Protective of Her Own
Kang Shilin was engrossed in his painting and only glanced at her briefly before saying, "I need to talk to you about something later," before returning to his work.
Wu Zong was painting beside Kang Shilin when he saw her. He reluctantly put down his brush and said, "Junior sister, let's go to the government office and register the estate."
Zhao Ruxi smiled at him, "No rush, right? If it's not too urgent, I'll explain the painting technique to everyone first before we go?"
Seeing how diligent everyone was, she, as the teacher, just strolled away without even giving a lesson, and felt guilty. Besides, if everyone learned quickly, she could start offering courses at the government office.
"Okay, go ahead and tell me, there's no rush," Wu Zong said Gao Xing. He could paint a little longer now.
Zhao Ruxi then walked around the open pavilion and corridor, pointing out the flaws to everyone, before instructing Qingfeng and Ma Sheng to set up the painting table.
Although everyone's paintings have some flaws, painting the same thing for too long can lead to boredom. So it's time to switch to something else.
She moved the cone and cylinder on the easel to one side, spread a light-colored cloth on the table, and placed two oranges and a white porcelain vase close together in the middle of the cloth.
"Let's paint this picture," she said.
Sure enough, the moment something new was displayed, everyone's interest was piqued. They all took off their own drawing paper and put on new blank paper.
Zhao Ruxi still demonstrated for everyone first, explaining as she drew, and pointing out the common mistakes everyone made during the explanation.
After everyone had finished viewing her paintings, she herself became engrossed in the new works with renewed enthusiasm. She then offered some pointers on Gong Cheng's paintings before approaching Kang Shilin and Wu Zong: "Master, Senior Brother, I've arrived."
"Go play somewhere else, don't bother me." Kang Shilin was painting his new picture, just like a child who had received a new toy, and didn't want to pay any attention to Zhao Ruxi at all.
Zhao Ruxi had no choice but to take two steps back and go to look at Wu Zong.
Wu Zong waved his hand, "Let me draw for a while. Come and wake me up when it's half an hour before I leave the office." After saying that, he drew a few strokes, then suddenly remembered something, looked at his drawing paper, and sighed, "Oh well, I'll go with you then."
Zhao Ruxi also loves painting, and she can especially understand Wu Zong's feelings.
"Actually, there's no rush. Going tomorrow is fine too," she said.
"Sigh, tomorrow's the day. Forget it, let's go before I regret it, let's transfer the estate to your name," Wu Zong said, "Lest things get complicated."
As the two walked out, he asked, "Did you bring the silver notes? After the transfer is complete, I'll take you to see the estate."
"I brought the silver notes with me," Zhao Ruxi said. "But Senior Brother doesn't need to come to the estate with me; I can go by myself."
Wu Zong glanced at her. "Accompanying the buyer of a convicted official's property to settle the land and house transaction is official business for us Court of Judicial Review officials. I'm not here to paint today; I specifically asked Lord Zhang for this assignment. Accompanying you to the estate is also part of my duties."
Zhao Ruxi said Gao Xing, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Senior Brother."
With Wu Zong accompanying her, it was naturally better than her going to the estate alone. That estate belonged to Wei Qiu, and who knew if the estate manager was one of his men? The possibility of him attacking her or avenging Wei Qiu was slim, but whether he would treat her well was another matter.
One rode a horse, the other a carriage. When they arrived at the Beining County, it was past closing time, but there were still people waiting in the office's household registration department.
"This is Wang Guangyao, the clerk of Beining County. You've acquired property in Beining, so you'll inevitably have to deal with Uncle Wang in the future," Wu Zong said, pointing to a thin old man in his early fifties.
"If you need anything, sir, please don't hesitate to give me your orders." Wang Guangyao bowed and scraped, showing a considerable degree of obsequiousness towards Wu Zong.
"This is my junior sister, a disciple recently accepted by my master, the Layperson Kumu. She is the legitimate daughter of the Earl of Suiping's Residence. From now on, when my junior sister comes to do business, you should treat it as my personal matter and not neglect her," Wu Zong added.
Upon hearing this, Wang Guangyao became even more respectful to Zhao Ruxi, and stepped forward to shower her with compliments.
It seems that Wu Zong sent someone to make the arrangements, and the information for Wei Qiu's estate was already prepared. Wang Guangyao, who was also trying to curry favor with the two men, was very efficient and made his subordinates run errands. In no time, the transfer of ownership of the estate was completed.
Zhao Ruxi was a little confused after receiving the land deed.
She looked up at Wu Zong: "Senior Brother..." She pointed to the land deed, "Why is it in my name?"
"Didn't you buy this? You earned the money the day before yesterday," Wu Zong asked in surprise.
Seeing the meaningful look in Wu Zong's eyes, and glancing at Qingfeng and Ma Sheng out of the corner of her eye, Zhao Ruxi blinked, her face full of doubt. "But I don't have a separate household registration, can I still own property under my name?"
"Generally not," Wu Zong said calmly. "But your master went to great lengths to arrange your painting classes, collect the money for you, and even had me buy this estate for you. It wasn't just to add to the Earl of Suiping's Residence's estate. He specifically instructed me to put the land in your name when transferring the property. Although your current household registration is with the Earl of Suiping's Residence, you can't be a separate household, and the land is still under the Earl of Suiping's Residence, but the land deeds can be registered in your name. After all, when a woman gets married, she can change the deeds of the land and houses under her dowry to her own name; you're just doing it a little earlier."
Zhao Ruxi was deeply moved upon hearing this.
She suppressed the tears welling up in her eyes and gave Wu Zong a grateful smile, "Thank you, Master, thank you, Senior Brother."
Wu Zong is in his thirties. He has a ten-year-old daughter, only four years younger than Zhao Ruxi. He treats Zhao Ruxi as both a younger sister and a daughter.
Seeing the girl's eyes slightly red, he sighed inwardly, feeling gratified at what he had done for his junior sister today.
As an official of the Court of Judicial Review, he spent his days investigating cases and witnessed far too many people resorting to all sorts of harmful and insidious means to fight for property.
Aren't there countless instances of large families vying for power and resources? Although the Earl of Suiping seems to treat his daughter well now, who knows what will happen in the future? Wealth is a powerful motivator. Right now it's just a farm, so the people of the Earl of Suiping's Residence may not covet it. But what about much more?
With her abilities, junior sister's wealth may continue to increase in the future. If things get complicated over these things, he and his senior brother can stand up for her and protect her assets, but she will inevitably suffer heartbreak for her family and may even be accused of being unfilial.
After all, "while parents are alive, one should not acquire private property" is a long-standing and established rule.
The junior sister had suffered too much in the past, so they would protect her as much as they could. Since he was in the Court of Judicial Review and had the advantage of his position, he would naturally use it to provide some protection for the junior sister.