Chapter 285: The New Shelter
Chapter 285: The New Shelter
Xiang Ling watched as Xu Wei walked out of the courtyard to head toward the market area in order to finish the task that she just handed to him. After taking a full tour through the Shelter house, she created a list of all the furniture, bedding, kitchen items, and other such essentials that were needed, and handed the list to Xu Wei along with a banknote of thousand silver taels.
"It will take him quite a while to buy so much stuff. Should we return to the manor for now?" Zhe Yuan asked as he appeared in front of Xiang Ling’s vision.
She turned her questioning gaze at the Mer Crown Prince and with her eyebrows arched high in question, she asked, "Why? We are here to set up this place for its new residents. Aren’t we?"
"But... there’s nothing for us to do until Xu Wei brings all those things here." Zhe Yuan actually appeared a little bit puzzled as he looked at his wife for some sort of explanation.
A smile bloomed on Xiang Ling’s lips and she took out a broom from her space and threw it toward Zhe Yuan who immediately caught it. "Here you go. This place needs a thorough cleaning before we can start arranging the furniture and other stuff. Before Xu Wei returns, let’s complete this-"
Before she could have finished speaking, the Mer Crown Prince clicked his fingers and the hallway in front of the house, where they were standing, got rid of all the dust and cobwebs and started glistening as if freshly cleaned and washed.
Xiang Ling stared around the area and slowly nodded her head in admiration. She was planning to use her powers to clean and somewhat renovate the place, but if someone else was ready to do it for her, then she was more than happy to hand over the job to that person.
"Alright. Not bad. You can continue." She gave Zhe Yuan a green flag to continue with his way of cleaning the place, but not without adding some extra rules. "Make sure that every single corner of this place is clean, along with the courtyards. Also, pay attention if there are any broken windows or ceilings. If there are, renovate them. However, you should make sure to use your powers in a way that this place neither look too bad nor too polished. Keep it perfectly balanced so no one will question about a rundown place becoming a new one within hours. Alright?"
"Why I’m feeling like you are bullying me right now?" Zhe Yuan asked as he walked closer and stared into her eyes with a suspicious look.
"Why would you say that? I thought you were eager to accompany me during work." Xiang Ling made sure to look as innocent as possible even though she knew that the other party could see through her act without putting in any effort.
Zhe Yuan nodded his head with a smile curling the corners of his lips. "You are right, Lingling. I was actually looking forward to this." He then took another step closer which nearly removed all the possible space between their bodies. Towering over her, he stared down into her eyes and added, "I will impress you with my work today, but before that... I need a little bit of motivation."
"You seriously know how to take advantage of every situation possible, don’t you?" She asked while staring into his beautiful deep purple eyes.
"I’m learning from you, my love." He answered without missing a beat.
Satisfied with his response, Xiang Ling moved on her tip toes and placed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. She didn’t linger for too long and pulled back almost immediately, but not before whispering - "Finish your work and I might consider rewarding you again."
Just as she pulled away from him completely and stepped back, Zhang Xuan returned from the backyard. Zhe Yuan didn’t waste any more time and immediately headed inside the building to clean and renovate it.
"What do you think?" Xiang Ling asked when she noticed Zhang Xuan making his way toward her.
"I think your plan will work. The backyard is possibly the best part about this house. It’s big enough for the people here to plant some veggies and to also set up a little shed and pigsty. Having a horse or two, some pigs, cows, and hen will be good for these people here. Those who will stay at home without jobs, can look after the animals and the vegetable garden."
Xiang Ling nodded her head in approval. As soon as she saw the huge backyard, she came up with the idea of setting up a vegetable garden and a barn for animals. Compared to the huge backyard, the front yard was quite small. There were two huge trees in the front yard, one near the wall and another in the very center of the yard. A well was also located in the farthest corner of the front yard. Overall, the place was big and comfortable enough to become the new home of the twenty-nine beggars who were currently living within any roof over their heads.
Despite the amount of items he needed to buy, Xu Wei returned within an hour and a half along with a group of servants from the Chen Manor. By that time, Zhe Yuan had cleaned the entire place thoroughly, fixing all the things that needed to be fixed.
For the rest of the late morning, everyone worked hard to set up the place. At noon, their lunch arrived from Chen Manor and once they were done filling their bellies, they once again returned to working.
By four in the late afternoon, the place was completely ready to welcome its new residents. Official Zhu was the first to arrive with a couple of guards from the Magistrate’s Office. They brought the clothes, rations, and other items of daily necessities with them.
An hour later, the beggars finally arrived at the doorsteps of their new home, and accompanying them were none other than the County Magistrate and his wives.