Lu Mingqian wanted to lose his temper, but when he saw the anger and irritability on his mother's face, which he had never seen before, his anger immediately dissipated, leaving only a faint sense of unease.

“After I was away fighting for two years, you only sent me three or four thousand taels of silver a year after I got married to A-Qiao. Do you know how much it costs after having a child?”

The old lady was on the verge of losing her mind.

She scrimped and saved, shamelessly swindling money from various shops, sending it all to her son without keeping a single penny, hoping to save some money for her retirement when Jin Shu couldn't see her. But she never expected that her most beloved son wouldn't save a single penny!

"Good, good, good... You guys are great!!"

The old lady said "good" three times, then sat down and took two deep breaths, her face turning ashen.

"Then answer me now, if a person in a big city like the capital can't even spend a thousand taels a year, how could the three of you spend three or four thousand taels in the deep mountains and forests?!"

What? You guys are just throwing money away like it's nothing?!

Three or four thousand taels! Five taels of silver is enough for an ordinary family to eat and drink well for one or two months, not to mention that farmers in the countryside might not be able to earn five taels even if they work themselves to death all day.

Jin Shu usually gives her twelve taels a month, which she can't even spend all of and can still save some. How could this beast squander so much money?!

Lu Mingqian was frightened by the old lady's appearance and lost his previous arrogance. He stood obediently opposite her and whispered.

"Although the scenery in the deep mountains is beautiful, the roads up and down the mountain are difficult to walk. After giving birth, A-Qiao needs to recover naturally and cannot travel or exert herself, so I spent some money to have someone build a road on the mountain, which cost... more than a thousand taels of silver."

Even though the road was repaired, going up and down the mountain wasn't easy, so we hired two grooms to serve us at home, so we could go up and down the mountain freely without any restrictions.

"You two hired two grooms specifically for this purpose??"

Even with such a large family as the Duke's mansion, they only hired two grooms to maintain appearances in the capital!

These two spendthrifts actually hired two people for themselves on the mountain, so they wouldn't have to lift a finger going up or down!

The old lady clutched her chest, suppressing her anger.

"Then it'll probably cost over three thousand taels, continue!"

Lu Mingqian didn't want to talk anymore, but seeing the old lady's increasingly terrifying expression, his legs went weak and he simply knelt down to speak.

"Mother, after all, A-Qiao gave birth to my child. Do you know how much a woman has to pay to give birth? So it's important to recover your strength as soon as possible after childbirth."

Since that's the case, we have to eat those nourishing and health-preserving foods at every meal without fail, and this meal will cost nearly ten ounces... We don't know how to cook good things, and we're afraid of wasting them, so we hired a few more cooks.

Ah Qiao and I have different tastes and can't eat together, so we need to hire two chefs..."

Two people, two private chefs...

The old lady's hands and feet trembled, and her lips trembled as she stared at Lu Mingqian in front of her.

With more helpers at home, the house naturally needed to be renovated. Ah Qiao designed the blueprints herself and built a manor on the mountaintop.

However, this is also so that we can invite you to live with us in the future, making it convenient for our descendants to live together without feeling cramped.

The old lady didn't know what a manor was, but judging from their extravagant lifestyle, the house was certainly no smaller than the Duke's mansion where they were currently living.

Lu Mingqian certainly wouldn't dare say how big it is.

After all, the manor was built on a mountaintop, requiring dozens or even hundreds of times more manpower and resources than building it on flat ground, and the amount of money spent was naturally countless.

He dared not say that Deng Qiao had made it clear to him that she would never live with the old man again.

So even though the hilltop manor was built to be larger than the Duke's mansion, there was no place for the old lady inside.

Lu Mingqian would never say these words, even if they were buried deep inside him.

But even without saying it, what came before was enough to make the old lady furious.

"Mother, do I need to continue?"

The old lady looked at him, her expression of disappointment almost overflowing.

She looked at him with reddened eyes and choked out.

"Do you know how the Duke's mansion has survived these past ten years?"

"I...I don't know."

Lu Mingqian lowered his head and remained silent, his expression clearly indicating that he knew.

For the first time, the old woman felt that she had truly given birth to a beast.

"So you didn't save a single penny, and spent it all on eating, drinking, and having fun?"

"It seems...it seems so."

He had no idea the specifics, but he always received money from the old lady every year, and he always managed to spend all the money from the previous year before the money for the following year arrived.

He's been like this for years; he's long been used to spending money lavishly and not keeping any money in his pocket.

So even though they lived in the mountains, life there was much more comfortable than living in the capital.

Every day, my loved one is by my side, surrounded by mountains and rivers, and I have the best food, drink and daily necessities in the world. When I get a little bored at home, I go out to travel and enjoy the scenery. When I get tired, I go home to rest.

He lived such easy days year after year, and even after ten years, he still felt that it was just a blink of an eye.

If it weren't for the fact that they hadn't received the money from the old lady even after the New Year, they would never have abandoned such a good place to return to the capital.

But now that we're back, let's get things sorted out right away.

Help the old lady regain her power as housekeeper, so that they can go back in peace and continue their previous lives.

Anyway, by the time the old lady couldn't hold on any longer, Ah Zhao would have grown up. The child had been taught to be filial and obedient, so he would naturally take over the old lady's job of supporting them.

Unfortunately, the plan did not go smoothly at all.

Jin Shu was much more assertive than he had imagined, and the old lady also seemed to have aged considerably. He had thought it would be a problem that could be solved in a month or two, but now it had been delayed for so long and there was still no progress.

Deng Qiao became anxious.

She was used to being free-spirited and unrestrained by nature, and she couldn't stand the oppressive life in this secluded mansion.

Putting everything else aside, even their monthly expenses depend on other people's opinions. They only have seven taels a month, which is gone after just a few meals!

Lu Mingqian is now completely out of options.

"Mother, the Duke's mansion is so rich, how could they only give me such a small monthly allowance! I think Jin Shu is deliberately trying to torment me! Mother, go and talk to her, is this how you treat a beggar with such a small amount of money!"

"You bastard!! Have you drunk cat piss and gone mad?! Do you think the aristocratic families in the capital are all that rich? Do you think everyone can live a life of debauchery and extravagance like you did before?!"

Every penny you spend is hard-earned!

I can't hold your past actions against you, but now that you want to spend money, go earn it yourself! (End of Chapter)