Tianliangyuan

Chapter 185 Trying to Get a Piece of Land for Free!

While the Sun family was in chaos, Xu Han and Xu Wen felt somewhat relieved.

They didn't want to kill their own family members, so the best way right now was to keep Sun Huaizhi occupied and prevent him from getting involved in the matter.

If Sun Huaizhi is truly oblivious to the situation, then there's no other way but to make him bleed a little.

Xu Han's men are quite capable.

Indeed, some clues have been found regarding that piece of land.

"My lord, the current magistrate of Chang'an County, Liu Qi, is a cousin of the Duke of Su. He was recommended by the Duke of Su and got the support of the Jiang family to take up the position. Now he wants to use that land to gain some political achievements for himself. I heard that he wants to build a charitable hall."

"Charity hall?"

"That's the information the county government is releasing so far. As for what this charity hall is used for or how much land it occupies, nobody knows. However, I've heard that Liu Qi has secretly met with several wealthy merchants, some in the silk business and others in the tea business—all of them are well-off businessmen."

Xu Han sneered, "Does Liu Qi really think we're all fools?"

Xu Wen hadn't yet figured out the intricacies of the situation, so naturally he was clueless.

Xu Jun'an also realized that things were not right and frowned, saying, "What a vicious idea! Liu Qi is thinking of using our land to build a charity hall and then acquiring other land around it to build shops. In this way, he can do good deeds, gain a good reputation, and at the same time benefit from the merchants."

If he succeeds in this endeavor, the only one who will suffer is our Marquis's mansion. Moreover, if we fail to handle it promptly, the entire capital will spread rumors that our Marquis's mansion is ruthless and unwilling to cooperate with the Chang'an County government in doing good deeds.

The people won't ask how much the land is worth, or why our Marquis's Mansion is unwilling to give up the land. They will only care about how many orphans and widows can be taken in if the charity hall can be successfully built. If we don't cooperate, it's tantamount to being rich but heartless, or even competing with the people for profit!

Then you can expect to be severely impeached by those censors in court!

Xu Wen was dumbfounded!

"That Liu Qi is truly cunning! Since it's a charity building, if our Marquis's Mansion asks the county government for money, it would seem short-sighted. Moreover, if this matter reaches the Emperor's ears, he might be displeased with our Xu family. On the other hand, they can offer small profits to the other places, so compared to that, those people won't have any objections. More importantly, once the shops are built, the county government can resell them to the merchants!"

"Heh, what a clever scheme! Liu Qi thinks we Xu family members are all uncouth, so he can't understand the intricacies of this situation, and he's just trying to manipulate us!"

The group looked at each other, all feeling somewhat troubled.

Even though they had anticipated Liu Qi's sinister intentions, how could they break the deadlock?

In other words, even if someone openly tells you that this land is to be used to build a charity, should you or shouldn't you?

If you don't respond, you'll be criticized and cursed by the people!

If they agree, the Liu family will reap all the benefits, and wouldn't the Xu family be being schemed against for nothing?

Xu Jun'an's eyes flashed: "Father, why don't you ask Zhaozhao to come over?"

Xu Wen also thought it was a good idea: "Zhao Zhao is smart, why don't we listen to her thoughts?"

Xu Han nodded, thinking it wouldn't hurt to hear his daughter's opinion.

Xu Zhaozhao truly never expected that the Liu family would be so shameless.

Such a large piece of land, if converted into silver, would be worth at least a thousand strings of cash.

After all, this is the capital city where every inch of land is precious. Does Liu Qi, the county magistrate, really think he can get something for nothing just by talking?

How can someone be such a dreamer!

"Father, may I ask if you wish to build a house on this land?"

Xu Han remained silent for a moment before shaking his head: "This matter involves an old story, and I really don't want to touch this piece of land."

"Hmm, what if we just bring some bricks and tiles to fence off that piece of land?"

Xu Han asked, puzzled, "What do you mean by that?"

“We don’t have to build a mansion, but we can use bricks and tiles to fence off that open space. If anyone asks, just say that you want to find a place to train a group of female soldiers. A mansion is obviously not suitable, so we can use that open space to make a simple training ground. What’s wrong with that?”

"Training female soldiers?"

Xu Han and Xu Wen were both startled. After all, he was a soldier, and it was no joke!

"Father, Second Uncle, please don't be afraid. Father, you can consult His Majesty first. Just say that my marriage is approaching and he's worried that I might be mistreated in the future, so he's thinking of training a group of capable female guards to take with me. Don't forget, I'm now, after all, a county princess!"

Xu Han slapped his thigh: "That's right! The county princess has a ceremonial guard, and she can bring a hundred guards, forty gentry, and many more servants and slaves. So, we can say that we are training a female guard for the county princess, so that they can accompany her into the inner courtyard to protect her in the future."

It was only then that Xu Wen remembered that his niece was actually a county princess.

No one usually pays attention to these things at home, so if Xu Zhaozhao hadn't mentioned it, the Xu family would have completely forgotten about it.

Although she wasn't a royal county princess, she was still a county princess, and in the Great Xing Dynasty, the status of a county princess was quite high, ranking as a second-rank official, even higher than Xu Wen's official position!

"That's a good idea, but besides informing His Majesty, shouldn't we also inform the Xie family?"

"Well, there are quite a few unmarried girls in the Xie family. They can train together, which will make this place less cramped."

“Excellent! Before Liu Qi formally brings up the matter of building the charity hall, let’s make plans ahead of time. Also, Jun’an, take a group of personal guards there to train them. Don’t disturb the people; just do simple drills.”

"Yes, father."

Even though Liu Qi was a county magistrate, he was still afraid of someone holding a knife.

Moreover, Xu Han acted swiftly. As soon as he gave the order, members of the Xu clan immediately came forward to make arrangements, without needing anyone from the Marquis's residence to intervene.

Liu Qi waited for a long time but Sun Huaizhi didn't come over. He couldn't help but curse inwardly that this man was useless and unreliable.

"Your Excellency, a lot of bricks, tiles and timber have been removed from the open space over Pingkang Ward, it seems that a house is to be built there."

"What?" Liu Qi exclaimed in surprise, "How could this be? We didn't receive any prior notice."

"I don't know, I've already sent someone to inquire, but I've confirmed that the managers there are all members of the Xu clan."

Liu Qi frowned. That piece of land had been vacant for over ten years. How could Xu Han suddenly think of building a house there?

There must be something fishy going on here!

A servant beside him reminded him, "Master, could it be that Sun Huaizhi failed to accomplish his task, arousing suspicion from the Marquis's mansion?"