Tibet.

Chapter 1308 Mysterious Tenant
"Me?" Shen Zhenzhu was startled and quickly shook her head, "I am a nobody and my words are not taken seriously. I shouldn't know about this kind of thing."

Dugu Xinyue glanced at her again and said, "What I mean is that with more concubines in the harem, I'm afraid we won't have the same sisterhood as now. After all, you called me elder sister, no matter if you meant it sincerely or just to get by, we still had a sisterhood after all."

Shen Zhenzhu said quickly: "I am sincere and speak from the bottom of my heart. I don't like to do perfunctory things."

"Okay! Since you are sincere, I will give you another chance for the sake of our sisterly relationship. Tell your husband who your husband is. If you are still confused, I am sorry. I can only ask you to move out of the Greenhouse Palace. The place will be left for the new concubine to live in."

Shen Zhenzhu knelt down, covered her mouth and cried bitterly, "Big sister, listen to me, that day was really a misunderstanding, I didn't know my husband was coming, I was burning paper outside the hall, because that day happened to be the death anniversary of the former...former prince, I thought of my son's tragic fate, and I cried, my whole body was smoked and my eyes were red, my husband saw the spirit tablet, he was very unhappy, and asked me if I knew he was coming today?

I said, 'According to the custom in my hometown, we cannot have sex on the anniversary of a close relative's death! ' My husband got furious and turned away. I didn't know what to do. "

Dugu Xinyue nodded, "When you said 'You can't have sex on the anniversary of your loved one's death', your husband should understand that you don't want to do anything to let him down."

"Ah! No!"

Shen Zhenzhu was terrified and cried as she explained, "The closest relative I was talking about was my son. Although I was burning paper for the former prince, I was thinking about my son in my heart. I actually regarded that day as my son's death anniversary, so I blurted out that. I really wouldn't say that kind of thing!"

Dugu Xinyue's anger subsided a little, and she nodded. "I don't think any woman would say such a thing. It should be a misunderstanding, because everyone makes mistakes, it's inevitable, so the key is attitude. Since you are sincere, I can give you another chance, tomorrow! Tomorrow was originally mine, I will give it to you, and you should explain it to your husband, he is a reasonable man."

Shen Zhenzhu wiped her tears and whispered, "Thank you, elder sister. Can you explain to my husband first? I'm afraid he will be angry and can't come."

"Okay, go ahead! You don't need me to teach you how to do it!"

Shen Zhenzhu kowtowed three times to Dugu Xinyue respectfully, then stood up and left sadly.

Dugu Xinyue shook her head. At this moment, she made a decision that she must not let Zhang Qian join the harem, and there must not be a second Shen Zhenzhu.

In the round hall of the Council of State, Li Ye was listening to the first report on the preparations for the coronation ceremony.

Wei Jiansu is the person in charge, and his left and right deputies are Liu Yan and Pei Zunqing.

"The preparations have basically been completed. Now we are going to start the rehearsal, with the focus on safety and order. We will mobilize 30,000 soldiers. The guards of honor will be your highness's personal guards. The other 20,000 soldiers will be responsible for maintaining order in the city. The inner guards will also be sent to various parts of the city to monitor various suspicious people. On the day of the ceremony, the inner guards will provide protection in the dark."

Wei Jiansu paused and said, "We are mainly worried about the Khitan. The Khitan have a tradition of assassination, and we will launch the Liaodong War next year, so the Khitan have a motive for assassination. Li Dutong of the Internal Guard also believes that the Khitan will definitely send assassins. The Internal Guard has already sent people to Dengzhou to deploy. The enemy cannot come by land, so they must go by sea. Dengzhou is the first most likely place to land."

Li Ye nodded and asked, "How is the expenditure of money and materials?"

Liu Yan coughed lightly. He was in charge of the money and materials for the entire ceremony. He said slowly, "Your Highness, the estimated expenditure for the entire ceremony is 140,000 strings of cash, but the actual expenditure may be less than 80,000. The reason is that we can reuse old items. The full set of ceremonial objects for the previous emperor's enthronement ceremony has been transported from Luoyang. They are basically new and most of them have never been used. This is beyond our expectations."

"Why haven't you used it?" Li Ye asked curiously.

Liu Yan smiled and said, "We have to thank God for this. It was raining heavily at the time and it never stopped. Many of the original plans had to be cancelled. The enthronement ceremony of the late emperor could only be held in the Hanyuan Hall. The weapons, armor, shoes and flags of the ceremonial guard, as well as the colorful curtains made by Haozi Juwan, I have investigated and found that the colorful curtains alone used 200,000 pieces of colorful silk, worth more than 400,000 strings of cash. The plan was to hang them from Danfeng Gate to Zichen Hall, but it rained continuously for several days, so they were not hung. When we found them in Luoyang, they were still wrapped in oil paper. Each one was brand new and had not faded."

Li Ye frowned slightly: "It's a pity to use hundreds of thousands of strings of cash just this once!"

Wei Jiansu smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. After the ceremony, these colorful curtains will be made into flags and continue to play a role!"

Liu Yan continued, "We checked all the palace facilities to see which ones needed to be replaced, which ones needed to be repaired, and which ones just needed a coat of paint. We couldn't do it one size fits all. Although there were more things to do and it was more complicated, it at least saved 40,000 strings of cash and avoided waste."

The report in the Political Affairs Hall was still going on. At this time, in Guangzhaifang, a few miles away from the Political Affairs Hall, a landowner was taking a tall and thin middle-aged man to look at a house.

"From your accent, you should be from Fengxiang!" The middle-aged man smiled and nodded, "You are right, I am from Yong County!"

"According to the court regulations, each household can only buy a one-acre house, but if you have a title, such as the lowest baron, you can live in a three-acre house. Maybe if you are a seventh-rank official, you can also live in a three-acre house."

The middle-aged man shook his head and said, "I am just an ordinary businessman. I have neither a title nor an official rank. An acre of house is enough for me."

"Then come with me. I'll take you to see some houses that are for sale."

The manor agent led the middle-aged businessman all the way to the northernmost part, found a house that he was satisfied with, and opened the north window. The middle-aged man suddenly frowned and pointed at the high wall in front of him and said, "Didn't the walls of Chang'an all be demolished? Why is there still one here?"

The manor's agent laughed and said, "Basically, they were all demolished, but the walls close to the palace gates were not allowed to be demolished. Our Guangzhaifang and Yishanfang were close to the Daming Palace, so we only demolished three sides. The north side was not allowed to be demolished because it was close to the Danfeng Gate."

"I see!"

The man looked at the tall wall and felt helpless, but there was nothing he could do. He looked at more than a dozen houses and this one had the most suitable location.

"How much does this house cost?"

"Sir, the houses in Guangzhaifang are not cheap. The average price per mu is 3,000 guan. This house is in a great location and is exactly one mu in size. The landlord wants 4,000 guan, and he does not bargain. If you decide to buy it, you can get it for 4,240 guan, including the deed tax and commission."

"So much additional money?"

"The main reason is that the deed tax is high. The deed tax is 50% and the commission is 100%. In fact, it is still cheap. If it is a five-acre house, the deed tax is 10%. Anyway, people who can afford a five-acre house don't mind paying an extra 10% tax."

The man nodded. "If I buy it, will you handle the transfer procedures for me?"

The manor's agent smiled and said, "We can handle the deed at the county government office, but you have to go to the inner guards to register it yourself."

The man was shocked. "Does it need to be registered with the Internal Security Department?"

"Of course. This is the capital. There have been so many assassinations in the past few years that the inner guards are under great pressure. All those who come to Chang'an to buy or rent a house must register with the inner guards. Those who come to do business or stay in an inn must also register. The difference is that those who buy or rent a house must register in person, while those who stay in an inn are registered by the inn itself, and the guests don't have to worry about it."

Seeing the middle-aged man's embarrassment, the manor's agent smiled and comforted him, "It's actually very simple. Everyone who buys or rents a house has to go there. It's not targeted at anyone. I've accompanied so many guests there, and it basically only takes a cup of tea."

"Ah! You'll go with me, too?"

"Of course, I'm just saying that if you go in person, I don't mean you go alone. Our agents must accompany you, and I have to keep a record. If anything happens to your client, the Internal Security will find our agents first. Although the system is very strict, you are just an ordinary homebuyer who abides by the law. You don't have to worry at all. The Internal Security doesn't have that much energy to trouble you."

The middle-aged man carefully looked at the thin broker in front of him, nodded and said, "Okay! I'll buy this house and I'll pay the money."

The broker was overjoyed. "Then I'll prepare the contract and make an appointment with the landlord. Tomorrow morning, we'll sign the contract and complete the transaction here!"

"Sure! What time tomorrow morning?"

The broker pointed to the big clock at the entrance of the workshop and said, "Do you see the big clock? I will wait for you here at 7:00 tomorrow morning. Then, I will complete all the registration and tax payment within the day. You will get your land deed in the afternoon."

(End of this chapter)