In the tavern.

Wei Han wiped the corner of his mouth and said to Shi Yan, “Settle the bill.”

“Five plates of braised beef, one plate of sauced duck tongue, one pot of liquor, one bowl of plain noodles—a total of one hundred and sixty-five taels of silver.” Shi Yan reported clearly.

One hundred and sixty-five taels was naturally not much to Wei Han, who carried banknotes worth tens of thousands of taels, but the adjacent table had just gotten half price…

Wei Han sat upright at the table, motionless for a moment.

“Master?” Shi Yan called out in puzzlement.

A cool gaze swept toward him.

Shi Yan had a flash of insight and lowered his voice. “Rounding down definitely won’t work.”

Half price? Ridiculous. The young guard, who had completely come to see himself as a tavern server, hadn’t even thought in that direction.

Wei Han felt slightly displeased and glanced coolly at the simply dressed young lady by the counter.

This wasn’t about five taels of silver.

Dining in the main hall at the same time, the adjacent table got half price and saved over four hundred taels, but when it came to him, not even the five-tael remainder was rounded down. Was this bullying him for having too much money?

However, the braised beef was indeed delicious, and the sauced duck tongue too…

Wei Han had always thought himself a person without desires, until he ate that bowl of noodles with meat sauce—everything seemed to change.

After feeling displeased for a while—after all, no one was there to console him—Wei Han silently adjusted his mood and asked, “What’s on the menu tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow there’s thousand-layer tripe, fragrant and slightly sweet, with just a touch of spice—especially flavorful.” Shi Yan said, swallowing.

Wei Han glanced sideways at him. “You’ve tried it?”

Shi Yan’s heart tightened as he quickly said, “No!”

Seeing his master still looking at him askance, the young guard was nearly in tears, stopping just short of kneeling and swearing to heaven. “Really not! This subordinate heard it from Kou’er, who asked the head chef, Xiu Gu.”

“Oh.” Wei Han took out a banknote and handed it over.

Shi Yan took it and looked, then quickly said, “Please wait, this subordinate will get your change.”

The master was different from poor Minister Zhao and poor Chancellor Lin—he could produce a thousand-tael banknote without batting an eye and would never need to keep a tab.

“No need, deduct it from next time.” Wei Han stood up, thought for a moment, and walked to Luo Sheng.

Luo Sheng looked at him calmly. “Does Your Highness have business?”

Surely a Prince of First Rank wouldn’t make trouble for her just because the adjacent table got half price?

That would show a lack of understanding of one’s own position.

Lin Shu was her nephew—if not for fear that free meals would attract attention, she’d be happy to have him stay at the tavern permanently.

But Prince Kaiyang was a member of the Wei family. If she followed her heart completely, she wouldn’t want to sell to him even for extra money.

Sensing the other’s coldness, Wei Han didn’t retreat but said in a calm tone, “Chicken is more filling.”

Though tripe was good, it was difficult to satisfy hunger.

Luo Sheng was stunned and looked deeply at Wei Han.

Was this really the cold-faced King of Hell that people in Northern Qi spoke of?

Crimson robes like flames, brows and eyes like ink—yes, this was Prince Kaiyang.

After a moment of silence, Luo Sheng said, “Tomorrow there will also be oil-drizzled young chicken.”

Originally there wasn’t going to be any. The brine used for beef could continue to be used—soon another pot of fragrant beef would be ready.

Braising some pig ears, pig trotters, duck necks and such would also be convenient.

But enriching the menu wasn’t bad either. Presumably more people would come tomorrow.

Wei Han seemed not to have expected her to agree so readily. The corners of his lips curved up slightly in a faint smile. “Thank you.”

He looked at her, his eyes clear and bright, shining brilliantly.

Luo Sheng’s expression turned cold. “No need.”

Did he think she was Miss Luo, who could be moved by good looks?

Shi Yan quietly covered his forehead.

On the road to the capital, they had clearly spent several days together morning and night, and Miss Luo had even inadvertently pulled off his belt—how had the master ended up in this state?

That’s right—now the young guard had only one wish: for his master to hurry up and marry Miss Luo!

He could only accompany Da Bai for half a year. When he could no longer eat Miss Luo’s cooking—er, no—when Da Bai no longer needed him, what would he do?

Feeling deep despair toward his master, the young guard couldn’t help but secretly blame Luo Sheng.

How could a young lady from a good family be so fickle?

That grandson of Chancellor Lin was weak and frail, yet ate so much—what was good about him?

“Then until tomorrow.” Wei Han nodded slightly at Luo Sheng and left the tavern.

Shi Yan, having seen his master out and returned, patted his chest in relief.

That was scary! Just now when his master asked if he’d tried the thousand-layer tripe, he really thought his master would send him back to the prince’s manor to scrub chamber pots out of jealousy.

Scrub chamber pots? He never wanted to scrub chamber pots again in this lifetime—he only wanted to be wherever Miss Luo was.

Feeling this thought was inappropriate, the young guard quickly found a justification: he’d just consider it guarding his master’s future wife.

Otherwise, given Miss Luo’s fickle nature, by the time his master came to his senses, there’d be no chance left.

Luo Sheng gestured for Shi Yan to come closer.

“Does Miss have business?” Shi Yan asked with a chuckle.

Luo Sheng corrected him lightly. “Just call me Miss Luo.”

He wasn’t her attendant, yet he was quite familiar.

“Your prince—” Luo Sheng pondered. “Does he really like to eat?”

Shi Yan cleared his throat lightly, striving to defend his master. “Who wouldn’t like to eat the dishes you make? Our master cannot be exempt from common customs either.”

“Good that he cannot be exempt.” Luo Sheng lowered her voice, murmuring.

That way she had more confidence, quietly awaiting Prince Pingyang’s arrival.

“Cousin, there are no more customers, shall we—”

Before Sheng Sanlang could finish speaking, someone burst in.

“One bowl of plain noodles!”

Sheng Sanlang was so annoyed. Glancing over, he saw it was a regular customer—that burly man who had eaten twenty bowls of plain noodles yesterday.

Though irritated, customers still had to be served.

“One bowl of plain noodles—” Sheng Sanlang called out weakly.

Soon Kou’er brought over a steaming bowl of plain noodles and placed it before the burly man.

The burly man couldn’t wait to pick up a chopstick-full and send it to his mouth.

Seeing he was a regular customer, Kou’er thoughtfully suggested, “Honored guest, I’d advise you to order a plate of braised beef instead. Look—yesterday you thought the roast pig’s head at one hundred taels per portion was expensive, so you ate twenty bowls of plain noodles and ended up spending the same amount. Our braised beef is only twenty taels per portion, which is just the price of four bowls of plain noodles. I’m telling you, if you can’t calculate this properly, it won’t do…”

Whether the burly man figured it out was unclear, but he understood clearly enough.

This charming and lovely server was right.

“Then add a plate of braised beef.”

After eating this plate of braised beef, absolutely no adding more plain noodles!

A quarter-hour later, the burly man who had paid one hundred taels in banknotes and left the tavern was suddenly jolted awake by the night wind.

Who said after eating braised beef he wouldn’t eat plain noodles?

Who said one portion of braised beef would be enough?

Four plates of braised beef, four bowls of plain noodles—he had, had spent another one hundred taels of silver!

Setting aside the burly man’s tears of regret, Minister Zhao returned home. Before he had time to wash his beard, he saw his wife smiling broadly.

“Did you eat well today, my lord?”

Minister Zhao forced out a smile. “Very well.”

“Then what dishes did you bring back?” Not seeing a food box, the minister’s wife’s expression was already looking poor.

Minister Zhao raised his sleeve to wipe his forehead and laughed dryly. “The tavern doesn’t allow takeout—”

The minister’s wife approached, sniffed at Minister Zhao’s beard, and with a dark expression pointed at the door. “You can sleep in the study tonight, my lord.”