Two thousand taels of gold bought the stone and timber at No. 25 Yijing Lane between 1946 and 1948. Locals simply called the sprawling compound the 'Palace.' The founder, Wu Xuexun, built this 28-room, 99-door mansion as a quiet retreat for his aging mother. The architecture materializes a lifetime of commercial triumph. At age twelve, Wu stood on Kaiyuan Street holding twelve borrowed silver coins, selling paper fans. Decades later, his department store, Wu Xiangji, employed over 170 workers across Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Guangzhou.

The building physically bridges two worlds. Massive, nearly three-story-high stone pillars support a traditional Chinese upper level. The builders applied bold strokes of gold and sky-blue paint across the surfaces. Deep carvings texture the wooden doors and windows, catching the afternoon light. Behind the main gate, a wooden plaque reads 'Yanling Old Family.' On its reverse side, Wu Xuexun personally authored the 'Record of Building the Residence,' leaving his exact motivations inked into the grain.

The layout follows a strict local geometry: two courtyards, two side rooms, and four facing halls, anchored by a two-story rear building. In the back garden, two pavilions once offered shaded seats where Wu’s mother watched her grandchildren play.

Today, the scent of roasted coffee beans drifts through the courtyards. Following a 2016 neighborhood renewal, Wu’s great-grandson, Zhang Qingchun, restored the family estate. He transformed the front section into the Xueju Coffee and Tea House and the rear into an inn. The 1948 masonry now absorbs the quiet conversations of modern travelers. The structure stands as a continuous family dialogue, linking the boy with twelve silver coins to the great-grandson preserving his walls.