After the eunuch who delivered the order had left, Ye Ziâan remained in a daze for a long time. He thought to himself that if it was the Emperorâs own idea, this slap in the face was meaningless; there really was no need to use such a royal estate to warn his son not to follow in the footsteps of the previous owner.
"Dad, stop worrying about it, itâs definitely not the Emperorâs idea. Otherwise, wouldnât it give everyone something to gossip about? Our family has saved his life twice. He wouldnât do such a shameless thing. Besides, although he has many thoughts, he also holds some fondness for us. He wouldnât mistreat us in this manner."
Ye Ziâan smiled wryly at those words, "Youâre right, it was my mistake to think otherwise."
"Is it really that bad?"
"Not only bad, itâs definitely uninhabitable."
"In that case, letâs not go to the street this afternoon and head to that royal mansion first instead." Yang Chuxia suggested, "I want to see how run-down it is and how much those people want to make a joke out of my son."
After finishing her words, she spoke to Lele, "Son, donât worry. If that house really is beyond repair, Mom will pay to have it fixed. I wonât let you lose face in front of the real imperial family descendants."
"Thank you, Mom!" After thanking her, Lele thought to himself, I hope you can still say that after youâve seen the house.
So the whole family got back into the carriage and rushed to the newly assigned Prince Anâs Mansion.
That mansion was not far from the current Luo Residence; the carriage ride took them less than two quarters of an hour to arrive.
The moment Yang Chuxia saw the royal mansion, her mouth formed an âoâ shape, which was a whole different level of rundown.
Looking at the main gate, not a speck of lacquer remained, and upon pushing through the doors, one could see withered weeds everywhere; some of the room doors were even close to falling off their hinges.
"Son, can I take back what I said earlier?" Yang Chuxia asked Lele sullenly, wondering how much silver it would cost to renovate. Without tens of thousands of taels, it would definitely be impossible.
"Hehe," Lele asked her with a smile, "Do you think you can take it back?"
"Ah, mother, just bite the bullet and spend the money," said Yangyang, having become rather mature after seeing the estate.
"These people are really ruthless." Yang Chuxia murmured, twitching the corner of her mouth, "Who came up with such a dumb idea? They didnât think we wouldnât have the money for repairs and were deliberately setting us up for ridicule, did they?"
As it turned out, she indeed guessed it right. The person in charge of the House of the Imperial Clan was new and not very familiar with the Ye Family, only knowing that Ye Ziâan was an honest official. Assuming an honest official would definitely be poor, they gave them such a dilapidated mansion just to see how they would handle it.
That official had already thought it through; if the Ye Family came to him asking for the court to fund the repairs, he would just say there was no money.
"So mother, in order not to become the laughing stock, you will have to provide the funds," Lele concluded at last.
"Ugh, they say raise sons for security in old age, but you guys, one after the other, youâre just here to collect debts," Yang Chuxia said with her hands on her hips. After looking around for a while, she finally waved her hand, "Fine, fine, Iâll pay. After we leave, I will arrange for someone to supervise the reconstruction here, but it has to be gradual. If itâs done too quickly, youâll have to move back in."
Meanwhile, back at the palace, the Emperor had already learned that Lele had received a dilapidated royal mansion and immediately summoned the person from the House of the Imperial Clan for a good scolding before rewarding them with many gifts as compensation.
Consequently, when Ye Ziâan and the others returned from the mansion, they found Eunuch Cui waiting at the Luo Residence with some gifts.
~~~
"Daddy, may I have a little pony?"
Early in the morning, Ye Ziâanâs family met with Mu Shaoling and Dongyang outside the city.
By this time, they had already traveled half a dayâs journey.