Wang Xi still wanted to go see the person practicing swordsmanship.  

Unfortunately, after the physician checked her pulse and prescribed medicine, it was already past noon. Even if she rushed over, she wouldn’t find anyone there. 

Wang Xi lay on the bed, contemplating the situation.  

She couldn’t change the telescope for now. If she wanted to see the person clearly, she had to crawl on the wall of Willow Shade Garden.  

If the environment there was good, it wouldn’t matter, but apart from being remote, the pavilions and towers there showed signs of long abandonment.  

By summer, mosquitoes would definitely be rampant. Considering her body, which seemed to attract mosquito bites, she would surely end up with swollen patches after just a few moments. 

She needed to figure out a solution.  

Wang Xi immediately thought of the dispute in Apricot Courtyard. If she could move to Willow Shade Garden… 

With this idea in mind, she couldn’t bring herself to take a nap. “Baizhu, Baizhu!” she called loudly, “Let’s go to the study.” 

She wanted to carefully assess the size of Willow Shade Garden.  

Baizhu advised her to take a nap first, saying, “So you won’t lack energy when you visit Madam Dowager later.” 

Wang Xi didn’t mind and said with a smile, “They don’t have time for us right now.” 

Baizhu had no choice but to accompany her to the study.  

Wang Xi carefully studied the layout of Marquis Yongcheng’s residence and pointed to the main building of Willow Shade Garden, saying, “How about we build a three-story residence on the east side?” 

This way, all her people could fit in.  

She pointed to the back of the main building, “The kitchen can be built here.” 

As for the artificial mountain, it was hard to find Taihu stones at the moment, and even if they bought them, they might not arrive in time.  

She thought for a moment and then pointed to the garden behind the main building, saying with a smile, “We can dig a small pond here.” 

The soil dug out could be piled up to create a small hill, and a pavilion could be built on top of the hill. The original pavilion could be transformed into a Warm Pavilion.  

Of course, if they didn’t change it, it was also fine. She might not stay there until winter anyway. 

Wang Xi clapped her hands, feeling that her arrangement was excellent.  

Baizhu didn’t know what to say. She gently smiled and said, “Then, should we buy a residence nearby?” 

Wang Xi smiled and said, “Sure! If we find a good one, we should buy it. We can even rent it out to earn some rent.” 

The houses in Xiaoshi Yong Lane near the Six Ministries were not easy to come by. But if she could get one, it would be more valuable than houses in other parts of the capital. 

Baizhu didn’t understand Wang Xi’s intention.  

Wang Xi knew that while Baizhu was talented in reading and writing, she couldn’t match Baiguo in financial matters.  

Wang Xi didn’t force her to understand, she just instructed her to call Wang Mama.  

Even if she set her eyes on Willow Shade Garden, she couldn’t reveal it now. If it came too easily, she might not cherish it.  

She had to step in when they had no other options. Perhaps she could earn Madam Dowager’s gratitude and make her actions in the mansion easier in the future! 

Wang Mama understood Wang Xi’s intention when she heard it. She thought Wang Xi’s decision was right and said with a smile, “I’ll assign Qingchou to keep an eye on that place and find an appropriate opportunity to talk to Madam Dowager.” 

Wang Xi nodded repeatedly, discussing the expansion of Willow Shade Garden with Wang Mama, “We’ll use all the money from Marquis Yongcheng’s residence. I don’t know when it will be done. Let it be considered the rent I’m paying to stay temporarily in Marquis Yongcheng’s residence. We’ll prepare the materials for renovating the garden ourselves, but I’m afraid we’ll have to send people from Marquis Yongcheng’s residence to find craftsmen. We’ll provide the craftsmen with incentives. Otherwise, they won’t be dedicated and won’t finish building the garden according to our requirements as quickly as possible. As for the design, we don’t need to be too meticulous for now. Just draw something simple. Maybe we’ll be back to Shu before the New Year.” 

Houses in the capital were quite particular.  

Depending on the grade, different houses were suitable for different people.  

How grand the gates should be and what kind of house one should live in, these craftsmen who often dealt with Marquis Yongcheng’s residence were definitely familiar with such matters. They wouldn’t go beyond their boundaries.  

However, Marquis Yongcheng’s residence was relatively stingy. To move in as quickly as possible, she decided to add some incentives on top of the payment Marquis Yongcheng’s residence provided. 

This way, she could make the craftsmen willingly cooperate. 

This was something her grandfather had told her when she was young. Even the servants in a household, if they had no connection with the interests of the master, would not align their hearts with the master.  

This could be seen from the household slaves sent by the Yun and Gui chieftains. According to the agreement, they could apply to return to their hometown after the age of twenty. However, in the past few decades, only one or two of them had truly gone back. Most of them stayed in the Wang family, marrying into the Wang family’s permanent staff.  

Wang Mama increasingly felt that Wang Xi handled things in an organized manner. She thought that she was indeed the blood of the Marquis, naturally knowing how to make others willingly do things for her. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this matter,” she smiled and said, “I’ll have one of my stewards prepare for it. Once you’ve discussed it with Madam Dowager, we can start immediately.” 

Wang Mama was confident in Wang Xi’s ability.  

In the afternoon, someone came from Madam Dowager’s residence, saying that Wang Xi was exempted from her morning and evening exercises these days.  

When would it resume, Wang Xi would be asked to wait for Madam Dowager to send a message. 

Wang Xi smiled and agreed, thinking that she would be able to watch the person practicing swordsmanship again early tomorrow morning.  

Her mood improved a lot.  

After having dinner, she couldn’t resist and went to Willow Shade Garden again. Unfortunately, this time, she didn’t even see a single fallen leaf in the entire courtyard.  

It seemed like the servants had cleaned it thoroughly under Hongchou’s instructions.  

Wang Xi sighed and felt even plucking jasmines would be fun now. 

After sleeping for a while, she woke up suddenly in the middle of the night and asked Baizhu, “What time is it?” 

Baizhu glanced at the Western clock in the room and whispered, “It’s not yet midnight.” 

Wang Xi rubbed her sleepy eyes. Had she only slept for an hour? But she felt like she had slept for a very long time. She instructed Baizhu, “Remember to wake me up early tomorrow!” 

Baizhu responded repeatedly.  

However, when Wang Xi opened her eyes again, the room was filled with the dawn light. She exclaimed, sitting up in a hurry, “What time is it now?” 

Baizhu and the others smiled gently, “It’s past the third quarter of the hour.” 

Wang Xi was stunned, loudly exclaiming, “Didn’t I tell you to wake me up early?” 

Baizhu looked somewhat aggrieved and said, “I did wake you up, but you hugged your blanket and said you wanted to sleep a bit more.” 

Wang Xi blankly stared at Baizhu, “Really?” 

“Really!” Baizhu swore, raising her hand. “When did I ever lie to you?” 

Wang Xi collapsed back onto the bed.  

Hongchou urged, “If you hurry, we might still catch the tail end.” 

Wang Xi immediately got up, hastily washed and dressed, had half a steamed bun, and then went to Willow Shade Garden with Hongchou and the others. 

The ladder they had used yesterday had been hidden by Hongchou in the grass by the wall.  

Wang Xi and Qingchou carefully helped Wang Xi climb up the wall.  

They managed to catch the last bit of it. 

In the round telescope, the person had sheathed his sword, closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and stood by the bamboo grove, appearing even more heroic. The sweat on his forehead was like sparkling dewdrops, and his slightly heaving chest revealed a calmness after exertion.  

Although his posture was straight, he looked relaxed and content. 

Ah! What a handsome man! Regardless, he’s beautiful!  

Wang Xi greedily stared at the person in the telescope. However, the person furrowed his brows, as if sensing something.  

He suddenly opened his eyes and looked in her direction.  

Maybe he was quite relaxed at the moment. His gaze was not as sharp as yesterday; instead, it carried a hint of confusion and puzzlement. 

Wang Xi instinctively held her breath. The person listened intently. 

His expression was extremely serious, exuding a kind of solemn beauty.  

Wang Xi covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming out loud.  

How could someone be so handsome?  

Whether he was standing there with his head held high or listening attentively, he seemed to have grown from the depths of her heart, incredibly good-looking no matter how you looked at him. 

A gust of spring breeze rustled the willow leaves.  

Wang Xi also put down the telescope, covering her chest and taking a few deep breaths.  

Calm down, stay calm!  

She kept reminding herself in her mind.  

It’s not like she hadn’t seen handsome men before. Fann Xiaolou, a famous artist from Shu, was quite handsome too. However, Fann Xiaolou carried a bit of makeup, lacking the same heroic aura and clarity as this man.  

She couldn’t act like she had never seen the world before, scaring herself, falling from the ladder like she did yesterday. 

After taking a few deep breaths, Wang Xi raised the telescope again to look into the neighboring courtyard.  

Huh! How come the person was gone?  

Wang Xi widened her eyes, unable to believe it, looking around.  

Truly gone!  

Wang Xi felt extremely disappointed. Had he left in just this short amount of time? Their connection seemed too shallow! 

Wang Xi sat on the ladder, feeling powerless. She said to Hongchou and the others, “Let’s go back! We woke up a bit late today.”  

Hongchou and the others agreed and helped her down the ladder, returning to Clear Snow Courtyard. 

What Wang Xi didn’t know was that just after they had left not far, in the back garden of Eldest Princess’s residence, which overlooked the entire Marquis’s mansion, someone was standing by the railing, gazing into the distance, muttering, “Strange, strange.”  

He only left when someone came to fetch them. 

But things didn’t go entirely smoothly for Wang Xi and her group.  

After leaving Willow Shade Garden, at the back gate of Spring Shade Garden, they encountered Fourth Miss Chang Ke, whose eyes were a little swollen, and her two personal maids. 

Both parties were surprised to run into each other here.  

Chang Ke lowered her head, using her handkerchief to wipe her forehead, softly asking, “Cousin Wang, what are you doing here?” 

Wang Xi didn’t want to know why Chang Ke was here. She just smiled and replied, “I had breakfast and came out for a walk.” 

She had no intention of having any private interaction with the Chang sisters. She just hoped that the situation in Apricot Courtyard could intensify a bit, so she could move to Willow Shade Garden sooner.  

Thinking of this, she regretted a bit. She had just hurried back to Clear Snow Courtyard earlier and forgot to go to Willow Shade Garden’s main hall to take a look. It would have been good to know what the main hall looked like. 

Chang Ke was not someone who talked much. After exchanging greetings, the two passed by each other. Who would have known that Wang Xi had already walked out of earshot, yet Chang Ke caught up with her. 

“Cousin Wang,” she panted, her expression flustered, “you should know about what happened in Apricot Courtyard, right? If it were you, what would you do?” 

“Me?” Wang Xi pointed at herself in surprise. 

Chang Ke nodded. All those words that had been hidden in her heart burst out like water gushing from a broken dam.  

Seizing this opportunity, she poured out her feelings. “I know everyone says I’m not sensible, but I’m really afraid to live in Willow Shade Garden. You probably went to Willow Shade Garden just now. It’s nearly twice the size of Clear Snow Courtyard, and behind it is an alley. Usually, there isn’t even a passerby.  

“I only have a dozen maidservants around me. If we move in, it’s like pouring sand into a well, not a single ripple can be seen. If someone with ill intentions breaks in, even if I scream until my throat is hoarse, no one would hear me.  

“Grandmother loves you so much. Could you please give me some advice, so I don’t have to move to that place?”