Lin Yuxin carried the food box and walked straight toward Xiao Hao’s room.

Upon entering, she saw that Xiao Hao was still doing his homework.

She stepped in gently and asked,

“Xiao Hao, have you had dinner yet?”

“Big sister!”

Xiao Hao’s eyes lit up when he saw Lin Yuxin return. He shook his head and said,

“Not yet. I wanted to wait and eat with you!”

“Then let’s go! I’ll take you to eat with Mother. Oh, by the way, I’ll be leaving for a long journey in three days. I might be gone for a few months, so you have to behave at home, okay?”

Lin Yuxin patted Xiao Hao’s head and reminded him.

“You’re leaving on a long journey? Can you take me with you? I don’t want to be separated from you.”

Hearing that Lin Yuxin was leaving, Xiao Hao instantly felt sad.

Ever since he arrived at the Zhao residence, his sister had always been busy, often leaving the house.

Whenever she left, she would be gone for an entire day.

He hardly had time with her. Now that he heard she was leaving for months, an overwhelming sense of unease filled his heart.

“This time, I have serious business to take care of. It’s too dangerous to bring you along.”

Seeing Xiao Hao’s sadness, Lin Yuxin felt helpless.

How was she supposed to comfort a sad child?

“But I’m not afraid! I don’t want to be alone at home. Do you not want me anymore, Sister?”

Xiao Hao looked at Lin Yuxin with teary eyes, his expression pitiful.

Seeing this, Lin Yuxin’s heart ached.

After thinking it over, she decided to take him with her.

After all, Xiao Hao’s identity was special. He couldn’t just be sheltered like a delicate flower in a greenhouse—he needed to see the world and experience its hardships.

After much consideration, Lin Yuxin finally looked at Xiao Hao seriously and said,

“Alright, I’ll take you with me, but you must listen to me. Also, I’ll have Xue Ying accompany you to protect your safety.”

“Okay! I’ll listen to everything you say!”

Xiao Hao’s eyes lit up as soon as he heard his sister agree, and he immediately promised.

“Oh, right! These are pastries given by the Empress. I’m giving them to you. Eat them when you’re hungry.”

Lin Yuxin suddenly remembered something and took out the food box bestowed by the Empress, handing it to him.

Xiao Hao happily accepted it and opened the box.

Inside, the pastries were exquisitely made and beautiful.

He gasped in delight.

“They’re so pretty! I almost don’t want to eat them!”

“Pretty or not, they’re still meant to be eaten. If you can’t finish them, save them for later.”

Lin Yuxin chuckled at Xiao Hao’s excitement.

“Okay!”

Xiao Hao carefully picked up a piece and took a bite.

The delicious taste made his eyes squint with joy.

“It’s so good!”

“Hehe, alright, don’t eat too much now. We’re about to have dinner. Let’s go and have a proper meal with Mother before we leave.”

After letting him have one piece, Lin Yuxin stopped him from eating more.

She then took his hand and led him outside.

“Okay!”

Now in a good mood, Xiao Hao followed her obediently.

Lin Yuxin led Xiao Hao, who hadn’t eaten yet, toward their mother’s courtyard.

By the time they arrived, the dishes had already been served.

They had been waiting for her.

“Mother, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, sorry to keep you waiting. Third Brother is back too?”

Lin Yuxin greeted them one by one. She was surprised to see her third brother.

Usually, whenever he had a case, he would be so engrossed in work that he wouldn’t even think about eating or coming home.

“No, come and sit with Xiao Hao quickly!”

Zhao Hanya saw them arrive and quickly motioned for them to take their seats.

“Yeah, the case is closed. There’s not much to do for now, so I came back to visit.”

Lin Shixiao replied with a smile.

“How did the case go?”

Lin Yuxin, curious about the details, asked him as she helped Xiao Hao sit down.

[Although she knew some inside information about the case, she was still curious about the finer details.]

“A few days ago, the clue you gave me was an eye-opener. After discussing it with my superior, we realized that the culprit was most likely an animal—probably one that could fly.”

“So, we investigated the households in the capital that kept pets. We found five noble families that owned birds. Princess Xibao had one, an eagle—fierce and kept inside the palace, so it couldn’t have been the culprit.”

“Grand Tutor Ji’s residence had one as well. It was a bird he gifted his wife years ago to keep her company. However, it was already old, making it unlikely to fly such a distance to commit a crime.”

“The other two were parrots—one in the home of a Ministry of Works official and the other in a wealthy merchant’s residence. But these parrots were recently purchased and had not been trained, so they likely didn’t know how to carry out such an act.”

“The last bird was linked to Chancellor Hou. At first, we couldn’t find anything, but we later discovered a household in the eastern part of the city that kept a parrot. That night, we saw Hou Mingyuan enter that house.”

“After further investigation, we learned that the house belonged to his secret mistress. That mistress had a younger brother, Liang Bo, who passed the imperial exam last year at the age of eighteen.”

“The next day, we spread a rumor about a beautiful young lady in town. The parrot really did show up, so we captured it on the spot. However, because it was just a bird, we had no way to prove its involvement in the crime.”

“Liang Bo insisted that the parrot acted on its own and that he knew nothing about it. So for now, the case is settled with the parrot being executed while Liang Bo walks free.”

By the time Lin Shixiao finished speaking, his mood had sunk. Of all the cases he had worked on, this was the most frustrating.

They knew who the culprit was, yet they had no way to arrest him. It was infuriating.

“It’s okay, Second Brother. At least the case is solved. That’s still a victory. Cheer up!”

Lin Yuxin comforted him.

[Indeed, it was frustrating to have the culprit right in front of them but unable to apprehend him. However, in doing so, Second Brother had indirectly prevented the Crown Prince from infiltrating the Bureau of Punishments. This also stopped the Crown Prince from using the Ministry of Justice to his advantage.]

[So, in a way, it wasn’t a total loss. They would just have to keep an eye on the Crown Prince’s next move. He might try another scheme.]

Lin Shixiao, initially frustrated, immediately felt better after hearing his sister’s words.

She was right—at least they had thwarted the Crown Prince’s plan for now.

That, in itself, was a small victory.

“Thank you, Sister!”

Lin Shixiao looked at his sister and smiled.

“Alright, let’s not talk about work anymore. Time to eat! Everyone’s hungry!”

Zhao Hanya shot her son a look. He was such a workaholic—once he started talking about a case, he wouldn’t stop.

She quickly urged everyone to eat.

“Yes, yes, let’s eat! I’m starving.”

Lin Yuxin, seeing that their mother was displeased, quickly picked up her chopsticks and began eating. She also made sure to put some food into Xiao Hao’s bowl.

“Xiao Hao, eat more!”

“Thank you, Sister!”

Xiao Hao hesitated at the sight of the carrots in his bowl but still smiled at Lin Yuxin.