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

Pei Yan didn't know what he was feeling.

Anger, indignation, helplessness, and a hint of indescribable grievance.

"In the end, you just don't want to believe the truth... yet you dare to believe Lu Yunzheng?"

"Brother Lu is certainly trustworthy!"

Hearing her answer so decisively, Pei Yan's expression darkened again.

"How can you be so sure his character hasn't changed after all these years?"

"impossible."

Jiang Guo'er's gaze faltered slightly, as if she were looking through the window at the former residence of the Marquis of Dingyuan.

"Brother Lu is my older brother. We studied and practiced archery together since we were little. We are as close as brothers."

"Once, my brother offended a member of the imperial family in the Imperial Academy. That person was determined to harm him. Brother Lu was willing to risk his own future and life to testify for my brother."

He valued his brother more than his own eyes.

Pei Yan's face grew increasingly gloomy.

That's enough.

"That's not enough? You don't understand at all."

Jiang Guo'er wiped away the tears on her face.

"Given his personality, he must have been lying low all these years to gain the power to report rumors and exonerate his brother."

Pei Yan really wanted to throw that roll of Lu Yunzheng's resume in front of her.

Lu Yunzheng knew better than Jiang Guo'er who he was investigating.

The two informants had already noticed something, and he ordered Xiao San to secretly remind Lu Yunzheng and point the finger at the former head of the Ministry of War in Baoding Prefecture.

Otherwise, if Lu Yunzheng continues his investigation, he will lose his life before he can overturn the case against the Murong family.

But these words cannot be said.

Once it's spoken, it's tantamount to admitting it out loud—

He knew that Jiang Guo'er was deceiving him, using him, and even planned to sever all ties with him after giving birth to their child, but he still couldn't bear to see her in danger.

Even Lu Yunzheng, he had to protect her.

absurd!

He hated being deceived by others more than anything in his life, yet he fell for a woman who was full of lies, and he did so willingly.

Pei Yan's throat bobbed, but he ultimately swallowed his words.

Seeing his silence, Jiang Guo'er assumed he had nothing to say.

"You hold a high position and wield great power. If you are ever unhappy, killing me is just a matter of a word."

"But Brother Lu would never harm me!"

Pei Yan felt utterly choked up.

She was certain that Lu Yunzheng would not harm her, but she was constantly worried that he would kill her.

These days, she's willing to snuggle in his arms and act coquettishly, and at night she'll even clutch his nightgown in her sleep.

He had thought that he finally held some weight in her heart.

Looking back now, those few pounds were pitifully light; they could have been scattered by a gust of wind.

The room remained quiet for a long time.

After a while, when the bowl of fish porridge on the table had completely lost its heat and a thin layer of rice oil had formed on the surface, Pei Yan finally spoke:

"I will remove the servant outside the side room."

Jiang Guo'er looked up at him.

"From now on, you may go wherever you wish in the manor, but you must inform us in advance and bring at least two maids with you."

Jiang Guo'er's prepared rebuttal suddenly got stuck in her throat.

Her words just now carried a hint of resentment, but they weren't all directed at Pei Yan.

If Pei Yan really wanted to kill her, he could have done so when Tan Yu revealed her identity.

Why bother tying the sachet around your waist to shield her from blame?

"I don't think you're cruel or violent." Jiang Guo'er regained her composure, her voice softening, "I just..."

"No need to explain." Pei Yan turned his face away.

Ultimately, she trusted Lu Yunzheng more.

There were three knocks on the door.

"Your Excellency, I am back."

Pei Yan opened the door.

Xiao San stood under the eaves and took out a thin bamboo tube sealed with wax from his bosom.

"I went to Changji Clothing Shop, but I didn't see Aunt Jiang."

He paused slightly when he caught a glimpse of Jiang Guo'er inside the room.

"My subordinates found this at the old liaison point. Judging from the markings left by the sealing wax, it should have been left by Lu Yunzheng."

Jiang Guo'er immediately stood up.

"Give me!"

Pei Yan took the bamboo tube first.

She walked over quickly and reached out to snatch it.

Pei Yan raised his arm and held the bamboo tube above his head.

Jiang Guo'er tiptoed, her fingertips barely touching his sleeve.

Unconvinced, she tiptoed again, her embroidered shoe slipped, and she bumped into his arms.

Pei Yan's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly put his arm around her waist, his breathing suddenly becoming heavier.

"This was left by Brother Lu, why won't you give it to me?"

"Swear it."

"What?"

"You will never go to see Lu Yunzheng without my permission."

Jiang Guo'er bit her lower lip.

"You just said you would dismiss the servants."

"What I meant was that you are allowed to move freely within the mansion."

"That's my brother's sworn brother!"

"He is also an unmarried man."

Jiang Guo'er was so angry she wanted to stomp on him, but the bamboo tube was still in Pei Yan's hand.

She gritted her teeth and raised three fingers.

"I swear, I will never see Lu Yunzheng without Pei Yan's permission. Is that alright?"

Pei Yan then withdrew his hand.

In front of her, he removed the outer layer of wax seal and pulled out a very thin strip of paper from the bamboo tube.

There were only six words on the paper:

Baochen, I'm back.

Pei Yan stared at the six characters on the paper, pressing down on the two characters "Bao Chen" with his fingertip, remaining motionless for a long time.

"He always calls you that?"

Jiang Guo'er was taken aback.

"What?"

"Baochen".

Pei Yan held the note between two fingers, his tone extremely cold and hard, even his breathing became heavy.

"Didn't you say you hadn't seen him for many years? You're still using the same nickname for him in private, so your relationship is deeper than I thought."

Jiang Guo'er had previously been moved to tears by the words "I'm back," but now she was forced to stop crying because of his outburst.

"Your Excellency has investigated the entire Murong family, yet you don't remember my brother's courtesy name?"

Pei Yan raised an eyebrow.

Jiang Guo'er suppressed a laugh, but also felt annoyed.

"My elder brother, Murong Sheng, courtesy name Baochen. This sentence from Brother Lu was written for him."

She raised her hand and pointed to herself.

"My parents are Buddhists, and my given name is Bao Zhen Kong."

Pei Yan's hand, which was holding the note, suddenly stopped.

Xiao San, standing outside the door, lowered his head and his shoulders trembled slightly.

Pei Yan pressed his finger to the bridge of his nose, coughed, and flipped the note over.

"I naturally remember."

"Is that so?" Jiang Guo'er looked at him. "Then why did the Prime Minister interrogate me just now?"

"Verify."

"The Grand Secretary has verified everything so thoroughly that he didn't even miss the fact that he was jealous of my deceased brother."

This time, Xiao San couldn't help but let out a slight hiss.

Pei Yan raised his eyes and glanced over.

Xiao San immediately stood up straight.

"Go wait under the eaves."

"Yes."

Jiang Guo'er's pent-up frustration dissipated slightly.

She took the note back, looked at the six words again, and her smile slowly faded.

"When my family first had this accident, Brother Lu was unaware of it. Uncle Lu deliberately kept the news from him to prevent him from acting impulsively. By the time he heard the bad news and rushed back to the capital, it was already too late."

Her fingertips touched the word "come back".

"He gradually moved back to the capital and climbed step by step to the position of Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate."

"Now, I can finally fulfill the promise I made to my brother in the past."

Pei Yan did not point out Lu Yunzheng's mistakes again.

He also had a deceased older brother.

A promise made by the living to the dead must be kept, even if ten or twenty years have passed.

Fate plays tricks on people; Murong Shunshun... was originally his elder brother's sweetheart.

But by a twist of fate, she became his woman.

Pei Yan took the bamboo tube from Jiang Guo'er and was about to put it back on the table when his thumb was suddenly pricked by a hard edge on the sealed edge.

He opened his hand and found a tiny bit of dark red wax residue on his fingertips.

After ordinary wax has solidified, the edges are not smooth, but they are not so brittle.

He looked down at the bamboo tube, and gently ran his fingertip along the seal. Sure enough, he felt a very shallow raised mark in the shade.

"Add another lamp."

Xiao San quickly brought over the lamps.

Pei Yan brought the bamboo tube close to the firelight and slowly turned it.

The light from the two lamps overlapped, revealing a ring of extremely fine gray-white cracks around the edge of the dark red sealing wax.

One side is smooth, while the other looks like it was painstakingly patched up later, with slightly different shades of color.

Jiang Guo'er's expression hardened.

"Is there a problem with the seal?"

"Bring me a glass of water and a thin blade."

Xiao San quickly brought the items into the house.

Pei Yan used a thin blade to scrape off a small amount of wax from the edge of the sealant.

Dark red wax shavings fell into clear water and floated on the surface.

He then picked out a tiny piece from the crevices near the bamboo joints.

The second piece was darker in color and sank for a while before floating after being submerged in water.

Jiang Guo'er bent down to take a closer look and secretly took a breath.

"Did you use two kinds of wax?"

"The outer layer is mixed with pine resin, which makes it softer when heated." Pei Yan touched the crack with the tip of his knife.

"Someone heated and sealed the wax first, then took out the paper strip, looked at it, and sealed it back. The heat wasn't controlled properly, and the old wax and new wax didn't completely mix together."

Jiang Guo'er's heart tightened, and she immediately picked up the note to examine it closely.

When Lu Yunzheng was young, he practiced calligraphy and was always teased by Murong Sheng for his heavy strokes at the end of his strokes.

Although his habits changed a lot later, he still liked to flick the last stroke of the character "宝" upwards, while the last stroke of the character "臣" was pressed down very firmly.

"This was written by Brother Lu himself."

"The handwriting only proves that it was indeed written by him." Pei Yan put down the thin blade. "It doesn't prove that no one else saw it besides us."

Jiang Guo'er squeezed the paper strip tightly.

Changji Clothing Shop was a secret contact point left behind by the Murong family in the past.

If Xiao San can find them by following the slightest clues, he might also find the people who framed the Murong family.

"Oh no, Brother Lu is being watched!"