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

Pei Yan gave him a cold glance.

Lu Yunzheng raised an eyebrow and looked back at him, showing no fear whatsoever.

After a moment of silence, Pei Yan uttered a single, stiff word: "Fine."

Jiang Guo'er breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him give in.

She picked up a little mud and brought it close to her cheek; the stench of rotting fish and shrimp assaulted her nostrils.

"vomit--"

Jiang Guo'er turned her head away, unable to hold back, and began to gag violently while clutching her handkerchief.

Tears welled up instantly in her eyes, and her thin shoulders trembled uncontrollably.

Without a second thought, Pei Yan placed his large hand on her back and gently patted her spine.

"Lvyi! Go get some ginger candy! Hurry!"

Pei Yan gave the order sternly, his voice revealing an undisguised urgency.

He turned his head, looked at Jiang Guo'er's pale face, and pursed his thin lips.

Pei Yan deftly took off his outer robe, folded it twice, and placed it on Jiang Guo'er's knees.

"Don't get your skirt dirty."

Jiang Guo'er was stunned.

He loves cleanliness.

Now, however, he has taken his own robes to use as a mat for her to cover the mud.

Immediately afterwards, he snatched the wooden piece from Jiang Guo'er's hand.

Jiang Guo'er looked up in surprise: "Prime Minister?"

"Sit still, I'll help you apply it."

He was a severe germaphobe, and he would wipe his fingers repeatedly if they were even slightly dusty. But at this moment, he didn't even flinch as he squatted in front of her and used a piece of wood to pick up the foul-smelling mud.

Lu Yunzheng smirked and scoffed.

"It's truly rare for a Grand Secretary to condescend to do this. When did you learn to serve others?"

A little while later, Lüyi brought over some ginger candy. Jiang Guo'er put a piece under her tongue, and the nausea immediately subsided.

Pei Yan picked up a piece of mud with a wooden stick and smeared it steadily on Jiang Guo'er's cheek, completely ignoring Lu Yunzheng.

Just as the makeup was being done in the side room, outside the main gate of the Pei residence...

After a long and complicated process, Eunuch Liu finally brought Physician Xu to the Prime Minister's residence.

Manager Zhao was already waiting at the door, bowing to greet them.

Although Eunuch Liu had changed his clothes, he still smelled sour, and his face was so black it looked like ink could drip from it.

He pinched his fingers together and complained in a shrill voice:

"We're acting on the Crown Prince's orders! This whole journey has been fraught with bad luck – from ignorant commoners to carriage checks!"

Manager Zhao smiled obsequiously.

"Father-in-law, you've gone through a lot."

"The capital has been quite unsettled lately, and the city patrol is acting on orders."

Physician Xu stood to the side, carrying his medicine box, his gaze passing over Steward Zhao and falling into the depths of the inner courtyard.

The group had just passed through the moon gate and were walking past a wide lotus pond.

Behind the artificial hill, Salera crouched in the shadows.

Xiao Si returned to the mansion ahead of time to deliver the message.

People from the Crown Prince's Palace were coming to cause trouble for Consort Jiang, and Pei Yan ordered her to find a way to delay Eunuch Liu and not harm Physician Xu.

She was tightly gripping a hemp rope, the other end of which was tied to a large gray donkey that had been led out from the backyard.

Salera's bright green eyes stared at the approaching eunuch Liu, a paper packet filled with pepper powder clutched in her hand.

"The eunuchs of the Central Plains are rootless, scoundrels, and need to be taught a lesson."

Salera muttered under her breath in her broken Central Plains dialect.

She seized the opportunity, wrapped the oil paper under the donkey's nose and slapped it, instantly covering the gray donkey's face with pepper powder.

Then, Salera loosened the rope and kicked the donkey hard in the rump.

"Achoo! Ouch!!!"

The gray donkey let out a deafening bray, white breath spewing from its nostrils, and charged out of the artificial hill like a madman.

"What is that?! Quick, protect our home!"

Liu Gonggong was terrified and tried to hide behind the guards, but the crazed gray donkey had already raised its hind legs and kicked him hard in the buttocks.

"Ouch!"

Liu Gonggong let out a piercing scream and was sent flying.

Splash! Water splashed everywhere.

Grandpa Liu splashed around frantically in the lotus pond, swallowing a mouthful of green water.

As luck would have it, a withered lotus stem pierced straight into his nostril.

"Quick! Quickly get the father-in-law out of the water!" Manager Zhao was so anxious he was jumping up and down.

The guards and servants were in complete chaos, scrambling to get to the edge of the pond.

Physician Xu watched as Eunuch Liu struggled in the water, his face grim and unpleasant. The inner courtyard was right in front of him, yet this had happened, wasting his time for nothing.

He came to the Pei residence today on the orders of the Crown Prince to treat the peach blossom rash of Pei Yan's concubine, Jiang Guo'er.

At the same time, there was also a secret order from the Crown Princess—

If Aunt Jiang's eyes truly resemble those of Consort Yu from the previous dynasty, then let her never breathe again.

"Splash—"

Like a drowned rat, Eunuch Liu was dragged out of the lotus pond by two guards.

He had half a withered lotus leaf on his head, and the green pond water was dripping down his chin. His clothes were soaked, and even his boots were filled with water.

"They've rebelled! They've all rebelled!"

Liu Gonggong abruptly shook off the guard's hand that was supporting him and screamed in a hoarse voice.

He wiped the mud off his face and pointed at the servants of the Pei family around him.

"We are here on His Highness the Crown Prince's orders! Your Pei family can't even keep an eye on a beast; are you deliberately trying to antagonize the Eastern Palace?"

Manager Zhao, covered in sweat, bent over and repeatedly bowed in apology.

"Lead the way! We need to see that concubine surnamed Jiang right now!"

"Please calm down, sir. That gray donkey was just a livestock from the backyard. It was probably startled and that's why it bumped into you. I've already ordered someone to deal with it—"

"Stop talking nonsense with us!"

Eunuch Liu was so angry that he trembled all over, his eyes filled with malice.

"Lead the way! Take me to see that Aunt Jiang right now!"

"Even if she's dead, we'll take a good look at what she looks like!"

Several guards immediately stepped forward, blocking the moon gate, and placed their hands on the hilts of their swords.

The guards from the Eastern Palace behind Eunuch Liu also frowned and pressed their hands to the swords at their waists.

Manager Zhao was caught in the middle, so anxious that his back was soaked with sweat.

On one side were the Crown Prince's close attendants, and on the other were the Prime Minister's personal guards. If a fight were to break out in the mansion, even ten heads wouldn't be enough to chop off his head.

Just then, Pei Yan, standing in the shadows of the corridor, slightly tilted his head and gave Xiao San a wink.

Xiao San immediately raised his hand.

The guards all stepped back half a step, making way for them.

Eunuch Liu sneered, thinking that the Prime Minister's residence was indeed afraid of the Crown Prince's Palace, and then he stepped into the inner courtyard.

Pei Yan, sleeves tucked in, watched his retreating figure with a cold expression.

Blocking it by force won't solve the problem.

Having already set the trap, he let Physician Xu and Eunuch Liu step inside themselves.

The gates of the Prime Minister's residence are not a place they can come and go as they please!

Physician Xu, carrying a heavy medicine chest, followed closely behind Eunuch Liu, stepping onto the steps of the side room.

The moment the door was pushed open a crack, a stench of decay and putrefaction assaulted the senses.

Liu Gonggong was the first to be affected, and the smell made him roll his eyes.

He covered his nose and backed away, eventually retreating into the yard.

"Is this...is this a person lying in this room, or a corpse?!" Eunuch Liu fanned himself with disgust, his fingers twirling in a delicate gesture.

Doctor Xu peered inside curiously.

Severe cases of lichen can indeed cause pus and rotting of the skin, but it shouldn't smell this bad.

The bed curtains were drawn low, and Jiang Guo'er huddled under the brocade quilt, only half of her face showing.

His face was covered in black mud, and large patches of red rashes crawled all over his cheeks, neck, and the back of his hands. The edges of the rashes were oozing yellow fluid, and he looked swollen and festering.

Forget about recognizing the appearance of a former imperial concubine; even a single glance would make me want to vomit my dinner from the night before.

"Why are you smearing mud on it?" Doctor Xu asked the nearest maid.

That maid was none other than Lüyi.

Green Ripple lowered her head and replied, "Because it was so itchy, Aunt Jiang couldn't stand it, so she used this folk remedy."

"Doctor Xu! What are you standing there for?" Eunuch Liu shouted from outside the door, pinching his nose.

"Go in! Hurry in and see what His Highness the Crown Prince sent us here for. Don't forget!"