Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"By the way, I heard you were once a member of the Bingzhou border army? You started serving in the army at the age of five?"

"Your Majesty, that is all in the past. I am now just a centurion of the Jingwei Division, serving Your Majesty on my own."

"Life in the military must be very tough and arduous."

"Once you get used to it, it's just like that. It's not that hard or difficult."

Shen Lang's humble yet assertive attitude inexplicably made Jiang Mengxuan feel a sense of goodwill towards him again.

She wanted to press for more information, but after glancing at the time, she held back.

At this moment, Shu Yue led Ye Mo into the Water Heating Palace.

Ye Mo spread his hands and said directly, "Your Majesty, the auspicious time has arrived. May we continue with the selection process?"

"continue."

Upon receiving Jiang Mengxuan's definite reply, Ye Mo immediately turned around and clapped his hands.

Soon, square cubicles covered with light gauze were pushed into the Water Heating Hall.

Under Shen Lang's puzzled gaze, the candidates for the Emperor's son-in-law who had successfully advanced entered the Water and Heating Pavilion one after another.

At this moment, these chosen men were only wearing long robes draped over their bodies.

"What is this doing?"

Shen Lang couldn't help but ask.

Upon hearing this, Shu Yue immediately explained, "Don't you really understand?"

The most basic three criteria for selecting a son-in-law for the emperor were, firstly, that the man must remain faithful in body and mind; premarital relations were absolutely forbidden.

The second point is to check your physical condition to see if you have any underlying medical conditions.

Finally, the man's fertility is checked; those who are congenitally eunuchs or whose penises are too small will be eliminated.

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang nodded: "So there are so many intricacies involved here."

This reminded him of the premarital check-up in his previous life; they were remarkably similar.

"Huh, in your hand?"

"I just killed a mosquito and didn't have time to clean it up, there's nothing to make a fuss about."

Shen Lang covered his wrist, shielding it from the protective sha, and looked at the scene as if nothing had happened.

At this moment, under Ye Mo's command, the group of men who had advanced entered a closed single room covered with curtains.

Jiang Mengxuan paid no attention to the scene before her, but simply picked up an ancient book and quietly began to read it.

Inside the private room, all the men had removed all their clothes and were waiting naked for the imperial physician to examine them.

This process would take about an hour, and Shen Lang, feeling utterly bored, began to pace back and forth inside the Water Heating Palace.

Ye Mo's face darkened: "Commander Shen, what are you doing?"

Shen Lang: "It's nothing, I just stretched my muscles because I was tired of standing."

“Commander Shen, this is the imperial palace. You can’t do whatever you want here.”

"Since Prime Minister Ye knows this is the imperial palace, he should know that His Majesty is in charge here. Since His Majesty hasn't given any orders, why are you meddling in other people's business?"

Ye Mo's pupils contracted, and he was speechless.

He quickly turned to look at Jiang Mengxuan, and just as he was about to speak, he heard Jiang Mengxuan say quietly, "Prime Minister Ye, there's no need to ask any more questions. I grant Commander Shen permission to move around freely."

"Your Majesty, this is against the rules..."

"Prime Minister Ye, there's no need for further words. I understand the situation."

"Yes, I understand."

Ye Mo felt helpless, but at the same time, he began to pay attention to Shen Lang.

Jiang Mengxuan felt a surge of secret pleasure.

Even though Shen Lang's heart wasn't with the Great Chu, he had at least genuinely spoken up for himself just now.

Her feelings for him instantly intensified.

With Jiang Mengxuan's support, Shen Lang became even more unscrupulous.

He lifted a corner of one of the curtains, peeked inside, and exclaimed in surprise, "This earthworm-like thing is truly a rare find!"

These words immediately caused the imperial physicians who were examining the bodies and the groomsmen inside to blush with embarrassment, especially the young master who was so ashamed that he wanted to disappear.

Then, Shen Lang pulled back the gauze curtain of another room and exclaimed in surprise, "Whose silkworms are hanging up there? They're almost spinning silk, oh my..."

The man inside, who was inspecting the silkworms, blushed furiously and immediately covered his silkworms.

Just as Shen Lang pulled back another curtain, preparing to shout, Ye Mo finally lost his temper and grabbed Shen Lang, saying, "Commander Shen, what kind of behavior is this!"

"Prime Minister Ye, why make such a fuss? As a centurion of the Jingwei Guard, I am ordered to protect His Majesty's safety."

It is our duty to check whether the talented individuals entering are carrying any illegal weapons; this is only natural.

"What nonsense are you talking about? These talented young men underwent rigorous checks before entering the palace. How could they possibly be carrying illegal weapons?"

"You didn't tell me, how would I know?"

"you……"

Ye Mo was shocked by Shen Lang's shamelessness and laughed angrily, pointing his finger at him.

"You are so messy!"

"Is this just sophistry? Then explain why that idiot in the Taiji Hall suddenly went crazy before?"

"I……"

With just one sentence, Ye Mo was left speechless once again.

At this moment, Jiang Mengxuan's voice came again: "Shen Lang, you mustn't be rude to the Prime Minister. Apologize to the Prime Minister now!"

Her tone was calm, devoid of any emotion.

However, the fact that she started calling Shen Lang by his given name shows that his status in Jiang Mengxuan's heart has undergone a subtle change.

"Yes."

Shen Lang could only respond with a hum, then casually cupped his hands to Ye Mo: "Prime Minister Ye, you are a man of great importance, you wouldn't stoop to the level of a nobody like me, would you?"

"A nobody? Hmph..."

Ye Mo leaned closer to Shen Lang and whispered, "Commander Shen, I know you inside and out."

I am fully aware of your performance in the Bingzhou military camp before you joined the Jingwei Division.

Shen Lang asked nonchalantly, "And then? What does Prime Minister Ye want to say?"

Ye Mo smiled slightly: "You are still young. The capital is not like the military camp. You have to be careful about many things. Don't ruin your future because of a moment of impulsiveness."

Shen Lang nodded: "Thank you for the reminder, Prime Minister Ye, but I also have something to tell you."

"Oh? What does Commander Shen want to say?"

Shen Lang leaned close to Ye Mo's ear and asked, "Two years ago, the Jiangnan Textile Bureau lost a batch of raw materials for making gold-threaded silk garments. I wonder if Prime Minister Ye still remembers this?"

Ye Mo asked, puzzled, "What? Could it be that Commander Shen also knows about this case and knows who the mastermind is?"

Shen Lang shook his head: "No, that's not true. But when I investigated the case files, I found that your son was the official in charge of supervising the making of the gold-threaded silk garments."

Ye Mo's face darkened: "You want to pin the blame on my son, but unfortunately, he had already returned to the capital to recuperate from a cold at that time."

Shen Lang's eyes widened: "That's too much of a coincidence. As soon as your son left, the raw materials for the gold-threaded garment were lost. This is a commodity worth 100,000 taels of gold!"

The loss of such crucial raw materials means that, if an investigation were to be conducted, your son would likely be held responsible as well.

Upon hearing this, Ye Mo's tone immediately became serious: "Although my Ye family is not extremely wealthy or powerful..."

But 100,000 taels of gold is nothing to him; my son would never do such a thing.

"Prime Minister Ye, please don't get agitated. I know the Ye family is wealthy and powerful and doesn't care about that money, but..."

Shen Lang suddenly changed the subject.

"Who cares about the amount of money? As far as I know, your son's daily expenses are quite high."

However, the amount of money Ye Xiang gives his son each month is a fixed amount, which is far from enough to cover his expenses.

Putting everything else aside, just two months ago, he spent a staggering 20,000 taels of gold to buy a Wu Hook Spirit Sword at the Jinling Auction House.

"May I ask, Prime Minister Ye, can you tell me where your son got this money?"

Ye Mo's eyes turned cold as he scrutinized the lowly centurion once more.

"Don't look at me like that. I only have suspicions. After all, it's hard to draw a conclusion without solid evidence."

"What do you want?"

"What can I do? I only ask for peace and tranquility, and I hope that Prime Minister Ye can grant my request."

Ye Mo nodded: "Good, very good Shen Lang. Your Majesty has indeed chosen the right person. Very good."

He then stepped aside and stopped trying to stop Shen Lang from acting recklessly.

Jiang Mengxuan witnessed the entire confrontation between the two.

This was the first time she had ever seen Ye Mo so frustrated. While she felt relieved, she also began to worry about Shen Lang.

The Prime Minister's mansion has influence throughout the court and the country. If it really targets Shen Lang, what should I do since I have no ability to protect him right now?

Little did they know, what Shen Lang was thinking was—

If things don't work out, just quit and start a new business. What's the rush?