Lin Youyou looked at Madam Xu and asked,
“Mother, would you like a little wine too? This is green plum wine that I brewed myself. It’s sweet and tangy—perfect for women. It tastes really good.”
“Alright.” Madam Xu nodded, her face full of smiles.
Lin Chaowen glanced at his wife.
Well now, ever since returning this time, his wife had completely let herself loose.
But he didn’t dislike this side of Madam Xu at all. On the contrary, he found it refreshing and rather interesting.
Madam Xu and Lin Youyou each drank a small cup together.
The green plum wine carried the sweet-tart flavor of fresh plums. Beneath the refreshing fruity aroma was the mellow fragrance of alcohol. It wasn’t strong, but it went down smoothly.
Madam Xu nodded approvingly.
“Mhm, it’s delicious. Bring me a jug later.”
“…”
Seeing how completely unapologetic her mother was being, Lin Youyou could only nod helplessly.
“Alright.”
What else could she say? She could only spoil her mother.
Hearing his wife praise the wine, Lin Chaowen grew tempted by the fruity fragrance lingering in the air.
“Daughter, pour your father a cup too so I can taste it.”
Lin Youyou wasn’t stingy and immediately poured him some.
After one sip, Lin Chaowen’s eyes lit up.
“This wine is excellent too! The fruit flavor is incredibly pure.”
Madam Xu shot him a glare.
“You already have your own wine. Do you want to drink every kind you see and take them all home too?”
“Hehe.”
Lin Chaowen wasn’t bothered in the slightest by his wife’s glare and grinned shamelessly.
“You know I love collecting good wine. If I miss out on this jug, I’ll think about it for days. Could you really bear that?”
Madam Xu’s cheeks flushed slightly as she glared at him again.
This man truly had no shame at all, saying such things in front of their daughter.
Lin Chaowen, however, only smiled more brightly under his wife’s glare.
The lovey-dovey atmosphere between the two made Lin Youyou roll her eyes repeatedly.
Seriously, enough already.
Fortunately, Lin Chaowen knew when to stop before his wife became genuinely angry. Turning toward his precious daughter, he said pitifully,
“Daughter… could you really bear to let your father lie awake at night?”
“…”
Lin Youyou truly hadn’t expected her cunning and intelligent father, who appeared so formidable outside, to secretly behave like this in private.
For the sake of her own eyes and ears, she finally agreed.
Lin Chaowen was immediately satisfied and happily resumed sipping his wine while eating braised meat bite by bite, so content his eyes narrowed shut.
Having delicious food while both his wife and daughter sat beside him—
these peaceful little days filled him with genuine happiness from the bottom of his heart.
After the meal, Lin Chaowen happily carried away all sorts of braised delicacies and a jug each of white liquor and green plum wine gifted by his “obedient” daughter. Holding his wife’s soft little hand with the other, he leisurely walked home with her.
Watching their relaxed backs as they strolled away, Lin Youyou smiled helplessly, though her heart felt warm.
After all, who wouldn’t love a harmonious and happy family life like this?
The next day, when Lin Chaowen went to work, he had his servant carry the food and wine his daughter had prepared for him.
He had even imagined secretly enjoying a little drink during breaks from work.
Who would have expected that early in the morning, the Minister of Works would arrive together with Prince Yi, He Yiling?
The minister introduced him to everyone:
“From today onward, Prince Yi will be learning here. Treat him equally and regard him as one of your colleagues.”
“…”
Who the hell could actually treat a prince with an official royal title as an equal colleague or subordinate?
Did they think their lives were too long already?
Although everyone verbally agreed, whenever they faced He Yiling, they became extremely cautious, afraid of accidentally offending him.
After all, it was customary for imperial princes to train within the Six Ministries. He would likely leave again before long anyway.
Lin Chaowen, however, didn’t particularly care about Prince Yi joining the Ministry of Works.
After all, the minister was the one above them carrying the responsibility. As long as he did his own job well, that was enough.
The entire morning passed peacefully.
At noon, the officials all ate lunches brought from home in their own offices.
After Lin Chaowen’s servant finished arranging the meal and left, Lin Chaowen looked at the dishes on the table with great satisfaction.
Finally, he could eat something decent today instead of continuing to wrong his stomach.
Just as he picked up his chopsticks, a low and indifferent voice sounded from the doorway.
“What is Lord Lin eating for lunch today? It looks rather good.”
Seeing who had arrived, Lin Chaowen quickly put down his chopsticks and stood to bow respectfully.
“Greetings, Your Highness.”
“Sit. There’s no need to treat me as a prince here. Just call me Yizhi.”(He Yiling’s courtesy name was Yizhi.)
“I happened to pass by Lord Lin’s office and wished to strengthen our relationship a little, so I came to disturb you.”
He Yiling spoke the most polite words while doing the most impolite thing possible.
He directly sat down at the table, looking entirely like someone who had no intention of leaving until he ate his fill.
Even Lin Chaowen, a civil official famous for his sharp tongue, had to admire how He Yiling could shamelessly do such things while maintaining a completely expressionless and composed demeanor.
Lin Chaowen lowered his eyes, internally snorting coldly, though his words remained perfectly courteous.
“Has Yizhi eaten yet? Since I was just about to have lunch, why not join me?”
“Since Lord Lin has invited me, then Yizhi will respectfully accept.”
He Yiling even made a gracious gesture for Lin Chaowen to sit.
“Please.”
“Of course, of course.”
The brighter Lin Chaowen’s smile became, the more curses filled his heart.
Only after interacting with this prince did he realize how shameless the man truly was.
From the moment he stepped into the room, he had already used uninvited intrusion, opportunistic freeloading, and reversing host and guest roles before smoothly acting as though everything were perfectly natural.
Utterly shameless.
Yet Lin Chaowen couldn’t refuse him at all.
Not only that, he even had to share half the precious food he had painstakingly obtained from his daughter.
After taking two bites of braised meat, He Yiling nodded in satisfaction.
“The food in Lord Lin’s household is quite good. It suits Yizhi’s tastes very well.”
“If Yizhi likes it, then please eat more and don’t stand on ceremony.”
Lin Chaowen maintained his smile carefully, not daring to relax his guard around He Yiling in the slightest.
Because this man was definitely not some honest, harmless person.
The number of schemes in his mind was enough to make anyone nervous.
And sure enough—
He Yiling’s gaze drifted toward the two jugs of wine nearby as he asked curiously,
“I heard Lord Lin enjoys collecting fine wines. Anything that makes it onto Lord Lin’s table must surely be excellent wine?”
Lin Chaowen immediately understood the move.
Pretending to ask while already intending to drink it.
Still smiling politely, he quickly poured the wine into clean cups and respectfully presented them to He Yiling.
“These wines were brewed by my daughter herself. One is purified white liquor, and the other is green plum fruit wine. I’ll pour you a cup of each so you can see which one you prefer.”
“Very well.”
He Yiling accepted without the slightest politeness.
He first picked up the purified white liquor and took a sip.
The heat burned from his mouth straight into his stomach—warm, fierce, and satisfying.
“Excellent wine.”
For even He Yiling to call it good wine meant it truly was exceptional.
After all, this era did not yet possess distilled liquor.
The wines of this time were generally cloudy, low in alcohol content, heavy with fermented grain flavor, and left behind a faint bitterness and astringency.
But this liquor was crystal clear, fiery yet mellow, rich and fragrant, with a smooth lingering finish completely free of bitterness.