Farm Girl's Manor
Chapter 1011: A Bluff That Paid Off Big Time (4)

Chapter 1011: Chapter 1011: A Bluff That Paid Off Big Time (4)

Chunhua’s legs shook like noodles, terrified, but she dared not say anything. With a pale face, she led the way ahead, occasionally twisting her head to glance back at the Six Beasts, fearfully worried that they might pounce and bite.

The Six Beasts looked at her with disdain and, tilting their necks, swaggered to the front of the group.

The party rounded the tall screen wall and beheld an open expanse; the spacious front courtyard was just as Zhenzhen described, so vast one could almost race horses in it! Of course, there were no horses now—just the Six Beasts darting and dashing among the flower beds.

Everyone suppressed their shock and walked straight ahead without wandering eyes. Although they did not lingeringly gaze around, the corner of their eyes had already taken in the entire front courtyard, and their feelings were far from the calm surface.

Not willing to be left out, Xuetuanzi from the space couldn’t resist joining in on the excitement, "Yanyan, it’s just a palm-sized house, not even as big as the space, and you’re captivated by it? How unambitious!"

Mo Yan silently retorted in her mind, "No matter how big the space is, it’s all visible at a glance, while this house, small as it is, is enough for your master to live and enjoy! Since you look down upon this large estate, when you transform one day, I’ll build you a mini-house, and you can stay in there by yourself!"

"No, Yanyan!" Xuetuanzi became anxious and quickly tried to ingratiate itself, "I like living in big places, the bigger the better. This estate is huge and great; we should live here from now on."

Mo Yan chuckled to herself, but responded with all seriousness, "Depends on your performance. If you behave well, you’ll live in the large house; behave poorly, and I’ll build you a small room. After all, you’re alone and don’t need much space."

"No, I don’t want a small house; I want the big one! Waaa, Yanyan, you can’t treat me this way, or you’ll lose this treasure!" Xuetuanzi whined in a pinchy and coquettish voice, crying so convincingly that anyone who didn’t know better might think it was actually weeping.

This crying was too bewitching; Mo Yan felt goosebumps rise and immediately lost the desire to talk further with this creature.

After traversing the long corridor, the group passed through the second gate and entered another large courtyard. Compared to the grand and spacious front yard, this second yard was nearly half the size, but it was a lot more delicately arranged. In addition to several large flower beds planted with precious flora and trees, and a number of peculiarly shaped rockeries, there was also a gentle stream flowing through.

One could see a stream meandering from the depths of the foliage, cascading through the rocky crevices below. Lush trees lined both sides, and bright flowers blazed. A few steps further in, heading north, it opened into a broad flat area, where buildings with flying eaves seemed to pierce the sky, pavilions and towers, all hidden among the shade of overarching trees.

What was remarkable was the undisturbed appearance of the quietly flowing stream, which bore no signs of artificial carving; the small wooden bridge built over it that led to the opposite bank was made of pure natural bamboo and wood.

The scenery in the courtyard was exquisite without exception, breathtaking in its beauty. Everyone resisted the urge to explore and followed Chunhua into the main hall.

Compared to the overly large first and second courtyards, the size of the main hall was quite normal, slightly bigger than that of the Mo Family, and just like the courtyard’s scenery, it was exceptionally refined. Even a fusspot like Xuetuan wouldn’t find any fault.

However, the estate was too large and had long been neglected; Zhao Dafu and the others seldom cleaned it, so a thin layer of dust had settled everywhere, which made cleanliness-loving people like those of Mo Family somewhat uncomfortable.

Noticing the Mo Family’s discontented expressions, Chunhua quickly realized what was wrong and her face changed. Yet inwardly, she blamed the Mo Family for not giving a heads up—if they had, she and others wouldn’t have been unprepared and scared out of their wits like today.

Although displeased inside, Chunhua dared not express it aloud and, after apologizing to Mo Yan, quickly fetched clean water and a cloth and briskly wiped down the tables and chairs.

Seeing Chunhua working efficiently and cleaning the chairs and tables quite well, Mo Yan didn’t comment.

Once Chunhua had taken the dirty water away, the people of the Mo Family found chairs and sat down. They were quite exhausted after being jostled about in the carriage for half the day.

It wasn’t long before Zhao Dafu, who had anchored the carriage, arrived at the main hall with his household, kneeling on the ground to greet Mo Yan.

Mo Yan was not accustomed to such kneeling rituals, and having already shown her authority outside, she did not trouble them further this time and asked them to stand after the greetings.

The Zhao Family spanned three generations and totaled twenty people altogether. The elder Zhao Dafu had three sons and one daughter. Each of his sons had taken wives and had several children, with the youngest being five, already capable of helping with light chores.

The only daughter was Chunhua, who had married a servant from the former owner’s mansion. Later, when the estate was incorporated into the Court’s property, Zhao Dafu managed to keep his would-be sold daughter, son-in-law, and grandchild on the estate, and the large family lived together.

Mo Yan eyed the Zhao family, noting their plain clothes that were no different from ordinary servants; even Zhao Chunhua had changed out of her silk gown into common attire, with no hairpins or jewelry in sight, although their pair of silk shoes gave away the fact that they had dressed themselves up again.

Despite Zhao Dafu’s potential for embezzlement as Manager of the estate, Mo Yan did not confront him at this time.

First, the estate had only come under her name since last autumn, so whether Zhao Dafu had embezzled from the former owner or the Court had nothing directly to do with her.

Second, given the size of the estate, it required a dedicated manager. Zhao Dafu had been trusted by the previous owner and even continued as Manager after it was claimed by the Court, which indicated he had some brains; she didn’t plan to replace him, provided he proved trustworthy.

Mo Yan asked the other members of the Zhao family to leave but kept Zhao Dafu behind...

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