Minglong

Chapter 7 This house is a bit noisy

The noise on the river bank continued. More than ten officers came from all over and used a pleasure boat to salvage the carriage from the river.

Fortunately, the river was not very deep, and the two horses were not seriously injured, only the frame of the carriage was damaged.

Countless students and common people gathered around to watch, blocking the street completely. On a nearby side street, three figures stood, one of them a broker and a constable, shouting:

"Thank you, Mr. Xie?"

"Xie Jinhuan? Xie Jinhuan? Where is he?"

"He won't run away, will he?"

When Constable Xiao Wang saw that Xie Jinhuan had disappeared, he became nervous and wondered whether he should go back and report it immediately.

But fortunately, before they could shout for long, a figure jumped out from the roof and landed in front of the three people:
"Sorry, I was just watching the fun."

Seeing the man and the bird coming back, Xiao Wang felt relieved.

The broker rushed forward:
"Young man, why are you running around when I told you to wait here? Butler Hou took time out of his busy schedule to come here. You can't afford to delay him."

"Sorry, please wait... uh..."

Xie Jinhuan had offended a succubus, and his current situation was not optimistic. He was so distracted that he didn't pay much attention. When he looked up, he was shocked to find that the butler Hou standing on the street looked so unconventional!
He was no more than 1.6 meters tall, as thin as a monkey, holding a white paper fan, wearing a black coat, with shifty eyes, a pointed chin and a small mustache.

If the sixteen-foot-tall succubus just now is the ceiling of appearance, then the butler in front of him is definitely the worst in appearance. Although they are in different directions, it is really hard to tell who is better!
Even though Xie Jinhuan was mentally strong, he was stunned. He even put the terrifying succubus aside and looked around, wondering if he had accidentally traveled to the underground transportation station.

Coal Ball, who was squatting on the man's shoulder, saw this man with his beak wide open and eyes wide open, and the meaning of his eyes was probably - could this be a monkey spirit?

Butler Hou gently waved his folding fan, as if he had become accustomed to his own terrifying aura, and said impatiently:
"You want to rent a house? The Princess's Mansion has many houses under its name. What kind of house do you want to rent?"

The only princess who had a residence in Danyang was Princess Changning, a second-rank noble, and the eldest daughter of the Dan King. Xie Jinhuan hadn't expected the landlady to have such a powerful background, nor the housekeeper to be so outrageous. He suppressed his distracting thoughts:

"I'll be staying here for a while. Any place to stay will be fine. It's best to be in Qingquan Lane."

The butler, with a bunch of keys hanging from his waist, led the way, fanning himself:
"Qingquan Lane is a great place. Walking out of the lane is Taoxianfang, where every inch of land is worth a lot of money. It's convenient for eating, drinking, and having fun. There's also a brothel street inside. The girls there are so beautiful, wow..."

Flower House Street...

Xie Jinhuan thought of the conversation with the bandits again, but he really didn't feel like going to see Hu Ji anymore, so he asked:
"How is the rent calculated?"

"The youngest one enters the courtyard, fifty taels a month, one-third deposit and three-thirds payment."

Fifty taels? !

Xie Jinhuan paused, stunned.

Although he had never worked before, he was not unfamiliar with the prices.

His father was an eighth-rank county lieutenant, with a monthly salary of only fifteen taels, plus some rice, grain, firewood and cloth.

The monthly rent was fifty taels, which was roughly equal to his father's income for three months. With a deposit of one and a half months' rent, it would be two hundred taels of silver.

The rent is comparable to that of a mansion near the imperial city!
Thinking of this, Xie Jinhuan took out the money bag donated by the monk from his waist and checked it.

The purse was filled with small silver coins and a government note, and all that was left was less than thirty taels...

After discovering that he had killed three people and still couldn't afford a month's rent, Xie Jinhuan was shocked by Danyang's housing prices. He put away his wallet and asked:
"County Lieutenant Yang also lives here?"

Butler Hou pointed his folding fan at two lit lanterns deep in the alley.
"That's right. County Magistrate Yang is an old man in the government office. He was allocated a house by the prince, so he doesn't have to pay rent, unlike you. It seems that you didn't bring enough money with you. I happen to have a large house with two entrances. It's a little noisy and I haven't rented it out yet. If you don't mind, I'll give you twenty taels for it, no deposit required, payable monthly."

Twenty taels is obviously not a small amount of money. Xie Jinhuan didn't have much money, so he chose to rent a house nearby. At the moment, it seems that it would be better to stay in an inn. Twenty taels are enough to live there for a month or so.

The accompanying constable, Xiao Wang, understood that the rent was too high, and was kind-hearted:
"Master Xie is only passing through here to assist the government with a case. He won't be staying for many days. How about Steward Hou be flexible and reduce the rent?"

Butler Hou said impatiently, "Two taels at least, no less."

"Guji?"

The three of them staggered when they heard this, even Meiqiu was stunned!
It's already discounted, and now it's 10% off. What's the difference between this and giving it away for free?
Could it be that the entire family in this house was raided and executed?

Or is it raining heavily outside and drizzling inside?

Xie Jinhuan was full of doubts. As Butler Hou walked into the alley, a house with white walls and green tiles soon appeared in front of him.

The house is very new, with two white stone steps on either side and a stone drum engraved with auspicious beasts. The black lacquered door feels very heavy and is hung with a copper lock.

After opening the gate, the spacious front yard comes into view. In the middle of the yard is a white stone walkway, with stables, kitchen, guest rooms and tea rooms on the left and right. Directly in front is a moon gate with white walls and green tiles. Through the doorway, you can see the elegant backyard.

The entire house is covered with green glazed tiles, and the exterior is decorated with carved beams and painted buildings, which is elegant and grand. Even the stone bricks used to pave the walkways are very exquisite. Apart from some fallen leaves, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Xie Jinhuan was not new to the world. Just by looking at the kitchen walls, he could tell that the house was brand new and had never had a stove.

"Butler Hou, are you sure the monthly rent for this place is two taels?!"

Housekeeper Hou frowned and said, "Still think it's too expensive? At most, I'll give you three more cents less. If you don't want to rent it, forget it..."

What else can you do without?!
Xie Jinhuan knew that cheap goods were not good, but he couldn't think of how he could suffer any loss. He entered the yard and looked around:
"What's so noisy about this house? Are there any invisible guests?"

"Not really."

Butler Hou was very frank and gestured to the back with his folding fan:
"Behind the main house is the Wuwei Pavilion of the Princess's Mansion. Her Highness the Princess often holds banquets there in the evening, so there will inevitably be some noise from music and instruments. If you can accept that, you can rent it."

Xie Jinhuan didn't believe it at all.

No matter how noisy the landlady is, it's impossible for her to hold parties every day. It's just a clinking of glasses. How much more noisy can she get?

Such a large mansion, and the monthly rent is only one tael and seven cents...

There must be some invisible ghost...

Xie Jinhuan happened to be carrying a female ghost. If it was really a haunted house, it would be easier to cover it up. After thinking about it, he took out a handful of silver:

"Okay, that's it." "Great."

Butler Hou took out the lease contract and waited for Xie Jinhuan to sign it before taking it for inspection. His sly eyes narrowed slightly.
"Wow~ Nice handwriting."

Xie Jinhuan knew from a young age that he had to win at the starting line. How could he not put in the effort to create a name card like calligraphy? He started copying famous calligraphy at the age of three, and he even wrote all the official documents for his father.

Facing the praise, Xie Jinhuan wanted to be modest, but he never expected that Butler Hou would say:

"We've found some New Year couplets. Don't give up the lease too early, it's best to leave after the New Year."

"?"

Xie Jinhuan was too lazy to pay attention.

Not long after, Butler Hou and the Constable left one after another, closing the door behind them.

Click~
The two courtyards also became completely quiet, with only the rustling sound of bamboo leaves in the wind.

Shashasha~
Xie Jinhuan stood alone in the yard, and brought the coal balls that were jumping around to the backyard to search for possible ghosts.

The back house is divided into the main house, east and west wings. The master bedroom is quite spacious, with a mahogany bunk bed that is comfortable for four or five people to play poker together. However, there are no bedding or pillows on it, it is just a bed frame.

Xie Jinhuan didn't find any dirty things, and he became even more confused, because there was already an extra-large ghost next to him. He was too lazy to look for it again, so he leaned his head against the bed, thinking about what to do next.

He couldn't break the Soul Locking Curse himself, and he couldn't ask someone to look at his brain, otherwise the cause of his illness would be exposed...

The Night Succubus was alive, so he didn't dare to throw away the sword casually, nor did he dare to continue digging the grave.

The only thing I can do now is to climb to the first rank as soon as possible and bury this old lady.

As for Dad's whereabouts, I can only investigate after I leave Danyang alive...

With my limited ability, how could I go crazy and dig up the Demon-Suppressing Tomb?

……

While he was remorseful, and before he could fully comprehend his thoughts, the shortcomings mentioned by Butler Hou suddenly became apparent:

“Ding ding ding~…”

"The dream ends in the cloud and rain tent at Wushan Mountain. The green quilt is cold, and I lie alone in my clothes..."

……

As the night deepened, the sound of a pipa and singing girls' tunes suddenly came from behind the main house. Judging from the source, it was still on the second floor, diagonally above the bedroom.

The sound of the pipa is quite pleasant, and the singer has a sweet voice.

Xie Jinhuan initially thought it was a blessing, but before long, the sound of the pipa was drowned out by the noise of the singing birds:

"You slut, are you trying to cheat?"

"Eight sixes!"

"Why didn't Qing Mo come?"

"He said he was not feeling well and was resting in the house."

"Oh~..."

Wow…

Ding ding dong dong…

The sound of shaking dice, running footsteps, the shy scolding of women, and even the crisp sound of clapping and hitting, all sound very elastic.

Xie Jinhuan was puzzled when he heard the voice. He turned his eyes and looked behind him, thinking:
Is the Princess's Mansion holding a silver party?

But the voices are all feminine, and it sounds more like a lesbian party.

I've heard about the extravagant ways the wives of wealthy families in Beijing indulge in extravagant activities. Are the girls in Danyang also so wild and extravagant?
Xie Jinhuan frowned, thinking that the banquet would be over in an hour or so at most, so he didn't care too much and prepared to take a nap.

But the back wall of the master bedroom seemed to be less than five meters away from the banquet hall of the Princess's Mansion. After a moment of noise, a sudden thunderclap was heard:
bang——

It seemed to be the sound of a musket, deafening.

Coal Ball, who was lying next to him, was so frightened that his fur exploded on the spot. He jumped up and turned 180 degrees to look at the roof with a terrified look in his eyes:
"grumble--?!"

Xie Jinhuan also suddenly woke up and grasped the Tiangang Mace, only to hear a group of women chirping and cheering:
"Your Highness is so accurate!"

"Keep going……"

……

Then firecrackers were set off not far away, just like New Year’s Eve.

bang bang bang...

Xie Jinhuan's face turned dark, and he suddenly understood why the rent of this house was so cheap.

Is this fucking place habitable?!
If the Nian beast lived here, it would be terrified...

Xie Jinhuan felt that he was still too young. It turned out that cheap things were always bad. He frowned and tried to suppress his anger.

But after a moment, he suddenly found that the noise disappeared again and the room became dead silent.

?

Xie Jinhuan was stunned. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was shocked to find that there was a woman beside him!
The woman was wearing a red wedding dress and was about the same height as him. She was lying beside him, her face as white as paper, her tongue hanging out, like a hanged ghost!
(End of this chapter)