The Grand Secretary has no heir? His concubine gives birth to triplets.

A pearl dove landed on the wall of the west courtyard.

The maid glanced at the bird, assuming it was just an old spotted dove that flew in every day looking for food, and lowered her head to continue sweeping the floor, paying no attention to it at all.

Behind the wall, Salai stretched out her hand, grabbed the fat pigeon, and quickly pulled a rolled-up piece of paper from its leg ring.

The note contained a small portrait of a beautiful woman.

A line of tiny, neatly written characters accompanied the text:

If Jiang Guo'er truly resembles Consort Yu, then within seven days, devise a way to lure her out of the mansion.

Salera frowned and silently climbed onto the wall.

The gaze passed through the moon gate not far away and landed on Jiang Guo'er, who was directing the maids to hang out the moon-white Hangzhou silk with cloud and water patterns in the courtyard.

After comparing the results twice, Salera's heart skipped a beat.

Their eyes do indeed resemble each other somewhat.

She retreated back into the room, casually rolled up the small portrait, stuffed it into a hidden pocket on the side of her waistband, turned around and walked to her desk, picked up her brush and dipped it in ink.

Suddenly, the horrific image of her father being beheaded by the Imperial Guards flashed into her mind, the crimson blood of her clansmen soaking the entire patch of earth.

Salera clenched her molars so tightly that the pen tip left a dot of ink on the paper.

A breathy sound escaped from his nose, sounding like laughter or spitting.

She took a pen and drew a pair of comical, mismatched eyes on a blank piece of parchment paper, with her eyebrows raised high on both sides.

Not disgusting enough, he used the tip of a pen to poke a large circle of pockmarks around his eyes.

"You dog prince, go blind!"

Shala cursed in broken Central Plains dialect as she tightly stuffed the hideously ugly painting back into the bamboo tube on the pigeon's leg.

She pushed open the door and raised her arm, ready to release the pigeons.

Suddenly a "meow" came from the eaves, and a round tabby cat pounced down, heading straight for the pearl pigeon.

Salera was startled and quickly ducked down to protect her.

The cat's paws didn't catch the pigeon, but instead hooked onto her waist belt.

With a forceful pull, the button on the hidden pocket popped open with a "click," and the small portrait of Consort Yu immediately floated out. It was blown by the wind, spun a few times, and landed on the blue brick path outside.

Salera was completely focused on the startled pigeon and turned to chase after the scratchy tabby cat, so she didn't notice that she had dropped something.

Just then, Luyi came over from the kitchen carrying a food box.

She spotted a piece of paper on the ground that was about to be swept away by the wind. She looked around warily, then immediately stepped on it with her shoe.

She pretended to bend down to adjust her skirt and casually slipped the paper into her sleeve.

In the small side room on the west side, Jiang Guo'er was holding a bowl of jujube water and sipping it slowly.

"Young lady, look at this."

Luyi took the paper out of her sleeve and placed the side with writing on it on the table.

Jiang Guo'er stared intently, and her whole body stiffened instantly, a chill running from the soles of her feet straight to her head.

She didn't even notice when the porcelain bowl in her hand hit the table and spilled a lot of water.

No wonder!

No wonder that Hu woman has been squatting in her usual route these past few days, staring into her eyes!

Jiang Guo'er's heart pounded wildly, and she reached out and flipped the note over.

Seeing the portrait of Consort Yu made my heart pound and my scalp tingle.

"No, I have to tell the Prime Minister about this."

Jiang Guo'er stood up, holding onto the edge of the table.

"Don't rush, young lady."

Luyi pressed down on the back of her hand and whispered a dissuasion.

"The Prime Minister is still in the cabinet; he won't be back anytime soon."

"I just went out to East Street to buy hibiscus cake for Madam. I overheard something interesting outside the teahouse. I bet you'll be even more anxious than you are now when you hear it."

Jiang Guo'er patiently asked, "What is it?"

"The newly appointed Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Lord Lu Yunzheng, will arrive in the capital this afternoon to assume his post."

Jiang Guo'er's mind went blank, and she froze on the spot, even her breath caught in her throat.

Lu Yunzheng!

That sworn brother who grew up with my brother!

When the Dingyuan Marquis's mansion was in trouble, Brother Lu had just been sent by the imperial court to serve as a governor in a local area. By the time he received the urgent report and rushed back to the capital overnight, her whole family had already been taken to the execution ground.

"Is it really true?" Jiang Guo'er grabbed Lü Yi's arm with her other hand.

"I heard that clearly. The Lu family's butler should be leading his servants out to greet us right now."

Jiang Guo'er bit her lower lip, her mind racing.

How could the Crown Prince know that she resembled Consort Yu of the previous dynasty?

What is Salera's ultimate goal in getting him to confirm this?

This question pierced her heart like a thorn, and she couldn't figure it out for the time being—

Never mind, we'll figure it out later. For now, let's just focus on taking precautions.

Brother Lu's return to Beijing is now even more urgent.

"I have to go out for a bit."

Jiang Guo'er turned around and wanted to go find the veil.

"This won't do!" Green Rhyme stamped her feet in frustration.

"This Hu woman has been ordered to lure you out of the manor. If you run out now, aren't you just offering yourself up for death?"

"She just received the message and will need time to reply; today is actually the safest time for me!"

Jiang Guo'er was clear-headed and decisive.

"The Changji Clothing Shop on East Street was my brother's secret meeting place with Brother Lu back then."

"As long as I leave a code, he'll get the message and come to see me within fifteen minutes!"

"If I miss this opportunity, it will be too difficult to even see a second-rank official in the capital!"

She handed the small portrait on the table to Lüyi.

"Once Lingyi returns from paying her respects to the Old Madam, give her this to keep safe!"

"I'll tell the Prime Minister about this after I've finished this matter. If he sees this now, given his domineering and suspicious nature, I'm afraid I won't even be able to step out of this courtyard!"

Lu Yi opened her mouth, but for a moment she couldn't find the words to refute it.

"Then take a few more guards! No, no, how about... I'll go with you!"

Jiang Guo'er waved her hand and refused.

She wanted to keep a low profile and take Green Ripple with her, which might alert Salera instead.

As she walked out, her heart pounded wildly.

Brother Lu is back! That's great! As soon as I reach the secret contact point, he'll come to see me!

[Back then, my father and brother were accused of treason and collusion with the enemy. Besides that secret letter, there were several witnesses who implicated them.]

Now that Brother Lu has entered the Censorate, with his power as the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, he will surely be able to find out the truth about those people!

The more she thought about it, the more hopeful she felt, and she couldn't help but pinch the little belly of the doll in her purse.

At the same time, on the bluestone path leading from the main gate of the Pei residence to the main house.

Pei Yan hadn't had time to change out of his court robes and was walking hurriedly.

His face was terribly gloomy.

These days, his trusted confidants have discovered that Prefect Zhao embezzled far more than 100,000 taels of silver in Suzhou; there was as much as 700,000 taels!

Furthermore, much of it was given as a gift to the Xiao family.

My master was an honest and upright official for twenty years. I never imagined that at the very end he would be so bewitched!

How dare he ask me to let Xiao Yuzhen go?

Just then, he heard Jiang Guo'er's inner thoughts.

Pei Yan's foot suddenly stopped, and he staggered.

The servant following behind was startled and quickly stepped forward: "Prime Minister, have you twisted your ankle?"

Pei Yan ignored him, his face, already irritated by the embezzlement case, now darkened even more.

That's great.

He'd only dealt with Xie Pan a couple of days ago, and now another Brother Lu has appeared?!

They even had a pre-arranged secret contact point?

Ah!

Pei Yan gritted his teeth, a surge of anger rising from his chest to his throat, leaving him feeling dry and hoarse.

Just how many good brothers does this woman have hidden away?

Last night, she had red eyes and was clutching his sleeve, afraid that he would touch other women.

As a result, she turned around and wanted to go out and meet other men behind his back!

Pei Yan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the churning anger in his chest, and strode towards the west wing.

"Pass down the order: without my written authorization, not even a fly is allowed to leave the manor today!"