r18novel Page 460
Page 460
Li Chang'an's words carried on, and he led the two to Xuanwu Street, where they stood in front of the house with the best feng shui that Chu Caiwei had mentioned.
Not far from the palace, Xu Pingzhi said repeatedly, “Living here is very safe. The Imperial Guards often pass by on patrol. Moreover, it used to be the residence of a Grand Secretary. Later, the Grand Secretary went back to his hometown to retire and sold the house. It is both elegant and auspicious.”
Chu Caiwei looked at the compass and said, "Living here will bring you a successful official career, abundant wealth, and even good luck in love!"
Li Chang'an frowned. It wasn't that he didn't believe Chu Caiwei, but he felt that what Chu Caiwei said was a bit exaggerated.
Finally, Li Chang'an carefully looked at the house again and felt more and more satisfied. After all, it was a place for cultured people to live, which was both elegant and noble.
Finally, Li Chang'an stopped at the entrance of the house. "Then I'll buy this one. I'll go back to the brokerage to pay the deposit. Thank you both. You can go back now."
Xu Pingzhi quickly said, "I'm going the same way as you, so let's go together."
Chu Caiwei stretched and said lazily, "I'm so sleepy, I'm going back to sleep. Li Chang'an, are you really going to buy this house?"
Li Chang'an nodded and said, "Of course, I'm very satisfied with everything."
Chu Caiwei suddenly broke into a bright smile, "Hello, new neighbor, I'm going back to sleep now."
She walked with cheerful steps into the gate of the house next door...
No wonder Chu Caiwei said that living here would bring her good luck in love; it turns out that she was referring to herself when she said "good luck in love"!
"Sir, after buying the house, you will also need to buy servants. If you live alone, you can just buy a few maids."
"The maids can buy the families of convicted officials from the government, or they can look in the market, and some young masters even snatch them on the street..."
Li Chang'an frowned and said, "Isn't that inappropriate?"
Xu Pingzhi said, "The young master Zhang Yi who fell into your hands is a master of this kind. He comes from a powerful family and has great influence. If he really takes a liking to you and is forced into your mansion, even the common people have to accept it."
"Of course, the ones I just mentioned are slaves of low status. There are also some maids of good status. They are just hired to manage your household, and you cannot dispose of them at will."
Li Chang'an said, "Help me pick a few people with good household registration. I'll hire two of them. As long as they are diligent and sensible, they can be paid five taels of silver as a monthly wage after a one-month trial period."
Xu Pingzhi could hardly believe his ears. Li Chang'an didn't buy maids who could be disposed of at will, which was what most wealthy families did.
After all, it's perfectly normal for a man like Li Chang'an to buy two bed warmers. He can't just bully the free people he hires, and he also needs to give them time off to visit their families.
Moreover, the price was too high. Twenty taels could buy a slave maid. Even for a free maid, earning one tael of silver a month was considered a great favor from her master.
Actually, there was a reason why Li Chang'an didn't choose slave maids. He didn't know what kind of background those maids had, and it was more comfortable to use maids with clean backgrounds.
He himself was not short of money, and giving more money to the maids would make them more dedicated and hardworking.
"Sir, won't you reconsider?"
Xu Pingzhi did have connections, but he didn't quite believe that Li Chang'an would give such high treatment to his maids.
"That's settled then. I trust your judgment," Li Chang'an said with a faint smile, his words carrying a deeper meaning.
Xu Pingzhi's wife is both beautiful and capable. Asking Xu Pingzhi to help find a decent maid should not go wrong.
After leaving the brokerage firm with Li Chang'an, Xu Pingzhi returned home with a heavy heart.
His wife, Li Ru, dressed in a wide-sleeved dress, was busy preparing dinner. She came from a scholarly family; her father was a scholar. Seeing his wife's back, Xu Pingzhi suddenly realized that Li Chang'an was right; Xu Pingzhi had excellent judgment.
The family sat around a small table for dinner: their son Xu Xinnian, daughter Xu Lingyue, and four-year-old Xiaobuding Xu Lingyin.
"That chivalrous Li who saved Princess Pingyang today also killed the major criminal who killed the chief constable of the Six Doors. I heard he has also practiced Confucianism and Taoism."
But his classmates at the academy were skeptical. How could a Confucian scholar exude such a murderous aura? They wondered if he could write poetry, was knowledgeable in classics and history, or understood military strategy.
Xu Xinnian casually mentioned Li Chang'an, showing that he was quite well-informed. Scholars are often arrogant and stubbornly distrustful of things that defy common sense.
"He bought a house today, right next to the palace, for 15,000 taels..."
While eating, Xu Pingzhi casually mentioned how he met Li Chang'an and how he bought the house that day.
He noticed that his wife, Li Ru, and daughter, Xu Lingyue, were staring blankly at each other.
Fifteen thousand taels of silver—an astronomical sum.
“If you earn 15,000 taels without eating or drinking for 75 years, and you earn 200 taels a year, that gold-devouring beast will eat 100 taels.”
Li Ru muttered to herself, her gaze intentionally or unintentionally drifting towards the door. A man dressed as a constable passed by the door and entered the small courtyard next door.
This constable from Changle County was none other than Xu Qi'an, but the Xu Qi'an from before he transmigrated.
Xu Qi'an originally lived with Xu Pingzhi's family, but later had a conflict with his aunt, so he simply moved to the small courtyard next door to live alone, and cooked all three meals a day by himself.
At this moment, Xu Qi'an passed by his second uncle's house indifferently, smelling the aroma of food wafting out, his stomach began to rumble.
However, the faintly audible words "gold-devouring beast" deeply pierced Xu Qi'an's sensitive heart, causing him to clench his fists and grit his teeth.
"Even if I, Xu Qi'an, die! Die outside! I won't eat a single bite of your food, Li Ru!"
Xu Qi'an and Li Ru were at odds because of their strong sense of self-esteem and stubborn personalities.
One of the most obvious signs of Xu Qi'an's stubbornness was that he had never paid any attention to his beautiful cousin over the years, and his heart was filled with resentment towards his mean aunt.
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, never underestimate a young man's potential, Li Ru, you'll regret it later!"
Every day when passing by his second uncle's house, Xu Qi'an would feel Li Ru's gaze from inside and would give himself this encouragement.
"The way of a martial artist is to accumulate strength and then unleash it. I, Xu Qi'an, will definitely rise above others one day! I will reclaim the dignity I have lost!"
Xu Qi'an's rich inner monologue goes unheard by Xu Pingzhi's family. That's often how the world is; the joys and sorrows you cherish may be completely ignored by no one.
Li Ru withdrew her gaze and once again expressed her envy for the lives of the wealthy, "A house worth 15,000 taels... I wouldn't even dare to dream of it."
Seeing his wife and daughter's reaction, Xu Pingzhi continued, seemingly casually, "Lord Li wants to hire two respectable maids, with a monthly stipend of five taels of silver..."
Upon hearing this, all six eyes except for Little Pudding stared at Xu Pingzhi, their expressions exactly the same as when Xu Pingzhi first heard Li Chang'an tell this story.
"I confirmed with Lord Li several times. He said it would be five taels, but the person must have a clean background, be sensible and well-behaved, have fair skin and be pretty, and preferably be literate."
"Actually, when you put it that way, the requirements aren't low at all."
Xu Xinnian clicked his tongue and sighed, "They're just trying to appear cultured, imitating the manners of the academy teachers. But the teachers only pay their maids two or three taels of silver a month."
Xu Pingzhi continued, "Lord Li is young and unmarried. These two maids I found might just enjoy a life of luxury for the rest of their lives."
Li Ru murmured, "Following those old geezers at the academy is just a recipe for misery, but following a young master might not be a good thing either, like that Young Master Zhang..."
At this moment, Xu Lingyue lowered her head and said, "This Lord Li is a true hero, everyone on the street is saying so, he's not a playboy."
The usually taciturn Xu Lingyue suddenly blurted out this sentence, and Li Ru looked at Xu Lingyue with some surprise, "Men with money turn bad!"
Xu Lingyue said, "Sixty taels of silver a year! Father, Mother, I want to give it a try!"
Xu Pingzhi lowered his head to eat, Li Ru fell into deep thought, and little Pudding Xu Lingyin giggled, "I...I want to try it too!"
"Can Lord Li be trusted?"
Li Ru looked at Xu Pingzhi, who said, "I've met many important people, and I think this person has a bright future, a righteous look, and is a good person!"
"Let me think about it some more," Li Ru muttered, her mind wandering.
Xu Pingzhi was a minor official of the seventh rank, and his daughter would not necessarily become a maidservant. However, some daughters from scholarly families did become maidservants for great Confucian scholars.
This Li Chang'an is still very young. What if he bullies my daughter? He's a favorite of the Prince Yu's mansion.
However, sixty taels of silver a year was no small sum, and one could quit after working for a few years and then get married.
Two hours later.
Having honed his physical strength, Xu Qi'an lay down on the bed.
Xu Qi'an is stubborn and likes to dwell on things. It is precisely because of this personality that he can train his body day after day and lay a solid foundation for the way of the martial artist.
That night, Xu Qi'an lay in bed, his two hands wrestling fiercely.
This kind of thing happens almost every day. One cannot break through to the ninth rank of martial arts, but how can one resist temptation at such a young and vigorous age?
So, when the left hand tries to show off, the right hand will step in to teach it a lesson. The next time the right hand tries to show off, the left hand will righteously stop it.
Over the years, Xu Qinian has remained chaste and has never shown off.
"Practicing martial arts will bring you a house of gold, practicing martial arts will bring you a beautiful woman, practicing martial arts will bring you a thousand bushels of grain!"
"Just bear with it a little longer! Once I get through these few years and have enough money, I'll definitely sleep with all the top courtesans in the brothel!"
Chapter 275 Xu Lingyue Enters the Mansion, Huaiqing's Reservedness
The night watchman's office.
After hearing Yang Yan's words, Wei Yuan couldn't help but verify them with Nangong Qianrou again.
"Li Chang'an's combat ability surpasses the peak of the fourth rank, and his Confucianism and Taoism have already entered the fourth rank?"
Li Chang'an's lineage is completely untraceable; all that is known is that he first appeared in Jianzhou, and his previous experiences are also unknown.
Therefore, Wei Yuan was not very confident about this suddenly appearing extraordinary person. After all, the world was in turmoil, and it was possible that this person was sent by the enemy.
Nangong Qianrou replied, "What Yang Yan said is true, but his description of strength may be a bit conservative."
Wei Yuan was surprised and suspicious, but his face remained calm. If a Confucian scholar had reached the fourth rank and cultivated righteous energy, it would mean that Li Chang'an was not a person on the evil path.
Seeing that Wei Yuan remained silent, Yang Yan immediately suggested, "Lord Wei, this man should be recruited into the night watchman's office, and our strength will be further enhanced."
Wei Yuan replied, "You two go there yourselves and find out Li Chang'an's opinion on whether he is willing to join the night watchmen."
"Lord Wei, if we recruit Li Chang'an into the night watchman's office, what position should we give him..."
Given Li Chang'an's abilities, he would have been more than qualified to be a gong player in the night watchman's office, but getting into the night watchman's office wasn't just about ability.