Before the house was raided, the maidservant of the Prime Minister's residence absconded with t

The four walked for a while and then arrived at the house of Li the Rich.

Tao'er glanced at it and thought to herself, "As expected of a wealthy family, it really is a house with blue bricks and tiles, quite impressive."

There are also two stone lions at the entrance, which is probably the first of its kind in the village.

At this moment, Chen Shuigen spoke up, "Tao girl, this is Li the rich man's house, and it's the most impressive house in the village."

It's a pity that the house is haunted, which is why it hasn't been sold yet.

It's such a waste to leave it like this!

Chen Shuigen sounded quite regretful, but few people were willing to take the risk of buying the house and living there.

"This house is quite grand, but it looks a bit deserted."

The fallen leaves on the big locust tree at the entrance were piled up thickly and no one had cleaned them up, which shows that no one usually comes here.

Tao looked up at the house and estimated that it was more than an acre in size.

It definitely won't be small inside.

The entire courtyard is built with high walls of blue bricks. The walls, which are about 12 feet high, are neat and square, and the top of the walls is covered with neat blue-gray cylindrical tiles.

With its four corners slightly upturned, it stands with a small gray-plastered guardian beast, dignified and orderly. Compared to it, the mud-brick and thatched houses of ordinary farmhouses are worlds apart.

The main gate of the house faces south and is the only one of its kind in the entire village.

The two heavy elm wood doors were covered with thin black iron sheets and densely nailed with brass studs, but they had been uninhabited for a long time and were covered with dust.

A black lacquered plaque with gold lettering hangs above the door, bearing the two large black characters "Li Residence".

It was just covered in a thick layer of dust.

"Grandpa Chen, do you have the key to this house? I'd like to go inside and see the layout and rooms."

Tao'er spoke up.

It's not right to not check what's inside.

"I have the key, Peach Girl, do you really want to go in and look?"

Chen Shuigen thought to himself that this girl was really bold, probably because she had lived in a wealthy family and had trained herself to be so.

You should know that the villagers of Xinghua Village usually don't dare to come near this place.

Tao'er nodded. "Grandpa Chen, may I go in and take a look?"

Grandma Chen quickly advised, "Peach girl, you'd better not go in. If you get possessed by evil spirits, you'll be in trouble."

This little girl is so bold; she's nothing like her parents.

"Little sister, how about we don't go in?"

What if there really are ghosts?

Liu Tiezhu was somewhat scared, but more than that, he was worried.

"Grandpa Chen, Grandma Chen, Big Brother, I'm not afraid."

I haven't done anything wrong, so I'm not afraid of ghosts.

Besides, it's broad daylight; ghosts wouldn't come out, and she wouldn't dare to.

Tao'er said with a smile.

"Please open the door for me, Grandpa Chen. You and my older brother can stay at the door, I can go in alone."

Don't worry, I'll come out very soon if I sense anything is wrong.

Tao'er knew that the ancients were most afraid of ghosts and gods, and she didn't want them to have nightmares at night.

Chen Shuigen hesitated for a moment, then said, "Since Tao girl insists on seeing it, then this old man will accompany you inside."

"Tiezhu, you and your Grandma Chen stay outside."

How could he let a little girl go in alone!

It would be such a pity if something happened to him at such a young age.

I'm so old. If there really is something sinister inside, they'll eat me first, and then Peach Girl will have time to escape.

"Grandpa Chen, you and Grandma Chen don't need to go in. I'll go in with my sister."

I will protect my sister and make sure nothing happens to her.

If there really is a ghost, I'll chase her away.

Liu Tiezhu thought to himself, "How can I let my little sister go in alone and risk her life?"

He'd rather be dead than have his little sister get into trouble.

Tao'er knew that if she didn't let her older brother in, he wouldn't agree and would even stop her from going in.

"Nonsense! If something happens to you two siblings when you go in, how am I supposed to explain it to your parents?"

Besides, it's broad daylight; ghosts should be sleeping. I'll go in with you.

Chen Shuigen's tone was firm and left no room for argument.

Tao'er nodded helplessly, "Alright then!"

Then please trouble Grandpa Chen to take my brother and me inside.

Grandma Chen, you don't need to go inside. Why don't you sit under the locust tree and rest for a while?

We'll be out soon.

Grandma Chen wanted to try to persuade her further, but seeing the determined look on Tao'er's face, she could only nod in agreement.

Chen Shuigen took out his key and opened the door.

Pushing open the door, dust fell from the door frame, and the three of them took a step back, raising their hands to cover their mouths and noses.

"No one has been here for a long time, so the dust is quite thick."

Chen Shuigen explained, leading the brother and sister inside.

Tao'er glanced around the front yard.

There is a small gatehouse on each side of the main gate.

It's probably a gatekeeper's place, where guards take their daily shifts and rest, watching over the gates of the residence day and night.

Such families usually have their own guards, since they are always afraid of thieves if they have too much money.

Stepping through the gate, you are greeted by a finely carved blue brick screen wall, with a pine and crane motif depicting longevity in the center. The lines are delicate and lifelike.

Haha, quite particular, I heard it's for a good omen.

However, if you do something immoral, no amount of good wishes will help; you will still suffer the consequences.

Beyond the screen wall lies the spacious first outer courtyard, paved entirely with large bluestone slabs, flat and clean, with only a few unidentifiable weeds, but quite a bit of moss growing there.

On the north side of the outer courtyard are five south-facing rooms, which are neat and bright.

The central room is the outer living room, and it's quite spacious.

There is an ancient well in the east corner of the courtyard, with a blue stone well platform and an old well pulley.

When Tao'er saw the well, her eyes lit up.

You should know that only people with some wealth can afford to dig a well in their own yard.

Ordinary farmers would fetch water from the only ancient well in the village.

She pushed open the well cover and found that the well water was very deep and she couldn't see the bottom, but the water was very clear, and she could also see the moss on the side of the well clearly.

"Brother, could you fetch some water? I'd like to try some."

Tao'er wanted to taste the well water to see if it was any good.

Liu Tiezhu immediately responded and brought up half a bucket of water.

Tao'er cupped her hands and took a sip of the well water. The well water was clear, sweet, and inexhaustible; it tasted quite good.

No wonder the two pomegranate trees in the yard are growing so lushly.

"Grandpa Chen, brother, would you like to try some?"

Chen Shuigen shook his head, "I won't drink it anymore, I've already had some before."

The well water at Li the Rich Man's house is the best-tasting well water in the surrounding villages.

In the past, Li the Rich would even let his guests take some home to drink.

Liu Tiezhu grinned and said, "Little sister, I'll drink."

As he spoke, he scooped up several mouthfuls of well water and drank them.

She praised repeatedly, "Little sister, the fruit from this well tastes much better than the water from the well at the east end of the village."

"Brother, don't drink too much. This is tap water; you'll get an upset stomach if you drink too much!"

Tao'er smiled and stopped her.

Liu Tiezhu then stopped drinking.

Between the outer courtyard and the inner residence lies an exquisite double gate with hanging flowers, which marks the boundary between the inside and outside of the entire residence.

Stepping through the hanging flower gate, one enters the elegant and tranquil second inner courtyard, which is probably the core area where the Li family lives.

The foundation of the inner courtyard was specially raised by two levels of bluestone steps.

It took them about half an hour to tour the entire house.

Tao'er silently counted them in her mind.

There are two halls, one in front and one in back.

There are seven or eight proper living rooms and three or four side rooms, so it is estimated that there used to be quite a few servants.

There are pigsties and chicken coops, all in the backyard.

There is also a large warehouse, presumably used to store grain.

It's not surprising that large landowners owned a lot of land and had special warehouses for storing grain.

This house is big enough for their whole family to live in comfortably.

She was quite satisfied, but the house had been uninhabited for a long time, giving it a gloomy feel.

That's because there's no popularity yet. Once there's more popularity, you won't feel that way anymore.

"Grandpa Chen, how much silver do you want for this house owned by Rich Man Li?"

Tao'er asked directly.