Changning Guard, Ping'an Town, Zhuwei Manor.
As one of the most affluent places in this corner of Ping'an, this place had still been a swampy wasteland more than thirty years ago.
It was Wang Shouzhe, the revitalizing Clan Leader of the Wang Clan, who had filled in and reclaimed this worthless swamp over a full ten years, transforming it into the flourishing sight it was today.
With its excellent environment, concentration of wealthy residents, central location, and convenient commerce and daily life, it was not only eagerly sought after by local tycoons—even wealthy people from throughout Changning Guard would spend enormous sums to acquire a residence here.
This caused the value of Zhuwei Manor's main residences and farmland to climb steadily. Many of the first buyers had turned around and sold their properties, each making a fortune so vast their bowls overflowed. Later, however, they regretted it until their intestines turned green.
As the Changning Wang Clan grew ever stronger, Ping'an Town as a whole became increasingly pleasant, prosperous, and powerful. The prices of Zhuwei Manor's first phase had already risen to a level that made even Ninth-Rank Aristocratic Clans from elsewhere go numb in the scalp.
A house with front and rear courtyards plus eighty mu of farmland had actually risen to twenty or thirty thousand Qian Gold, and still there was demand without supply. The closer a courtyard was to the riverway and Zhuwei Lake, the more expensive it became.
One of those riverside courtyards bore the two words "Ouyang" above its gate.
That day was the fiftieth birthday of the Ouyang family patriarch. His home was thronged with guests, and many people of status had come to offer their congratulations. Yet Master Ouyang seemed somewhat depressed. After offering the guests a few cups of watered wine, he