Chapter 41 Open your mouth, eat, and I'll try a different way of feeding you.

Seeing her father's furious expression, Ji Wenxuan sensed something was wrong; her father had the most fiery temper.

But as a daughter, she couldn't argue with her father, so she quickly ran to find Lin Yanshu.

Lin Yanshu had no desire to see anyone. He had already been injured at the hunting grounds and was terrified by his master's capture. For the past few days, Lin Yanshu had been listless and hadn't even eaten.

After Li Chengyi found out, he personally watched her eat.

Lin Yanshu readily agreed at first, but after Li Chengyi had been busy with official duties all day, Lin Yanshu didn't touch the food at all.

He could only watch over Lin Yanshu, sitting beside her bed, personally feeding her spoonful by spoonful.

"Open your mouth, eat."

Li Chengyi held up a ladle full of porridge to the side. Lin Yanshu glanced at it sullenly, then turned her face away, showing no interest.

"don't want."

Li Chengyi was amused by Lin Yanshu's antics. He smirked, reached out and pinched Lin Yanshu's chin, turning her to look directly at him, and said teasingly:

"If you won't eat this way, I'll try a different method."

Lin Yanshu had never been afraid of Li Chengyi. She had never seen Li Chengyi's domineering side before. She glared at him, wanting to slap her face away.

But Li Chengyi wouldn't let her have her way. He pinched her hard with his fingertips, and Lin Yanshu's cheeks turned red. She winced in pain but didn't make a sound.

Li Chengyi loosened his grip slightly, making sure Lin Yanshu wouldn't escape from his grasp.

He said, "Good boy, eat your food."

Lin Yanshu suddenly got angry and simply didn't want to eat.

"I won't eat."

Li Chengyi was so angry with Lin Yanshu that he didn't know what to say. How come he only realized now that Lin Yanshu was so stubborn, it was infuriating.

He narrowed his eyes: "Good, very good."

He fed himself the porridge, then used his palm to lift Lin Yanshu's chin, forcing Lin Yanshu to look up and meet Li Chengyi's gaze.

She felt uneasy, as if Li Chengyi was about to punish her.

She was right. The next second, Lee Seung-ik leaned in with his chin clenched and kissed her.

Lin Yanshu was fed in such a disheveled way. Her eyes widened, and she clenched her fist, pressing it against Li Chengyi's chest. She wanted to punch him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Li Chengyi put the bowl aside, freeing his hand to cup the back of her head. Following his pull, Lin Yanshu tilted her head back even further. Li Chengyi squinted slightly, looking at Lin Yanshu beneath him.

Passive, obediently responding to oneself.

Lin Yanshu blushed with embarrassment at Li Chengyi's sudden action, her eyelashes fluttering as she swallowed the food he fed her.

After confirming that Lin Yanshu wouldn't spit it out, Li Chengyi gently sucked on Lin Yanshu's soft red lips, taking only a small sip before releasing his hand and getting up.

Lin Yanshu coughed several times, unable to hold it in. Li Chengyi took out a handkerchief and wiped the drool from the corner of Lin Yanshu's mouth.

Lin Yanshu followed his arm, looked up at him, her face flushed, and scolded:

"You... Ah Zhao, shameless, you're a pervert!"

"Um."

"That's truly shameless."

If you listen closely, you can detect a hint of glee in Li Chengyi's tone as he was being cursed by Lin Yanshu.

Lin Yanshu's curse words stuck in her throat, and since Li Chengyi didn't refute her, she didn't know what to say.

She stuck out her tongue and licked her lips, which had just been swollen from being sucked by Li Chengyi. Li Chengyi stared at her actions, swallowed hard, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

Lin Yanshu noticed Li Chengyi's aggressive gaze, looked back at him, and said irritably:

"What are you looking at!"

Li Chengyi pushed the porridge in front of her: "Eat."

Lin Yanshu was almost laughing in exasperation at Li Chengyi. Did he only ask her to eat and nothing else?

Before she could react, Li Chengyi added:

"If I don't eat, I can still be a rogue."

Lin Yanshu quickly picked up the bowl, drank it all in one gulp, his face turning red from the choking, and showed the empty bowl to Li Chengyi.

Li Chengyi reached out and gently patted Lin Yanshu's back, pondering, "Is he really that scary?"

Was his kiss something Lin Yanshu was so eager to avoid?

This thought, like a gnawing ant, nibbled at his heart. The once all-powerful Crown Prince was now caught in a vicious cycle of emotions.

The more he thought about it, the tighter Li Chengyi clenched his fists, almost bruising his palms.

"I've...drunk up."

Despite the inner turmoil and inner conflict, Li Chengyi's actions remained unchanged as he used a handkerchief to wipe away the remaining stains from Lin Yanshu's lips.

"Yan Shu, you're great."

Lin Yanshu felt a little awkward. She had just been cursing him fiercely, but now Li Chengyi was praising her.

He's so annoying.

She blushed so deeply that she felt hot.

Lin Yanshu didn't look at him, turned around and crawled into bed, her back to Li Chengyi.

Seeing this, Li Chengyi realized he was being frivolous and left with his empty bowl.

Ji Wenxuan was refused entry to the mansion, and she anxiously looked inside.

Helpless, she could only squat at the gate. As a dignified young lady of the Ji family, she had actually been reduced to being turned away at the door and squatting there. It was very embarrassing!

As Ji Wenxuan pondered whether to leave, she looked down at the stone bricks on the ground, and a pair of strange boots came into view.

Ji Wenxuan looked up and saw Mo Langzhuo staring at her with his neck stiff. After their eyes met, he stiffly looked away and stammered:

Do you... need... help?

Ji Wenxuan assumed he was a foreigner who didn't speak fluent Mandarin. She excitedly sat up from the ground, but because of the sudden movement, her vision went black for a moment.

Ji Wenxuan staggered a few steps, and Mo Langzhuo hurriedly steadied her shoulder.

After regaining her balance, Ji Wenxuan thanked him. Mo Langzhuo withdrew his hand.

"I wanted to go in to find Lin Yanshu, but they wouldn't let me in."

Morangzhuo looked at his palm and rubbed his thumb against it a few times.

Seeing that the other party didn't react, Ji Wenxuan waved her hand in front of him:

"Did you hear me?"

Mo Duosi couldn't bear to see her brother looking so dazed and infatuated, so she took Ji Wenxuan's arm and used her usual coquettish tactics:

"Alright, alright, Miss Ji, please come in with us. My brother is slow to react; you have to repeat yourself three times before he responds."

Ji Wenxuan listened attentively, but she didn't expect that this Yijiang prince, who was so big, was not very bright.

Ji Wenxuan was led inside, and the group went to see Lin Yanshu.

Ji Wenxuan cut to the chase: "You should go and see your master."

“My father is going to punish him according to family law.”

Lin Yanshu asked, puzzled, "That's my master. What's your father getting involved in?"

Lin Yanshu was still unaware of the relationship between her master and the Ji family, so Ji Wenxuan had to explain it to her:

"Your master is my unorthodox second uncle who almost drove my father to his death. Now that he's back, my father is going to personally teach his good brother a lesson!"

Lin Yanshu looked up and examined Ji Wenxuan's face... She did indeed look somewhat similar to his unfortunate master.

"Will your dad hit you hard?"

Lin Yanshu actually wished someone would beat up Ji Yuan for her, but she couldn't beat him too badly, otherwise she would lose her master.

Ji Wenxuan recalled the punishments her father had inflicted on her in the past and said helplessly:

"Yes, heavy."

To prevent her master from being beaten to death in prison, Lin Yanshu set off.

She took Li Chengyi's waist token to the prison.

Ji Wenxuan's father hid the board in the food box, and he paid the jailer to let him in.

Ji Yuan thought it was his good disciple who had come to see him, so he quickly looked up. In that one glance, he saw the shadow of his first half of life: his good elder brother.

Ji Yuan retreated to the corner. His elder brother glanced at him without saying a word and slowly opened the food box.

"Brother, it's been a long time."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Yuan saw his elder brother pull out a ruler from the bottom of the food box.

He shuddered reflexively, like when he was a child and his older brother caught him skipping school. Completely disregarding his advanced age, he pleaded for mercy without any regard for others:

"Big brother, after all these years, how can you bear to hit me!"

"Your little brother has been missing you a lot!"

Father Ji's beard trembled with anger. Over the years, he had single-handedly supported the Ji family, and he also had a troublesome daughter. She looked much older than his brother, who was living a carefree life away from home.

His eyes widened in fury as he glared at Ji Yuan, his anger blazing, and he spoke:

"You're having so much fun out there that you don't even think about me?"

"You insisted on joining the army back then, and I agreed. And look what happened!"

"The news that came was that you deserted. Have you forgotten all about the Ji family's reputation?"

"You've been hiding and running for so many years without ever thinking of coming back to visit, not even sending a single letter home. And then you show up and cause such a huge mess!"

"Tell me, as your older brother, should I hit you or not!"

Ji Yuan quickly explained:

"Brother, there's more to the story than meets the eye back then."

"What's the secret? Tell me!"

Ji Yuan said, "Back then, I accidentally stumbled upon a secret conversation between superiors about embezzling military rations. They were about to kill me to cover it up, so I escaped overnight. I wanted to report this serious case, but I found out that I had been convicted of desertion."

That's why I've been hiding and running around outside all this time.

Father Ji knew that although his younger brother was often irresponsible, he at least possessed the integrity of the Ji family and would never truly desert his post. Yet, he hadn't returned home once in all these years, nor had he given him even a whisper of it.

Ji Yuan didn't say that he was afraid to come back because he was afraid his older brother would beat him so badly he couldn't get out of bed.

For many years, Ji's father hadn't been able to fight Ji Yuan, and he even felt a bit itchy to do so.

"I see."

Ji Yuan couldn't discern any emotion in his elder brother's words, but he felt a sense of relief. After all, his brother had a reason for what he was doing, and he couldn't very well beat him up again.

Father Ji held the ruler in his hand and said coldly:

"But I will still punish you according to family rules."

Seeing that his struggles were futile, Ji Yuan simply lay down on the ground, patting his own backside, as if facing death with equanimity.

"Come on, big brother, I'm ready!"

Lin Yanshu and his group watched the scene from outside, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

Lin Yanshu suddenly felt that it wasn't a big deal for her master to be beaten up.

Ji Wenxuan knew her father's temperament best. He was already halfway through his anger and wouldn't actually do anything drastic.

She stood silently in place, without saying a word.

Morangzhuo lowered his head and asked her:

"Does your father hit people very hard?"

Ji Wenxuan casually remarked, "He doesn't hit anyone outside the Ji family."

Morangzhuo silently touched himself; he should be able to take a beating.

The ruler struck Ji Yuan's buttocks with a light but firm touch. Ji Yuan then exaggeratedly shouted a few times:

"Brother, it hurts so much!"

"Can you please stop hitting me?"

Lin Yanshu wished she could disappear into the ground. How could her master be so shameful?

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Author's Note: [Pity] I wonder if I can dream of finishing this and getting a thousand likes [Pity]. If only some beautiful, lovely readers would help me promote it! [Hahaha, just a wishful thinker and a whine] [Pity]. I'd better get back to writing and set a goal of a massive update next week! [Completely drained]