Marquis Weiyuan was nearly forty years old, but due to his exceptional martial arts skills and meticulous self-care, he appeared to be younger than his age. His figure was lean, and his demeanor was refined and elegant, exuding the graceful charm of a scholar, devoid of the crudeness often associated with military men.

However, when he raised his eyebrows and his gaze turned cold, an aura of undeniable authority instantly surged forth, making one’s scalp tingle with fear. Madam Qin trembled all over in fright and hurriedly tugged at Lin Dan’s sleeve, whispering anxiously, “Little Boss, please don’t argue with him. He is Marquis Weiyuan, and he kills without mercy!”

Lin Dan naturally knew who the man was, yet she merely lifted her chin slightly to meet his gaze, the faint smile on her lips remaining unchanged.

Ninth Brother Tang stepped forward, positioning himself between the two, and respectfully cupped his hands towards the other party. “Marquis, there is indeed no Thousand-Day Wine in the shop.”

“Young Master Tang, you’ve returned from the north?” Marquis Weiyuan gave him a casual glance, his gentle voice carrying a hidden firmness, “Hu Feng told me that she brewed the wine herself. If there’s none, I can wait. But if there is, and she refuses to sell it, what’s the reason behind that?”

“Young Master Tang?” Lin Dan ignored the Marquis’s questioning and stepped forward to carefully examine Ninth Brother Tang, a look of realization dawning on her face. “You’re the Young Marquis Yongding?” Surnamed Tang, ranked ninth— she should have realized long ago that this man was Tang Cheng, the young master of Marquis Yongding’s household. Who knew what he had gone through over the years to transform from a delicate and handsome youth into his current brawny and rugged appearance? His features were still handsome but now bore a strong masculine aura and the scar on his brow added a touch of ferocity to him. His close-fitting outfit couldn’t conceal his knotted, powerful muscles, making him appear almost unrecognizable from the elegant young man he once was.

Not to mention the indifferent Lin Dan, even the other Lin Dan, who had loved the young marquis deeply, might not have recognized him.

Tang Cheng stiffened and quickly explained, “Lin Dan, listen to me. I had intended to tell you long ago—”

Before he could finish, Lin Dan smiled— not a forced or a bitter smile, but a genuine one filled with the joy of seeing an old acquaintance. “Young Marquis, it’s been many years. I hope you’ve been well. How is the Old Marquis?”

Tang Cheng suddenly fell silent, then stammered, “Good, we’re all well.” He should have felt relieved that Lin Dan wasn’t angry, so why was he instead filled with disappointment?

“I didn’t come here to listen to you two reminisce.” Marquis Weiyuan’s warm voice had completely turned cold. His guards all placed their hands on the hilts of their swords, ready to draw them at any moment.

Blocking the entrance, the customers in the shop were too frightened to move, their faces pale with fear.

Yet Lin Dan remained calm and composed, cupping her hands respectfully. “Please don’t be angry, Marquis. Have you ever heard of ‘Peng Ya’?”

“《Shizi^[1]an eclectic Chinese classic written by Shi Jiao》 mentions that in the land of Chixian^[2]Red Territory – China, there lies the ruins of Kunlun^[3]originally the name of a mythical mountain believed to be a Taoist paradise. It gives rise to Peng Ya and above it grows the red herb. Consuming its fruit can intoxicate one for three years.” Marquis Weiyuan quoted with a slightly astonished expression. He had always thought it was just a legend.

“The Thousand-Day Wine can make a person drink once and stay drunk for three years. What ingredient could make the wine so potent? Following this clue, I eventually discovered Peng Ya and recreated a recipe from hundreds of years ago. But did the Marquis know that Peng Ya only resurfaces once a year, producing a hundred fruits each time? A thousand fruits are needed to brew just one jar of wine. I spent three years to get one jar, but it was ruined by bandits. Where can I find another jar for you? That was one point. The second is this— you returned to the capital to recuperate, but do you know what ailment you have? I see that your face is flushed, your lips are pale, and your eyes are bloodshot. You’re prone to irritability and anger, which suggests liver damage. Alcohol is a poison to the intestines and the most heat-generating of all, causing significant harm to the liver. If I were to sell you such a strong wine and your condition worsened, who would be responsible?”

Lin Dan spoke slowly, “For the sake of the Marquis’s health, I cannot sell you this wine. I hope you understand.”

Hah! So it’s all my fault now? Marquis Weiyuan twisted the ring on his finger, his stern expression slightly easing. The leader of his guards quickly stepped forward and whispered, “Marquis, the Imperial Physician repeatedly warned you not to indulge in drinking. Please listen to his advice. The Thousand-Day Wine is too harmful to your health, let’s not buy it.”

The previously aggressive guards, who seemed ready to smash the shop at any moment, all softened their expressions. Not selling the wine was indeed the right decision. They still hoped the Marquis would recover soon so they could return to their post in the southeast.

“Not buying the wine is fine.” Marquis Weiyuan knew his men were thinking of his well-being, but the thought of leaving empty-handed after coming all this way didn’t sit well with him. He couldn’t help but sneer. “I’ll stay here for a meal. I heard your waiter say you can cook any dish to the customer’s satisfaction? Well then, I’ll order a table full of dishes made with wine. Can you do that? If you fail to satisfy me, I’ll smash this shop.”

At this point, the seemingly refined and elegant Marquis Weiyuan finally revealed some of the roughness and domineering nature typical of a military man.

Whether or not he would be satisfied depended on his whims. Tang Cheng frowned and was about to argue, for he was not afraid of Marquis Weiyuan.

Lin Dan pulled him back and nodded. “Of course, I can.”

“You’re an ignorant girl who agreed too easily without even hearing my requirements.” Marquis Weiyuan continued, “Don’t think that merely adding a dash of cooking wine to the ingredients to infuse them with its flavor counts as a dish made with wine. What I mean is to use the wine itself to make a dish, so that with each bite, one tastes the wine in full, yet it doesn’t harm the liver. Can you do that?”

As soon as the requirement was laid out, the entire dining hall erupted in astonishment. Wine was traditionally used to enhance flavor in cooking, but no one had ever heard of making it into a dish. It was just wine, akin to a handful of water. At most, it could be warmed in a pot before being poured into a bottle. No one had ever known of a cook who could transform wine into a dish. Setting aside other concerns, just the question of how to incorporate the flavors of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty into the wine, making it palatable, filling, and satisfying, was a huge challenge.

It was clear that Marquis Weiyuan had come to stir up trouble!

Tang Cheng glared at him, enunciating each word, “Marquis, you are making an unreasonable demand. If you’re feeling idle, you might as well go home and drink a few doses of herbal medicine to nurture your health.”

“You brat, since when do you have the right to interfere with my affairs?” Marquis Weiyuan sneered coldly.

Lin Dan, however, calmly tied her headscarf and slowly said, “Cooking with wine? Very well, please wait a moment, Marquis.” With that, she instructed the anxious Xiao Zhu to bring out a jar she had been carefully keeping.

Seeing the jar with its sealed clay lid, Marquis Weiyuan smiled smugly. “You said you didn’t have wine, but here it is! Let me tell you, if the wine in this jar doesn’t surpass Thousand-Day Wine, I’ll still smash your shop. Begging won’t help.” He assumed that Lin Dan had already conceded defeat since he believed it was impossible to cook with wine.

However, Lin Dan merely smiled faintly. After breaking open the clay seal on the jar, she carefully scooped out something with a slotted spoon. The crowd stared in bewilderment. The object was about half an arm’s length, elongated, and completely translucent with a jade-like green hue. When placed on the cutting board, it bounced slightly. It was soft and delicate, resembling a food ingredient. Not only did it look appealing, but its fragrance was so strong that it immediately overpowered the rich aroma of the master stock, an undeniably powerful scent.

Even Marquis Weiyuan, who had tasted countless wines, couldn’t identify the origin of the object and couldn’t help but ask, “What is that?” He secretly swallowed and sniffed again. The aroma was so intense that it could rival even the Thousand-Day Wine.

“The method for brewing this wine was something I learned in Yanglin County. It’s fermented using dozens of medicinal ingredients like dangshen^[4]a perennial species of flowering plant in the bellflower family, red dates, dried tangerine peel, and cloves. The wine is rich, fragrant, and has health benefits, and even drinking a hundred jars of it won’t cause intoxication, unlike the potent effects of Thousand-Day Wine. This one is called Yanglin Fei. Why is it called ‘Fei^[5]fat’? Because it contains one special ingredient— pork fat.”

Using pork fat to brew wine? That was unheard of! The crowd was once again astonished, but when they looked at the green object on the cutting board, they had no choice but to believe it.

Marquis Weiyuan’s eyes widened in surprise, his earlier displeasure completely replaced by curiosity. He loved wine and naturally enjoyed hearing stories about winemaking, especially since Lin Dan seemed to know so much about all kinds of unusual wines. This made him even more intrigued. He suddenly realized that he had misjudged this young woman. She wasn’t arrogant due to ignorance, she was confident because of her extensive knowledge.

Lin Dan sliced the translucent, jade-green pork into thin slices and said slowly, “This jar of wine has only been sealed for three months, so it’s not fully brewed yet. But the pork has already absorbed the wine, becoming translucent and jade-like. Don’t be surprised. In the Baiyue region, there is a similar winemaking method called ‘Yu Bing Shao’, named after this very phenomenon.”

She placed the sliced pork into a bowl, poured two spoonfuls of fragrant master stock over it, and gently massaged it to marinate. Then she took out some sweet fermented rice that had only been soaked for a day, crushed it into fine sticky rice, and mixed it with light soy sauce, pepper powder, five-spice powder, and other seasonings, setting it aside for later use.

Once everything was prepared, she tossed the marinated pork slices into the crushed sticky rice and mixed them thoroughly before placing them in a steamer to steam for three-quarters of an hour. Finally, she plated the dish and sprinkled a bit of minced ginger and chopped green onions on top. The dish was now complete. She then instructed Xiao Zhu to fetch her jar of pickled vegetables, from which she picked out some bean sprouts, laid them neatly on a small plate, and drizzled it with a drop of sesame oil for garnish.

“Marquis, please enjoy.” Lin Dan gently placed the dish on the table. It was only after hearing two dull thuds that Marquis Weiyuan snapped out of his daze. He stared at her, eyes filled with astonishment.

Lin Dan softly explained, “This dish is called ‘Rice Wine Steamed Pork’. Although it’s made with wine, it won’t harm the liver; instead, it nourishes the spleen and lungs, and strengthens the heart, making it very healthy. The other dish is ‘Sweet Wine Mung Bean Sprouts’, which nourishes the liver, calms the nerves, clears the gallbladder, and improves blood circulation, helping to counteract alcohol’s toxicity. Please try them, Marquis. If they don’t meet your standards, feel free to smash this shop. I won’t object.”

Marquis Weiyuan, who had lost his appetite due to liver damage, unconsciously picked up his chopsticks.