From just that single sip, He Yiling immediately recognized how extraordinary the liquor was.
Now he was full of anticipation for the other wine as well.
The moment the plum wine entered his mouth, the deep, shadowy look in his eyes brightened slightly.
This wine was equally delicious.
Still, as a man, he preferred the stronger distilled liquor more.
As for this plum wine—it would suit his imperial mother perfectly. She would definitely love it.
The food suited his tastes, and the wine was equally satisfying, so by the end, nearly half the braised dishes and wine on the table had disappeared into He Yiling’s stomach.
Even the barely touched jug of green plum wine was shamelessly carried away by him.
After He Yiling finally left, Lin Chaowen’s face darkened completely.
This guy truly had no idea what “being polite” meant.
Utterly shameless.
If he weren’t a prince, Lin Chaowen swore he would beat him to death.
The more delicious the food had been, the more frustrated he now felt.
His chest felt clogged with resentment.
Sooner or later, he was definitely going to get revenge on that brat somehow.
Trying to make him suffer losses without payback?
No way.
Humph.
That afternoon, every official in the Ministry of Works who saw Lin Chaowen noticed something was wrong with Lord Lin.
He looked utterly lifeless.
No matter what he did, he couldn’t gather any enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, the culprit himself kept appearing in front of Lin Chaowen every so often.
One moment asking about something he “didn’t understand,” the next moment asking whether something else was “correct.”
Lin Chaowen: “…”
This was honestly getting annoying.
As a prince destined to compete for the throne someday, was this man genuinely oblivious, pretending to be harmless while hiding his claws, or—
TN(D)—was this fellow secretly a black-hearted schemer who simply enjoyed tormenting him for fun?
The moment that possibility crossed his mind, Lin Chaowen’s expression shifted repeatedly.
Looking again at He Yiling’s “eager-to-learn” face, everything about the man became unpleasant to his eyes.
He wanted to hit someone.
But he had to endure it.
After suffering through the entire workday like this, Lin Chaowen collapsed into his carriage on the ride home, looking like a soulless walking corpse.
The instant he entered his courtyard and saw his wife seated there reviewing account books, he walked over without a word, squatted down beside her, wrapped both hands around one of her arms, and rubbed against it pitifully while beginning his complaints.
Madam Xu’s expression changed drastically as she tried pulling him up, but no matter how hard she tugged, he refused to budge.
Finally, she gave up helplessly.
Forget it.
His dignified fatherly image was beyond saving anyway.
Madam Xu shot a glare toward her daughter, Miss Lin Youyou, who sat in the corner having long stopped flipping through the account books and was now openly watching the show with delight.
One after another, they were exhausting her.
Outside, Lin Chaowen was majestic, elegant, noble, and entirely in control—a sly old fox of an official.
But now?
His voice sounded utterly aggrieved.
“Wife, today our Ministry of Works got this bastard. Shamelessly ate the braised meat our daughter prepared for me, drank my distilled liquor, and even carried off my green plum wine at the end. Completely shameless.
“And not only that—he kept saying things like, ‘No need to treat me as a prince, just call me Yizhi,’ and ‘Since Lord Lin invited me, I’d be rude to refuse,’ and ‘I heard Lord Lin enjoys collecting fine wines, so this wine must certainly be excellent.’
“As a prince, how can he be this shameless and thick-skinned? Wahhh…”
Lord Lin truly looked like he was about to cry.
Granted, part of it was intentionally acting pitiful to amuse his wife—
but he genuinely was angry too.
Today’s food and wine had been wonderful, yet he hadn’t enjoyed any of it properly and had instead ended up full of frustration.
Madam Xu’s eyelids twitched violently.
Forget saving his dignity.
There was no stopping him anymore.
Hearing this, Lin Youyou finally understood who the “shameless person” her father kept talking about actually was.
Prince Yi.
He Yiling.
Courtesy name Yizhi.
Good heavens.
So Prince Yi was actually this kind of prince?
At that moment, Lin Youyou’s entire impression of the never-before-met Prince Yi was completely overturned.
It also explained why, in the future, when she eventually met Third Master He and later learned he was actually Prince Yi, she stood there dumbfounded for quite a while.
This… was completely different from the kind of prince she had imagined.
Madam Xu tugged at the still-complaining man.
“Get up already. Aren’t your legs numb from squatting there?”
“Nope. Talking to you like this feels comfortable.”
This old father still hadn’t realized there was another living creature called “his biological daughter” in the room.
Madam Xu inhaled deeply before saying helplessly,
“Your daughter is still here. Are you truly abandoning your majestic fatherly image entirely?”
Lin Chaowen froze mid-act while clinging to his wife.
His body stiffened as he slowly turned toward the direction he had completely ignored all this time.
There sat his utterly tactless biological daughter, lazily leaning back with a strange smile as she watched the two of them flirt.
When she noticed her father finally looking over, she even elegantly raised a hand and waved.
“Father dear, you’ve suffered greatly today.”
“…”
At that moment, the great Lord Lin—who normally argued others speechless and killed with words—found himself utterly unable to breathe properly.
His face shifted from red to white, white to black, black to green, and green back to red.
He suddenly wanted to strangle this daughter of his.
Whoever wanted this tactless daughter who even dared tease her own father could take her away.
He didn’t want her anymore.
Naturally, Lord Lin never considered reflecting on his own actions.
After all, as the saying went:
Rather than internally torment yourself, it’s easier to blame others.
And who told her to be sitting there?
Of course, Lin Youyou could see her father’s awkward predicament perfectly clearly.
She rose gracefully to her feet, her face wearing a gentle and proper smile.
“Since Father and Mother still have things to discuss, your daughter will take her leave first.”
After speaking, she walked past Madam Xu, who was seated, and Lin Chaowen, who was still squatting on the floor, with slow and elegant steps.
She exited the room, thoughtfully closed the door behind her, and instantly the dim room was left with only husband and wife.
Madam Xu’s cheeks flushed crimson as she glared at the still-dazed Lin Chaowen, who had been thoroughly stunned by his daughter’s outrageous maneuver.
“Are you getting up or not? Aren’t you embarrassed?”
Lin Chaowen silently wiped his unusually red face with one large hand before looking at his wife resentfully.
“Wife… from now on, can we forbid the children from entering our room?”
In front of his wife’s personal maids, it didn’t matter.
But in front of his children, he still wanted to preserve at least the last shred of his fatherly dignity.
“You…” Madam Xu glared at him. “Outside, you’re such a proper and dignified person. How do you become like this the moment you come home?”
“Hmph.” Lin Chaowen snorted.
“It’s already exhausting enough pretending outside. If I still have to keep pretending at home with you, then are we really husband and wife who share everything openly and support each other through life?”
Madam Xu’s cheeks, which had only just cooled slightly, instantly turned bright red again.
Grinding her teeth, she spat out a single word:
“Scram.”
This old rascal—every conversation somehow became suggestive with him.
Lin Chaowen chuckled shamelessly.
“What did I say? Wasn’t that perfectly normal?”
Looking at his wife’s blushing cheeks, so beautiful they seemed unreal, he sighed regretfully.
If the timing weren’t wrong, he would definitely have dragged his wife onto the bed for a much deeper “discussion.”