Chapter 7

It turns out that squandering wealth is also a technical skill; He Lingchuan put his back into spending money, yet only managed to burn through two hundred taels in a month.

In this frontier region, one hundred taels is enough for an average family of four to live comfortably for five or six years!

Madam Ying gave a light cough. "Lingchuan, I was just about to speak with you. We are spending too much during the summer and autumn, and the manor needs to tighten its belt. Starting next month, your expenses must be kept under eighty taels." She glanced at her husband as she finished.

Before He Chunhua could state his position, He Lingchuan had already cried out, "Eighty taels? That'll be gone in two trips to the Wild Goose Pavilion!"

Madam Ying's expression darkened slightly. "Your younger brother doesn't even spend twenty taels a month."

"He..." He Lingchuan protested, "He eats and drinks at home, what could he possibly spend money on? I have so many men following me, and then there are the connections in the city that need greasing—that costs money, and it's not just for my own sake!"

"What connections?" Madam Ying gave a cold laugh. "Those people suck up to you, yet their eyes are all fixed on your father. Do such connections even need maintaining? Our family isn't short on guard dogs."

She didn't give He Lingchuan a chance to interject. "The times are turbulent; money and grain must be used for proper purposes. Lingchuan, your father and I don't ask you to solve the family's worries, but do try to cause fewer troubles."

That was a heavy remark. He Lingchuan felt a sudden tightness in his chest, followed by a surge of dissatisfaction.

These were not his own emotions.

In fact, every time the family ate together, he could feel a sense of "unpleasantness" emanating from the depths of his mind; it was almost an instinctive physical reaction.

The original owner of this body really disliked such scenes. Given how much He Chunhua doted on him, this emotion was clearly directed at the lady of the house.

"Father." He turned to his father quite decisively.

He Chunhua pondered for a moment before saying, "Your mother is right, but eighty taels..." He hesitated, "Let's set it at two hundred."

One hundred would have been enough to save him the exhaustion of spending, but He Lingchuan wore a look of displeasure. "That's still too little! Three hundred!"

The mother and son argued for a long time while He Chunhua played the role of mediator—or rather, the one stirring the mud. In the end, Madam Ying put her foot down, and the amount was fixed at one hundred and eighty taels.

Madam Ying cast a reproachful look at her husband. She wanted to cut back on her eldest son's spending, but the father couldn't bring himself to be firm; after all that arguing, they had only reduced it by twenty taels from the previous month!

Truly, one does not know the price of firewood and rice until one manages a household.

"Saving over six hundred taels of silver every month," He Yue blinked, "could buy dozens of sets of fine armor, or several excellent warhorses. It would be enough to recruit at least sixty men into the army."

No sooner had he finished speaking than He Lingchuan slapped the table and stood up. "I'm full!"

Before striding out of the dining hall, he didn't forget to fish a stewed pear out of the brass basin, eating it as he walked.

The pear had been stewed with rock sugar and Sichuan peppercorns for over an hour; it was sweet, tender, and soft, with the added benefit of clearing the heart and reducing internal heat—perfect for cooling down someone who had just eaten mutton.

No one stopped him.

As he neared the garden exit, He Lingchuan looked back and saw the three of them still sitting around the table, eating and discussing, the picture of harmony.

He shrugged and walked quickly back to his quarters.

In all fairness, He Chunhua was truly good to this eldest son. He Lingchuan occupied the largest, quietest, and most beautiful courtyard on the east side, complete with black pines, white peach trees, winding streams, and pavilions—there was even a small martial arts practice field.

Although He Yue's living quarters were also on the east side, they were only half the size of his brother's.

The only servant in the courtyard came over at the sound of his footsteps, only to be waved away.

He Lingchuan took off his shirt and practiced his punches under the moonlight for over an hour, until he was drenched in sweat and feeling invigorated.

The original owner was not gifted in literature, but he had loved martial arts since childhood and was not afraid of hardship, which was rare among the children of noble families. The He family had produced generals in the past and possessed their own set of body-tempering techniques, which He Chunhua had passed on to his eldest son.

As he practiced, his robust physique became shrouded in a faint white mist, visible only under the moonlight.

This was the perfect state. He Lingchuan quickly retracted his fists and sat down to regulate his breathing.

The white mist was gradually absorbed back through his nose and mouth, bit by bit.

This completed one cycle.

What he practiced was the He family's ancestral supernatural ability, known as the "Traction Technique."

He Lingchuan used his body-tempering technique to force his internal energy out of his body, allowing it to come into close contact with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth—especially the moonlight—before drawing it back in through breathing, discarding the impurities and retaining the essence.

Thus, through movement and stillness, exhalation and inhalation, traction and guidance, the process was complete.

Of course, one could complete a cycle using the "Traction Technique" alone, but starting with body-tempering helped expel the cold, filth, and illness accumulated in the body, making the purification of internal energy much more effective.

After finishing his breathing exercises, He Lingchuan felt even more refreshed. He grabbed a white towel and headed for his bath.

The hot water had been prepared by a servant—a man in his thirties, honest and simple-minded.

He Lingchuan soaked in the hot water and let out a long sigh. It would be perfect if someone were here to scrub his back; that would be true comfort.

As a transportation hub for travelers from all directions, Blackwater City certainly had bathhouses, known as "bathing shops." Besides communal soaking, back-scrubbing and foot-pedicuring were standard services. However, that was in the bathhouses; Young Master He couldn't enjoy back-scrubbing services from young girls in his own home.

Because he had no maidservants.

Teenage, twenty-something, or even thirty or forty-year-old maids... he had none at all.

To ensure the He family's ancestral martial arts yielded twice the result with half the effort and provided lifelong benefits, one had to maintain a state of virginity.

He Lingchuan had been naive when he first started learning and didn't know the drawbacks. It wasn't until he grew up and saw his friends enjoying the pleasures of romance that he questioned He Chunhua, only for his father to beat his chest and stomp his feet in frustration.

He Lingchuan was obsessed with the martial path and was unwilling to give up halfway, so he had endured it.

However, He Chunhua didn't want to intentionally test his eldest son's willpower, so he didn't place any females in his courtyard.

He Lingchuan sat in the large wooden tub, thinking of the West Mountain Leopard Demon, the Donglai Manor guards caught by the Red and White Path, and the miscellaneous items hidden inside the Leopard Tooth.

When would Donglai Manor discover that the guards sent to Blackwater City had lost contact?

How would they react?

And how would the Prefect respond?

Subconsciously, he picked up the necklace resting on his chest to glance at it again, then suddenly tore it off and hurled it with all his might toward the garden in the distance.

The necklace traced a parabola through the air, flying over the garden wall.

A few breaths later, he felt something strange on his chest. He looked down—

The necklace had returned on its own, sitting perfectly in place around his neck.

Sure enough, no matter how many times he threw it, this thing would always find its way back.

He had examined it carefully many times; although it looked like jade on the surface, it was actually more like ivory.

When it came down to it, the composition of ivory and bone was very similar.

The day he fell off the cliff, he had heard the leopard roar a new term:

Divine Bone.

Could this pendant that refused to leave his side be a Divine Bone?

After the meal, He Yue took his leave, and He Chunhua and his wife returned to freshen up.

Only then did Madam Ying have the chance to scold her husband: "You indulge Lingchuan far too much. He accounts for the lion's share of the manor's monthly expenses alone! And look at his attitude, slamming the table and leaving like that!" How arrogant!

"That won't be the case next month." He Chunhua pacified her, "He just suffered a severe injury, and we cut his allowance; it's only natural he feels displeased."

Madam Ying was about to say more, but He Chunhua had already changed the subject: "Have you noticed any changes in Lingchuan lately?"

"Lately?" Madam Ying thought carefully, then shook her head, "Aside from spending a little less money, he doesn't seem to have changed at all."