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

"This is outrageous...this is truly outrageous..."

The old lady clutched her chest, gasping for breath, this time truly enraged to the point of seeing black eyes.

The time is right.

Jiang Guo'er took a deep breath, peeked out from behind Pei Yan, her eyes reddening instantly, misty with tears.

"Grandmother, please don't blame the Prime Minister."

She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, her voice soft and aggrieved, "It's just... the Prime Minister is being forced to the point where he can't take it anymore."

The old lady was stunned for a moment.

Jiang Guo'er sniffed.

"This morning, Xiao Shi from Chuyun Temple suddenly returned to the Prime Minister's residence and barged into the study."

"Taking advantage of the debt of gratitude for being raised, they not only slapped the Prime Minister hard across the face, but also forced him to spare the Xiao family's criminals!"

"The Prime Minister toils for the country every day, yet upon returning home, he is slapped and verbally abused by his own mother, breaking his heart."

"If you keep pressuring him like this, how will he have the energy to navigate the court and support the vast Pei family?"

The old lady was stunned to hear that Xiao had secretly returned to the mansion and even hit him.

That useless thing! More trouble than it's worth!

Seeing that the old lady's expression had relaxed, Jiang Guo'er quickly seized the opportunity to strike while the iron was hot.

"Grandmother, if you have even a shred of pity for the Prime Minister, perhaps... you could listen to my compromise?"

The old lady glared at her irritably.

"Do you have any good ideas?"

"There's no rush to divorce Lingyi," Jiang Guo'er said with a considerate smile. "Although the Prime Minister values ​​her highly, I don't want to put my grandmother in a difficult position. I can wait for the title of principal wife."

She paused, then changed the subject.

"As for the second point, as long as the children are treated equally, it's not difficult to arrange."

"However, there are too many people and too much gossip in the Prime Minister's residence right now, and if this goes on for too long, it will surely cause trouble."

"How about... we find an excuse to send all those collateral branches of the family back to their ancestral home in Hedong County?"

"Make room for them in their courtyard and their allotted living quarters."

"That way, everything will be peaceful and quiet, and we won't have to worry about the news leaking out. We can raise our children however we want. Don't you think that makes sense?"

Upon hearing this, the old lady felt as if she had been slapped on the top of the head.

Drive all the collateral branches back to Hedong County?!

That won't do! She kept the grandsons of the second, third, and fourth wives in the mansion to keep Pei Yan in check.

This kid is far less docile than his brother; to say he's wild and untamed would be an understatement!

He was very shrewd and patiently endured for four years before finally snapping. Today, he was clearly targeting his grandmother!

If they all leave, the Pei residence will inevitably become his personal fiefdom, leaving no room for this old woman to speak!

The lesser of two evils.

The old lady's mind raced with calculations.

In comparison, it's just a change to the old rules about twins... so it's not that hard to accept.

The air was silent for a moment.

The old lady leaned against her pillow and sighed heavily.

"Enough, enough. Since things have come to this, let's obey the Prime Minister and change that unreasonable rule."

"The children are yours; raise them however you want."

She waved her hand weakly and said, "I'm practically half-buried, I can't take care of you anymore."

"If you have any conscience at all... then stop trying to annoy me."

Pei Yan's eyes flickered slightly, a hint of surprise crossing his mind.

Quickly realizing what was happening, Shunshun used a strategy of advancing and retreating, and succeeded!

"Grandson thanks Grandmother for her kindness!"

The two bowed and left Songhe Garden side by side.

Pei Yan stopped walking when he reached a secluded spot.

Turning her head, she gazed at the cunning and lively Shunshun in front of her, and her heart softened.

Their eyes met, and they both saw a relaxed smile in each other's eyes.

Pei Yan smiled slightly, cupped her waist with his large hand, and held her tightly by his side, feeling utterly satisfied.

Early morning, the dungeon of the Pei residence was cold and damp.

Water seeped from the cracks in the wall, and the smell of mold and decay mixed with the stench of blood, making one's chest feel suffocated.

Lu Yunzheng strode in carrying a person who was bound hand and foot, and threw the person onto the stone floor like a bag of rotten grain.

"Stay put."

Gou Liuzhi rolled around and hit his back against the corner of the wall, gasping for breath in pain.

He hunched his shoulders, the extra finger on his left hand curled up in his palm, trembling uncontrollably.

In the next cell, the Red Di prince, who had been resting with his eyes closed against the wall, suddenly rushed to the iron bars upon hearing the noise.

He was disheveled, gripping the iron bars with both hands, and shouting in broken Mandarin:

"Kill me or torture me, give me a quick death! Are you Central Plains people only capable of torturing people in secret?"

Lu Yunzheng's temples throbbed from the noise, and he raised his hand to pick at his ears.

"You barbarian, your Mandarin sounds like a leaky, broken drum. What are you howling about?"

The Red Di prince was so angry that his face turned blue, and he was about to curse again, but Lu Yunzheng was too lazy to pay attention to him.

He locked Gou Liuzhi up, turned around, and walked through the dungeon passage, going up the stone steps.

Above the dungeon was an inconspicuous guardhouse.

The doors and windows were closed, but the lights were on inside.

Pei Yan, dressed in a dark blue robe, sat behind the desk.

His eyes had a faint bluish tint, and his expression was as cold as if covered with frost.

Lu Yunzheng pushed open the door and entered, not even bothering to take a sip of tea, and placed his hands on the rosewood table.

"Give it all up!"

Pei Yan raised his eyes.

Lu Yunzheng's eyes were bloodshot, yet surprisingly bright.

"Last night I took Gou Liuzhi to see Liu Quan. Liu Quan was still stubborn at first, but as soon as Gou Liuzhi opened his mouth and told him how he had embezzled disaster relief grain, forged official documents, and spread rumors to frame the Marquis of Dingyuan, the guy immediately collapsed."

He gave a cold laugh.

"Gou Liuzhi is far less principled than Liu Quan, who thoroughly exposed the filth he had committed."

Pei Yan pressed his fingertip against a corner of the dossier, his voice deep: "What did Liu Quan say?"

"She was crying like a baby."

Lu Yunzheng gritted his teeth, unable to suppress the hatred in his eyes.

"He said he hated the wrong person. He thought that the Marquis of Dingyuan had withheld disaster relief grain, causing the death of his wife and children, which is why he agreed to work for him and committed a grave mistake."

The room fell silent for a moment.

The lamplight on the desk flickered, illuminating Pei Yan's cold and stern features.

"Who was the person behind it all, as revealed by Liu Quan?"

Lu Yunzheng's facial features were tightly furrowed.

"Lu Bingde, former Director of the Military Selection and Appointment Office, now Vice Minister of War!"

Pei Yan took out a secret report from his sleeve and threw it into Lu Yunzheng's arms.

Lu Yunzheng caught it, tore it open, and took a look.

The three characters circled in vermilion on the paper were—Lu Bingde.

He stared at it for a long time, then suddenly cursed under his breath.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Ah Sheng and his uncle and aunt... died at the hands of this thing."

Pei Yan's eyes darkened, and he called out towards the door, "Xiao San."

A dark figure silently descended outside the door.

"Go to Qingyi Garden and ask Aunt Jiang to come to the dungeon to stand guard."

"Yes."

Before half a cup of tea had been brewed, the curtain was lifted.

Jiang Guo'er was wearing a moon-white jacket with a front opening, and her hair was loosely tied up, indicating that she had come in a hurry.

She first looked at Pei Yan, then at Lu Yunzheng.

"But is there any news about Gou Liuzhi?"

Pei Yan got up and led her to sit down at the table.

"Gou Liuzhi has already confessed."

He told her the results of the interrogation, Liu Quan's confession, and Lu Bingde's name one by one.

Jiang Guo'er's fingers suddenly tightened.

She lowered her eyes and picked up the secret report.

Father, Mother, Brother, Sister-in-law, Chunxiang...

I've finally found the person who harmed you.

A tear fell, blurring the ink mark next to the character "卢".

Lu Yunzheng was holding a handkerchief in his hand, intending to hand it over, but Pei Yan silently shook his head at him.