Exiting Qinglefang.
Chen Zheng, waiting outside the gate, quickly knelt and acted as a human stool for the two to board the carriage.
Seeing this, Chen Zhi'an was slightly surprised.
This darn sense of ceremony,
It's quite hard to let go of...
Holding Li Lanqing's hand, Chen Zhi'an waved his hand vigorously and said, "Depart for Yueya Lake!"
Li Lanqing looked curiously at the passing scenery beside her. She was sold to Huzi by her biological father when she was twelve years old.
Over these years, she had only been wandering around various elegant rooms in Qinglefang.
Carefully calculated.
Today was her first time leaving that alley and truly seeing Chang'an City...
Watching the hawkers shouting along the street, watching the children playing and frolicking on the street, tears gradually welled up in her eyes.
Her younger siblings at home might also be living such carefree lives...
"Young Master, we've arrived at Yueya Lake!"
Approximately half an hour later.
The carriage stopped in a remote wilderness.
Chen Zheng lifted the carriage's canopy, preparing to kneel and help the two get off.
Chen Zhi'an smiled and kicked him, telling him to step aside quickly.
Then he jumped off the carriage and horizontally carried Li Lanqing, jokingly saying, "Come, beauty, take a look at the fish pond this marquis has reserved for you!"
Li Lanqing looked bewildered at the wild lake in front of her.
She didn't understand why Chen Zhi'an brought her to this desolate place.
Chen Zhi'an didn't explain, he flew up and stood on a huge rock, overlooking Yueya Lake from a high vantage point.
"Away from the bustling city, secluded paths, yet it overlooks the bustling Jinko Lane in the entire Chang'an City from a distance. This kind of sacred place is used for fish farming, it's truly unbelievable!"
Yueya Lake—
It was precisely the place Chen Zhi'an sought for Zhi'an Tower to settle.
Three small islands on Yueya Lake, separated by only a hundred meters, formed a small island group.
If several pavilions were built on them and connected with iron cables, it would be easy to link them together to create a leisure and entertainment paradise.
Moreover, the lake formed a natural barrier, relieving guests of worries.
Even if the tigress from the mansion came to the island to catch people, they could leave calmly.
There would never be a situation where people fled in disarray.
Both safety and confidentiality were top-notch.
The more he looked, the more he liked it.
This place must be secured.
Chen Zhi'an jumped off the huge rock and said to Chen Zheng, "Call the boss of that boat, I want to talk to him in person."
Chen Zheng grinned, "Older Brother already had the boss of the boat waiting, just awaiting your instructions!"
As he spoke, he leisurely took out a short flute from his pocket, tested the tone with a few blows, and then played it.
The flute's sound lingered—
Chen Zhi'an looked up and saw a small boat gradually emerging from the shadows on the crescent moon island.
Chen Yi stood at the bow of the boat, also holding a short flute in his mouth, the flute sound echoing and responding to Chen Zheng's.
Chen Zhi'an looked at this scene in surprise, and after a while, he murmured, "You guys hide quite deeply!"
Chen Zheng modestly smiled, "These are just trivial means, not worth mentioning! Hehe, not worth mentioning!"
"Hehe!"
Chen Zhi'an sneered.
No wonder the original owner always felt that these two guys were elusive. It turned out they had such skills of communicating secretly.
Taking the short flute from Chen Zheng's hand, Chen Zhi'an carefully examined it. Although this thing looked no different from a short flute, there were some subtle differences. There was a metal card at the bottom.
The small island was about two miles away from them, but Chen Yi could hear the flute sound, presumably because of this card.
After studying it carefully, Chen Zhi'an casually handed the short flute back to Chen Zheng and asked, "Where did you guys get this thing?"
"Hehe, I made it myself!"
Chen Zheng hid the short flute in his arms and couldn't help but feel proud, "Young Master, I'm not bragging, but in the entire Chang'an City, no, in the entire Tang Dynasty, only the flutes in our brothers' hands can transmit sound the farthest...
Last year, we won the championship in the competition.
Even the flute from Prince San's house couldn't transmit as far as ours!"
"Very good!"
Chen Zhi'an patted Chen Zheng's shoulder satisfactorily.
He didn't bother to delve into what kind of inexplicable competitions these lackeys were secretly playing.
Previously, Chen Zhi'an had been thinking about how to ensure everything went flawlessly.
Having this thing would make it perfect, wouldn't it?
If the lake surroundings were dotted with hidden watchmen, and someone came to the door, they could transmit messages using the flute, composing different tunes to convey different messages...
In this way, the guests in the future could be said to be carefree.
However, he didn't mention it here; the fewer people who knew, the better.
Before long, the boat stopped at the lakeside, and Chen Yi led a man over.
The man had dark skin, dressed in a short shirt, more like an old farmer than a pond owner. As soon as he got ashore, he immediately bowed to Chen Zhi'an.
With a smile on his face, he said, "I, Zhang Fugui, pay respects to Young Master Chen, may you be blessed!"
Chen Zhi'an squinted at the pond owner.
Feeling somewhat familiar.
After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly understood where this familiarity came from.
—This guy actually looked a lot like Zhang Xiao'er, the prison guard.
These days were too busy, and he had forgotten that Zhang Xiao'er still owed him four hundred and ninety-five taels of silver.
Isn't this a coincidence?
Helping Zhang Fugui up, Chen Zhi'an smiled and said, "Doesn't Mr. Zhang have a relative working as a prison guard in the Kyoto Prefecture? "
The expression of pride flashed across Zhang Fugui's face: "The son's status is humble. Just a few days ago, he filled the vacancy for the chief jailer at the capital's prison, the highest-ranking jailer. Could it be... that the son had the privilege of meeting the young lord?"
"Ha ha, met, why didn't I meet?
The moment I met Xiao'er, we got along like old friends, with a friendship of several hundred taels of silver."
As he spoke, Chen Zhi'an's face changed: "Mr. Zhang, don't you want your Xiao'er to stay in prison for the rest of his life?"
Zhang Fugui's smile froze on his face.
It took a whole hundred taels of silver to send his second son to prison.
Just to be able to eat the government's food, what does this Young Master mean?
Could it be that the world has become so dark?
As a lowly person, can't even be a prison guard?
He knelt down with a thud.
Chen Zhi'an was slightly startled.
A little embarrassed.
Changing the subject, he said, "I was just joking with you, just to lighten the mood, don't be afraid, how much money are you planning to sell Moon Lake for?"
Zhang Fugui hesitated and stretched out eight fingers.
Chen Zhi'an frowned.
The Tang Dynasty was in constant turmoil, and the price of farmland was not high. An acre of good land was about ten taels of silver, and the price of thin land and mountain tops was even cheaper.
Some unclaimed land belonged to whoever cleared it, directly.
Moon Lake was only over four hundred acres, even if calculated at the price of good land, it was only over four thousand taels.
Zhang Fugui looked humble and agreed, but asked for eight thousand taels.
He was treating the Young Master as a fat pig to be slaughtered.
After a moment of silence, Chen Zhi'an reorganized his words and said softly, "Mr. Zhang, you don't want your second son to be kicked out of prison, do you?"
Zhang Fugui shivered.
Biting his teeth, he bent down a trembling finger and said, "Young Master, seven hundred taels is the lowest I can go, any lower and my whole family will have no way out!"
"Seven hundred taels?"
Chen Zhi'an raised his eyebrows slightly. "Seven hundred taels of silver?"
"Yes, Young Master, it can't go any lower!"
Zhang Fugui begged.
"This is too... expensive!"
Counting out seven silver notes from his pocket, Chen Zhi'an handed them to Zhang Fugui and said sincerely, "Mr. Zhang, my brother has the heart of a tiger. I wish him to forever guard the heavenly prison...
My sincere hope, please make sure to convey it!
Go ahead, let A-Yi take you for the handover!"
"Thank you for your kindness, Young Master!"
Zhang Fugui wiped his cold sweat and held the seven hundred taels of silver notes, following behind Chen Yi as he left.
Before leaving, he glanced at Chen Zhi'an sneakily, a hint of satisfaction flashing through his heart: "Although you've made a profit, I haven't lost...
Even if you have a knack for everything, you wouldn't have imagined that this lake could be sold for only seven hundred taels.
Hey, fishing for over a decade in vain!"
On the boat.
Chen Zhi'an stood at the bow, overlooking the Yueya Lake, and smiled slightly, "From now on, I'm also a Tang owner. Qing'er, from now on, please call me Lord Tang Master!"