The Imperial Academy was extremely quiet, and only the rustling sound of the hourglass flowed through it evenly.

"Dangdang--" Finally, when the fine sand in the hourglass passed away, the sound of the bells came to mind in the Imperial Academy.

The exam is over.

Countless scholars stopped writing and walked out of the exam room.

After leaving the examination room, some people are happy and some are sad.

"Oh, I didn't expect a good idea. I'm afraid this time it's over."

"Before I came, the teacher told me that the emperor is an enterprising person and has great courage. I asked me to think about it from this point of view, but I didn't expect it after all."

"Hehe, I have done similar articles before. This time I don't say how good the grades will be, but the tribute is in sight."

There was endless discussion.

Li Fan also walked out, and soon Chen Youting and others arrived.

"Teacher, as you expected!"

They all bowed to Li Fan! Before the exam, Li Fan also told them the general direction of setting the questions, but the result was almost a hit.

"Go back."

Li Fan smiled.

Several people got on the carriage and left together.

...The provincial examination ended like this. In the next period of time, the scholars in the world were destined to be in a nervous waiting.

Before the results were announced, I'm afraid no one could have a good sleep.

But Li Fan was very leisurely. After leaving the Imperial Academy, he and Xiao Liuzi looked at the house in the city together.

At least I have to stay here for a long time in the future, and it would be a bad idea to have no place to live.

Soon, most of the day passed and it was dark, but they had not found a suitable mansion.

"Master, this Xijing is so unbearable, right?

Such an old and dilapidated house dares to ask for tens of thousands of taels, which is so shameless!"

Xiao Liuzi complained.

Li Fan is not a person short of money nowadays, but when faced with the likelihood of buying a house in Xijing, he seems a little stretched.

It's too expensive! They looked at several houses in a row, and the one they liked was more than 200,000 taels! It's not that Li Fan couldn't afford so much money, but now his expenses in all aspects are too great. Most of the industrial profits in Yangzhou were given to the Zhao Mansion. At the same time, he had to develop a bookstore in Xijing.

You have to ask for money everywhere.

The range that Li Fan can accept cannot exceed 100,000 taels at most.

"If I had bought 17 or 8 buildings in our Yangzhou, I would have bought them. Tell me, why is the housing price in Xijing so high?

Isn’t this clearly a human flesh?”

Xiao Liuzi was full of anger.

Li Fan smiled bitterly and said, "For Xijing, the house is not prepared for ordinary people, and ordinary people are not welcome here."

"Especially the ordinary foreign population."

Xiao Liuzi complained about the housing prices in Xijing all the way, and soon after, he arrived in front of a rather grand house.

This was told by Xiao Liuzi and Li Fan after inquiring from each other, saying that the owner of the house here had the intention to sell it, and the price was not high.

"Master, this house looks very good. It is the biggest and best house we have ever seen today. It is probably not cheap..." Xiao Liuzi stopped the carriage and looked at a mansion in the demolition house, and spoke in a little discouraged.

Li Fan opened the curtain and looked over, and was also a little confused.

Even though it was already a little late at this moment, the lights in Xijing were still brightly lit, there were many pedestrians around, and it was very prosperous, and the area here could be said to be very good.

However, around the houses in front, it was very deserted.

Although the layout and structure of the mansion looked very good, and you could even tell at a glance that it was only available by officials, it seemed a bit old-fashioned and seemed to have not been renovated for decades.

"Go and have a look."

Li Fan spoke, and the carriage immediately stepped forward.

In front of one of the houses, there was indeed a sign standing: "This house is for sale."

The brand has turned yellow and I don’t know how long it has been standing, but it has not been sold until now.

Above the plaque of this house are two large golden characters with paint falling off: "Jin Mansion".

Xiao Liuzi stepped forward and knocked on the door.

It took a long time to open the door. The old man opened the door. He asked, "What's wrong with you guys?"

Xiao Liuzi said: "Hello, old man, please inform me, my master wants to buy this house."

Hearing this, the old man showed a look of doubt in his eyes. He glanced at Li Fan and said, "Please come in."

"I'll take you to see the master."

Li Fan and the others followed him and walked into the house. As they saw it, the layout was indeed good, but it seemed that the owner's family was in a bad mood, so there was almost no good decoration and it seemed simple.

There were not many maids and servants along the way.

The old man led Li Fan and the others into the hall and went to find the master himself. Soon, a middle-aged man in a brocade robe had already come. As soon as he entered the door, he hurriedly said, "Are you going to buy a house?"

Li Fan stood up and said, "That's right."

The middle-aged man bowed to Li Fanyi and said, "I'm glad to meet you. I'm the owner of this house, Jin Sanyi. What do you call me?"

Li Fan said: "Let me be here."

Li Fan! Hearing these two words, Jin Sanyi was shocked and said, "It turns out that it is Li Wensheng... It's really a mistake. Lao Zhang, make tea quickly, make tea quickly!"

Li Fan smiled bitterly.

Jin Sanyi continued: "Mr. Li, let me tell you that my grandfather was appointed as the Minister of Rites in the early years of Tai'an. This house was the one he left behind at that time."

"It's a pity that future generations are not good at all. Every generation is worse than the next. In my generation, I am heavily in debt and have not made enough money. If I want to do some business in Xijing, I have no capital, so I have to sell this house in order to make money."

As he said that, his face looked quite ashamed.

Li Fan nodded and expressed his understanding. If it weren't for the difficult situation, who would be willing to sell his ancestral property?

"Mr. Li has also seen this place and the layout of the house. Others dare to sell a house like Xijing for 300,000 taels of silver, but I urgently use money, and I have read the articles of Lord Li, and I really admire it, so I will give Brother Li the best price."

"Two hundred thousand taels!"

He spoke.

Hearing this, Li Fan smiled slightly, picked up the tea and took a sip.

Seeing this, Jin Sanyi felt a little moved and said, "Does Brother Li think it's expensive?"

"What do you think?"

Li Fan calmly put down the teacup.

Jin Sanyi gritted his teeth and said, "Brother Li, I will give you another 20,000 taels of profit, 180,000 taels!"

"This price is hard to find even with lanterns in Xijing."

Li Fan calmed down and said, "It's still expensive."

Jin Sanyi's face changed slightly and he said, "Brother Li, do you think this is expensive?"

It depends on your identity as Wen Sheng, which is good, 150,000, which is the lowest. No matter how low it is, there is no need to talk about it."

Li Fan gently buckled the table with his fingers and said, "Sixty thousand taels."

Sixty thousand! Jin Sanyi almost vomited blood in an instant. Is it more than half of it?

"Mr. Li, you don't have the same bargaining price as you!"

His face looked ugly.

Li Fan said with ease: "Brother Jin, the sign at your door has turned yellow, at least half a year, right?

In less than half a year, you have sold this house at a low price, but you haven’t sold it yet. Can I tell you more about the reason?”

Jin Sanyi's face froze immediately.

He was actually not optimistic about the sale of this house, because almost all the old natives in Xijing knew the truth and no one would buy it! The only thing they could count on was to deceive the foreign ones one day.

But Li Fan actually knew... "Brother Li, you said you know everything, why are you here to spend some time with me?"

Jin Sanyi also smiled bitterly. He knew that since that was the case, the business would probably be impossible.

Li Fan said, "I'm here, of course I want to buy a house, but Brother Jin is not sincere and bullies me from outsiders, and I don't understand the affairs of Xijing."

He was just guessing that the test probe was mentioned. After all, a house with such a good foundation could not be sold at a low price. I am afraid there must be other reasons.

Now it seems that I've really been guessed.

Jin Sanyi's eyes moved and he said, "Brother Li, since that's the case, how much can you give to the real price?"

Li Fan said: "Eighty thousand taels."
To be continued...