Chapter 374 Buying a House in Beijing
His eyes were full of pampering and tenderness, making people feel the deep affection between them.
Seeing how close and harmoniously the two of them got along, the eldest princess couldn't help but feel a little relieved.
The men of the Song family have always been obedient to Shen Xia's wishes, but it's not that they have no opinions of their own. They just pay special attention to Shen Xia's affairs.
This relationship of mutual respect and concern makes the Princess feel reassured and satisfied.
After a while, Butler Ming brought the key.
Shen Xia took Song Jin with her, but did not bring the child when they went to look at the house. Why?
Because this house has been empty for many years.
A house that has been empty for a long time is not suitable for bringing children, especially young children.
After leaving the princess's mansion, it took half a minute to reach the gate of the next courtyard.
Shen Xia was curious: "Butler Ming, the gate of this courtyard is so far away, is it really next to the princess's mansion?"
Steward Ming smiled and said, "Don't worry, Princess. I can still handle this matter. It's next to each other."
"All right!"
Shen Xia looked at the somewhat old door, and seeing that Butler Ming had opened the key, she wanted to push it open.
"Wait a minute." Shen Xia stopped him.
Butler Ming was curious: "What happened to the princess?"
Shen Xia stepped forward.
He knocked heavily on the door three times.
Then after a while: "Let's go! Go in."
Shen Xia looked at Song Jin's curious eyes and said, "I haven't lived in a house for a long time. I have to knock three times before entering."
"Where does this saying come from?" Song Jin was curious.
"There are many things in the world that we cannot see, and they all live in empty houses like this. We will definitely disturb them if we come in, so we knock on the door three times to give them a reminder," Shen Xia explained.
"Oh,"
Butler Ming, who was listening nearby, also felt that what he said made sense.
Of course, I also know what the princess means.
Shen Xia suddenly looked at Butler Ming, with a hint of doubt and worry in his eyes, and asked: "Will there be a death in this mansion that was confiscated? It must not be the kind of courtyard where a genocide occurred!"
"I would feel uneasy living in a place like this. What if I see something strange in my dreams at midnight?" Her tone revealed her curiosity about the unknown.
When Butler Ming heard what Shen Xia said, he couldn't help laughing. He quickly explained, "Don't worry, Princess. This is the house that the princess personally selected for you. How could it be such an ominous place? Although this family's property was ransacked, there were no casualties. They were just reduced to slaves."
Hearing this, Shen Xia breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good, otherwise I really wouldn't dare to live here."
After saying that, the three of them walked into the mansion together.
After entering the yard, Shen Xia found that it was overgrown with weeds and looked a bit desolate.
However, she was relieved that apart from the weeds, other places were relatively tidy and the house looked relatively intact.
She looked around and found that the front yard was quite spacious.
So the three of them continued to move forward, observing the house carefully.
After some inspection, Shen Xia felt that the house was quite good and did not require much renovation, and the furniture in the house was still usable.
I just needed to change the bed I slept in, because I wasn't used to a bed that someone else had slept in.
After all, in this era, most furniture is made of solid wood and can be used for many years.
Then they came to the backyard from the side of the front yard.
The backyard is larger than the front yard, giving people a sense of openness.
At first glance, what comes into view are small courtyards arranged in an orderly manner.
These courtyards are cleverly laid out, adjacent to each other without interfering with each other.
They are all at a fairly close distance, even farther than the small courtyard behind the Song family's old house.
Among them, the most eye-catching is a pond located in the center.
In this day and age, most yards will be equipped with such a pond, and the size of the pond varies.
Some of the larger ponds can even accommodate boats, allowing people to swim in them and enjoy the tranquility and comfort.
Speaking of which, Shen Xia has been here for many days, but she has never had the opportunity to properly visit the courtyard of the princess's mansion.
Then, Shen Xia turned his gaze to the right, where the princess's palace was located.
Since the brick wall of the courtyard was relatively low and could not completely block the view of the house, Shen Xia was not unfamiliar with the house in the princess's mansion, especially the tall sycamore tree, which left a deep impression on her.
Shen Xia stared at the wall near the sycamore tree, and an idea came to his mind: Maybe a door could be opened here to facilitate traffic between the two sides.
At the same time, she also began to wonder whether the eldest princess would agree to her moving out of the princess's mansion.
After all, with the eldest princess's intelligence, she should be able to guess what she is thinking.
Otherwise, there are newer houses in Beijing, and no one would be interested in this yard.
The reason why I like this courtyard is that it is only separated from the princess's palace by a wall.
Seeing that there were only five courtyards around the pond, Shen Xia took Song Jin and continued to walk to the back.
There are servants' rooms at the back.
It's not bad, but the garden needs a makeover.
But don't be afraid, because these are just small things.
Are you going to settle down in the capital?
I took a look at the whole thing.
Just clean up the house, buy some new furniture and move in.
It just takes time to repair the yard.
"Butler Ming, this house is fine. How much is this yard? Who should I ask to handle the transfer procedures?"
Butler Ming said, "The royal houses are all managed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. There is a department called the Official Housing Department in charge. If the princess likes it, I will take her there to handle it."
"Okay, how much is this house?"
"The princess has already given instructions. Princess Qian will go to her mansion."
Shen Xia shook her head: "Butler Ming, no, I know to tell mother about this matter. If mother pays for it, what's the difference between living with me in the princess's mansion, and my third brother and his family won't have a sense of belonging. Is the Song family really not short of money? Let my third brother and his family pay for it themselves."
Song Jin also agreed after hearing this: "Yes, the money must be paid by the Song family."
Butler Ming hesitated for a while and said, "Okay!"
"Although this courtyard is not small, there is nothing valuable in it. The official housing department will charge 60,000 taels of silver to the public, and if it is the county lord, it will be 50,000 silver."
"Okay, sure. There are just some minor problems with this house." Shen Xia agreed.
Fifty thousand taels is not expensive. After all, the two-story courtyard house I lived in before cost more than three thousand taels and it was so far away and not very big.
There is no need to ask the second and fourth brothers for their opinions, as they all think that Shen Xia should be the one making the decision.
After hearing this, Song Jin thought that it was a good deal no matter how you looked at it to buy such a large courtyard in the heart of the capital for only 50,000 taels of silver.
Besides, this time he came out with 200,000 taels of silver.
So fifty thousand taels is not a lot of money to buy a house, but this yard needs to be renovated.
But as long as there is land, building other things is a piece of cake.
After looking at the yard, the two followed Butler Ming to the official residence.
Just pay the money and go through the formalities.