In his previous life, Xu Yuan had seen plenty of luxurious mansions built inside wetland parks, but he'd never seen a wetland park built inside a mansion. It was like that old joke about having to drive just to use the toilet.
As he walked through the gardens, Xu Yuan saw servants and maids bustling about.
Just as he remembered, the maids in the Jingjiang Xu Estate who were at least passably pretty weren't afraid of him, the infamous wastrel young master.
As he passed, several even seemed eager to cozy up to him.
Perhaps to them, no matter how things ended, attaching themselves to the Third Young Master of the Prime Minister's Estate was the only way they'd ever get ahead in life.
After crossing the gardens, he entered the Xu Estate's reception hall.
The spacious hall was quiet, with Bright Pattern Lamps hanging on the walls and casting a soft glow.
As far as he remembered, the place was empty most of the time.
Only on rare occasions, when important officials from Jingjiang Prefecture came to pay a visit and deliver gifts, would the estate's steward personally receive them here.
Even a gatekeeper of the Prime Minister's Household outranked a seventh-grade official, and the stewards handled matters like accepting gifts.
After entering the hall, Xu Yuan didn't hurry into the inner rooms. Instead, he retrieved some banknotes from behind a painting hanging on the wall.
Not much—just two notes, each worth a thousand taels.
The vast Xu Estate was full of hidden treasures. The original owner had stashed them away.
His cheap old man didn't care about his wild behavior, but his two older brothers, Xu Changge and Xu Chang'an, did.
Sometimes even Fourth Sister got involved.
The original owner couldn't beat those three bandits.
Whenever they found