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

Longchuan looked to be no more than thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with a straight nose. Although he had a few signs of age, he was nowhere near "old".

Xin Yi's expression suddenly turned cold. She kicked him with her knee, twisted the man's arm behind his back, and slammed it onto the stone table.

"What audacity! How dare they use disguise to play tricks in the Prime Minister's residence?"

"Speak! Which family sent you as a spy?! If you don't tell me, I'll crush your bones right now and send you to see the Prime Minister!"

The man was in so much pain that the veins on his forehead bulged and he was sweating profusely.

"Heroine, spare me! Ancestors, spare me! My arm is about to break... I'll talk! I'll talk, okay?"

Xin Yi snorted coldly and loosened her grip slightly.

The man, panting heavily, explained in a pained voice with a bitter expression:

"That medicine is truly a heart-protecting elixir passed down from my master."

"I don't want to use danshen that isn't old enough, but nowadays, top-quality wild danshen that's over a hundred years old has become extinct in the Great Yu region!"

"The medicine is indeed less effective, but it's the best I could find. The Prime Minister has been taking it for the past few months, and it's been beneficial."

"Then why are you disguised? Who are you?" Xin Yi's eyes were like knives.

"I am a disciple of Master Longchuan." The man sighed dejectedly, his expression quite bitter.

"He passed away three years ago. When the old lady sent someone with a large sum of money to beg for help at the mountain gate, the Taoist temple was just about to starve."

"Even Taoist priests need to eat, right? I've received my master's true teachings; I know everything he knows. Why not take this money that's practically handed to me?"

He swallowed hard and continued:

"But I am still young, and I was afraid that Old Madam Pei wouldn't trust me, so I had no choice but to disguise myself as my master."

The doubts in Xin Yi's heart not only did not dissipate, but instead accumulated more and more, and she pressed for an answer:

"So what's your real name? If you stay here too long, aren't you afraid the people in the Prime Minister's residence will notice something amiss?"

The man's eyes suddenly dimmed.

"I was originally an orphan... More than ten years ago, in a cold winter, I almost froze to death on the roadside."

"If it weren't for a kind lady who gave me a bowl of hot soup noodles and a thick cotton coat, I would have been a handful of dust long ago."

"To repay the kindness, I secretly took that lady's surname and named myself Jiang Shouyue."

Upon hearing the name "Jiang Shouyue," Xin Yi's heart skipped a beat.

Since Lingyi had come to ask her to come out of seclusion and help, she explained Murong Shunshun's background to her in a very clear way.

She has an excellent memory; isn't the Lady of Dingyuan Marquis surnamed Jiang?

Moreover, her given name happens to contain the character "月" (moon), so her name is Jiang Yuerong.

Jiang Shouyue...Shouyue?

Xin Yi's sharp gaze swept over the man who was pinned to the table.

This man was handsome and refined, but there was a stubborn tenacity hidden in his eyes.

When Madam Jiang saved him, he was just a young boy. If it was to repay a debt of gratitude, how could he possibly repay Madam Jiang...?

What a coincidence that fate can bring us together like this!

Xin Yi didn't dare to completely trust him, and said coldly:

"If what you're saying is true, and you already knew that Aunt Jiang was Murong Shunshun, why did you need to hide it?"

"Are you afraid the Prime Minister will kill you?"

Jiang Shouyue laboriously raised three fingers, facing the sky, his tone resolute:

"I, Jiang Shouyue, swear to the Three Pure Ones! If I harbor even the slightest ill will towards the Prime Minister and Miss Murong, may I be struck by lightning and die without a burial place!"

He let out a long sigh.

"The past is past. I was unable to offer any assistance when the Marquis's mansion suffered misfortune, and I will not mention it now simply because I do not wish to add to Miss Murong's sorrow."

"If you don't trust me, just keep an eye on me day and night!"

"Bah! Who do you think you are, worthy of being watched over by this old lady day and night?"

Xin Yi saw that his eyes were clear and he didn't seem to be lying, but he finally loosened his grip on Jiang Shouyue.

"Alright, I'll trust you this once."

She turned around, sat down on the stone bench in the courtyard with an air of authority, and casually grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the plate and started cracking them open.

"Tell me honestly, just how serious is the Prime Minister's heart ailment?"

"Besides this heart-protecting pill, do you have any other options?"

Jiang Shouyue naturally told Pei Yan about his illness frankly.

However, he gritted his teeth and kept silent about the risky method that he had privately discussed with Pei Yan and decided to use when Pei Yan was on his deathbed.

It's not because the secret techniques cannot be passed on, but rather...

He didn't want Pei Yan and Shun Shun to carry the guilt for the rest of their lives because of this.

Xin Yi sighed softly.

Based on his described symptoms, Pei Yan is likely suffering from congenital heart disease, and it has a family history of the condition.

In ancient times, there was no diagnostic equipment, let alone the conditions for heart surgery. If the best intervention time was missed, the condition would become more and more serious as the child grew up, and even the best medicine would be difficult to cure.

"Miss Murong is truly pitiful. She has only just avenged her family's great grudge, and in a few months she will become a widow."

"We must save her and her three children's lives no matter what."

Jiang Shouyue nodded seriously: "Of course."

The two then engaged in a heated discussion about this issue.

But the more Xin Yi listened, the darker her face became.

This guy showed her his meticulously crafted "Six Jia Pregnancy Protection Talisman" and "Lady Ziying's Labor Induction Talisman".

In case Murong Shunshun had a difficult childbirth, he was prepared to ascend the altar and recite the "Five Thunder Incantation for Childbirth".

Summon the Five Thunder Gods to expel evil, the Wind God to sweep away obstacles, the God of Destiny to protect the pregnant woman, and the Heavenly Venerable Taiyi to save the mother and baby.

Magnolia was utterly speechless. Could this really possibly work?!

It seems she can only rely on herself.

Seeing her get up to leave, Jiang Shouyue slapped her forehead. "Right, you haven't introduced yourself yet. Who are you anyway?"

Xin Yi curled her lip, not turning her head: "Your great-aunt, Xin Yi, is a female physician."

Back inside, she thought it over and over and decided that she should first discuss this matter with Lingyi.

Following the path they had come from, when they arrived at Qingyi Courtyard, they saw Xue Lingyi and Murong Shunshun sitting head to head, huddled together, flipping through a thread-bound book.

The two of them would sometimes cover their mouths and giggle, and then suddenly their eyes would fill with tears, which was quite strange.

Upon closer inspection, Xin Yi realized that they were reading a storybook about the injustice done to the Murong family.

It was Wang Yan, the granddaughter of the Minister of Rites, who accepted their commission and wrote the sample, which she then sent over.

Xin Yi glanced at it from the side; the writing was indeed poignant and captivating.

But after watching for a while, Xin Yi's brows slowly furrowed.

She sniffed, keenly detecting a very subtle, strange smell in the air that shouldn't be in the book.

"Lingyi, smell this book carefully." Xinyi pulled out the storybook and held it to Xue Lingyi's nose.

Xue Lingyi took a deep breath, her mind racing.

"Master, there's no scent of musk or safflower... What did you smell?"

Xin Yi looked solemn and didn't answer. Instead, she deftly took out two double-layered silk veils and had the two of them put them on. Then she waved for them to step back a dozen paces.

Then, she instructed Green Ripple to bring over a burning candlestick.

Lay the storybook flat and place it about an inch above the flames to slowly bake it.

Before long, a stench like that of a dead rat wafted out from the gaps in the paper, hitting the nose directly.

Xue Lingyi's face turned deathly pale, and she gasped softly.

"Oh no! This smell... it's leech powder from the Western Regions!"

"If such a poisonous substance is placed in a pregnant woman's room and she inhales it daily, it will cause the fetus to die or result in a birth defect within half a month!"

Jiang Guo'er's heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively put her hands on her bulging belly, feeling a chill run down her spine.

She suppressed her panic and lowered her eyes in thought.

"Wang Yan has no reason to harm us. Could it be that this storybook was switched with another one before it was handed to us?"

Xin Yi shook her head. "The book wasn't switched."

"Someone ground leeches into extremely fine powder and sprinkled it into the book."

"After the notebook is closed, the pressure from the pages allows some powder to seep in. It's difficult to notice unless you shake it vigorously."

"The powdered lice have an extremely faint smell; unless you have a nose like mine, you'd hardly be able to detect it."

"But this thing will emit a foul odor when it gets heated by fire."

Jiang Guo'er gasped.

She steadied herself and immediately turned to look coldly at Lüyi:

"You yourself went to the side gate and received these words from the Wang family's maid."

"On your way back to Qingyi Courtyard, did you encounter anyone?"

Green Ripple was so frightened that her legs went weak and she broke out in a cold sweat.

"I took the book and hurried back, without passing through anyone else's hands along the way."

"It's just... I tripped and fell while passing through the hanging flower gate, and I couldn't get up for a long time..."

"But... how could it be him? He even kindly helped me up."

"Just tell me who that person is!" Jiang Guo'er demanded sharply.

"Yes...it's Young Master Dingyuan, the eldest son of Second Master Pei."

Jiang Guo'er and Xue Lingyi exchanged a glance, both finding it unbelievable.

The child had just turned six a few days ago.