Chapter 00225: A Messy Account
# A Messy Account
Chapter 225
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 225: A Messy Account
He Yue looked around, confirming that there were no other beings in the room, and then sighed softly:
"That’s just talk. Everyone knows the king is soft-hearted. When our father speaks passionately, he believes him; when others are in tears, he sympathizes with them. Have you forgotten how the new coup law failed?"
He Lingchuan shrugged.
He hadn’t forgotten, because he had no impression of it at all!
This couldn’t be blamed on him; the original body was simply too inattentive to state affairs.
"After that failure, many people were disappointed; I think the Grand Marshal was among them," He Yue sighed again.
He Lingchuan raised a finger to his lips and gently "shushed" him.
This younger brother was clever, but too idealistic.
He changed the topic: "Hey, don’t you think it’s suspicious that Old Man Li died just before we arrived in Dunyu? It’s almost as if—heaven is helping me?"
"After all, he is seventy; he’s in the twilight of his years."
Even if that candle looked quite robust originally, "Even if he was killed by evil methods, without evidence, we can’t catch anyone."
"This old man has done many wicked deeds; he probably has many people cursing him. One day, when his talisman fails, he’ll be gone."
He Yue didn’t care much about how Li Zhao died, but he was very concerned about the impact of his death, "With Li Zhao dead, the Li family will fracture, the four great families will split, and that can only benefit us."
He Lingchuan suddenly asked him: "Will they suspect us? After all, the current situation is most favorable for us."
"Suspect us of what?" He Yue was taken aback, then understood the implication and burst out laughing, "How could that be possible! We have no grievances with the four great families, and our father is a court official; he hasn’t even met Li Zhao, how could we secretly harm him?"
The more he spoke, the louder he became, as if he were arguing.
He Lingchuan tried to shush him several times but couldn’t interrupt him.
"What’s going on?"
The courtyard door suddenly creaked open, and He Chunhua walked in: "What has you so excited, Yue'er?"
He Yue stood up to greet him: "Father, my brother and I were discussing how the Li family would interpret Li Zhao’s death."
"The innocent will clear themselves."
He Chunhua’s gaze swept over the two brothers and became very amiable, "There’s no need to pay attention to the gossip outside."
"How is your injury?" He also noticed the bandage on He Lingchuan’s arm, "Your medicine monkey said you bled out from the knife, at least two pounds."
He also noticed the stove placed in the corner of the room and walked over to examine the knife mountain: "Is it as simple as just inserting the knife?"
"Master Li said it will heal itself in a few days, just like a living thing."
"Good, I’ll send more people to you, so that no petty thieves disturb the knife planting process."
He Chunhua smiled, "I’ve already discussed with the Marquis of Songyang; since Master Li has come, he might as well stay in Xiazhou for a while longer. He will support the new branch of Songyang Mansion in Dunyu, and I will help them make a good start; the first batch of orders will be placed at this branch."
"Orders?" He Yue immediately caught the key point, "Do we have to pay for that?"
"Of course... it will be on the public account."
He Chunhua lightly coughed, "Considering we have just arrived in Xiazhou, the Songyang Mansion agreed to let us run a tab, and we can settle it in installments within a year, interest-free."
The He brothers exchanged glances; this was quite a favor.
The Marquis of Songyang truly had an eye for investment.
"The Songyang Mansion is a Daoist sect, and their manpower in Dunyu is not abundant; they usually don’t produce ordinary weapons. I ordered a batch of weapons from the Songyang Mansion for the military leaders to use; Zeng Feixiong has wanted a refined iron spear for a long time."
Weapons used by leaders are different from those used by soldiers; they are at least of magical artifact level.
For example, Zhong Shengguang, Dong Haoming, Nian Zanli, and even Sun Fuping all use treasures that are enough to be recorded in history.
Even the Tenglong Spear gifted to He Lingchuan by Wu Shaoyi was once the signature spear of the renowned general Liao Mozhao of Xuan Kingdom, which even the Crocodile God could not break.
Ordinary soldiers cannot achieve such feats.
Zeng Feixiong was only promoted last year, and his personal sword broke during a fierce battle with Lu Yao; he had been looking for a suitable weapon ever since, and this time he hoped it would be a high-quality magical artifact.
He Yue’s eyes lit up: "Father, please forge one for me too!" As the son of the governor, he still had this little privilege.
In the northern regions, the position of chief officer is equivalent to that of a governor, the head of a state.
He Chunhua chuckled, "Yue'er is a gentleman; the sword is the gentleman among tools. I will ask the master craftsman to forge a precious sword for you."
He then looked at He Lingchuan, "Lingchuan, what about you? It seems you already have knives and spears?"
The rebel leader Hong Xiangqian’s ghost-eye bow was also with his son.
He Lingchuan opened his mouth, but the words changed at the tip of his tongue: "Oh, I haven’t thought it through yet; let me discuss it with Master Li."
He Chunhua nodded.
He Lingchuan felt a subtle sensation as he saw his father’s loving gaze.
When it came to Old Man Li’s death, did he think too poorly of his father? After all, without evidence, any speculation was just grasping at straws.
He Yue expressed concern: "Father is acting decisively today, which certainly shows his means, but the four great families probably won’t easily submit."
He Lingchuan chuckled: "Then let them draw their lines; we will accompany them."
He Chunhua nodded: "Don’t forget the plan we made in Ruxian... If we only focus on Dunyu, it would be too petty to fight against these few noble families. We came to Xiazhou to settle accounts with Nian Zanli. At that time, he sent Nian Songyu to deceive our father and son into entering the Panlong Desert to work for his family of rebels, almost causing us to betray the country; this matter must be addressed on the battlefield."
The northern front line is the top priority within the Xiazhou governor’s duties.
"Yue'er, come to the state office tomorrow. I need you to help calculate the accounts and count the population, so we can recruit soldiers and buy grain later."
This was the specialty of the second son, and He Chunhua certainly wouldn’t waste it, "Chuan'er, that Sun Hongye under you also has some talent; I’ll borrow him for a while."
Although he had recruited nineteen people in Shihuan and had examined many along the way, upon arriving in Xiazhou, he still felt stretched thin.
Alas, in such a small place as Qiansong County, there were too few people to manage affairs; he couldn’t bring out many.
"Take him, take him."
He Lingchuan readily agreed, "By the way, if he goes to calculate the accounts, I won’t need to go, right?"
He Chunhua smiled faintly: "Can you calculate clearly?"
He Lingchuan coughed.
He Yue said: "There are so many absurdities in Dunyu; the local government can be called corrupt."
"Otherwise, why would I need your help?" He Chunhua said lightly, "After today’s court session, I will check the documents of the treasury from previous years; they still want to use messy accounts to scare me."
A cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Next, it’s time to rectify these things."
He then said to his eldest son, "By the way, starting this month, your allowance will be reduced to one hundred and fifty taels. Alright, alright, don’t be impatient; close your mouth and listen to me!"
He Lingchuan was about to protest but was silenced by a glare.
"We have just arrived in Xiazhou, and our expenses are greater than before, while our income is smaller than before. The money we brought from Heishui City needs to be used for many things. I took some time this afternoon to roughly check the state treasury; it’s all junk, with hardly any money left."
He Chunhua patted his shoulder, speaking earnestly, "Therefore, besides increasing revenue, we also need to find ways to cut expenses. The expenses for the monkey and the rock wolf are all on the lady’s account; you need to spend the one hundred and fifty taels carefully. Once we get through this immediate difficulty, I will gradually increase it for you."
Father is truly indulgent towards his elder brother, even feeling apologetic for giving him an allowance of one hundred and fifty taels.
He Yue felt a twinge of envy on the side.
His monthly allowance was only fifty taels, although he never spent it all.
He Chunhua was busy with many affairs and, after finishing his words, hurriedly left.
On the first night in Dunyu, he would undoubtedly have to work late into the night.
He Yue saw that his elder brother’s face was still pale and tactfully took his leave.
He Lingchuan poured himself a large cup of tea, sipping slowly while thinking.
Fortunately, he still had one hundred thousand taels in silver notes hidden in his pocket.
This was the money he had secretly kept after selling Sun Fuping’s purple gold pestle to the Songyang Mansion.
However, he was about to enter the next stage of cultivating the Ziwu Jue, and the Yin-Yang Powder he needed also had to be upgraded, requiring more expensive medicinal materials for better efficacy.
One hundred and fifty taels a month wouldn’t even be enough to buy half a set of medicinal materials.
Father was right; while cutting expenses, he also needed to increase revenue.
Now that he had arrived in Xiazhou, he had to find ways to make money to avoid eating away at his savings.
￥￥￥￥￥
Today, Panlong City had a clear sky with no clouds in sight.
He Lingchuan had just returned from patrolling the wilderness.
Recently, Liu Tong’s team had been rotated to guard the wilderness.
This place didn’t have as much water as the Chipa Plateau; it was a typical tundra climate, and standing on the high ground, one could oversee dozens of miles.
The number of monsters newly born in the wilderness was not as many as on the Chipa Plateau, and those causing trouble were even fewer, making it a leisurely task for most teams.
However, Liu Tong was very experienced; noticing that it had snowed a few days ago, he led his teammates to the Yanshan thirty miles west of Panlong City.
The mountain lived up to its name, emitting smoke, sometimes quite pungent.
When He Lingchuan reached the site, he discovered that it was a volcano, and a very active one at that, as the fissures in the mountain often emitted large clouds of steam for no apparent reason, which could scald a person’s arm if one wasn’t careful.
It hadn’t erupted for quite some time, and due to the geothermal activity, the mountain was covered in white snow, but surprisingly, there was some greenery at the foot of the mountain.
The ground was uneven with pine and spruce trees; after the snow melted, it formed ice pits or water pits, nourishing the moss and lichen.
Liu Tong led the group into a cave.
The cave was located at the foot of the mountain, long and filled with a damp smell.
Walking inside, the ground felt soft because the moss was almost woven into a carpet.
It was also quite warm here; the harsh cold outside could not invade.
However, He Lingchuan didn’t expect that there would be guards outside the cave.
Liu Tong revealed his identity, and the other party let them pass, also instructing, "Each person is only allowed to take five."
"I only have six people left in my team."
The guard was silent for a moment, then said, "Each person can take one more."
What treasure could be counted like this in the cave? Liu Tong quickly revealed the mystery:
It turned out to be snails.
He effortlessly found a snail and showed it to everyone: "This kind of candy snail has a bright shell, and there are almost no two of the same color in the world; it is one of the specialties of this wilderness. Strictly speaking, it is a specialty of Panlong City, and it doesn’t appear elsewhere."
(End of this chapter)