Chapter 2483 - 2457: Warming the House (Part 1)

In the two-section courtyard, Old Madam Liu left the main courtyard for Bai Shan and the others as a new house. It’s already being set up, and all the furniture inside is to be replaced with new ones. Old Madam Liu and Ms. Zheng chose to live in the two rooms in front to avoid making them feel uncomfortable living in the second section with them.

Manbao walked around and sighed, "It’s fine for the two of us to live here, but having Grandma Liu and Auntie Zheng here as well is indeed inconvenient."

Having a courtyard to oneself is delightful; you can stay up late reading without anyone knowing.

Bai Shan thought the same, pulling her to see the main house, "Grandma said that from now on this house will not be rented out, it’ll stay for our own use. In the future, even if we go elsewhere, someone can stay to look after it, so it won’t be neglected."

Actually, Old Madam Liu’s original words were, "If you and your wife ever fight and have nowhere to go, you can come back here for a couple of days, cool down before going back."

Bai Shan naturally didn’t think he’d get into such fights with Zhou Man where they’d leave home, so he changed the wording when telling Manbao.

Manbao was very pleased, especially upon seeing the garden soil at the back, which seemed quite fertile, making her even more delighted.

This is great. In the future, she could often buy all sorts of exotic flowers from the marketplace to plant here. She can wait for them to bloom for a season and see what they become, and if she doesn’t like them, she can just remove and burn them. She doesn’t need to be so cautious like in the large garden at home.

The more Manbao thought about it, the more she liked it, so she told Bai Shan, "No need for a full household; just a gatekeeper to watch the house is enough, occasionally clean the rooms, and we can manage the backyard ourselves."

Manbao paused and added, "As long as we still live in the capital."

Bai Shan understood, nodding, "Okay, I’ll later ask Grandma to pick a loyal couple to watch over it."

Manbao then whispered, "This courtyard is really for the two of us, let Grandma Liu and Auntie Zheng stay at my place?"

Bai Shan couldn’t help but laugh, "Yes, since you’ve said so, and your father has repeatedly invited them to stay, it’s naturally more spacious there, so they’d stay there."

Manbao became excited and whispered, "It’s chrysanthemum viewing season. I’ll later buy a few pots of chrysanthemums. Last time, I saw a kind of chrysanthemum tree, about as tall as a person, a big bush, but the flowers it produced came in six colors—some in solid colors, others mixed in two or three colors, all double-petaled and large, exceptionally beautiful."

But they are too unusual. She could only indulge her eyes on them in the marketplace, not daring to buy. The seller said they could cut and send them over in a box. But she liked the whole living plant. If only buying flowers, single-stemmed ones of those chrysanthemums were available as well.

If there’s a courtyard of her own, she could buy whatever she wanted since they weren’t expensive.

As for the points, she had accumulated quite a few.

Bai Shan, hearing her description, understood her thoughts. After some thought, he said, "I’ll tell Grandma."

The two of them huddled in the main room, while Bai Erlang and the others entered from the main gate, bustling as they came over. Just as they reached the second courtyard, not seeing anyone, they shouted loudly, "Bai Shan, Bai Shan, where are you?"

Bai Shan pushed open the window.

Bai Erlang was startled by the sound of the window opening. Seeing Manbao blushing beside him, he suspiciously asked, "What were you doing inside the room?"

But Bai Dalang, who only glanced at them, smirked and gave Bai Erlang a light knock on the head, nearly knocking him over, "Haven’t you heard the phrase ’Don’t speak improperly’?"

Bai Erlang felt wronged, "I didn’t say anything much."

Yin Huo had already averted his gaze, and changed the topic by saying, "This courtyard is not bad, the lighting is excellent."

Bai Erlang rubbed his head, saying, "The lighting is indeed good, but the environment isn’t as nice as my elder brother’s courtyard. There’s a tree at the two-section in my father’s courtyard where we used to read, play chess, and enjoy the shade. Here, it’s barren, there’s nothing at all."

Bai Shan smiled and said, "Grandma said we could open flower beds on both sides and plant flowering trees."

Turning to Manbao, he said, "Didn’t you say you liked plum blossoms? We can plant plum trees on both sides then."

Manbao’s eyes lit up, "Actually, I also like peach and apricot blossoms, and pomegranate blossoms are also nice."

Bai Shan laughed heartily and said, "That’s not difficult at all. There’s another courtyard at the back, we could plant along the paths, and leave the remaining space for whatever else you want to plant."

Manbao became happy, a cheerful mood floated within her, and her face blushed even more.

Bai Erlang was baffled, was it that delightful?

Didn’t she already have Eldest’s garden? Wasn’t that enough for her?

Bai Dalang, who had also looked around with them, said to Bai Shan, "If you guys live here, we could visit often for meals."

Bai Erlang joked from the side, "Oh come on, you’re living over there, visiting from that courtyard is even more convenient, isn’t it?"

At that, Bai Erlang noticed Bai Shan didn’t refute his elder brother’s words and was a bit surprised. "No way, do you plan on moving out?"

Bai Shan cleared his throat, saying, "Not to the point of moving out, but occasionally living here alone for a while isn’t bad."

Manbao nodded repeatedly.

Bai Dalang glanced at Bai Erlang with a knowing expression and said, "You’ll understand once you get married."

Bai Erlang was puzzled, "Understand what? Isn’t living there better? The courtyard isn’t smaller, the rooms are even bigger, the garden is larger and more beautiful, it’s closer to the imperial city, why live out here?" He thought the house was a one-time use, to be rented out after Bai Shan completed the ceremony.

Bai Dalang patted his shoulder, saying, "I’ll talk to Dad about pooling some money to buy a small courtyard for you in the capital."

"I don’t want it," Bai Erlang declared, "Just give me the money for the house, I’ll stay at the princess’s mansion."

Speaking of the princess’s mansion, Bai Erlang excitedly told Manbao, "The Ministry of Public Works almost finished building Mingda’s mansion. Last time I passed by and peeked inside, it looked much better than your house."

Bai Shan said, "You should still have Uncle buy you a small house, if there’s any left for sale in Changqing Alley buy there, if not, nearby is also fine."

Even Liu Huan nodded, "Yes, yes, if my house wasn’t so large, I’d actually like to buy a courtyard to live by myself too."

Yin Huo said gracefully, "The residence granted to me by the Emperor has been restored, I’ve moved my things in. But I sometimes stay outside, if you’d like, you are welcome to visit me."

Manbao and others perked up, asking, "You live alone?"

Yin Huo nodded, "Just some servants, but they were handpicked by me, they won’t interfere with us."

Apart from Bai Erlang, everyone else looked at him with envy.

Bai Shan asked, "Why didn’t you invite us to warm the house?"

Yin Huo was stunned, "Is warming the house necessary?"