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

As soon as Xiao Si finished speaking, the room fell silent.

Jiang Guo'er subconsciously pressed her lower abdomen.

If the imperial physician were to actually examine her pulse, aside from the fact that she has tinea pedis, her pregnancy would be impossible to hide.

She took a deep breath, suppressing the panic in her heart.

Lu Yunzheng strode forward and grabbed Jiang Guo'er's wrist.

"Leave immediately! I'll take her out of the city through the back door and get her to my secluded estate!"

Pei Yan exuded an undisguised oppressive aura.

"What's the rush? It's precisely at times like these that we mustn't lose our composure!"

"She disappeared from the Pei residence without any reason, and the Crown Prince will be even more convinced that she looks like the former Consort Yu, and think that I deliberately concealed her identity, which will cause endless trouble in the future."

"That's because you're incompetent!"

Lu Yunzheng's anger flared up, and he pointed at Pei Yan's nose and cursed him mercilessly.

"The Grand Secretary, in all his glory, has allowed that vile scoundrel from the Crown Prince to set his sights on Shun Shun! Is that all you've got?"

Pei Yan was so angry that his ribs went numb. Was being the chief minister so easy?

He does wield immense power, but the frustration of balancing the interests of all parties and stabilizing the situation is indescribable!

Once he finds out who whispered in the Crown Prince's ear that Shunshun's eyes resemble Consort Yu's, he will tear that person to pieces!

He raised his eyes, his gaze like a drawn blade, coldly scraping across Lu Yunzheng's face.

"If Lord Lu has the ability, then go and stop them, and stretch a quarter of an hour into half an hour. If you can't do that, then you'd better shut up now."

Seeing that the two were about to start fighting again, the veins on Jiang Guo'er's forehead throbbed.

"Alright!" She took the initiative, stepping between the two of them. "I'm going back to the Pei residence."

Lu Yunzheng jumped up and down in a panic: "Are you crazy? The imperial physician took your pulse and knew immediately that you don't have peach blossom rash!"

Jiang Guo'er calmed down and began to plan methodically.

"Applying nettle juice to the neck and the back of the hands can induce a rash."

"If I were to smear some soot and stinky black mud from the lotus pond on top, making it look like a disgusting case of severe pus discharge, the imperial physician would believe me and might not bother to take my pulse anymore."

"But before that, we need your two help to buy some time; make sure they arrive later."

Pei Yan frowned.

"The mud from the lotus pond smelled foul and stank on my face..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Guo'er's thoughts echoed in his mind.

When I was homeless, I smeared mud and dog excrement on my face. The beggars and vagrants found me disgusting and gave up on the idea of ​​assaulting me.

What does this little grievance matter? Solving the immediate problem is the most important thing.

Pei Yan's heart ached terribly.

She was even targeted by beggars and vagrants?

Pei Yan felt regretful when he thought about how she was starving and poorly clothed at the time.

I regret not having met Shunshun sooner.

"Okay, we'll do it your way!"

Pei Yan suddenly stood up, ripped off his black cloak, and wrapped it around Jiang Guo'er's head.

He bent down, ignoring Lu Yunzheng's soft exclamation, and picked him up horizontally.

Jiang Guo'er was so startled that she grabbed his collar.

"My lord, I can walk by myself—"

"Xiao Si, get the carriage ready, let's go back to the manor!" He carried Jiang Guo'er and strode out the door.

Lu Yunzheng stood there, his face rather grim.

But he snorted coldly and still quickly followed after them.

---

The carriage of the Eastern Palace was rolling over the bluestone road.

The eunuch Liu sat in the carriage, holding a scented handkerchief in his hand, his face full of impatience.

"Hurry up!"

"His Highness the Crown Prince is still waiting for my reply. It's really bad luck that I would make such a fuss over a mere concubine."

If only he hadn't been so clever as to show the Crown Prince the picture of Consort Yu bathing last night.

The crown prince couldn't restrain himself, but it was his subordinates who were exhausted and broke their legs.

Eunuch Liu was also puzzled. How come he had never heard of a concubine in Prime Minister Pei's mansion who looked like Consort Yu?

Physician Xu sat opposite Eunuch Liu, his hands resting on his medicine box, his eyes closed and silent.

As soon as the carriage turned into an alley, a sudden commotion erupted ahead.

Several ragged beggars and street thugs were wrestling over a heavy money bag.

"Mine! I picked it up first!"

"Nonsense! Grandpa clearly saw it first!"

"Give me back my purse, or I'll break your legs today!"

Seven or eight people grabbed each other's legs and pulled each other's hair, throwing punches and kicks. Soon, a crowd of onlookers gathered around, completely blocking the alley.

Eunuch Liu lifted the curtain and began to curse in his hoarse voice:

"Are you all blind?! You dare block the Crown Prince's carriage? Guards, get these lowly commoners out of here!"

Just as the guards were about to step forward, the group of ruffians not only didn't dodge, but instead fought each other even more fiercely.

One of the burly men was pushed and staggered. As he turned around, he kicked over the wheelbarrow used for collecting swill next to him.

"Splash—"

The wooden bucket tipped over.

Yellowish-green sewage, along with sour vegetable leaves and fish bones, was poured out.

Liu Gonggong was leaning halfway out of the water when he couldn't dodge in time and got a solid splash on his face.

The air went still for a moment.

Immediately afterwards, a sour, putrid stench assaulted my nostrils.

Eunuch Liu was stunned.

He slowly raised his hand and wiped his face.

My palm was covered in yellowish-white grime and half a rotten vegetable leaf.

"vomit--"

He lay on the carriage shaft, vomiting until tears streamed down his face.

The driver was trying hard to suppress his laughter, his shoulders shaking.

On the high wall of the dark alley, Lu Yunzheng's confidant tossed the loose silver in his hand, sneered, and turned to disappear into the darkness.

The carriage was forced to turn around and detour via Xihua Street.

While retching in the carriage, Eunuch Liu pulled off his filthy outer robe.

He had just changed into his spare clothes when the carriage suddenly braked sharply.

"What is it now?!"

Liu Gonggong slammed his head against the side of the carriage, his face contorted in pain.

"What bad luck did we run into today! Why is everything going against us?!"

The sound of neatly rubbing armor plates could be heard from outside the vehicle.

"The City Patrol Division is investigating!"

The leading captain stood in the middle of the street, sword drawn, displaying his token.

"A batch of military ration sacks has gone missing from the official granary. Someone reported that thieves hid the sacks in passing vehicles. As per procedure, all vehicles must have their rations opened and inspected!"

Liu Gonggong was so angry that he lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage.

Her clothes were not yet tied properly, her hair was messy, and she looked utterly disheveled.

"presumptuous!"

"We are acting on the orders of the Crown Prince, and there is also Imperial Physician Xu from the Imperial Hospital in the carriage. How dare you stop us?"

The captain remained unmoved.

"I am acting under orders. If you refuse to cooperate, I will have no choice but to treat this as obstruction of patrol."

"search!"

The city patrol officers immediately surrounded them.

Eunuch Liu was so angry he was trembling, but he dared not actually lay a hand on the patrol officers.

He turned to look at Physician Xu.

Physician Xu had already gotten out of the carriage with his medicine box.

When the patrol soldiers opened the hidden compartment of the carriage, his face remained expressionless; he simply raised his hand to adjust his sleeves.

"Doctor Xu, say something!" Eunuch Liu said angrily.

Physician Xu sighed: "Sir, the city patrol is acting under orders, we will cooperate."

Liu Gonggong almost choked on his breath.

This guy surnamed Xu is quite good at pretending to be a good person!

Once he finishes dealing with the Crown Prince and returns to the Eastern Palace, he will definitely complain to the Crown Prince about the City Patrol Division!

Hidden behind the high walls, Xiao San watched as the patrolmen leisurely inspected the carriages, knowing they could at least stall for another quarter of an hour. He then quietly turned and left.

At this moment, Jiang Guo'er had already returned to the side room.

She sat in front of the bronze mirror and combed her hair again. Green Ripple brought over some freshly dug, smelly mud from the lotus pond in a rough porcelain bowl.

It was shiny black, mixed with rotten seaweed and tiny shrimp shells.

The stench of decay and fermentation made her cover her mouth and nose.

"This mud... are you really going to put it on your face?" Green Ripple asked, still worried.

Jiang Guo'er rolled up her sleeves and reached out to pick up the wooden piece.

"want."

She bent down and stirred the black mud in the bowl.

"The stinkier the mud, the less the imperial physicians wanted to get close."

"Wait a minute."

Pei Yan strode over and grabbed Jiang Guo'er's wrist.

He stared at the bowl of stinking mud, his face darkening as he wanted to smash it away immediately.

"Let the imperial physician do it. He can boil rotten grass, sulfur, and sophora flavescens into a paste, and the taste might just be indistinguishable from the real thing."

Jiang Guo'er frowned and forcibly pulled her hand away.

"Imperial physicians deal with medicinal herbs year-round, and the smell of medicine cannot be hidden from their noses, let alone when there is not enough time."

"I can endure it for an hour or two."

Lu Yunzheng leaned against the door with his arms crossed, looking at Pei Yan with a mocking expression.

"Our Shunshun is not a delicate flower raised in a boudoir, only capable of shedding tears."

"If she couldn't even endure this little bit of hardship, she probably wouldn't have survived to this day in the Grand Secretary's mansion."