LOT -Chapter 270 Prince Xin in His Younger Days

Lin Mo couldn’t help but sigh—Prince Xin’s skin was really that thick.

【Who would’ve thought that Prince Xin, who looks so honest and proper, actually had such a thick skin when he was young?】

Lin Mo had always thought Prince Xin was the thin-skinned type. After all, he looked like such an honest person. Who knew she had completely misjudged him?

Bai Xiao: 【Well, of course he had to have thick skin. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to get a wife.】

Everyone: Oh ho! Sounds like there’s another juicy story here!

Prince Xin: …Weren’t we talking about His Majesty? How did this suddenly turn into talking about me?

Lin Mo asked curiously: 【Then tell me the story of him and his princess consort. I think Princess Xin is really great—smart, good at making money, good-looking, and very forthright. How exactly did she end up marrying Prince Xin?】

The emperor, seated above, was also quite curious about his younger brother and sister-in-law.

By the time his brother got married, he himself had already ascended the throne. Back then, his brother had personally come to ask him for an imperial decree to marry.

Bai Xiao began explaining to Lin Mo: 【When royals here look for wives, the key point is being shameless. Maybe it’s hereditary.】

【Prince Xin might not have had money, but he had a thick skin—and he was willing to humble himself.】

【Princess Xin’s family wasn’t very high-ranking, and she wasn’t particularly favored either. She met Prince Xin on the street. Two unfavored people ended up together, eating a bowl of wontons at the same stall, and they just clicked.】

【On the very first day they met, he took the girl to buy hairpins. The problem was—he didn’t have any money. The cost of the jewelry was all charged to the old prince’s account, which nearly set the old prince’s household on fire.】

Everyone: Impressive! Using someone else’s money to chase your own wife—what a move!

The emperor was practically slapping his thigh red. How had he not thought of that? Why hadn’t he fleeced his imperial uncle for more money while he was still alive?

He had saved up himself to marry his wife!

Lin Mo didn’t even know what to say. So honest people really aren’t that honest after all.

Bai Xiao: 【That’s not all. Prince Xin really went all out. He had nothing anyway, so what was a little face worth? If he didn’t try hard himself, who knew when he’d ever be able to marry? So he went to see Princess Xin every day. If he didn’t have money to treat people to meals, he’d take her to all kinds of banquets to freeload food.】

【No matter how unfavored he was, he was still a prince. Sneaking some food at other people’s banquets wasn’t a problem.】

Feeling the gazes around him, Prince Xin rubbed his nose and smiled awkwardly at the people beside him. Back then… he really was poor.

Lin Mo was genuinely impressed now: 【Prince Xin is really worth learning from. I think I’m just too concerned about my pride! From now on, I’m going to freeload at banquets too!】

In the capital, these families were always hosting one banquet or another. Lin Mo had sometimes thought about going to eat and drink for free, but since she didn’t know them, she felt too embarrassed.

She might be carefree by nature, but she still cared a little about face—especially now that she held an official post.

More importantly, she didn’t know others could hear her inner thoughts. She’d been trying to maintain her image.

Bai Xiao fell silent for two seconds before saying: 【…I don’t think you need to learn that. We’re not short on money. He freeloaded because he was broke. If we go, we’d still have to bring a gift—after all, people know our family isn’t poor.】

Lin Mo thought about it and realized that was true. She could be shameless herself, but her parents and siblings cared about face. If she went freeloading elsewhere, she’d probably get a good beating when she got home.

Prince Xin was different—one man fed, the whole family full. Though he was a prince, he wasn’t favored, so he naturally didn’t care about embarrassing the late emperor or his brothers.

Lin Mo: 【Go on, go on. I want to hear more about Prince Xin. I never imagined someone who looks so honest could’ve been this fun when he was young.】

Everyone nodded in agreement inwardly. If Bai Xiao hadn’t said it, they would never have known Prince Xin was like this in his youth.

Bai Xiao: 【There’s really not much else. Prince Xin just shamelessly took Princess Xin to freeload at various banquets. They really were birds of a feather—both thick-skinned. If it had been a young lady from an ordinary family, she’d probably have been mortified long ago. But Princess Xin was different—she thrived in it.】

【The two of them basically started their romance by freeloading food and drinks. Later, they discussed marriage themselves. After the emperor ascended the throne, Prince Xin asked His Majesty for an imperial decree, and that’s how the marriage was granted.】

Prince Xin was smiling as he listened. Though it had all been rather shameless back then, looking back now, it felt quite wonderful.

His relationship with his princess consort was rock-solid. Even later, when he was constantly squeezed dry, she always stood by his side, silently supporting him, never looking down on him when he was down.

In short, his taste was excellent—he’d chosen such a wonderful princess consort.

That morning, everyone had eaten their fill of gossip, and Prince Xin’s image in their hearts completely flipped.

They had originally thought Prince Xin was an honest man who’d been bullied for many years, but the truth proved that even honest people had their own little schemes.

Prince Xin had probably used every last bit of his brains to chase his wife.

After court was dismissed, the emperor kept this younger brother behind, his expression unusually complicated.

“Eleventh Brother… your imperial brother really owes you an apology. All these years, I never paid much attention to you.”

Truly speaking, compared to this brother, his own life had been relatively decent.

Prince Xin smiled gently. “There’s nothing to apologize for. I’ve lived like this all these years. Back then, Imperial Brother had it hard too. I think things are pretty good now.”

No matter how hard life had been, it had passed. With that hardship and comparison, the days ahead would all be good ones.

“Imperial Brother needn’t blame himself. I didn’t actually have it that bad. Just like Bai Xiao said—I had thick skin, so I could get by anywhere.”

It wasn’t like he’d never heard people mock him, calling him the trash-picking prince who showed up empty-handed to eat at other people’s banquets.

Some families even deliberately made things difficult for him, but he never took it to heart.

As long as his own life was good, what did others’ opinions matter?

Even though Prince Xin looked unconcerned, the emperor still felt guilty—so he took Prince Xin to steal chickens raised by the palace consorts.

An emperor and a prince sneaking around the chicken coop—no one would ever imagine they were there to steal chickens.