The emperor soon heard about this as well.

The next day, after court, Lin Weiming and Bai Shitao were summoned to the palace by Eunuch Liu.

But it wasn't the usual place for them to ask questions; instead, they were led to the Imperial Garden.

Bai Shitao was straightforward and stubborn, like a rock, not one of those people who could please the emperor. He was quite old, and had hardly ever visited the Imperial Garden to admire the flowers.

As I walked along, I felt something was off, and I couldn't help but frown.

"Oh!" Eunuch Liu was a man who was very good at reading people. He noticed the slightest movement of someone's eyebrows and quickly asked, "What's wrong, Lord Bai? Are your injuries still not healed?"

Lin Weiming and the others also looked over at Bai Shitao. He blushed deeply and was too embarrassed to admit that he was flattered.

"Ah... um..." He could only vaguely acknowledge what Eunuch Liu said, nodding and saying, "I walked too fast for a moment, and it does hurt a bit."

"Oh dear, Lord Bai, this is all my fault for not thinking things through. You lot, hurry up and help him up!" Eunuch Liu said to the young eunuchs.

The eunuchs quickly helped Bai Shitao up.

Bai Shitao looked down on these eunuchs, but since they were all helping him, he couldn't refuse and had to go with them.

When they arrived at their destination, they found a beautifully dressed young girl sitting in a small pavilion, eating snacks and enjoying the snow. Qi Yuan was watching her from the side, occasionally handing her a piece of pastry.

"This is delicious. I asked someone to add more lychee sauce and some kumquat sauce so it won't be too sweet," Qi Yuan said considerately.

Lin Wanyue was wearing a thick woolen coat with madder and orchid patterns, made this year. There was a circle of white fur trim around the cuffs and collar, which made her look even more delicate and beautiful.

If you look closely, you can see a fluffy little tail on her shoulder, swaying back and forth.

Lin Diao Diao perched on his shoulder, holding a piece of pastry in her two little paws, her mouth moving as she ate with great relish.

It's usually shy and always likes to hide inside Lin Wanyue's sleeves, especially now that the weather is cold. But the pastries in the palace smell so good that Lin Diaodiao couldn't resist sniffing them and came out.

Lin Wanyue then fed it a few pieces.

"Your Majesty, Lord Lin and Lord Bai have arrived." Eunuch Liu walked up behind the emperor.

Lin Weiming and Bai Shitao quickly bowed to Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan then gave them a look and said with a smile, "I heard you wanted to have Wanwan's fortune told. I thought there's no better time than now, so why don't you just let me hear it too?"

With the emperor here to oversee things, it's absolutely impossible for anyone to bully his little Wanwan.

If Wanwan accidentally miscalculates, he can then protect her to some extent.

He felt that no matter how he calculated it, it was just right.

However, Bai Shitao felt somewhat uneasy.

Who wants to have the emperor watching them while they go to a fortune teller?!

However, since the emperor had already given his word, he couldn't refuse.

Bai Shitao and Lin Weiming sat together on a cushioned stone bench. Although they were in a pavilion, there was still a blanket of snow outside. Looking west, they saw a plum blossom grove in full bloom, so they weren't bothered by the cold.

"Hey." Lin Wanyue put down the pastries in her hand, looked at Bai Shitao, asked for his birth date and time, and then asked, "What would you like to have calculated?"

All eyes turned to Bai Shitao, and everyone was very curious about it.

"I look fairly strong, but I'm not exactly robust. And now that I'm getting this old, I really want to ask how long I can live?" Bai Shitao said after a moment's hesitation.

This is also a frequently asked question.

However, Lin Wanyue still looked at him with some curiosity.

After all, most people ask about their future, money, or even romantic prospects, but when asked how long they can live, they are usually elderly people in their seventies or eighties.

Bai Shitao was dark-skinned with few wrinkles on his face, and he was indeed tall and strong, so it was hard to tell how old he was.

After he finished reciting his birth date and time, Lin Weiming exclaimed from the side, "I can't believe it, Brother Bai! You're actually ten years older than me! You're forty now!"

The emperor, standing beside him with a slight smile, asked Lin Weiming, "Then can you tell how old this eunuch Liu beside me is?"

"?" Lin Weiming looked at Eunuch Liu again. Eunuch Liu looked to be about fifty or sixty years old, but everyone likes to underestimate themselves. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "I think he looks about forty-five?"

Eunuch Liu's pale face scrunched up with a smile, and he said in a slightly shrill voice, "Lord Lin, you really overestimate me. I'm almost seventy years old now, how could I be only forty-five? That was so many years ago."

Everyone: "!!!"

When he said this, everyone except the emperor, who knew the inside story, was somewhat surprised.

If you said Eunuch Liu was fifty or sixty years old, you could really tell, after all, those wrinkles on his face weren't for nothing. But if you said he was almost seventy, then his robust physique really didn't look like that.

After this little incident, everyone's attention returned to the fortune-telling Lin Wanyue gave Bai Shitao.

Lin Wanyue knew his birth date and time, and after counting on her fingers, she already had a pretty good understanding of him. However, before she came to have her fortune told, her father had already given her a crash course on shrewd businessmen.

To be a shrewd businessman, you must make the other party feel that the price is worthwhile.

It's not enough to just be accurate; you also need to add a sense of ritual.

In summary, the more complicated the better; never just give the answer directly.

When Lin Wanyue listened to the mini-lecture, she kept nodding in agreement.

"Uncle Bai's life isn't actually that good." But at this moment, he was too lazy to do all that stuff, so he waited a little while before saying this to Bai Shitao.

As soon as she said this, everyone looked at Bai Shitao with some strange expressions.

Bai Shitao may be a bit ugly, but he is still a young master from a prestigious family. Now he has become the Vice Minister of War, a high-ranking official in the eyes of many people!

If people like this are considered unlucky, then there are probably very few lucky people in the world except for emperors.

Of course, the current emperor could probably also lament his bad luck.

Even Bai Shitao himself felt that he didn't know where to begin, so he could only put on a bitter smile and look at Lin Wanyue.

Then everyone heard Lin Wanyue continue, "Although you were born into a family, your mother died when you were young, and your stepmother is your aunt. Given your background, you had no choice but to go to the battlefield to fight and earn military merits..."

"But having killed so many people along the way, I've accumulated a lot of resentment. It wasn't until I was over thirty that I finally had my first child. Now I'm only in my forties, and I'm already feeling unwell. I just fell down again. If this continues, I'm afraid I won't live past fifty."