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

In the east wing of Qingyi Garden, the sun had just set behind the eaves.

Xue Lingyi stood in front of the antique shelf, directing her maids to arrange the porcelain vases and books.

"Move that celadon plum vase half an inch inwards, so it's not directly facing the window. It would be a pity if it broke in a strong wind."

Several maids hurriedly responded.

Luyi lifted the thick felt curtain and strode into the room, her expression somewhat solemn.

"Madam, Aunt Jiang, Steward Zhao has sent someone to carry in a burlap sack."

Jiang Guo'er was sitting by the window, sipping bird's nest soup.

Upon hearing this, the porcelain spoon in her hand froze in mid-air.

"sack?"

Lu Yi lowered her voice.

"They said they found him outside the side gate. He was still alive, and Steward Zhao didn't dare to act on his own, so he brought him here for Madam to decide."

Xue Lingyi frowned.

"Bring it in."

Before long, two rough-looking old women carried a sack into Qingyi Garden.

The sack made a dull thud when it hit the ground.

One of them untied the knot and tilted the bag down.

A person with gray hair and covered in mud was rolling on the blue bricks in the courtyard.

Her hands were bound behind her back with hemp rope, her clothes were torn to shreds, and there were several fresh bloodstains on her face. She was making broken "woo-woo" sounds. It was none other than Li Mama, Hongzhu's mother.

Xue Lingyi covered her nose with a handkerchief, frowned, and asked, "How did you get like this?"

Green Ripple replied in a low voice, "After Consort Yu was given a death sentence in the palace, this Granny Li was thrown out of the palace by the eunuchs."

"The city patrol officers recognized her as a former member of the Pei family and, fearing that her death in the street would cause gossip, escorted her to the side gate."

Jiang Guo'er looked down at Granny Li.

Granny Li was also looking up at her.

Those cloudy eyes no longer held the resentment and scheming of the past, only fear and pleading remained.

Xue Lingyi turned to look at Jiang Guo'er: "She caused you a lot of trouble back then. What do you plan to do with her?"

Jiang Guo'er glanced at her indifferently, then gently placed her hand on her lower abdomen.

Consider it a good deed for the child; she doesn't want to see blood.

"Debts are settled with the dead. Hongzhu is dead, and our feud is over."

"Send her to the village in the south."

"If she can work in the fields, she can have food to eat; if she can't... then her life is over."

Granny Li was stunned.

She originally thought that Jiang Guo'er would definitely take the opportunity to retaliate and take her life, but she didn't expect that she would be spared!

Granny Li struggled to break free from the old woman's grasp, crawled down the steps on her knees, and slammed her head heavily against the stone slab with a dull thud.

Then, to everyone's astonishment, Granny Li, with trembling hands, actually untied her own belt!

Jiang Guo'er's eyes widened, and she took half a step back.

What, what's going on here now?

In broad daylight, how could a pregnant woman like her stand to witness such a filthy scene!

Li Mama reached into her underpants, fumbled around for a moment, and pulled out a neatly folded, wrinkled piece of silk cloth, which she presented to Jiang Guo'er with both hands.

Jiang Guo'er finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She had just thought that the old woman had suffered some kind of trauma in the palace and was about to do something indecent.

Despite the musty, fishy smell, Lüyi used two fingers to pick up the silk cloth and spread it out on the table.

The silk cloth had more than a dozen names written on it.

After each person's name, there is a line of numbers.

"In February, at Yicang, there were 3,000 [units of currency]."

"In May, the southern treasury received 8,000."

"In July, Bing Yin, five thousand."

The ink varies in shade, indicating that it was not written in a single day.

Xue Lingyi was initially just puzzled, but when she saw the third line, her expression gradually darkened.

She pointed to one of the names.

"This person is Zhou Heng, an assistant minister in the Ministry of War."

Jiang Guo'er's eyes flickered.

Zhou Heng?

This person was also on the list of unusual promotions in the Ministry of War that Lu Yunzheng had previously provided.

Jiang Guo'er gently pressed her fingertips on a corner of the silk cloth.

Further down the ranks were Wang, the Chief Clerk of the Ministry of Revenue's Bureau of Personnel, and Zhao, the Assistant Magistrate of the Salt Tax Bureau, as well as two minor officials in charge of military supplies transportation.

These people did not hold high official ranks, and their salaries were fixed.

The number recorded on the back of the silk cloth was at least three thousand and at most nearly ten thousand.

"This is not a typical private account."

Xue Lingyi nodded.

"It's like someone is using warehouses, salt permits, medicinal herbs, or other pretexts to secretly smuggle money."

"And these names..." She looked up at Jiang Guo'er, "are very likely just people who take money."

Jiang Guo'er's heart sank.

How could Consort Yu obtain so many officials' private accounts?

She either secretly obtained it from the Crown Prince, or she obtained it from Empress Xiao Yuzhen.

She thought it was a life-saving charm, but she never expected that the Empress Dowager would take her life. Before she could take it out, she was beaten to death.

The current emperor is cracking down on corrupt officials and imposing extremely severe penalties, often confiscating their property and implicating their entire families.

But money can be a powerful motivator, and some people, relying on their connections, continue to engage in these dirty dealings.

Xue Lingyi whispered, "This thing is too hot to handle. We must give it to the Prime Minister as soon as he returns to the mansion."

Jiang Guo'er nodded and carefully put the list into the box.

At Xue Lingyi's command, Granny Li was then taken away.

Jiang Guo'er sat back on the soft couch and picked up the silk doll.

Pei Yan has not returned to the mansion for two days.

With the palace in such chaos, he must have had to review countless memorials, meet with countless people, and stay up countless nights in the cabinet.

Jiang Guo'er pursed her lips.

She took a small wooden comb and carefully combed her hair, massaging her scalp.

Then, I gently rubbed its shoulder with my thumb.

I pressed its knee again.

"You must be exhausted these past few days, your body must be stiff."

After she finished speaking, her ears turned red.

Why is she worrying about this?

Pei Yan is the Grand Secretary of the court. How could he not order a few palace maids to give him a massage?

It's none of her business to worry about that.

But the hand that was massaging the doll's shoulders didn't stop.

"Never mind, I massaged it for the child so his father would feel more comfortable and wouldn't come back with a cold face that would scare him."

Meanwhile, in the Forbidden City, in the Cabinet office.

Pei Yan has not slept for two days.

The news of Emperor Zhaode's stroke and coma was still suppressed within the palace walls, and it was only said to the outside world that His Majesty had caught a cold and needed to rest for several days.

Memorials submitted to the court were temporarily drafted by the cabinet and then sent to the Empress Dowager for review.

On the spacious mahogany desk, memorials were piled up like a small mountain.

Pei Yan was dressed in a scarlet official robe, with some cinnabar ink stains on his fingers.

He took up his pen to review the papers, his handwriting steady and sharp. Bloodshot veins appeared in his eyes, but he kept his brows tightly furrowed, showing no sign of fatigue.

Suddenly, his fingers paused slightly.

He felt as if someone was gently combing his hair from the air.

A pair of warm little hands massaged his shoulders a few times.

Immediately afterwards, I felt a faint warmth in my knees.

Pei Yan's usually cold and stern expression softened considerably since the day he entered the palace.

Shun Shun.

She must be fiddling with the dolls again.

Did you give him a massage on purpose? Did you miss him?

Pei Yan's lips curled into a smile.

Xiao San pushed open the door and entered, kneeling on one knee and whispering his report:

"Master, the message has already been sent out."

"The various prefectures and counties, as well as the northern frontier, will soon receive news that the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace has been secretly intercepting and killing caravans from the Western Regions, plundering rare medicinal herbs, and concocting poisonous pills to harm His Majesty. He is now under house arrest by the Empress Dowager and there are strong signs that he will be deposed."

"As for the Taoist priests who were ordered to be sent out of the Eastern Palace by the Crown Princess on the day of the fire, they have all been captured and are under guard."

Pei Yan composed himself, picked up his brush and ink, and wrote the words "Approved" on the ticket.

"Very good. With the Crown Prince under house arrest in the Eastern Palace, information is scarce, and his henchmen are leaderless."

"Those alchemists...let's keep them well-fed and cared for under house arrest until the emperor wakes up, then send them to the palace."

He raised his eyes, his gaze as cold as a deep winter pool.

"I'll write a letter from Xue Tao to Lu Yunzheng right away. We don't need to worry about alerting them anymore; let's take action immediately against Liu Quan, the head of the Ministry of War in Baoding Prefecture!"

"No matter what means we use, even if it means skinning him alive, we will make him spill all the truth he knows."

Xiao San took the Xue Tao letter he had written, accepted the order, and withdrew.

Pei Yan reached out and took a blank sheet of Xuan paper, then picked up a wolf-hair brush.

He intended to write this letter to Sima Di, the general who was stationed in Xuanwu.

After Marquis Dingyuan, Murong Kui, was unjustly killed, the northern border defense line was under constant strain year after year.

The Red Di people are cunning, like wolves on the grasslands. They only attack when the Great Chu is weak, grabbing a piece and running away, never lingering in battle.

Rumors are now spreading from the capital to the northern frontier that the crown prince has lost power and the emperor is seriously ill.

If the Red Di believed this, they would surely think that the Great Chu was in turmoil.

Isn't this the perfect bait?!

Pei Yan wrote only a few lines in the letter.

"The Crown Prince is in a precarious position, the court is on the verge of chaos, and the Red Di will surely make a move. Prepare sufficient provisions, lure them out of their hiding place, and annihilate them in one fell swoop."

After writing it, he sealed the letter with dark red wax and stamped it with his personal seal.

"Send this letter to the northern frontier by express courier, traveling 800 li at breakneck speed."