Xuanxia

Chapter 380 Renting a Courtyard
Yuan Ziping is indeed efficient and decisive in his work.

If Fu Qingzhou came to rent a house by himself, it would take at least a few days, but when Yuan Ziping rented a house, they just chatted for a while in the carriage and he found a good one.

He knows exactly where private rental housing is cheap, where the location is good, and how much a yard is worth.

Soon, he, led by a landlord, drove the carriage to the gate of a yard.

"Would you like to take a look?"

The landlord was a fat man with a Beijing accent. He said with a curled tongue, "I will make sure you are satisfied."

Yuan Ziping followed behind him. Fu Qingzhou and others jumped out of the car and followed him in. Only Zhu Mei stared blankly, not understanding anything.

"Our little courtyard is good in every way, except that it's a little old."

The landlord smiled and pushed open the gate, looking at Fu Qingzhou and said, "Looking at this young man, I think he is not short of money. If he spends a little money and makes some repairs, it won't be a problem for him to live here for a few years."

Fu Qingzhou nodded slightly and followed the landlord into the courtyard.

Although the yard looks a bit old, its layout is very elegant, and every brick and tile reveals an ancient charm.

In the center of the courtyard, there stands an ancient sycamore tree with lush branches and leaves, adding a touch of vitality to the entire courtyard.

"Although this yard is not big, it is quiet." The landlord pointed to the surrounding houses and introduced, "The tiles in these rooms are all newly renovated, and the furniture inside is complete. It will definitely be comfortable for you to live in."

Fu Qingzhou looked around and found that this courtyard was indeed as the landlord had described. It was not only quiet and elegant, but also had an excellent geographical location. There was a busy street not far away, making travel convenient without being disturbed by the hustle and bustle.

As for the layout... it faces south and is square. In addition to the main courtyard, there is also a side courtyard. At a glance, in addition to the main hall, dining room, and kitchen, there are four or five other rooms.

He nodded secretly in his heart and was quite satisfied with this courtyard.

"Old Yuan, what do you think?" Fu Qingzhou turned to look at Yuan Ziping, asking for his opinion.

Yuan Ziping smiled slightly and said, "Sir, this used to be the place where the prefect of the capital city kept his mistress, it can't be bad."

Fu Qingzhou was startled at first, then laughed and said, "Old Yuan, I didn't expect you to be such a wonderful person."

"Ha ha?"

The landlord was stunned: "No, sir, who are you? How come you even know about this?"

Yuan Ziping laughed loudly: "Don't worry about it, tell me, what's the price?"

"Well, seeing you look like an old hand, we can't make much money from you. Just name a price and that's it." The landlord took out a paper folding fan from his back and started shaking it.

Here, Yuan Ziping and the landlord started a tug-of-war in which they flattered each other on the surface but bargained secretly.

On the other side, Tang Jiao, Qiu Chan and Zhu Mei had begun to walk around the courtyard and look around.

"Brother, are we going to rent this?"

Tang Jiao asked curiously.

Before Fu Qingzhou could say anything, Qiu Chan started to mock him, "That's probably the case. Even the prefect of the capital city can keep his concubine here. It must be a good place to hide a beauty. Big brother, he wants to hide you here too..."

Tang Jiao's face immediately turned red, and she raised her fist and punched Qiu Chan on the shoulder. Fu Qingzhou rolled his eyes and said, "Qiu Chan, you recovered quickly, huh? So you can bully Jiao Jiao now?"

Qiu Chan snorted complacently and ignored him.

After a while, the two women chose their respective rooms.

Qiu Chan asked for a room facing west, saying that she could see the sunset from there, just like her room on Zixiao Peak.

Tang Jiao asked for a room with a window facing north without hesitation...but she refused to tell him the reason.

But Fu Qingzhou knew that it was because there was the imperial city in the north and most of the officials' residences were also in the north. Perhaps her former home was also in that direction.

As for Zhu Mei, she was so silly and stupid that she didn't know what to do with choosing a room. She just went straight into the kitchen, swiftly took down a string of bacon hanging by the window, and started to eat it.

"That seems to be what the previous residents didn't take away... It's been so long, can we eat it?"

By the time Fu Qingzhou realized what was happening, she had already eaten most of it, and he couldn't snatch it away. But now, he seemed to understand why Wu Yan fell in love with this woman...

On the other side, Yuan Ziping finally agreed on the price with the landlord.

"Alright, alright."

The landlord reluctantly pulled out a contract from his sleeve and said, "Brother, you are really good. You are probably the first person who can rent a yard like this near Baishi Street at this price."

"That's ridiculous."

Yuan Ziping bowed and smiled, calling out, "Sir, please sign and stamp your name."

Fu Qingzhou strode over, took the contract and looked at it - monthly rent, thirty-five taels of silver.

He had no idea about the rental prices in Beijing, but he knew that Baishi Street, located in the east of Beijing, was the most prosperous commercial street in the city, which could be called the "CBD". The price for renting such a quiet and comfortable courtyard here, which was of an ideal size and had no flaws in any other aspects, would definitely not be low.

Therefore, he did not comment on the price. He glanced at the terms of the contract, and after confirming that they were correct, he signed it with a wave of his hand.

Next, it's time to sweep, weed, and clean the yard.

Most of these tasks were done by Yuan Ziping and Tang Jiao. Fu Qingzhou quietly turned over the seats in the carriage while putting the carriage in place - there was a secret compartment under the seat.

He opened the secret compartment and took out... a large iron box.

That was the iron box that was snatched from Yuanwu in Fanyin Temple.

This time he fled to Beijing with Zhu Mei. The reason why he did not give up the carriage was, on the one hand, that he wanted the smoker to drive to attract attention, and on the other hand, because such an important thing was hidden in the carriage.

He needed a utility room in the yard, naturally for this big iron box.

This thing is very big, nearly one meter tall and ten inches wide, like a small coffin. It doesn't fit anywhere, so I can only find a way to hide it in the utility room.

But just as Fu Qingzhou quietly put the iron box into the utility room, Qiu Chan's voice came from behind him: "Why are you hiding it? It's as if no one knows about it."

Fu Qingzhou was startled and turned around.

Qiu Chan was leaning against the door, with a joking look on her face: "We are all practitioners. The carriage has traveled such a long distance. We don't know which part is heavy, which part is light, and where there are extra things. Do you really think we don't know?"

Fu Qingzhou smiled and scratched his head: "Then what do you say we should do? We have to hide it."

"Actually, you think too much."

Qiu Chan walked forward while smiling: "This is what you stole from Yuan Wu, right? To be honest, if you hadn't sneakily hidden it in the car this time, I wouldn't have even remembered that there was such a thing."

Fu Qingzhou: “…”

"If this thing belongs to the Jinchan Temple, they would have come to grab it long ago if they really wanted to." Qiu Chan said with a smile: "Whether it was transported from Dongxuan Lake to Luoyi or brought from Luoyi to the capital this time, there were too many opportunities to take action along the way. They didn't take action, which means..."

"That means they don't know the stuff is with me, or they are not in a hurry to get it for the time being." Fu Qingzhou took over the conversation and said helplessly: "As for the others, I'm afraid they don't even know there is such a metal box, and they won't be interested at all."

"That's right. You're too careful, which makes you stand out." Qiu Chan stood in front of him and said softly, "I shouldn't be the one to remind you of this kind of thing... What's wrong? Are you upset?"

"There are some."

Fu Qingzhou said frankly, shaking his head: "I don't know why, but I always feel a little uneasy along the way."

"That's enough." Qiu Chan smiled and said, "Last night you promised Wu Yan without hesitation that you would protect Zhu Mei. It can be seen that you are still the fearless young master Fu."

Fu Qingzhou blinked.

"Relax!"

Qiu Chan reached out and patted him on the shoulder, like a brother in the underworld: "You can do it!"

Fu Qingzhou smiled and said, "What's the matter? Have you changed your personality today? Are you here to comfort me?"

"I've always been a big shot and I know the big picture, okay?" Qiu Chan turned around and threw him a coquettish look: "You're going to do big things. The capital is full of twists and turns. You're our backbone. You have to be able to handle things~"

(End of this chapter)