It was for this reason that Xu Su Ying decided not to complicate things by involving someone new and sought out Sun again.

When Sun heard that Xu Su Ying wanted to see some properties, he immediately figured that if she was looking, she must have most of the silver ready. He calculated the commission he would earn if the deal went through and beamed with delight. After a quick word with the others at the brokerage, he led the mother and daughter out.

The Weaving Workshop area had previously housed the Textile Bureau, a place where women were employed to produce military equipment for the court.

In recent years, as the dynasty moved past its transitional period and the country stabilized, the need for military equipment decreased. This Weaving Workshop was then sold to a private owner and used for the business of weaving, dyeing, and selling cloth.

Later, several private academies were established in the area. The scholars who attended them disliked the common peddlers and laborers who frequented the workshop, finding the noisy crowds to be beneath their scholarly dignity. Consequently, the county government designated a new plot of land elsewhere in the county, provided compensation, and relocated the private workshop.

As for the original workshop grounds, they had long since been sold to wealthy merchants in the county and converted into private residences.

Sun had previously been asked by Xu Su Ying to keep an eye out for properties in this neighborhood. Wanting to get on good terms with Chen Song, he naturally took the request to heart.

Sun made a habit of visiting the area, and he had actually managed to find three reasonably suitable courtyard homes.

The first property was a bit small, a perfectly square courtyard home.

The home was once owned by an old Scholar. When he grew old, he had to leave his hometown to live with his son, leaving the house behind. He hadn’t intended to sell it, hoping to one day return to his roots. But unfortunately, fate had other plans; he fell ill and passed away.

His son returned a short while ago for the funeral. While he was here, he came to the brokerage and said he had no plans to return, asking them to sell the property.

Because the house was well-preserved and every detail had been thoughtfully arranged, the asking price was steep: 110 silver.

Xu Su Ying and Chen Wanqing did indeed love the home’s layout, from the grape trellis and the pomegranate tree beneath the window to the distinctive flowerpots and the carefully laid pebble path.

But for such a tiny house, 110 silver was simply too expensive. Even if they could haggle, they figured the price wouldn’t drop by much. It just wasn’t a good value.

Sun could tell what the mother and daughter were thinking, so he led them to the second property.

The second house wasn’t small, and the building itself looked quite new. There was just one problem. The elderly couple who owned it had only one daughter, and she had married a terrible man who had broken her leg a while back.

The old couple tried to arrange a divorce for their daughter, but her husband’s family refused. They were dead set on seizing the family’s assets, planning to swallow the house and fortune once the old couple passed away. Whether the two divorced or not was secondary to them.

How could the old couple not see their intentions?

But with no son or close relatives, they had no one to back them up. That was why they had secretly sought out Sun, asking him to find a buyer so they could sell the house.

Their thinking was, if they couldn’t afford to provoke them, couldn’t they at least hide from them? They planned to secretly take their daughter and start a new life somewhere else. It was better than their whole family living under the other’s thumb.

Sun said, "That man is a lawless brute. I wouldn’t recommend this house to just anyone, for fear of trouble down the line. But Mr. Chen is a Government Official in the county, so he has nothing to fear from the likes of them. The asking price for the house is one hundred silver, and that’s negotiable. What do you think?"

Xu Su Ying and Chen Wanqing were incredibly tempted, but since there was still one last property to see, they didn’t commit.

As the three of them were leaving, the old couple came out to see them off, their faces etched with sorrow. Xu Su Ying and Chen Wanqing couldn’t bear to see it.

After they had left, Xu Su Ying said, "Even if they plan to leave with their daughter, it would be best to finalize the divorce first. Otherwise, if the in-laws report them to the county government for abduction, they’ll become fugitives."

"That’s what I advised them," Sun replied. "But her in-laws are determined to take everything; they’d never agree to a divorce so easily. It’s better to just run. A tree dies if you move it, but a person can find a new life. They can just change their names and carry on."

Xu Su Ying said no more, but she made a mental note of the situation. ’That abusive bastard can die a miserable death!’

’Whether I buy their house or not, if I can help with this, I must.’

’It would be one thing if I never knew, but now that I do, I can’t just stand by and do nothing. My conscience wouldn’t let me.’

Then they went to see the third house.

This property was a bit far from the county government, but it was very close to the examination hall.

It also had a two-courtyard layout, but it was somewhat rundown, and every room was currently occupied.