It turned out that being a spendthrift required skill as well. He Lingchuan had not been frugal at all when spending money, but even after a month, he had only managed to use up two hundred taels.
Still, it did have to be taken into account that in a backwater place like Heishui City, a hundred taels could keep a family of four living in comfort for five or six years.
Ying Hongchan cleared her throat lightly, then said, "Lingchuan, I've been meaning to talk to you. With all the expenses over summer and autumn, the household needs to tighten its belt. Starting next month, you will only have an allowance of eighty taels." As she spoke, she shot a glare at her husband.
Before He Chunhua could weigh in, He Lingchuan had already cried out, "Eighty taels? That's barely enough for two visits to Hongyan Tower!"
Ying Hongchan's expression darkened. "Your younger brother doesn't even use twenty taels a month."
"He…" He Lingchuan protested, "He eats and drinks at home! What does he need money for? I've got people under me to take care of, not to mention all the relationships I have to maintain in the city. That costs real silver! And it's not just for me!"
"Relationships?" Ying Hongchan gave a cold chuckle. "Those people flatter you, but their eyes are all on your father. Do you seriously think that such relationships need maintaining? We've no shortage of lapdogs."
Ying Hongchan did not give him any chance to respond as she immediately followed with, "The times are unstable. Every bit of money and grain should go to proper use. Lingchuan, your father and I don't expect you to ease our burdens, but at the very least, don't make things harder."
This was a heavy blow. He Lingchuan suddenly felt stifled, and he could even feel a knot of resentment forming in his chest.
In fact, this discontent was not even truly his own.
Every time the family sat down to eat, he could feel a wave of "unhappiness" rising from deep within his mind that seemed to be coming from established neural connections that the former He Lingchuan had formed regarding how he perceived his family. In other words, the emotions that the current He Lingchuan were feeling were no different from an instinctual reaction.
The former He Lingchuan clearly hated moments like this. Considering He Chunhua had always shown him kindness, these emotions were likely directed at the lady of the house.
"Father." He Lingchuan turned to his father without hesitation.
He Chunhua hesitated briefly before saying, "Your mother's right, but… eighty taels might be too low. Let's make it two hundred."
A hundred would have sufficed, but even that felt like a tight leash. He Lingchuan scowled and countered, "That's still too little! Make it three hundred!"
What then followed was the mother and son bickering back and forth for a while, with He Chunhua occasionally chiming in to mediate—playing the peacemaker, really. In the end, Madame Ying held firm, fixing the allowance at one hundred eighty taels, no more.
She shot her husband a reproachful look. She had wanted to teach their eldest a lesson in austerity, but her soft-hearted spouse could not bear to be too harsh. After all that wrangling, they had only shaved off twenty taels from how much He Lingchuan had spent last month.
Clearly, those who do not manage the household do not understand how costly daily life can be.
He Yue blinked. "With over six hundred taels saved each month, we could buy dozens of suits of high-grade armor or a few excellent warhorses. At the very least, we could recruit sixty men."
He had barely finished speaking when He Lingchuan slammed his hand on the table and stood up. "I'm full!"
And just before storming out of the dining hall, he snagged a poached pear from the brass basin, munching on it as he went.
The pear had been stewed with rock sugar and Sichuan pepper[1] for over half an hour. It was sweet, tender, and soothing to the throat. It was perfect for clearing away the stomach-heat[2] after a rich mutton meal.
No one tried to stop him.
As he neared the edge of the garden, He Lingchuan turned back to glance at the others. The three were still sitting at the table, eating and chatting away, completely at ease.
He gave a shrug and strode back to his residence.
To be fair, He Chunhua really did treat his eldest well. He Lingchuan had the biggest, quietest, and most beautiful courtyard on the east side of He Mansion, with black pines and white peach trees, a small pavilion above a pond, and even a small martial arts training ground.
He Yue's residence, though also on the east side, was barely half the size of his older brother's.
When he arrived, the sole servant in the courtyard came running over at the sound but was dismissed with a wave of the hand.
He Lingchuan stripped off his shirt and spent over half an hour practicing martial arts under the moonlight, working up a fine sweat.
The former He Lingchuan was not much for academics, but he had always loved martial arts and never shied away from hard work. This was something rare among sons of noble families. The He Family had once produced generals, and their family had its own body-tempering cultivation technique, which He Chunhua had passed down to his eldest son.
As his training reached its peak, a thin layer of white mist began to rise from his robust frame, visible only under the moonlight.
It was just the right moment to stop. He Lingchuan quickly drew his practice session to a close, sat down, and began regulating his breath.
The white mist slowly flowed back into his body through his nose and mouth.
With that, he had completed one full cycle.
He was cultivating the He Family's ancestral technique, named simply as the "Guiding Art."
1. This is also known as Chinese prickly ash, Chinese pepper, Mountain pepper, and mala pepper. ☜
2. This is a concept in Traditional Chinese Medicine where excess heat in the heart is addressed to restore balance and promote well-being. Other variations of this phrase are clearing away the heart-fire and purging the heart fire. Note that this fire/heat refers to inherent temperatures or energetic effects of foods, and the categorization isn't based on the actual temperature of the food, but rather how it's believed to affect the body's internal balance. ☜