The young general and the prince, who was to be married off, fell in love at first sight!

Yu Sheng was clearly disgusted as well. He tried to push away the big idiot who was clinging tightly to his leg and crying, but the hug was too tight and he couldn't budge him.

So he could only awkwardly raise his head and say, "Please excuse my rudeness, Second Young Master."

"Enough, enough, stop disgusting me." Lin Shiming twisted his face and looked away, unable to bear seeing his eyes any longer. "The Tingyun Army has strict discipline. Since you've withdrawn, you can't go back. Go home, pack your things, and come find me at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion."

Although these two are not very bright when it comes to interpersonal relationships, they have maintained such a level of competence for two years after leaving the military, which shows that they have some talent. Moreover, it is fate that they met today. Lin Shiming really does not want to bury their talents.

"real?!"

Li Yi stopped crying. He sprang up instantly, like a cannonball.

"...real."

"Wow~ Ah Sheng—"

"Shut up! If you make another sound, you'll be sleeping in the woodshed tonight!" Yu Sheng quickly covered his mouth, whispering a warning in his ear, then turned to Lin Shiming with an embarrassed smile, "Second Young Master, please excuse my rudeness..."

Lin Shiming sighed helplessly, rummaged through the small leather box at his waist, and pulled out a jade pendant. "Alright, just take this jade pendant to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and find me."

Lin Shiming tossed the jade pendant into Yu Sheng's hand, then turned and took two steps into the crowd. "Where's the village head? Is what I asked for ready?"

"Alright, alright!" The village head came over quickly from a short distance away with two people. His bulky clothes made him look like a brown bear. "Young master, we went to check the cave. There are three wolf cubs that were born not long ago."

The man carrying a large basket behind the village head stepped forward cautiously, placed the basket on the ground, and lifted the cloth covering it. Inside, sure enough, lay three gray wolf cubs, their small black eyes wide open, watching the outside warily.

"Not bad, they're quite clever." Lin Shiming squatted down and looked at the trembling little cubs inside, unable to resist teasing them with his fingers.

Then there was a bite.

"Young Master Lin!" He rushed over immediately, as if he had just lost his parents.

"Hiss—" Lin Shiming pulled out his finger, rubbed the red mark left by the bite, and chuckled, "Little wolf cub, you're pretty fierce."

"Are you alright?" The village headman asked, heartbroken, turning to scold the man who had brought the bamboo basket, "Wang Feng, what's wrong with you? You didn't watch this beast properly! It hurt an important person—"

"Alright, shut up!" Lin Shiming's smile vanished, and he impatiently interrupted the village head. "I'm fine. Bring me the wolf fang."

The village head, with a fawning expression, didn't dare to mind Lin Shiming's earlier reprimand and hurriedly took a handful of beautiful wolf teeth wrapped in cloth from another man. He counted them; there were nine in total.

Making a bracelet for my little nephew is enough.

"There aren't any wild animals around here anymore. You should pack up and head back to the village as soon as possible."

"Second Young Master," Li Yi and Yu Sheng quickly stopped their intimate whispers and came closer, "Are you leaving? It's the middle of the night and snowing, if you don't mind—"

"No need," Lin Shiming refused.

To be honest, he originally planned to stay in the Southern Region until the Laba Festival before returning to the capital for the New Year, but yesterday he suddenly received a message from his elder brother Lin Shihe from afar, asking him to return home immediately, so he hurriedly rushed back.

He was so focused on his journey that he forgot to keep track of time, and by the time it got dark, he had just reached a nearby hilltop. The capital was still a hundred li away; with his light-footed skills that allowed him to travel a thousand li a day, he could return in two or three hours, but the city gates would likely be closed by then. Remembering his brother's repeated warnings not to go out of his way to climb the city walls at night, he decided to sleep in the tree for the night and continue his journey the next day.

I never expected to wake up in the middle of the night to hear some noise nearby, and that's when I stumbled upon this group of villagers confronting the wolves. But right now...

Lin Shiming looked back at the wolf cubs huddled together for warmth in the bamboo basket. He himself possessed profound inner strength and was not afraid of the cold, but these cubs certainly couldn't survive without the old wolf's care, and they also needed to drink milk.

Sigh, looks like I'll have to travel through the night and climb over the city wall. Hopefully, my brother won't nag me for too long tomorrow.

"I'm leaving now. Remember to come to the capital."

After saying that, Lin Shiming picked up the bamboo basket and flew away, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

*

Just after the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), an almost imperceptible figure silently entered a courtyard of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, without even being disturbed by the swirling snowflakes.

Lin Shiming hurried along the way, fearing that the little ones might freeze or starve to death on the way, and even used his internal energy to keep them warm continuously.

"Only those two baskets of lychees from a few years ago received this treatment." Lifting the cloth, Lin Shiming finally breathed a sigh of relief and muttered to himself as he saw the wolf cubs curled up and fast asleep inside.

"Who?" Lin Shiming's words had barely left his mouth when several figures leaped in from outside the courtyard wall. "Where did these thieves come from? How dare they break into the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion at night?"

I was careless; I exposed myself the moment I spoke.

"...I am your master!"

However, Lin Shiming's words came too late.

As soon as the commotion started, the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was brightly lit within a few breaths.

Lin Shiming took a deep breath and resignedly waved to summon the servant in his courtyard.

"Go tell the kitchen to prepare some midnight snacks for me, and a pot of wine." As he spoke, he looked down at the bamboo basket in his hand. Several wolf cubs had already been frightened awake. "And prepare some more goat milk."

The servant nodded and bowed, then turned and left. Lin Shiming then casually summoned a guard.

"Investigate two people: Li Yi and Yu Sheng, hunters from Li Family Village, a hundred miles south of the capital. Both of them came from the Tingyun Army and are very astute. Be careful when investigating them and don't get discovered."

It's one thing for him not to bury talent, but it's another to be rigorous in his work and personnel management. The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion already holds the power of 100,000 troops, and if a mistake is made, the country might be thrown into turmoil.

Moreover, the current situation is special. The current emperor has been on the throne for sixteen years, and the princes have all come of age. It is another grand struggle for succession, with various forces intertwined and complex. The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion has never taken sides in history and is the most typical royalist party. Therefore, at this time, it is even more important to act prudently and avoid leaving any trouble behind.

Moreover, even someone like Lin Shiming, who is always running around, has heard that all the major families in the capital have been scrambling and using every trick in the book for the position of Crown Princess all year. He even got to know several of the big scandals from the capital when he was in the Southern Region!

With such a dramatic power struggle, it's best to be careful!

"Get it done quickly, deploy your best personnel, and give me results in the next two days."

"Subordinates take orders."

However, before the guards on this side could salute and leave, one of Lin Shiming's elder brother's guards entered the courtyard and bowed, saying, "Second Young Master, the Heir Apparent wants you to go to the study to wait for him immediately."

...I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep!

"Okay, I'll change my clothes and then go."

*

After placing the bamboo basket in the side room and arranging for someone to look after it, Lin Shiming hurriedly changed his clothes and went to the study in the front yard.

In the study, guards had already lit charcoal braziers and candles, and servants had brought hot tea. The warm light and swirling steam were truly drowsy.

But Lin Shiming clearly couldn't sleep. In less than a quarter of an hour, faint footsteps could be heard outside the study.

A servant's voice came from the doorway, asking for greetings. Then the study door opened, and Lin Shihe entered the room with a gust of cold wind.

"Brother, why are you opening the door so wide? It's freezing!"

"You're afraid of the cold?" Lin Shihe replied irritably, but still closed the door tightly, took off his cloak which was covered in cold air, and hung it up before stepping into the inner room.

When Lin Shiming saw his elder brother coming over, he quickly handed him a cup of warm tea and smiled ingratiatingly at him, "Brother, why did you get up in the middle of the night? Aren't you afraid of disturbing your wife and nephew? You can teach me a lesson tomorrow!"

"You know it's the middle of the night? Hmm? Climbing over the city wall again in the middle of the night, are you afraid the censors won't find your fault?"

"Oh, I'm not some official who goes to court, why should I be afraid of a mere censor?" Lin Shiming said nonchalantly. "Besides, with my martial arts skills, who can prove that I came in at midnight?"

Lin Shihe remained silent, simply staring at him with an ambiguous expression.

"...I know I was wrong, it will never happen again." (Afraid of TT)

"Would I believe you?"

"Brother, aren't you going to court early today? It's so late, why don't you go to sleep?" Don't scold me!

However, Lin Shihe took a sip of tea and replied leisurely, "It's alright. Yesterday was the grand court session. Today I only need to go to the military camp to report for duty."

Ah, then, you should also shoulder your responsibilities as a husband and go warm your sister-in-law's bed!

"You're getting more and more absurd!" Lin Shihe slammed down his teacup, then reached out and smacked Lin Shiming on the back of the head. "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. I'll let you off the hook for now. How's the matter I asked you to investigate while you were in the Southern Region going?"

Lin Shiming rubbed the back of his head before answering, "The investigation is almost complete. That tax money should have gone into Prince An's pocket."

Prince An, the fourth prince of the current dynasty, was born to Consort Liang.

"Where's the evidence?"

So Lin Shiming started rummaging through his small leather box again, and painstakingly pulled out an account book. "Here it is."

A notebook, as thick as a finger joint and as big as two palms, was placed on the table.

Lin Shihe looked at the crumpled and distorted account book in front of him, which looked like it was about to fall apart, and laughed angrily, "You're telling me to go to the palace tomorrow and hand over such a piece of junk to His Majesty? Can you please stop stuffing everything into your little box?"

"Brother, why are you being so picky? As long as it's there, why do you care if it's broken or not?" Lin Shiming said, his tone both unreasonable and confident. "Besides, look at all these marks; they're proof of my hard work! I've already brought it back for you, what more could you want?"

What bicycle?

"No, you misheard. There was no car." Thank goodness, how did I bring up things from my past life again? "Brother, you still haven't told me. Isn't our family not involved in the succession struggle? Why are you asking me to investigate this?"

Lin Shihe was already used to his younger brother's occasional surprising remarks since childhood, so he was too lazy to argue with him anymore. He simply changed the subject to suit his wishes, "We don't take sides, but this matter concerns the national treasury's tax revenue, affects the construction of the Changyuan River flood control dike, and is a matter of great importance to people's livelihood. Moreover, His Majesty has also issued a secret decree, so I asked you to help me to avoid alerting the enemy."

"Oh!" Lin Shiming appeared to be listening attentively, but his mind was actually already on the wolf cubs he had just brought back. He wondered if they were afraid.

Seeing his younger brother's dignified expression but lifeless eyes, Lin Shihe knew he was probably lost in thought. His brother hated court affairs the most, always thinking that those ministers and royalty were hypocrites, and he wished he could stay far away from them, wasting his own abilities and talents.

Fortunately, the family didn't need another Lin Shiming to achieve success, so Lin Shihe didn't force his younger brother.

However, thinking back to his private conversation with the emperor a few days ago, Shi Ming realized he would have to keep these things in mind from now on.

Enough! Lin Shihe simply raised his hand and slapped his younger brother on the back of the head again. "Snap out of it!"

"Oh, oh, oh!" Lin Shiming picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of hot tea, striking a pose of listening attentively. "Big brother, please speak, I'm listening!"

Lin Shihe sighed and finally got to the most important topic.

"What did you say? You want me to marry the Crown Prince?"