Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 396 - 232 Settlement

Just looking into the courtyard through the open main gate, he felt he couldn’t afford to rent it.

Looking inside from the outside, one could see the screen wall, and there seemed to be quite a few rooms inside, with a large courtyard in the middle.

"Ha! The mansion that the Gu Family bought is quite large! It must have cost a fortune?" Ye’s mother was extremely envious of the mansion. With so few people in the Sun Family, living in such a big mansion seemed a bit wasteful.

The expenses in the Capital are indeed considerable. In her opinion, one still needs to be thrifty. However, their pickled vegetable business is doing well, and the daughter-in-law has brought a substantial dowry, so perhaps this mansion is part of the dowry from the Gu Family.

In her mind, no matter how successful the Ye Family’s pickled vegetable business was, they still couldn’t afford such a mansion.

The Sun Family being able to secure a marriage alliance with such a wealthy family as the Gu Family was truly a lucky stroke from a past life.

On the day of Gu Wan’s wedding, the forty-eight dowry chests were the envy of every household. Marrying off a daughter with such a large dowry, wouldn’t they even give more when marrying a daughter-in-law?

She glanced at Ye Zhiqiu. Her son was handsome and diligent in his studies, but unfortunately, the Gu Family did not take a liking to her son.

Upon hearing this, Ye Zhiqiu quickly pulled Ye’s mother aside, "Don’t talk nonsense, that mansion was bought by the Sun Family themselves, they’ve saved up quite a bit in the last couple of years."

He had heard from Gu Chengyu that the mansion was bought with Sun Xian’s own money. His mother had misunderstood the Sun Family as living off the daughter-in-law’s dowry, which was something that should not be said lest the Sun Family hears and gets upset.

Told by her son, Ye’s mother mumbled, "I indeed misunderstood."

However, in her heart, she still thought that the Sun Family, being in-laws with the Gu Family, must have had Gu Wanqian come up with ways to earn money.

As of now, her family was still relying on her and her daughter to earn money through embroidery. Fortunately, she had heard that when Gu Wan arrived in the Capital, she would still open an embroidery workshop. Otherwise, even if they took jobs from other embroidery workshops in the Capital, they might not get a fair price.

"Xiao Bao! Why not invite the Ye Family in for a cup of tea? It’s not good to leave them hanging in the carriage!" Gu Wan, watching the items being moved into the mansion, only then remembered that the Ye family was still in the carriage.

"Look at you, your mansion hasn’t been tidied up yet, where can we sit? We’ll leave now, and you can get your home in order first. I’ve already tidied up my place, and you can move in with your luggage. Let the Ye Family settle in at my place, and once you’re ready, you can invite them over as guests in a couple of days."

Gu Chengyu looked at the chaotic state of the mansion and felt there was no place to step. Inviting people in like this might not be appropriate.

Sun Xian also felt the appearance was improper and intended to apologize to Ye Zhiqiu with Gu Chengyu first and invite people over in a few days.

After speaking, the two of them left the mansion. Gu Chengyu had already summoned the Ding Generation people to his mansion, and upon returning, he instructed them to help Gu Wan’s family with the cleaning.

"Junior Brother Ye! I’m truly sorry; my house is a mess today. Junior Brother Ye, why don’t you first settle down at Chengyu’s place? Once I’ve tidied up, I’ll invite you, your aunt, and Miss Ye to try my mother and wife’s cooking."

Sun Xian looked at Ye Zhiqiu, apologetically.

"Senior Brother Sun, why say such things? Upon arriving, surely the house needs some tidying up. We can meet another day, and I’ll look forward to tasting your mother’s craftsmanship."

Ye Zhiqiu, of course, did not feel slighted. After all, with the house in such a mess, how could they be disturbed?

Gu Chengyu dismissed the coachmen of the carriages and led Ye Zhiqiu’s family to his residence.

Gu Chengyu, observing the scenery along the way, memorized the route. About two quarters of an hour later, they arrived in front of the three-section courtyard.

Although it was said to be not far from the Sun Family’s, it was relative. It still took two quarters of an hour by carriage, which wasn’t considered far in ancient times, indeed quite near! Back in Shangling Village, it took one to two quarters of an hour just to take a carriage into town! That was already not considered far.

Shangling Village was considered close to the town. For other remote villages, it typically took one to two hours to visit a town.

Gu Chengyu surveyed the three-section residence; at this time, the main gate was already open, and the servants inside the courtyard stood bowing at the entrance, neatly lined up.

Gu Wanqian was the first to jump down from the carriage and called out to the servants, "Our master has returned!"

Apart from the Ding Generation servants in the mansion, a few older women were purchased, some working in the main kitchen, others cleaning the courtyard. The gatekeeper was a man in his thirties, and these were the servants Gu Wanqian bought in the Capital after Gu Chengyu returned home.

Gu Chengyu alighted from the carriage, glanced at the neatly lined servants, and noticed new faces had been added to the mansion— these should have been selected by Gu Wanqian, authorized originally by him, of course.

The servants all quickly paid their respects and greeted in unison. Those who hadn’t met Gu Chengyu in person had seen his portrait to avoid mistaking their master.

Gu Chengyu nodded, taking a look at the three-section mansion in front of him. The residence was large, divided into front and back courtyards, with more to be seen inside. However, within a three-section courtyard, there were bound to be cloistered corridors, a garden, and many rooms, indeed too large for him to live by himself. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Ye’s mother and Second Sister Ye were amazed by the mansion in front of them. The Sun Family’s mansion they saw before couldn’t compare to this one. Although they hadn’t yet gone inside, at one glance, this mansion was evidently quite big. Even housing several families would not feel crowded.

"Brother Ye, Madam, and Second Sister Ye, come in and have a look!" Gu Chengyu invited the Ye family, as previously arranged.

Ye Zhiqiu, just arriving in the Capital, would certainly not find a suitable courtyard to rent temporarily, so he would stay at his residence for the next few days.

The Ye Family was different from the Sun Family. The Sun Family, being in-laws, could make the purchase decision, but for the Ye Family to rent a courtyard, it was for Ye Zhiqiu to find what suited him first.

As they spoke, an elderly woman respectfully led Gu Chengyu and his companions inside. As for the carriages, they were naturally attended to by Yu Tuanzi and Gu Wanqian, who organized and dismissed the coachmen.

Though the mansion was described as three-section, it was quite large, hardly any less compared to a typical four-section one. Passing through the front courtyard and reaching the back two sections, apart from the main house in the last section, the rest were divided into four small courtyards and some scattered rooms. This was the original owner’s design, probably partitioned into individual courtyards due to numerous offspring in the family.

The residence also included a garden, rockery, pond, everything one could think of. The pond connects to an external lake, ensuring it wasn’t stagnant water but flowing sources.

Gu Chengyu was very satisfied with the mansion, though it was somewhat regrettable that his parents were unwilling to come to the Capital. With such a large residence with him as the sole master, the other rooms were left accumulating dust.

"This mansion is truly vast!" Ye Zhiqiu and his companions followed Gu Chengyu up to the second section without going further inside. That area was meant for the master’s female relatives; although currently, there weren’t any, they, as visiting guests, would mostly reside in the second section.

"Master, it’s been quite some time since this old servant has seen you." Mrs. Liang was at the entrance just now, but with so many people, it wasn’t appropriate for her to step forward for a private meeting.

"Ah, Mrs. Liang, it’s indeed been a while." Gu Chengyu had noticed Mrs. Liang, who was transferred to the Capital to manage the internal affairs of the residence at his request.