Through the wide-open vermilion gate, Li Xuan saw beautifully carved beams and painted rafters, green tiles and red eaves, multiple layers of buildings and pavilions, brightly illuminated - this was quite the opposite of the dilapidated Earl's mansion he had imagined, which had been abandoned for three years. It was more like a newly-renovated mansion. The gate was unusually high, presumably for the convenience of the Fumo Vajra's passage.
A large group of attendants were still waiting outside the mansion. Li Xuan recognized the middle-aged man leading the group, Li Sihai, a veteran in Earl Chengyi's mansion and the father of Li Dalu. He used to be the housekeeper of the East Wing of the earl's mansion and was presumably dispatched by his parents to Beijing to look after the Earl Jingan mansion for Li Xuan.
"What's going on?" As Li Xuan entered the mansion, he looked around in confusion, "This is more exquisite than our Earl Chengyi mansion. Did the Court fund its repair?"
