Chapter 654: Moving House
Editor: Atlas Studios

“Your Highness, Mrs. Chen is here.”

“Please come in.” Mu Yangling put down the book in her hand and patted her son’s butt, letting him play at the side.

Mrs. Chen walked in respectfully with her head lowered. When Mu Yangling saw that Mrs. Chen was about to kneel down, she quickly supported her and said with a smile, “Madam, don’t stand on ceremony.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Mrs. Chen stood up carefully and bowed to the side.

Mu Yangling said with a smile, “Mrs. Chen, please take a seat. There’s no need to be so reserved. Speaking of which, I have to thank you for letting us stay in this house.”

“It’s my honor to serve Your Highnesses.” Mrs. Chen heaved a sigh of relief when she saw how amiable Mu Yangling was. She had been afraid that Prince Rong and Princess Consort Rong would be annoyed, and she also feared that outsiders would gossip that they were clinging to the nobles. This was why, although they had lent the Prince the house to live in, they never dared to take the initiative to visit.

However, it was impossible for them not to want to visit. Back then, they had spent so much money to somehow arrange for Prince Rong to stay at their house, simply because they wanted to network with him.

Hence, when she heard that the Princess Consort invited her, Mrs. Chen packed up and rushed over. She knew that the Princess Consort didn’t like trouble, so she came alone and didn’t even bring her daughter-in-law and daughter.

Mu Yangling asked to meet Mrs. Chen because they were moving out. Since construction of their General’s Residence in Qiannan had been completed, they would be moving out soon. Last night, when Qi Haoran mentioned the Chen family in front of Mu Yangling, he said that the Chen family was quite sensible. Since they were quite satisfied with the Chen’s house that they had lived in for some time, they naturally had to repay them.

Mu Yangling originally wanted to give them money, but Qi Haoran mocked her and said, “Back then, the Chen family spent a lot of money to get this opportunity, but in the end, you choose to pay them rent. Those who know will say that you’re daft, and those who don’t know will think that I’m ignorant. Alright, send them an invitation to come here tomorrow. Since we’ll be inviting guests over to our new place for housewarming, let’s give the Chens an invitation in advance.”

“After staying at their place for three months, you’re only giving them an invitation in return?” Mu Yangling’s expression was a little strange.

However, Qi Haoran said proudly, “Do you know how much my invitation can be sold for outside? That’s something that can’t be bought even if you have money.”

Mu Yangling didn’t believe it at first, but as soon as she took out the invitation today and handed it to Mrs. Chen, Mrs. Chen gratefully promised to show up with her husband on the day of their housewarming.

Seeing Mrs. Chen leave gratefully with the invitation, Mu Yangling sighed. “Looks like it’s really as the Prince said. An invitation from him is truly very valuable. What a pity. If only we could sell it.”

Spring burst out laughing. “Why do you have the same thoughts as His Highness? Yesterday, when I served tea to His Highness, he also felt that it was a pity.”

Mu Yangling couldn’t help but purse her lips and smile. “Alright, stop joking. Hurry up and get someone to pack up so that we can move things over tomorrow.”

The General’s Residence was built on a farmstead and was considered to be in the outer city.

The layout of Ju Prefecture City was similar to that of Lin’an City. Outside the city were mountain villages, and the city was divided into the outer city and the inner city. The inner city was mostly occupied by officials and gentry, and there were also some fields, though very few of them. Most of the fields were at the border area far from the center.

On the other hand, the outer city was filled with farmers and merchants. The layout was a little chaotic, and there were large plots of farmland and small hills distributed among them. Now that Ju Prefecture City had declined, 20 to 30% of the houses in the city were uninhabited. In fact, this was the result of half a year of hard work after the war to absorb the refugees and commoners outside the city. According to Qi Haoran, when he passed by here during the war, only three out of ten houses in the city were occupied. The city was empty, and there was not a single person on the streets.

Later on, Qi Haoran went to Qiannan first. He originally wanted to buy two houses in the inner city and connect them to build the General’s Residence. However, at that time, the officials and gentry in the city joined forces, seemingly wanting to get something from Qi Haoran. They kept passing the buck, and when he sent his men to buy the houses, no one could find any information about houses available for sale.

This was when Qi Haoran knew that they wanted to take him down a notch. If he took a step back at the time, he would definitely be restricted in all aspects in the future. He was not someone who could tolerate such matters. Furious, he simply asked Fei Bai to buy a large plot of land in the outer city to build his house upon. There were many barren lands on the farmstead that could be used as homesteads.

Hence, with a wave of Qi Haoran’s hand, the General’s Residence and Fan Zijin’s Fan Residence were built on the farmstead.

Only then did the officials and gentry of Ju Prefecture City panic. They didn’t expect Qi Haoran to rather live in the outer city than to soften his attitude. For a moment, they were angry and regretful. Hence, when the officials of Ju Prefecture City encountered matters involving Prince Rong’s estate subsequently, they gave in and didn’t dare to fight head-on.

When Qi Haoran was looking for a house to settle his family down, so many people swarmed over and asked Qi Haoran to choose their house. Apart from currying favor with Qi Haoran, they also wanted to salvage his impression of them.

Since the house was built in the outer city, safety was the top priority. Fortunately, the guards who had followed Mu Yangling previously were all here. When the time came, they could just choose a few more people from the army.

The General’s Residence had five entrances and was located right beside the Fan Residence. It was only a wall away. Considering the deep brotherhood between Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin, the designer had specially built a door to connect the two sides. Once the door was locked, the two houses would be separated. When the door opened, they would be considered one house.

Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin were very satisfied with this design. Likewise for Mu Yangling and Little Madam Xia. In the future, even if they wanted to visit, they didn’t have to exit their own house before entering the adjacent house, and could just pass through the garden.

There was a main road outside the residence that led straight to the main streets of the city, but other than that there was arable land all around. These were the only two houses within a radius of three miles. Previously there were some houses scattered three miles away, occupied by farm tenants. When Qi Haoran bought the plot of land, he also allowed the previous tenants to stay.

Mu Yangling packed her things very quickly. Back then, because she knew that she wouldn’t be staying here for long, the only things she’d retrieved from the luggage were some necessary clothes and daily necessities. The other things were still kept in boxes in the storeroom. Now, she could just move these boxes into the carriage and go over.

When she was almost done packing, Little Madam Xia’s servant girl, Cuilan, ran over anxiously. “Your Highness, our Madam isn’t feeling well. We’ve only packed half of her things…”

The Duke had long said that he wanted to move over to the new house with the Prince’s estate. Now, the Prince’s servants had finished packing up their stuff, while the Duke’s residence was still in a mess. If the Duke found out, he would probably blame Madam. Hence, although she was very embarrassed, Cuilan still shamelessly came over to invite Mu Yangling.

Mu Yangling didn’t think too much about it. She handed the remaining tasks to Mama Wang and brought Spring over while holding Little Bear’s small hand. As they walked, she asked, “What’s wrong with your madam? Did you send for a doctor?”

Cuilan looked a little sad as she said, “The doctor has already prescribed a prescription for her.”

As the houses rented by the two families were also close, they arrived shortly after. Mu Yangling wasn’t in the habit of riding a carriage, so she walked straight to Fan Residence.

When Mu Yangling entered, the Fan Residence was in a mess, and the servants were running around noisily. Seeing this, Mu Yangling frowned slightly, and Cuilan shouted sternly, “What are you making a din about? Can’t you see that Her Highness is here? Were you always so noisy even when Madam was in charge?”