Chapter 210 - Exchanging Fried Chicken for Money
Chapter 210 Exchanging Fried Chicken for Money
“Master! Master! Come and see; the snowman had come alive!”
Baizhi dashed into the courtyard to call Lin Mengya without even giving Long Tianhao a chance to speak.
Moreover, she had even dragged Baiji along. Long Tianhao only had time to reach out his hand.
However, all he got was Baizhi turning her back on him. He grimaced.
Where was that snowman who came alive?
Long Tianhao looked to the right, then to left. He did not realize that Baizhi was actually referring to him.
Night was at a loss for words towards his master. He did not understand why the prince would turn into an idiot when he met with the people from the princess’ courtyard.
He waved his hands and the winds from his palms made the snow on Long Tianhao’s body fall to the ground. Shaking his head, Night turned and disappeared.
“Sigh, what have you come to me in a hurry?”
Lin Mengya, who was marinating chicken in the kitchen, was at this moment holding a knife in her hand. With a chicken drum stick in her other hand, she was being dragged out by Baizhi.
At this moment, Lin Mengya was not dressed as elegantly as she usually did. Perhaps she was afraid that her beautiful dresses could become stained, she was merely wearing a blue apron dotted with white flowers.
She also had a strip of blue clothes wound around her head. In contrast with her usual prim and proper image of a princess, she looked more like a pretty chef among commoners.
Lin Mengya’s line of vision followed where Baizhi’s finger was pointing and saw that it was Long Tianhao standing there, frozen in place.
“Your Highness… the prince.”
Lin Mengya tugged at Baizhi. There was only Long Tianhao outside the courtyard. Wherever was that snowman Baizhi was rambling about?
“But, but the snowman was really here a moment ago… My greetings of peace to the prince!”
Baizhi finally spotted Long Tianhao as greeted him with fear and trembling.
“Oh, it’s alright. There’s no need to stand on ceremony. What, what are all of you doing?”
Lin Mengya’s manner of dressing was rather hilarious.
This was the first time Long Tianhao ever saw her dressing so casually. Though plain, he thought she looked adorable.
“I’m making fried chicken. Erm… I’ve heard that it’s best to eat fried chicken during the first snowfall of the year. Would you like to have a taste of it, Your Highness?”
Anyway one more person did not make a difference. Lin Mengya headed back to the kitchen and all her maidservants followed her into the Liuxin Courtyard.
Long Tianhao shook his head and followed after them.
Somehow, Lin Mengya’s maidservants were no longer treating him the same way as before. In fact, it felt like they were giving him a cold shoulder sometimes.
Forget it, Lin Mengya’s maidservants had always been different from other people.
The moment Long Tianhao stepped into the Liuxin Courtyard, he felt as if he had entered into another world.
Outside, the frigid winter seemed to have buried any sign of life.
However, the Liuxin Courtyard was still studded with various kinds of small flowers on the snow-covered ground. It was a beautiful sight.
There was quiet everywhere outside, but the Liuxin Courtyard was filled with happy laughter so much so that people would think that there was no inhibition between the master and her servants in this courtyard.
Sitting in the pavilion, Long Tianhao felt his mood lifted just by looking at the surrounding.
“Why? Do you have something to talk to my lass about?”
Qinghu was looking at Long Tianhao with a hostile expression on his face. Qinghu, the last owner of Peach Blossom Dock, was about the only one in the entire Liuxin Courtyard who dared to be hostile towards the prince.
“Given that she’s my wife, isn’t it normal for me to visit?”
Long Tianhao gave Qinghu a cold look. No doubt he was the one who agreed to let Qinghu come into the prince’s mansion.
The only miscalculation Long Tianhao made was that he did not expect the relationship between Lin Mengya and Qinghu to be so intimate.
How could Qinghu address Lin Mengya as his lass? She was his wife!
“Humph, isn’t it a little too late to realize that she is your wife?”
Qinghu said mockingly.
Qinghu was sure that Long Tianhao’s mother was partly responsible for Lin Mengya’s injury in her heart and arteries.
Moreover, Qinghu had observed how Concubine De had been looking for trouble with his lass.
“She has been my wife all along, is now my wife and will be my wife in future!” blurted Long Tianhao without much thought.
Even Long Tianhao was surprised at himself and was stunned there and then.
He suddenly looked down at his pair of hands. He was not sure when he started having the thought of keeping Lin Mengya by his side.
Was it because she was Baili Rui’s student, or because she was Lin Muzhi’s daughter?
If these were not the reasons, then he might have…
“Come in and have a taste of what I made. Do be kind if any find it not satisfactory, because this is after all the first time I made fried chicken.”
As Lin Mengya’s voice echoed through the air, the two men turned to look the lady who just emerged from the kitchen.
There were patches of flour stuck to Lin Mengya’s small face.
Despite reeling with grease, she exuberated a feeling of a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.
Lin Mengya looked nothing like an elegant lady at this moment, not even close to being a pretty girl next door.
However, Long Tianhao felt as if a current had run through his body, and he could not take his eyes off Lin Mengya.
“Did you get burnt, lass?”
Qinghu dashed towards Lin Mengya and grabbed her hand to have a good look at it.
As expected, Qinghu saw two red lines on her hand.
“Oh, I told you. Next time, just let the servants in the kitchen do the work. Go fetch the medicine, Baiji.”
Qinghu’s loud voice attracted the attention of all who were present.
Just when everyone went into a frenzy trying to help Lin Mengya fetch the medicine, Long Tianhao took out a small dentin box.
“Let me do it.”
Not giving Lin Mengya a chance to protest, he took her hand in his, took out a bar of solidified anointment and gently applied it onto the burn.
Lin Mengya stared at Long Tianhao, dumbstruck. She had never seen this gentle and attentive side of him.
“I’m going to take a look at how the fried chicken is cooking, lest all of you finish the chicken without me!” exclaimed Qinghu.
Qinghu looked away and herded the surrounding people into the small kitchen.
Left alone in the courtyard, Long Tianhao was still holding on to Lin Mengya’s hand and gently spreading the anointment over it.
“Does it hurt still?”
Long Tianhao asked with a deep but tender voice that was as gentle as the falling snowflakes.
Lin Mengya was drunk with his tenderness as she shook her head in response to his question.
She did not know she was a voice fetish.
“Be careful next time. Just ask the servants to do the cooking in future.”
It was then that Long Tianhao realized that the Liuxin Courtyard seemed to be rather short-handed.
Otherwise why would she be playing the chef today?
He heard that she loved the dishes served in Restaurant Ruyi. He had an idea to poach its chef over.
In this way, would she stay on in the prince’s mansion then?
“My mother said that in order to win a man’s heart, a girl has to win his appetite first, so I have to learn how to cook!”
The moment the words slipped out of her mouth, Lin Mengya felt she wanted to bite on her tongue and die.
What was she saying?!
Embarrassed, she withdrew her hand and started fidgeting with the hem of her apron. She was too shy to lift up her head to look at Long Tianhao’s expression.
“Ha, is this how you win a man’s heart?”
Long Tianhao grabbed her hand and put it on his chest.
Long Tianhao’s deep chortle was like aged wine, making Lin Mengya feel intoxicated.
“Are you teasing me, Your Highness?”
Lin Mengya lifted her head and looked at Long Tianhao with a cheeky grin in her face. Batting her eyelashes, she looked very adorable indeed.
Lin Mengya’s bold statement instantly made Long Tianhao feel a little embarrassed.
He turned around and headed towards the main room of the Liuxin Courtyard as he muttered, “You are my wife.”
For this reason, his behavior could not be considered as taking liberty with her.
Lin Mengya cocked her head as she looked at Long Tianhao’s back. What was he trying to say?
Was he trying to hint at her that since she was already a married woman, it was alright to take liberty with her?
“Wait! Let me get this straight!”
Lin Mengya ran after Long Tianhao, caught up with him and pulled hard at his arm.
Given her slim figure, she was no match for Long Tianhao in terms of strength. With all that the tugging and dragging, Lin Mengya ended up in the main room with Long Tianhao.
At this moment, the four maidservants in the courtyard were having such a great time that the fried chicken was no longer important to them.
While she filled her stomach with the fried chicken, Lin Mengya, unable to get hold of any beer, drank the chrysanthemum pu’er tea to wash away the oil in her digestive system.
Her culinary skill was… not too bad, if one considered those burnt-looking pieces as fried chicken.
If not for Baiji, who quickly picked up the essentials of frying the chicken, all the people in the courtyard were likely to be disappointed.
“Is the fried chicken nice, Your Highness?”
Somehow, Long Tianhao’s panache as a prince had somehow been diluted even since he came to the Liuxin Courtyard.
All four of Lin Mengya’s maidservants had stopped being fearful of Long Tianhao for a long time.
The reason being that they were influenced by their master, Lin Mengya.
Long Tianhao gracefully pulled out the chicken bone from his mouth and put it onto the table. Was this not the same chicken drumstick he ate? However, this so-called fried chicken was crispy on the outside while tender and juicy in the inside. Add to that the special sweet and sour sauce which Lin Mengya made, it smelt and tasted heavenly.
Seeing the sly smile on Lin Mengya’s face, Long Tianhao immediately knew that she was up to something.
He quietly took out a stack of banknotes in values of silver.
He had known that this girl would not let slip any opportunity to screw him.
In fact, he had handed over the finance of the entire prince’s mansion to her.
Nevertheless, she continued to be greedy. However, honestly, he truly enjoyed looking at Lin Mengya’s smug expression each time he gave her money.
“Thank you, Your Highness. Come Baishao, let’s split the reward. Baiji can take a bigger portion, while the rest just divide the remaining sum equally!”
Lin Mengya smiled as she took over the thick stack of banknotes from Long Tianhao.
She did not expect a plate of fried chicken could be exchanged for so much silver. This was so worth it!
“Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you!”
The maidservants immediately got down on their knees to thank Prince Yu, after which they took the banknotes from the prince without feeling too embarrassed about it.
Long Tianhao looked at the four maidservants helplessly. He thought in his heart that they truly behaved just like their master.
These lasses kept by Lin Mengya had all picked up her bohemia.
Sigh, it seemed that all his money would end up in Lin Mengya’s treasury.
Like a big family, they ate the fried chicken in harmony. Just when they were drinking tea, chatting and deciding how to divide the reward money, Steward Deng’s voice sounded from outside the door.
“Your Highness, the Seventh Prince is here. It looks like he has something urgent to discuss with you.”
Long Qinghan? Lin Mengya furrowed her brows. She remembered not hearing from him for quite some time.
“There was anxiety in Steward Deng’s voice. Could something have happened to him?” thought Lin Mengya.