Reborn Capital Empire

Chapter 212 Gray Manor

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The scenery on both sides of the flower bed is different. On the right side are two rows of scattered, thick and tall trees, including ginkgo, triangular maple, oak, etc.; through the gap between the trees, you can vaguely see a large lawn behind, and a A large lake.

On the left side of the flower bed on the main road is a flower wall about two meters high. However, from the information provided by the intermediary company, Guo Shouyun knew that behind it was a plant maze, a landscape that often appeared in English-style manors.

The car drove forward along the main road paved with cobblestones. After about 50 meters, a stone bridge about 10 meters wide appeared in front of you. Below the stone bridge is a meandering river. One side of the river is connected to the lake on the right, and the other side bypasses the main building of the manor and connects to another larger lake behind.

After crossing the stone bridge and passing through the shrub isolation zone, a marble-paved square appeared in front of Guo Shouyun with a square of about 500 square meters. In the center of the square is a large fountain with a diameter of more than 40 meters. In the center of the fountain are three marble sculptures standing on flower beds, about two meters high, each with a different image.

One of them is a naked young woman holding a crock pot, the other two are a female sculpture holding a conch, and a female marble sculpture carrying a flower basket. The clear water flowed out from the pot, the conch and the flower basket respectively, and fell into the fountain in three different levels: high, medium and low. At the same time, eight open-mouthed fish-shaped sculptures in the corners of the fountain spew out eight crystal water columns, falling into the marble flower beds at the feet of the three female sculptures, forming a loop.

You can imagine how heart-wrenching it is when the water reflects the sunlight and emits beautiful colorful lights in the bright spring sunshine.

Of course, at this point it's just imagination. Because there has long been no water flow in the entire fountain, the traces of wind and rain erosion on the three sculptures are even more obvious.

To the inside of the fountain is the main building of the entire manor. It has a typical English style, with pale yellow exterior walls, and the marble walls do not have the gorgeous sculptures of French architecture; most of the roofs are flat, except for a few sloping roofs, unlike the Gothic style. Has that impressive spire.

The whole main building is probably in the shape of a 'convex', with three floors up and down, which is somewhat similar to the Lime Manor that Guo Shouyun once visited.

After the car stopped, the intermediary company representatives who were waiting in front of the main building immediately greeted them. After Guo Shouyun and Neil Murray got out of the car, they enthusiastically stretched out their right hand.

"Mr. Murray, Mr. Guo, you are welcome. I am William Hills, a representative of Kenton Real Estate."

"Hello, Mr. Hills!"

Simply shook hands and said hello.

"Two gentlemen, this is Simpson Ward, the steward of Gray Manor. Mr. Ward has worked here for 30 years and is very familiar with every plant and tree in this manor. What do you two need to know? Just ask him."

Guo Shouyun looked at the typical British butler wearing a black suit, a red bow tie around his neck, gray hair, and a serious expression in his expression. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Has Mr. Ward been at Gray Manor?"

Glancing at him, "My grandfather, my father, until me, three generations of the Ward family have dedicated their time and years to Gray Manor."

There was a touch of respect in Guo Shouyun's expression. The position is not high or low, and people who can work in one position for decades are worthy of admiration.

"I beg your pardon to show us the whole manor."

Old Ward nodded, and after hearing the respect in Guo Shouyun's tone, his expression softened a lot.

"Are the two gentlemen going inside first, or outside now?"

"Bruce, what do you think?" Neil Murray asked.

"Go inside first!"

"Please come with me!"

Old Ward nodded and led the group to walk into the interior of the main building by stepping on the quaint steps washed by the rain for hundreds of years.

After crossing the threshold, what appeared in front of Guo Shouyun was a magnificent hall of more than 300 square meters. The height of the hall is nearly 5 meters, there is no pillar in the middle, and the top of the hall has a unique ceiling and gorgeous crystal chandeliers. In particular, the largest set of chandeliers in the middle is more than one meter up and down and more than 1.2 meters in diameter, which is extraordinarily luxurious.

Under the bright lights, the whole hall looks brilliantly lit. The reliefs, tapestries and oil paintings on the surrounding walls are also under the light, shining with a different charm, setting off the extra luxury and elegance of the whole hall.

In addition, directly opposite the hall is a wide staircase connecting the second floor. On both sides of the stairs are three-meter-wide, domed corridors.

"This hall was where the Gray family held banquets. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the family was prosperous, celebrities and gentlemen in British politics were regular visitors here, and even Edward VII stayed here. The paintings on the walls are all around. All the ancestral portraits of the Gray family!"

Looking at those oil paintings, Guo Shouyun felt a heavy history, and Liu Yuxi's "Wuyi Alley" could not help but emerge in his mind: the wild grass and flowers beside the Suzaku Bridge, the sunset at the entrance of Wuyi Alley; into the homes of ordinary people. No matter how prosperous the family is, there are times when it declines.

"Isn't this place cleaned carefully for a long time?" Guo Shouyun asked, noticing the dust on some sculptures and tapestries.

Old Ward nodded, "In the entire Gray Manor, including me, there are only five old servants over fifty years old who are reluctant to leave. It is our greatest ability to barely keep this place intact."

"What about the original members of the Gray family?" Guo Shouyun frowned.

"Dead, let's go. The only person who can inherit the manor is still in the prison in London." Old Ward sighed in disappointment.

Looking at him, Guo Shouyun frowned and turned his eyes to William Hills next to him.

"Mr. Hills, there won't be any disputes over property rights in this manor, right?"

"Mr. Guo rest assured that the inheritance of the Gray Manor is in the hands of Bowen Gray, a descendant of the Gray family. He was imprisoned in London's No. 7 Prison for theft three years ago. This manor was entrusted to us by him two years ago. , we have the complete entrustment contract and real estate certificate in hand.”

"There is such a large manor in the name, and it is still stolen?" Guo Shouyun asked in surprise.

"Who knows, anyway, he broke into the vault of the Swiss bank and allegedly stole a priceless painting of Raphael." William Hills shrugged.

"Raphael's oil painting?"

After secretly surprised, Guo Shouyun attributed it to the bad taste of the children of the shabby nobles, and did not ask more.

Behind, under the leadership of Old Ward, a group of people visited most of the rooms in the main building. Except for a few rooms, most of them were covered with thick dust, and many beds and soft liners needed to be replaced. This situation made Guo Shouyun not very satisfied, because the decoration took a lot of time, and the formaldehyde problem was also his concern.

However, all dissatisfaction disappeared when they came to the three storage rooms located underground. Although the red wine stored in the wine storage room does not have the famous first-class wineries such as Marg and Lafite, it is also the genuine brand of the second and third Bordeaux wineries. The key is that the years are good. Plus some champagne, brandy, etc., the number of thousands of bottles is enough for Guo Shouyun for a long time.

Compared with the wine storage room, one of the storage rooms of about 380 square meters is the biggest surprise. Looking at the shelves filled with dazzling Chinese porcelain, plates, bowls, bottles, cans, all kinds of shapes, I am afraid there are no less than 10,000 pieces.

"These are the collections of the Gray family. From James Gray to Wells Gray, three of the Gray family served as British consuls in the Qing Dynasty; five of them were engaged in business in the Qing Dynasty and later the Republic of China; they were all madly obsessed with Chinese The artwork, especially the porcelain, is something they've accumulated over the years," explained Ward Sr.

"Can I take a look at it in detail?" Guo Shouyun said in surprise.

"certainly!"

With permission, Guo Shouyun picked up a blue and white plum vase with a lotus pattern about 20 centimeters high from the nearest shelf~www.wuxiaspot.com~ Of course, his porcelain appreciation level is only at the entry level, and he cannot see it at all. out it's true and false. So, after a brief look at it, I opened the bottom. The six-character regular script inscription "Daqing Jiaqing Year System" caught my eye.

After putting down the plum bottle, he took some general jars, large plates, Gezun, porcelain pots, etc., and found that most of these porcelains were porcelain from the four dynasties of Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng and Guangxu. Few, even if there are some fine folk kilns. But this is also a matter of course. If it is really high-priced porcelain, I am afraid that the descendants of the Gray family have already taken it to the auction market for trading.

But even so, Guo Shouyun was not disappointed in the slightest, but very happy. Don't look at most of these china now between a few hundred to a thousand or two thousand pounds. Even if it all adds up to a few million to ten million pounds. But ten years later, when China's economy develops and the collection boom is rolling in, the price of these porcelains will be dozens or even hundreds of times the current price.

Thinking of this, Guo Shouyun's determination to buy this manor instantly firmed up.

"Mr. Ward, if I buy this manor, will these works of art also belong to me?"

"Yes!" The latter nodded. "According to Master Bowen's power of attorney, after the sale of Gray Manor, everything here belongs to Mr. Guo!"

In fact, the truly valuable parts of the Gray family's collection were gradually auctioned off in the 1950s, when the family began to decline. The rest are due to the high fees of the auction house, the large number and low value of the collection, and the limited market, so all the remaining collections are defective. Simply sell it as a tie-in to latecomers, at least without paying a high handling fee to the auction house.

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