Chapter 26: Life in Chang'an Is Far from Easy

“Congratulations to General Chen on your new home!”
“Congratulations to General Chen on your new home!”
Liang Zan, Chen Huairen, Zhao Yuanqiao, and Li Chuyi moved Chen Ying’s belongings from Xu’s Inn to the residence in Changren Lane. Everyone offered their congratulations to Chen Ying.

At this moment, the original Xu residence’s plaque had already been replaced at Chen Ying’s orders, now reading: “Chen Residence!”

Chen Ying said, “You are mistaken!”

“Mistaken?” The others were puzzled.

Chen Ying smiled, “This is not my new home; it is our brothers’ new home.”

Li Chuyi stammered, “Gen... General Chen, do you mean... we can live here as well?”

“Of course!” Chen Ying replied. “There are forty-seven rooms in this residence; each of you can have one.”

Chen Huairen said, “How can we accept such generosity?”

Zhang Huaiwei chimed in, “This isn’t proper! After all, General Chen purchased this house. How can we just live here?”

Chen Ying said, “Brothers share hardships and blessings together! Unless you look down on me!”

“In that case, we’ll gladly accept!” You Ziying said. “The gatehouse is perfect for me. I’m a light sleeper—no petty thief could escape my ears.”

Liang Zan pointed to a five-room wing beside the tea room and said, “That one looks good; I’ll take it.”

Before Chen Ying could respond, the maid Lan’er blushed with anger. “Rogue, shameless!”

Hongxiu said timidly, “That’s my room. I’ll move to the back courtyard.”

Liang Zan turned bright red in embarrassment. Chen Ying said, “Lan’er, you managed the household before, and you’ll continue to do so now. What were your wages before?”

The kitchen maid Aunt He replied, “In these times, it’s enough to survive. How would we dare ask for wages?”

Chen Ying said, “The Emperor doesn’t let his soldiers starve; neither shall we use people for free in the Chen Residence. Lan’er, as the head maid, will get one thousand coins a month. Hongxiu and Lvzhu, as second-class maids, eight hundred coins a month. Aunt He in the kitchen, seven hundred coins; the laborers six hundred coins each. Head maid, please assign rooms for my brothers.”

“Understood!” Lan’er, newly promoted as the little housekeeper, was delighted, and efficiently assigned rooms for Zhang Huaiwei, You Ziying, and the others.

“Aunt He, have the kitchen prepare extra dishes today!”

“Yes, sir!”

Once Aunt He and the others left, Lan’er pouted and tilted her head at Chen Ying. “How much money does Master have left?”

Chen Ying answered, “A little over a thousand strings of coins.”

Lan’er started counting on her fingers. “Let me calculate for Master. There are eleven servants—myself, Hongxiu, Lvzhu, and Aunt He. That’s three thousand three hundred coins. The other seven, four thousand two hundred coins. Altogether, the monthly wage is seven thousand five hundred coins. There were three horses, and now with Zhang, You, and Liang each bringing one, there are seven. Each horse needs ten pounds of rough and ten pounds of fine feed daily—seventy pounds of rough feed equals thirty coins, fine feed sixty coins a day. Monthly, that’s six thousand three hundred coins. If Master visits friends, the horses need extra feed; seven thousand coins a month may not suffice.”

Lan’er ignored Chen Ying’s increasingly grim expression and continued, “Now, eighteen people eat here, needing five bushels of grain a month, costing one thousand coins. Oil, salt, sauces, and meat, three thousand coins minimum. And Master must marry; the bride price alone will be at least a thousand strings.”

A cold sweat broke out on Chen Ying. Truly, living in the imperial capital wasn’t easy. Every month nearly twenty thousand coins vanished. His thousand-plus coins sounded plenty, but would never last.

He needed to find a way to earn money quickly, or he’d be forced to pawn his trousers.

Should he follow the transmigrators and make soap?

Though Chen Ying was a science student, all his knowledge had long been returned to his teachers. Manufacturing soap would leave him at a loss.

Brew wine?
Make perfume?
Invent gunpowder?
...
Each idea seemed easy enough to discuss, but actually doing it was a different matter.

Just as his thoughts wandered, Lvzhu’s pleasant voice interrupted him.

“Master, try the tea I brewed!” Lvzhu brought a cup of tea, its surface glistening with oil, and handed it to him. Chen Ying gazed at her bashful charm, a strange excitement rising in his heart.

Lvzhu and Hongxiu were identical in appearance, but their personalities were opposites. The elder Lvzhu was fiery and cheerful, always laughing and chatting. The younger Hongxiu was cold as frost, rarely speaking or smiling.

It seemed Hongxiu should have been the elder, and Lvzhu the younger.

Chen Ying looked at Lvzhu, then at Hongxiu standing nearby as still as a statue, feeling an indescribable delight.

These twin sisters could have been supermodels in the modern world, yet here they were, demurely serving him tea, Hongxiu gently massaging his shoulders with her delicate hands.

For Lvzhu and Hongxiu, they were both born into the household of Xu Jingzong. Their father had served as bodyguard to Xu Shanxin when he was Minister of Justice for the Chen dynasty. Had Xu Shanxin not bought their mother and married her, they would not exist.

As bondservants of the Xu family, they had been slaves since birth. Even if Xu Jingzong had truly gifted them to Middle Secretariat Attendant Feng Lun, they would have no choice. Had Chen Ying not inexplicably become their master, they might have become playthings for Feng Lun.

Though they served others, following Chen Ying—a handsome sixteen-year-old—was far preferable to serving Feng Lun, who could be their grandfather.

Chen Ying was not a mind reader and could not guess what the two women were thinking.

He took a sip of the tea, its temperature just right, and his eyes immediately widened in shock.

“Ugh...!”

He had never expected Lvzhu’s tea to taste like a bowl of mutton oil soup. It was spiced with ginger, salt, star anise, dried peel, and longan—most bizarrely, with mutton fat. It had the bitterness of tea, but was salty, gamey, and reeking of sheep. The flavor was indescribably pungent.

With a thud, Lvzhu and Hongxiu’s faces turned pale as they dropped to their knees, begging for mercy.

“We deserve punishment, we deserve punishment...”

Chen Ying quickly rinsed his mouth, finally settling his stomach.

“This is your tea?”

Lvzhu, not knowing what was wrong, timidly took the leftover tea and tasted it herself, as if drinking poison.

She wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. “There’s nothing poisonous here!”

“It’s not poison, it’s just the flavor...”

“The flavor is good!”

Chen Ying was speechless. He had never tasted tea of this era. In the modern world, he drank green tea, black tea, and raw tea, but never anything as bizarre as this.

“Roasted tea?” Suddenly, Chen Ying had an idea.