After seeing off shopkeeper Tong, Chen Lan took the two infants who were drowsy back to her bedroom with Gentle Mother. After the mother and daughter lulled the babies to sleep, they began to chat.
Gentle Mother said, "Lan'er, we are all going to Jilin. What about our large mansion?"
Chen Lan replied, "What do you mean, 'what about it'? We'll keep it! We'll keep it for Wen Qi and Wen Kai. This is the only mansion left for our family. It will be a memento for them!"
Everything else was donated. Nothing was left for the brothers.
Chen Lan thought for a moment and asked, "Mother, is this mansion our ancestral home?"
Gentle Mother replied, "I'm not entirely sure. After I married your father, when your eldest brother was born, your grandfather was so happy that he said, 'He was born in this mansion, your father was born in this mansion, and now your eldest brother is also born in this mansion. Our family has three generations living together.' From what I heard, this is our ancestral home. Whether it was built by ourselves or bought, I don't know."
"Lan'er, what's wrong?"
Chen Lan continued to ask, "Mother, have you ever heard the old saying, 'A small gatehouse signifies the poor, while a three-courtyard mansion houses the gentry'?"
"Mother, do you think our ancestors were high officials? Our mansion is a large three-courtyard, three-entry residence."
Gentle Mother also thought for a moment and replied, "I really don't know. No one in the family has mentioned it."
"However, when your grandmother was still alive, whenever she was unhappy, she would say, 'You all have forgotten the ancestral rules. If you were like this in the past, you would have been executed in my mother's household.'"
"From your grandmother's words, her family must have been prominent or held high office."
Chen Lan thought for a moment and asked again, "Mother, why do I feel something is not right?"
Gentle Mother responded, "What do you mean, not right?"
"Mother, look, according to the old imperial regulations, families whose heads did not hold a certain rank were not allowed to live in such a large three-courtyard, three-entry mansion. Otherwise, it was a violation and punishable by law."
"Mother, if that's the case, our family's ancestral property seems too little. Even if my father sold his ancestral property to join the revolution, he only sold the three to four hundred mu of land in our hometown, a match factory, and a tin factory in the capital. How much could that be worth?"
Gentle Mother sighed and said, "Alas! I didn't really notice these things until you mentioned them. Your grandfather died suddenly. After your grandfather's death, your grandmother and your paternal aunt were taken to Southeast Asia by your paternal uncle. The house was divided before your grandmother left. Since the visible assets were difficult to move, they were allocated to our branch. The gold and silver were given to your paternal uncle and aunt. At that time, your father did not object to this division. As a daughter-in-law, how could I have any objections! Besides, the dowry of your aunt had to be paid from the gold and silver."
"As for whether there were any other private assets, I don't know. Even if there were, your grandmother probably took them to Southeast Asia quietly."
A flash of inspiration struck Chen Lan as she remembered her most powerful cheat: treasure hunting?
She immediately said happily, "Mother, I have a way. Wait a moment."
With that, Chen Lan ran out of the bedroom, opened the system, clicked on the magnifying glass, and then clicked on the third option to search underground within a 50-meter radius. Chen Lan first went to the main house of the second courtyard, which was the center of the mansion, then scanned the main house of the first courtyard, and finally returned to her own third courtyard to scan it again.
The 3D map displayed on the screen showed five red dots: one at Qingzhu Xuan, one at Fushou Tang, one at Moxian Zhai, one at Qingsong Yuan, and one at the dried-up well in the back garden.
Chen Lan happily said to Gentle Mother, "Mother, my father-in-law said that there are five places where our family's treasures are hidden that my grandmother did not discover."
Gentle Mother's eyes widened in disbelief as she retorted, "Lan'er, is that true?"
Chen Lan nodded affirmatively and said, "Fushou Tang, where you are living now, is one of them. Then there is Qingzhu Xuan where your eldest brother lives, Qingsong Yuan where your younger brothers live, and Moxian Zhai, the study. The last place is the dried-up well in the back courtyard."
"Mother, I am closest to Moxian Zhai. Shall we go and take a look at Moxian Zhai first?"
Gentle Mother nodded and stood up, following Chen Lan out of the bedroom and heading straight for Moxian Zhai.
The mother and daughter pushed open the door of Moxian Zhai. They looked around the study but found nothing unusual.
Chen Lan used her mind to open the system's magnifying glass, option three. The system indicated that the secret room switch was on the wall next to the bookshelf.
Chen Lan looked back and forth at the walls on both sides of the bookshelf. Finally, on the right wall of the bookshelf, she saw an inconspicuous small protrusion, hidden by the display shelf.
Chen Lan pressed the small protrusion with her finger. The bookshelf, along with the display shelf, moved to the left, stopping only when it reached the left wall. There was a door on the wall behind the bookshelf. The door was locked. Chen Lan looked at Gentle Mother, who shook her head, indicating she didn't know where the key was.
This didn't trouble her. Chen Lan purchased a universal key from the system, ordered it immediately, took it out, and opened the door.
Pushing the door open, she saw a hole. A cloud of musty, dusty air rushed towards Chen Lan from the opening. Chen Lan pulled Gentle Mother and quickly dodged.
After opening the door and airing it out for a while, Chen Lan bought a thin rope, a small basket, and a hat with a headlamp from the system and put it on her head. She then lit the oil lamp in the study and covered it.
When everything was ready, Chen Lan tied the four corners of the small basket with the thin rope, placed the oil lamp inside the basket, and lowered it down through the hole. After a while, Chen Lan looked down into the hole. The oil lamp had not gone out.
She turned back and said to Gentle Mother, "Mother, you wait up here. I'll go down and see what's inside."
Gentle Mother was worried and firmly objected. Chen Lan, helpless, brought up her father-in-law. She said, "It's okay! Father-in-law is watching!"
Chen Lan descended into the hole along the ladder placed at the opening. The area inside the hole was neither too large nor too small, about four to five square meters. As expected, there were three large chests inside. Chen Lan always felt that she had a special connection with the number three in this life! She quickly collected the chests into the system's warehouse and then carefully examined the surrounding cave walls to ensure nothing was missed. She then climbed back up the ladder, retrieved the basket with the oil lamp, closed the door, and returned the bookshelf to its original position in one go.
Chen Lan turned around and saw Gentle Mother looking at her. She nodded to her mother.
The mother and daughter closed the study door, returned to Chen Lan's bedroom, and went into the adjoining compartment. Chen Lan, in front of Gentle Mother, mentally retrieved the three chests and opened them one by one, much to her mother's astonishment.
The first chest contained a box of scroll paintings. Chen Lan casually picked up a scroll and opened it. It was Xu Wei's "Ink Lotus."
This was the Xu Wei who likened himself to "a few crooked houses, a person of mixed dialects."
Xu Wei's life was nourished by suffering: "A life of hardship, two brothers died young, three marriages, four jobs as a hanger-on, five cartloads of books, six relatives scattered, seven years of unjust imprisonment, eight failed examinations, nine suicide attempts, truly lamentable." This is a vivid portrayal of Xu Wei's life.
Chen Lan picked up another scroll and opened it. It was Xu Wei's "Grape Painting." Chen Lan opened a few more scrolls. They were all works by famous painters, a huge profit!
Among the scrolls Chen Lan had seen were Wang Meng's "Secluded Dwelling in Qingbian," Wang Mian's "Ink Bamboo," Tang Yin's "Ladies," Shi Tao's "Bamboo and Rocks" and "Clear Autumn in Huaiyang," Bada Shanren's "Mantis Preying on Cicada," and a "Orchid" painting by Xu Wei.
The other two chests contained scrolls of calligraphy. Chen Lan didn't understand them and didn't look closely, estimating they were also works by famous artists.
One chest contained inkstones of various types and ink sticks. Chen Lan didn't understand them either and didn't look closely.
Chen Lan looked at Gentle Mother, who was still in a daze. After calling her twice, Gentle Mother finally came to her senses.
She said to Chen Lan, "Lan'er, you and your two brothers can divide these things equally. Your two younger brothers are still young. You keep them for now, and divide them when they grow up."
Chen Lan said nothing and followed her mother's instructions to pack everything away.