiaoqi needing to say anything, he, who considered himself quite knowledgeable, knew that such designs had never been seen in the capital, or even across the entire Great Liang. He had indeed intended to profit from this.
That was why he had mentioned designing one for himself back home, testing Su Xiaoqi’s reaction.
He believed many people would be interested in these blueprints. Selling them to you would be better than selling them to others, how about one thousand taels of silver?
Now he knew she didn’t care how he conducted this business; all she wanted was a thousand taels.
He immediately produced two thousand taels, stating that one thousand was for the blueprints, and the other thousand was a gift to celebrate their move.
Su Xiaoqi understood He Qiulei’s perceptiveness and knew that once her blueprints were widely adopted, it would drastically change the bathrooms in wealthy households in the capital.
The profits earned would certainly be more than just a thousand or two, but she simply didn’t want to bother with it, allowing He Qiulei to handle the matter.
The transaction between the two was concluded in moments. Shen Yun, who had observed the entire exchange with an indifferent expression, revealing no emotion, actually valued Su Xiaoqi even more in his heart.
How many more secrets did his little wife hold that he didn’t know about?
He Qiulei then spoke about the original servants in the residence.
There was a gatekeeper named Uncle Qiu, and in the outer courtyard, a sweeping woman, Uncle Qiu’s wife, known as Aunt Qiu.
The second courtyard was larger, housing three people: two maids and a young servant girl.
The back courtyard had only one childless old woman responsible for sweeping.
Meng Qiulei explained that they were sold along with the residence. Since his family had no one to inhabit it, the servants had not been replaced.
He offered to call them over to show them, and if they were found unsuitable, he would find a broker to sell them and bring in new staff.
After all, such a large residence couldn’t be left without someone to look after it as before.
Su Xiaoqi surveyed the five remaining residents in the house. They appeared to be honest and upright. Seeing that Shen Yun had no objections, she decided to keep them.
The five individuals expressed their profound gratitude with bows.
Returning to the second courtyard, Su Xiaoqi looked at the three main rooms and chose one to live in. For the other two, she remembered Zhao shi and old Yu shi.
He Qiulei, without any pretense, requested a room in the front courtyard to stay.
Shen Yun let him be.
After all, he had accompanied them, and the property ownership needed to be transferred at the government office the next day.
That evening, the three of them had dinner together. Being away from home and not part of a large noble family, there were no overly complicated rules.
As they retired for the night, Shen Yun suddenly asked, “Wife, have you taken out the property deeds and land titles to look at them?”
“Ah…” Su Xiaoqi was confused.
She had only glanced at them once when He Qiulei gave them to Shen Yun and she took custody. She hadn’t taken them out again afterward.
After all, such documents were just paper, and constantly taking them out to look at them would cause them to be damaged. Naturally, she had carefully organized and stored them in her spatial dimension.
“Perhaps we should take a look,” Shen Yun said meaningfully.
With his words, Su Xiaoqi understood.
She retrieved the land and property deeds from her spatial dimension and said softly, “Huh, that’s not right. This one says the residence is on Locust Tree Street, but I remember seeing an alley called Mao’er Hutong when we arrived from the outside today.”
Su Xiaoqi focused, “This… is this not as advertised?”
She thought of He Qiulei’s plump, honest appearance and how sensible he seemed, making it hard for her to believe he would play any tricks.
No, why should she trust He Qiulei so much, just because of his appearance?
No, it wasn’t worth it; some people’s appearances were deceiving.
And Su Xiaoqi didn’t truly believe He Qiulei either.
In fact, she had been constantly warning herself not to be fooled by his appearance.
From beginning to end, she only trusted Shen Yun.
At this moment, Shen Yun was neither impatient nor flustered, but rather calmly said, “It’s not necessarily that. Perhaps the painting and calligraphy turned out to be more useful than he imagined.”
Su Xiaoqi blinked, thought for a moment, and then picked up the property deed again, finally understanding, “I think I get it.”
Shen Yun smiled, reached out, pulled her slender waist towards him, embraced her, and patted her shoulder, saying, “Go to sleep.”
The next day, He Qiulei, tidily dressed, proactively came to lead the two to the Shuntian Prefecture yamen to transfer the ownership. His attitude was incredibly humble and enthusiastic, especially towards Su Xiaoqi, as if he were about to worship her as a god of gambling.
Su Xiaoqi thought he must have found someone to help him decipher the bathroom renovation blueprints, which had great potential!
Of course, part of it might also be due to his unauthorized substitution of the residence.
However, because Su Xiaoqi had been enlightened by Shen Yun the previous night, she easily discovered He Qiulei’s subtle maneuver.
While she wasn’t paying attention, he had replaced her original deed with another property deed and land title from his sleeve.
She saw it and instinctively glanced at Shen Yun. He shook his head at her, signaling that this was not the time to say anything, and to wait until the other party was ready to speak.
After all, it wasn’t easy to play tricks in front of him.