Transmigration: From Farmer To Empress
Chapter 742 Enter the Palace(5)_1

Upon hearing this, Jiang’s middle man immediately agreed. There were too many such houses, four or five in his hands alone. It seemed that he was going to close a deal today.

Jiang’s middle man went through with Cai Wei one by one on houses meeting her requirements. He suggested she choose a three courtyard mansion located slightly south of the city center. The location of this mansion was prime, and it was spacious, with more than a dozen rooms. Additionally, it had two courtyards, each with a small pond full of lotus flowers. The only downside was that the mansion was very old. The buildings in the front and back yards were tottering, just short of being blown down by a gust of wind. It was an old mansion dating back over a hundred years!

To the left of the mansion was a quiet nunnery, and to the right, there was formerly an oil mill. But because of a fire that killed two workers in the oil mill, people, being superstitious, believed the place was unlucky since people had died there. The place was therefore vacant and soon turned into ruins.

The owner of the mansion was a scholar. After failing the imperial exam time and again and having his family’s fortunes decline, he considered giving up academia to venture into the business world. Because he didn’t have the initial capital, he decided to sell his ancestral home. Because of the poor location of the mansion and its deteriorated state, he only asked for two thousand taels.

Having had previous experiences buying manors, Cai Wei trusted what Jiang’s middle man said. She immediately went to inspect the mansion and found it to be exactly as he described.

The owner of the mansion was a scholar in his forties named Dai Ming Yuan Shan. He was pale, gentlemanly, with not-so-big but spirited eyes, and with a demeanor that was steady and well measured. One look, and you could tell he was an upright gentleman who handled himself amicably in social situations.

Cai Wei didn’t haggle with this downtrodden gentleman. He asked for two thousand taels, and she immediately agreed, not uttering another word. She straightaway paid him a deposit of five taels of gold, agreeing to settle the remaining sum after his family moved out the very next day.

In just half a day, she had decided to buy a mansion worth two thousand taels. For Cai Wei, this was not a big deal. The time for her grand plans to come to fruition was almost upon her. In her eyes, this purchase of two thousand taels was not even worth mentioning...

In the afternoon, she took Dou Momo and Huan Qiu for an afternoon stroll. They had a big meal at the most famous restaurant in the capital, Jufude. She chose to eat at Jufude because she wanted to hear the latest gossip in the capital.

The customers of Jufude did not disappoint her and indeed brought her the latest news.

"Hey, did you hear? The Wuchang Duke woke up, found out he had lost his manhood, and fainted again..."

"Oh, losing his manhood is not the worst part. I heard that people from the palace came to admonish him for his indiscretions. It seems he has fallen out of favor with The Emperor and the Empress. His life is going to be difficult from now on!"

"Difficult or not, at least he still has a life to live. That’s better than the Duke An’s eldest grandson’s family. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but last night the family was bitten to death by poisonous snakes. There are snakes everywhere in the Duke’s mansion, and they specifically targeted the masters of the house. It’s really strange..."

"The old madam was also bitten. Although she woke up, unfortunately, she was left with a lingering illness and could no longer get out of bed. The Imperial Physician said she would not be able to get up for the rest of her life..."

This gossip delighted Cai Wei. After finishing her meal in high spirits, she shopped for a while and bought both Wen’er and Wu’er a carved wooden horse each. Only then did she reluctantly return to Bishui Villa.

The next day, Cai Wei woke up early. The previous night, Brother Parrot had reported that Jin Guifei would summon her to the palace in the morning. So, she got out of bed early, got dressed, brushed her teeth and washed her face, had breakfast, and then waited quietly in the pavilion of Huifang Garden.