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

Xue Lingyi frowned, finding the matter quite troublesome.

"What should we do? If we openly confront the second wife's family, the child will definitely not admit it."

"You know the Second Madam's temperament. She might turn around and accuse me of being petty as an elder, unable to tolerate even a six-year-old nephew."

How old is Pei Dingyuan? How did he know how to use such insidious methods to harm people?

What exactly did the second wife and husband do behind the scenes to raise their child into such a heartless person?

Xin Yi cracked her knuckles and gave a cold snort.

"Why waste words with a brat! I'd rather just rush over and grab him!"

"Put a knife to his neck, say a few scary words, and he'll be scared out of his wits. I bet he'll tell!"

She used to hate watching palace dramas, where a group of women would compete for a man, digging pits, slandering, poisoning, and harming each other.

Instead of wasting time on that, you should make more money!

Unfortunately, she was really unlucky; a typhoon swept her here. Luckily, she had a skill that allowed her to survive without relying on a man.

Jiang Guo'er shook her head.

"Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? Besides, threats are meaningless. If the Second Madam complains to the Old Madam, it will turn out that we are in the wrong."

She frowned and pondered for a moment before looking at Lüyi.

"Go find Manager Zhao and tell him to go to Fuxinglong and buy a box of their signature Zhuangyuan cake."

"Once you get the pastries, go to the kitchen and sift a layer of the finest glutinous rice flour, then sprinkle it evenly on top."

"Remember, you have to sprinkle it skillfully. It's not obvious at first glance, but you can only notice the layer of powder if you look closely."

Luyi listened carefully and quickly nodded in agreement.

Jiang Guo'er then instructed, "After everything is settled, you personally deliver the Zhuangyuan Cake to the second room."

"The Prime Minister recently saw Yuan-ge'er's calligraphy practice and praised him for his great progress, so he specially rewarded him with a box of Zhuangyuan cake."

"Encourage him to study hard, and in time he will surely become the top scholar in the imperial examination."

Lu Yi seemed to be deep in thought. She curtsied, accepted her task, and walked out.

Xue Lingyi's eyes flickered slightly.

"Why would you send Yuan-ge'er 'Scholar's Cake' out of the blue? What are you really up to?"

"Is this a deliberate attempt to flatter the second wife's family and lower the child's guard?"

Jiang Guo'er glanced at her sideways, a slight smile playing on her lips.

She raised her hand and patted Xue Lingyi's hand. "Don't worry, the time will come and we'll see."

The afternoon sun shone into the courtyard, casting long shadows on the Xiangfei bamboo.

Luyi took small, quick steps into the inner room, her cheeks flushed from running.

"Girl, the matter can be taken care of."

"The second madam was so happy she couldn't stop smiling, and immediately took two pieces of Zhuangyuan cake and stuffed them into young master Dingyuan's mouth."

"When Young Master Dingyuan heard that it was a special reward given to him by the Prime Minister, he ate a few more pieces."

Jiang Guo'er was embroidering the upper of a tiger-head shoe when she heard this and smiled.

"Very good, now go to the main kitchen."

"I remember that Li Sao, the cook who came with the second wife as part of her dowry, was already employed by the public kitchen because of her excellent cooking skills."

"You used to pretend to chat with other people and say things like that..." she lowered her voice, "You had to make sure that Aunt Li heard you."

After thinking it over carefully, Lüyi immediately understood her intention and ran away in a flash.

The large kitchen was steaming and filled with delicious aromas.

As Aunt Li was lifting the lid of the clay pot to look at the old duck soup she was making, she turned around and saw Lüyi coming in with her sleeves rolled up.

"Oh, Miss Lüyi, what brings you here at this hour?"

"If the eldest son's family needs anything, they can just send a maid to let them know. Why bother coming all the way here in person?"

Green Ripple ignored her, walked around the kitchen, looked around, and frowned.

"Look how dirty this stove is! You guys are so lazy! Hurry up and clean around this stove!"

Aunt Li, having been overly friendly, felt awkward and sullenly shrank into a corner, picking up a rag to get to work.

Green Ripple deliberately moved closer to the most senior cook there.

While reminding her to strain the fish soup through a mesh screen several times in the future, he muttered a complaint in his voice that he had too much to do lately.

"I already had a lot of things to do, and this morning I even took some time to go to the second branch of the family to deliver some pastries to Young Master Dingyuan."

"Sigh, the Prime Minister is so busy in court all day long, how could he possibly have time to look at his nephew's calligraphy practice?"

"It's just that my wife is kind-hearted and deliberately used the Prime Minister's name to give the second branch of the family some face."

"So that the Second Madam won't hold a grudge against our First Branch because the Prime Minister has never favored the Yangzhou beauty she sent him."

Li Sao heard every word he said.

After Lüyi left, she wiped her hands haphazardly on her apron and ran towards the second house's courtyard.

The second wife was taking a nap while holding a cat. After hearing Li Sao's excited report, she was first surprised, and then frowned slightly.

Then, as if she had figured something out, she burst out laughing.

"I consulted the royal physician a few days ago, and it seems highly likely that she is having a girl. It's almost certainly true."

"This means they're feeling guilty and want to be a good person!"

So what if Xue Lingyi is the Prime Minister's wife?

If he could not produce a son, the prime minister would die young.

In the future, the Prime Minister's family property will have to be inherited by the second branch of the family!

"However, the 'Scholar's Cake' is still a bit meager. If she really wants to win over Yuan-ge'er, she should at least reward him with a Duan inkstone and Huizhou ink."

On a small stool nearby, six-year-old Pei Dingyuan was playing with a Luban lock in his hand.

He had been in high spirits, but his movements suddenly froze after hearing his mother's conversation with Li Sao.

"Mother, what were you just saying?" Pei Dingyuan suddenly looked up, his voice shrill and cracking.

"Those pastries...were they a gift from my uncle? Or was it sent by my aunt?"

The second wife smiled and pursed her lips:

"Yes, your aunt is pregnant with a girl, but she's too embarrassed to let anyone know. She'll definitely want you in the future."

"She's trying to curry favor with you so that after you're adopted into the main family, you'll be able to call her 'Mother.'"

As soon as he finished speaking, Pei Dingyuan's face instantly lost all color, turning deathly pale.

He immediately rushed to the round table and opened the lid of the Zhuangyuan cake.

He was so happy while eating that he didn't look at it closely.

He only felt that his fingers were a little sticky, but he didn't pay attention to it and beckoned a maid to wipe his hands.

Looking closely, the remaining Zhuangyuan cakes were dotted with fine white powder!

Pei Dingyuan stared blankly, frozen in place.

Extreme fear, like a giant, ghostly hand, gripped his small heart.

My stomach churned violently.

"Yuan-ge'er! What's wrong with you? Don't scare your mother!" The second madam was terrified when she saw this and quickly reached out to hug him.

Pei Dingyuan shook off the second wife's hand and rushed straight to the washroom.

He lunged at the chamber pot, desperately digging his fingers down his throat and straining to remove the obstruction.

"Ugh—ugh—"

The sound of retching was heart-wrenching.

The second wife chased in and, upon seeing this scene, her eyes instantly turned red.

"Dingyuan! Why are you gagging yourself like that?!"

"What happened? Tell your mother!"

She rushed over and tried to pull her son's hand away.

Pei Dingyuan was so frightened that he was on the verge of a breakdown.

He grimaced, dry heaving, and cried out in despair.

"Spit it out! I want to spit out the Zhuangyuan cake! It's poisonous! It's poisonous!"

Auntie must have discovered that he had sprinkled powder into that book; she's retaliating in kind and trying to poison him!