Resplendent – Chapter 510

Chapter 510 — Drinking Duel

That little girl was proud and ambitious, hoping to use the Duke’s Manor to secure herself a good marriage. Knocking her back to her original state, shattering her expectations: that would be the best counterattack, wouldn’t it?

She certainly didn’t want her precious daughter to dirty her own hands over such matters. Her Bao’er only needed to stay as she was now, resting carefree in her mother’s arms and basking in maternal love.

Yue Yuan lifted the beaded curtain at the door and came in with a cheerful smile. “Miss, the small kitchen has finished preparing dinner. Would you and Madam like to eat now?”

“Where is the Duke?” Lady Jun couldn’t help asking. Earlier today, the Fourth Prince of Yan and Prince Ning had visited, leaving her uneasy. To her, Prince Ning was an odious man coveting her daughter. But he was still Prince Ning of Yan; if he insisted on marrying her daughter, even the Emperor couldn’t stop him.

Sigh! She should have risked the crime of deceiving the sovereign and told the Emperor that her daughter was already betrothed. Her elder brother’s young nephew could at least serve as a shield. He was good-looking, gentle in temperament, sincerely fond of her daughter (even if currently only as siblings), and already a provincial imperial exam passer at such a young age, with boundless prospects…

She could never have imagined that even if she married her daughter to someone else, Ling Juechen would still cut through thorns and obstacles to steal her back. Only he could give his little girl the happiness she deserved.

Yue Yuan smiled and replied, “The Duke is at the training grounds, sparring with Prince Ning!”

Lady Jun was instantly irritated. Still sparring at a time like this?! A man with such ill intentions should have been chased out of the manor long ago!

“Yayi, go ask whether the Duke instructed the kitchen to set a banquet,” Lady Jun exhaled heavily several times, trying to calm the storm in her chest, and ground her teeth as she spoke. 

Her husband loved martial arts obsessively, and their fifth son had inherited that trait. However, she hadn’t expected him to be this unreliable.

When he left, he swore he wouldn’t give Prince Ning a favorable face. And now? They were sparring in martial arts. With her understanding of him, he would respect anyone who could outmatch him in strategy or martial skill. 

He wouldn’t, by some whim, sell off my daughter, would he?

Yayi lifted the curtain and sent a young maid to ask the kitchen. Soon after, the girl came flying back with the answer, “My Lord instructed the kitchen to prepare dishes. He intends to drink Prince Ning under the table!”

“Drink under the table? They might as well die!” Lady Jun’s face turned pale with anger. 

The Duke had practically been raised in a wine jar and had an extraordinary tolerance. But if he overdrank, he could start slapping shoulders and calling the Emperor a brother. In other words, if he got drunk, there was nothing he couldn’t do!

Lady Jun hurriedly instructed, “Send the Second and Third Young Masters to keep an eye on him. Don’t let him get too drunk.”

After giving the order, she still wasn’t satisfied and complained to her daughter, “Look at your father. He’s so reckless. Just a few days ago he was gnashing his teeth over hating Prince Ning, as if someone had stabbed him in the heart. And now? He’s even letting them stay for dinner!”

Gu Ye had never seen her mother this angry before, so she quickly patted her back and said, “Mother, perhaps you’re misjudging Father. If the Fourth Prince and Prince Ning were shamelessly trying to stay for a free meal, Father couldn’t just kick them out, could he?”

Lady Jun thought it over. What her daughter said did make sense. Her daughter was the apple of Chu Bufan’s eye. She had merely mentioned her daughter’s marriage in passing, and he acted as if his life were being taken. How could he possibly be sharing drinks cheerfully with Prince Ning, the man trying to steal his daughter away?

She sent someone to inquire more carefully at the front courtyard. As expected, things were just as her daughter guessed: the Fourth Prince had heard that the cooks of the Duke’s residence made dishes even more authentic than those at Qingfeng Pavilion, so he said he wanted to try them. And since he was a prince of the empire, possibly even the future heir to the throne, the Duke was merely a leisurely noble of a small nation. How could he refuse?

Since they were entertaining a Crown Prince and Prince Ning, being too stingy wouldn’t do it. 

Gu Ye instructed her own small kitchen to prepare a few of their signature dishes and send them to the front courtyard. Aunt Yan, having received the order, rolled up her sleeves, put her full energy into it, and made more than a dozen dishes that her young mistress used to love.

The wine was excellent—(the premium Five Grain Liquor Gu Ye had brought from Yan City as a gift for her father). The dishes were excellent too. 

The Fourth Prince, being physically frail and unable to drink, kept his head down and focused entirely on eating. He was so moved he nearly burst into tears. When he left, he clung to the slightly tipsy Duke and insisted he sell him the cook.

Ling Juechen, one man against six, managed to drink all the Chu brothers under the table. Even his future father‑in‑law was left with a flushed face and a tongue barely working. Yet he himself looked completely unaffected, as if nothing had happened.

The Duke, woozy, patted him on the shoulder. He stumbled slightly, then stuck out a thumb at him. “You…You’re something! Truly worthy of the title ‘War God’! If you weren’t trying to steal my daughter, I’d gladly call you a friend—an old friend… an old…”

“What are you standing there for? Hurry and help His Grace back to rest!” Ling Juechen glanced at Gu Ming. Although Gu Ming had been forced to drink two bowls of wine, he wasn’t completely drunk.

Gu Ming hurriedly took the slightly tipsy Duke from Ling Juechen’s hands. At this moment, his respect and awe for Ling Juechen grew even stronger. Not only was Ling Juechen a master of martial arts, but his tolerance for alcohol was just as impressive. Six men had tried to force him to drink, yet he hadn’t been affected at all!

What he didn’t know was that Ling Juechen had already seen through the Chu family’s plan to get him drunk and had preemptively taken a sobering potion. 

The potion had even been provided by his little lady. She worried that after returning from a victorious campaign, someone might try to force him to drink at a celebration banquet and let a shameless woman take advantage of him.

She had no idea that in Shengjing, he was ‘feared far and wide’, and nobody dared to force him to drink. So the potion was practically useless until today, when it came in handy on his future father‑in‑law and elder brothers‑in‑law.

He had enjoyed the meal immensely. The dishes at the evening banquet had all been ones he loved. Has his little lady forgiven him? 

Back at the inn, Ling Juechen tossed and turned for a long time, still unable to calm his mind.

He changed into a moon‑white ironed robe, put on a jade crown, and dressed himself like a white peacock ready to spread its feathers. He stealthily made his way across rooftops toward the Duke’s residence.

He was, admittedly, quite peculiar. While most sneaky intruders wore black night clothes, he did the opposite. Yet the few commoners who hadn’t slept only saw a flash of white and thought their eyes were playing tricks on them. He wasn’t discovered once along the way.

Ling Juechen easily evaded the lazy guards at the Duke’s residence and slipped into the Mingzhu Pavilion. By now, the little girl was already asleep on the low daybed covered in azure canopy.

On this autumn night, the summer heat had receded. A gentle, cool breeze blew the azure alcove by the water. The little girl, who had been sprawled out in all directions, perhaps felt the chill in her dream. She turned over, curling her body slightly. Beneath the low bed lay the thin blanket she had kicked to the floor.