"To be honest, when Mu Zhong and I were staying at the Grand Tutor's mansion, we were quite comfortable. I never thought about acquiring another residence. This place, I bought it on a whim, then had people fence it off. When I had nothing else to do, I would bring Mu Zhong here for horseback riding."
Everyone understood then. All this talk, and this so-called residence was merely a stable.
"What about your Grand Tutor's mansion? Can we go live there?" Shen Xiaoyan asked.
Yi Zhiye shook his head. "No, the Grand Tutor's mansion seems to have been sealed by the current Emperor."
Shen Xiaoyan had actually just said it in passing. If they really went to live in the Grand Tutor's mansion, wouldn't that be telling the Grand Emperor their current whereabouts?
The question was, what should they do now?
Although the capital wasn't as cold as Tongling Town, and the snow on the ground wasn't deep, it looked like it had been snowing for several days and was slowly melting.
However, even if all the snow melted, they still had nowhere to live.
Here, apart from the outer wall, there wasn't a single brick or tile to be seen.
A familiar feeling suddenly welled up in Shen Xiaoyan's heart.
At this moment, she heard Zheng Wei say, "Mimi, does this look like the barren land we just bought?"
Hearing this, Shen Xiaoyan smiled lightly. Indeed, the only one who shared her thoughts was Zheng Wei.
However, the current situation was not entirely the same as back then.
At that time, the weather wasn't cold, they had money, and they could move around freely. They could immediately find people to build houses, and while the houses were being built, they had three thatched huts to live in.
But now, how could they find people to build houses? In this freezing weather, construction was impossible.
Even if all these issues were resolved, where would they live while the houses were being built?
"Actually, I have a way."
"Mu Zhong, what way do you have?"
Yi Zhiye looked at Na Mu Zhong in surprise, completely unable to understand why Na Mu Zhong would suddenly say such a thing.
Na Mu Zhong had been looking down, her long hair falling forward, obscuring her expression.
Everyone waited for a while before Na Mu Zhong finally raised her head.
"Yi Zhiye, there's something I've actually never told you."
It was rare for Yi Zhiye to see Na Mu Zhong so serious, and for her to call him by name so earnestly made him feel a flutter of panic.
Na Mu Zhong took a deep breath, as if she had made a huge decision, and said, "When we left together back then, your father and mother actually gave me something."
"What thing?"
"Four Seas House."
Shen Xiaoyan and the others were completely confused by this.
What was a "Four Seas House"?
Why did Na Mu Zhong need such determination to say it?
And why did Yi Zhiye's expression become so strange upon hearing those three words?
After a long while, Yi Zhiye finally sighed.
"Fortunately, Mu Zhong accepted the Four Seas House. Otherwise, we would be sleeping in the snow tonight."
Yi Zhiye tried to sound lighthearted, but everyone could still see the heaviness in his eyes.
However, with so many people around, it wasn't the time to ask, so Shen Xiaoyan and the others naturally wouldn't.
Na Mu Zhong also smiled gently at Yi Zhiye. "You should thank me, otherwise, you'd still be a lonely bachelor."
Hearing Na Mu Zhong say this, everyone couldn't help but laugh.
Unexpectedly, Yi Zhiye replied with a solemn expression, "Mu Zhong is right."
After speaking, Yi Zhiye looked at Shen Xiaoyan and the others. Seeing their hesitant expressions, he knew they wanted to ask about the Four Seas House.
"You don't need to ask too much. Just clean up a space before tonight, and we'll have a place to sleep tonight."
Most of the people were still bewildered by Yi Zhiye's words.
However, Shen Xiaoyan already had a vague guess in her heart.
"It's noon now, let's get something to eat first. After eating, except for the wet nurses watching the children, we'll all pitch in, aiming to clear out a space before evening."
Everyone agreed in unison, and then Yi Zhiye took out the cooking utensils and some food from his spatial ring.
Fortunately, the small gate from before had a pavilion-like structure extending inwards and outwards, which could shield them from some wind and rain.
This way, they had a clean place to cook.
Lunch was also very simple: a pot of salted meat and vegetable porridge, heated buns and steamed buns, which everyone ate with some pickled vegetables and salted meat.
As for the four little ones, Shen Xiaoyan cooked each of them a bowl of steamed egg custard.
Half an hour later, everyone had finished eating.
It was supposed to be that there was no water in the courtyard, but contrary to expectations, Yi Zhiye said that several wells had been dug in the courtyard.
When she asked why wells were dug if it was a stable, Yi Zhiye casually replied that it was to water the horses.
This reason, though difficult for ordinary people to accept, solved their water problem.
Yi Zhiye, relying on his extraordinary memory, eventually found the locations of the four wells and drew water from them.
The water drawn at first was naturally a bit murky, but after pouring some out, the water gradually became clear.
After washing the bowls, chopsticks, and cooking utensils with well water, Yi Zhiye put them back into his spatial ring.
Later, Yi Zhiye took out various farming tools from his spatial ring.
Fortunately, all the original farm tools at home were brought along when they left, otherwise, they would have to rely on their bare hands now.
Everyone chose their favorite farm tools and then began their respective tasks.
Because the snow was melting, the dry grass was still damp, and the ground was covered in a mixture of mud and water. As soon as one stepped on it, the entire shoe upper would be covered.
However, they couldn't worry about that at the moment.
To have a place to sleep tonight, they could only ignore these things and work hard.
In fact, everyone didn't have many superfluous thoughts.
After all, they were all accustomed to farm work, which was much dirtier and more tiring than this back then, and they had managed.
However, people are not afraid of hardship.
What they fear is that after hardship, once they enjoy comfort, they can no longer endure hardship.
Shen Xiaoyan did not join in the work with everyone. She scanned each person's face and, seeing that none of them complained, nodded inwardly.
Fortunately, there was no such person among them.
After observing, Shen Xiaoyan picked up the shovel that had been stuck in the ground for her and frowned, looking at the dry grass in front of her.
Before coming, she had used her superpower to pull out the fruit trees from the ground.
Although those trees had not yet sprouted leaves, they were all alive, and she knew she could control them.
However, now that this dry grass had completely withered, could she still control it with her superpower?
If so, let alone clearing a space, these more than ten acres of wild grass could be cleared very easily.
Thinking this, Shen Xiaoyan put down the shovel again, bent down, and concentrated her gaze on the dry grass in front of her.
The roots of the dry grass were buried deep underground. It was impossible for her to see what was happening.