Zhulan and Zhou Shuren supported their parents as they returned to the estate. It was only now, after the Zheng family had moved out today, that Zhulan got the chance to take a closer look at the Zheng family's house. After settling their parents in, the couple brought the people from the Zhou and Yang families to tour the large mansion.
Zhulan had the blueprints of the Zheng family's mansion in her hands. The mansion had a total of eight courtyards, each independent of the others. Except for the main house, the size of each courtyard was the same. Each small courtyard was built with a layout of two sections, and thick gates separating the front and back yards of each section. The gates had intricate locks, which Zhulan had seen before with her grandmother in ancient residences in Jiangnan.
Behind the great gates were small mechanisms; with a press, wooden stakes would move into place—six in total—barring the gate from behind, making it difficult to break through.
