My Husband is a Drama King [Book Transmigration] 77p2

Chapter 77 p2: Buying a House

Empress Dowager Xiao and Xiao Yurong had gone to the royal villa. The ministers in the court sensed a different wind, and some of those who were attached to the Xiao family tucked their tails between their legs.

The emperor was purging the Xiao family’s faction in the court. Song Changxu was still a minor official, working honestly in the Ministry of Personnel.

He heard how many more people had been found to be corrupt. It was like pulling up a radish, implicating a dozen or so officials.

The court was in a state of panic. They were afraid that their voices would be too loud and they would be discovered by His Majesty and thrown into prison.

Pei Shengrong was fine in the Ministry of Works. It was just that his superior had been changed, but it had no effect on him.

They ate quietly in the dining hall.

Song Changxu looked at their timid appearance. He lowered his head and ate without speaking. Otherwise, he would be like a conspicuous bag.

Pei Shengrong was also eating quietly. He would talk about other things after His Majesty had finished cleaning up.

Fortunately, His Majesty had only dealt with a few officials, including the former Vice Minister of Works and the Vice Minister of Justice. The third-rank officials’ families had been confiscated. Two million taels of silver had been found in the Vice Minister of Works’ house, as well as other antiques and precious paintings. The Vice Minister of Justice’s family had one million taels of silver. He was from a poor family and had been used to poverty when he was a child. It was not easy for him to reach the position of a third-rank official, so he had frantically bought land. He had five hundred acres of land in his hometown, and a box of title deeds.

He was in the capital and rarely went back to his hometown, but he was frantically accumulating wealth. He had bought many houses that he couldn’t even live in. Of course, he also had a collection of precious paintings and books, but it was far from the money he had spent on buying houses.

The two of them had been overthrown, and Emperor Pingjing had not made any more moves. The court ministers breathed a sigh of relief.

Emperor Pingjing had killed two third-rank officials. The Ministry of Personnel needed to recommend people to fill the positions. Song Changxu could not interfere in the matter of third-rank officials. He could only find some sixth and seventh-rank minor officials to fill the positions.

After all, the officials who were close to them had also been accused of being accomplices. Song Changxu looked at the files to fill the positions, but the local officials were currently doing well in their local places. Some of them had mediocre political achievements and could not be transferred to the capital.

Song Changxu had to come up with a candidate in these few days. He went to the Ministry of Personnel to look for files. He looked for both those with good and mediocre political achievements.

As a result, he really found an interesting person among an official with mediocre political achievements. Tong Yangyu, the county magistrate of Zhouyuan County. This county magistrate was a bit special. His political achievements had always been mediocre, but in fact, Song Changxu had looked at his files and found that his political achievements were not bad, especially in handling cases. He had his own methods, and the number of people he sent for execution after the autumn was quite large. He didn’t know why he had gotten a mediocre rating.

Song Changxu took his file back to his seat and found a clerk to ask, “Do you have any impression of this person?”

The clerk was assigned to Song Changxu, so he naturally took him as his main. In addition, he had gotten along well with his superior these past few months, and he had a bit more trust in Song Changxu.

“Sir Song, this sir is outstanding in his political achievements, but he has offended many people in the county. In addition, his family background is ordinary, so he has been stuck in the position of a county magistrate all these years.”

The clerk said in a low voice, “Also, this Sir Tong has a grudge with Director He. They were both second-class Jinshi and studied in the Shuchang Hall. Director Xia, backed by an aristocratic family, stayed in the capital, entered the Ministry of Personnel as a director, and was promoted all the way. Sir Tong has been in Zhouyang County for nine years without a promotion. By now, he is already in his thirties. It’s quite a pity.”

Seeing that Song Changxu’s expression was thoughtful, the clerk quickly said, “Sir, you must not think of promoting Sir Tong. He won’t be able to get past Sir He.”

“His political achievements are indeed not bad, and he is also very suitable for the position of director of the Ministry of Justice. I’ll still put him up. What if Sir He just happens to let it pass?”

“Sir Song, you’ll offend Sir He if you do this,” the clerk said earnestly.

“Although you are the new top scorer, you are still just a junior sixth-rank director, working under Sir He. If you offend him, your life will be difficult in the future.”

Song Changxu, on the other hand, comforted the clerk. “I’ll just do what I should be doing. If Sir He wants to deal with me, I also have a countermeasure.”

Amidst the clerk’s sighs, Song Changxu recommended Tong Yangyu.

This recommendation first went to Assistant Minister Su. He smiled faintly and did not change it. Besides the vice minister and the minister, Director He was the biggest in the Ministry of Personnel. But Assistant Minister Su pretended not to know and sent the document up. After all, he was just reviewing it. It didn’t matter if he said he hadn’t seen it clearly.

“It’s normal that Sir Song, who has just arrived, doesn’t know about this,” Assistant Minister Su said with a smile.

Coincidentally, Director He did not think much of it and also passed it. It went directly to Jian Xi. He glanced at Tong Yangyu and the files of a few other people, and recommended Tong Yangyu to Minister Xu.

After he had finished his work, Song Changxu went home. Xu Zhizhou was at home, waiting to catch him.

“Husband, you said you were going to talk to Juren Luo about the price,” Xu Zhizhou said, his eyes lighting up when he saw Song Changxu return.

“Wait until I’ve changed my clothes,” Song Changxu said, and went out with Xu Zhizhou after he had changed his official robe. When they arrived, the broker and Juren Luo were both there.

Juren Luo was a man in his fifties, wearing a long robe. Next to him was a man a few years older than Song Changxu. He should be Juren Luo’s son.

“Are you the ones who want to talk about the house?” Juren Luo sized up Song Changxu and Xu Zhizhou. He was a little impressed by their outstanding appearance.

“I was thinking of coming to see it in the morning, but I was on duty in the court. I’m only free in the afternoon,” Song Changxu said with a smile.

“My husband has already seen it. This is my first time. Please allow me to have a look first.”

Hearing this, the broker enthusiastically took Song Changxu for a tour. The main room, the west wing, and the east wing were all very good. The floor of the covered corridor was a bit old, but it could be used after it was replaced. The hanging flower gate and the walls had some small flaws, which were acceptable. The furniture looked like good quality. Song Changxu saw that the wood was all good material.

It was good in ancient times. You didn’t have to be afraid of buying fake wood. It was all solid. After Song Changxu had seen it, he had a plan in his mind.

While the broker was showing Song Changxu the house, Xu Zhizhou sat on the side and chatted with Juren Luo.

“How should I address you, Furen?”

“My surname is Xu, and my name is Zhizhou. My husband’s surname is Song.”

“Song Furen, where does your husband work?” Juren Luo asked.

Xu Zhizhou smiled faintly. “My husband has just started working at the Ministry of Personnel.”

Juren Luo said “ah.” “He’s already at the Ministry of Personnel at such a young age? He’s truly a promising young man.”

Xu Zhizhou did not say anything.

When Song Changxu came over, Juren Luo was obviously much more cautious with him.

“We’re not moving anything in our house. We can also give you the furniture. It’s a good deal to buy a courtyard house for a thousand and five hundred taels of silver. You’ve seen it. We used to live here ourselves and have maintained it very well.”

Song Changxu: “I think there are some flaws…”

Juren Luo looked at his son. Luo Dalang smiled. “What price are you thinking of, Sir Song?”

Xu Zhizhou secretly pulled on Song Changxu’s sleeve and gestured a three.

Song Changxu was dumbfounded. He felt that the cut was a bit harsh, but then he thought that his family’s money didn’t grow on trees. He would try first. What if the other party agreed?

Song Changxu said, “A thousand and three hundred. We don’t want the furniture. You can sell it at a discount.”

Juren Luo could not accept this price, but he still said good-naturedly, “This price is too low. At most, a thousand and four hundred and fifty. We can still leave the furniture for you.”

It was only a reduction of fifty taels of silver. Xu Zhizhou shook his head in his heart. No, no, absolutely not.

Buying a house required haggling back and forth. If they couldn’t agree this time, there would be a next time.

Song Changxu: “We don’t want the furniture. Our highest offer is a thousand and three hundred and fifty. It’s getting late now. If you agree, you can contact us through the broker.”

Song Changxu and Xu Zhizhou left the courtyard house. Xu Zhizhou nodded with satisfaction. “Husband, I didn’t think you would know how to bargain.”

So reliable.

Song Changxu laughed softly. “If I can, I’ll cut a little. If no one else makes an offer, I think this will work.”

Hearing this, Xu Zhizhou was much more relaxed. He held Song Changxu’s arm happily.

Juren Luo and Luo Dalang were still in the courtyard. The broker advised again, “A thousand and three hundred and fifty is not bad. Then Sir Song and the others won’t want the furniture. You can probably sell it for eighty or a hundred taels of silver. That’s about it. If you keep this house, it will be a drain. It won’t be easy to find a buyer for a while.”

Juren Luo: “Let’s not talk about it today. We’ll go back and discuss it.”

They wanted to sell this courtyard house and then go back to their hometown. He was a Juren and could be a country gentleman in the county town. His son was a xiucai and was an accountant in a restaurant. His monthly silver was not high.

An ancestor of his had been an official and had left behind the courtyard house. Now he was thinking of leaving the capital and going back to his hometown.

Luo Dalang: “If you ask me, this price is also acceptable. We can still get a lot of money for the furniture if we sell it. The sooner we get the money, the sooner we can go back to our hometown.”

Juren Luo was still at a loss. It was not easy for his ancestors to settle down in the capital. Now he was going to sell the house.

When he returned home and saw his two grandsons, he sighed in his heart. He couldn’t keep the house in the capital. He could only see if his sons and grandsons had any promise. It would be another expense for his grandson to study in the capital instead of going back to his hometown. In the county, he might be able to get into the county school with his face.

A few days later, Juren Luo relented and asked Song Changxu and the others to add twenty taels of silver, and he would sell the house to them.

Song Changxu agreed. “Alright. I see that you’re not living here anymore. We can go to the yamen to transfer the deed now.”

The two families reached a consensus. After the land deed was transferred, Xu Zhizhou took out a few bank notes with a heavy heart and handed them to Juren Luo.

Juren Luo took the bank notes and put them in his sleeve.

Xu Zhizhou looked at his own hand. Song Changxu found it amusing and stuffed the land deed into his hand.

“Don’t think about it. The house is ours. We’ll hire a few workers to replace the floor of the corridor, and then we’ll go and choose some furniture.”

“You don’t know the cost of living until you’re in charge. Where would we get the money to replace the floor now? We’ll ask again when the sugar workshop makes money. We’ll only buy the basic furniture. A bed, a table, and chairs are enough,” Xu Zhizhou said. This time, it really hurt.

“Alright, alright. I’ll listen to you.”

The two of them went to look at ready-made beds, tables, and chairs and bought a set. They had to buy a few more beds for Xiang Lan and Mo Pozi to live in. The other side rooms would be left empty for now and would be filled slowly when they had money.

They had spent too much money today. Xu Zhizhou went back home, washed up, and lay on the bed, still muttering, “Too much, too much…”

He lay on his stomach on the bed, swinging his legs and pounding the bed.

After washing up, Song Changxu saw his appearance and laughed. He got into bed, held him, and kissed him. “Sooner or later, we have to spend it. In the future, we won’t have to pay rent.”

Hearing Song Changxu’s words, Xu Zhizhou lay in his arms.

“Alright. I’m both happy and disappointed to have bought a house. I’ll have to work hard to earn money in the future,” Xu Zhizhou said, fidgeting with his fingers.

Song Changxu kissed his eyelashes, and then his kisses moved down. Xu Zhizhou sensed his intention. He wrapped his arms around his neck and pressed himself closer.

…

The next day, when Xu Zhizhou woke up, Song Changxu was already gone. He got up and went to find Ran Xingwen and Mo Pozi to move. He hired two pushcarts. They had bought few things when they had rented the house, so two pushcarts were enough.

They didn’t buy anything they couldn’t take with them.

He had them move. Xu Zhizhou also had to talk to the landlord. The landlord was not worried about renting out this small courtyard. And seeing that Song Changxu was the new top scorer, he didn’t say anything and just let them move.

“You’ve bought a house so quickly. The price of houses in the capital is not low.”

Xu Zhizhou said, “We’ve saved it up ourselves.”

He would not say that His Majesty had rewarded him with gold bars. That would be too showy.

***

Author’s Note:

Little Xu: I’m finally a homeowner. [Crying]

Little Song: Diligent and hardworking. [Pity]