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

"you……"

Old Madam Pei gasped in shock, dropping the Buddhist prayer beads from her hand.

The second wife was also dumbfounded, her hand pointing at Xue Lingyi frozen in mid-air, as if she had been struck by lightning.

If this were poison, how could Xue Lingyi dare to eat it herself?

After a few breaths, Xue Lingyi curled her lips and looked at the Second Madam and Pei Dingyuan with a sharp and cold gaze.

"I thought this child was a diligent student, so I kindly gave him some pastries. But he turned around and accused me of poisoning him."

"Such a talent for spouting lies and slandering others... Dingyuan, did you learn that from your mother?"

The second wife was completely dumbfounded and blinked helplessly.

Her brain isn't working properly.

Wait, how did the fire suddenly spread to her head?

She instinctively turned to look at her son.

Pei Dingyuan was also stunned by Xue Lingyi's calm act of eating cake. He even forgot to cry and let out a loud burp.

The white powder wasn't poison after all?

But why... does his stomach hurt?

Pei Dingyuan was unaware that sometimes a person's body can be affected by strong emotions.

The second wife panicked immediately and quickly forced a smile to cover it up:

"Lingyi, this...this must be a misunderstanding! She's just a child, she doesn't know any better, she must have seen things wrong and is talking nonsense."

"Misunderstanding?" Jiang Guo'er looked down at Pei Dingyuan.

She looked at the boy with snot and tears all over his face, a gentle smile on her lips.

"Young Master Dingyuan," Jiang Guo'er's voice was gentle, "now that things have come to this, do you think playing dumb will still get you out of this?"

Pei Dingyuan shuddered and desperately hid in the old lady's arms.

"Before you came to Songhe Garden, your personal servant had already been detained by us."

Jiang Guo'er stared intently into his eyes.

"If you don't tell the truth, someone will take him to the Shuntian Prefecture government office later."

"Intentionally plotting to harm the son of the current Grand Secretary, that crime... I'm afraid your father's mere fifth-rank official position is in jeopardy."

The second wife was so frightened that her legs went weak and she almost fell to the ground.

The old lady's mind raced, and she instantly pieced together the cause and effect.

Lingyi's book was poisoned. She and Jiang Guo'er suspected that Yuan Ge'er was the murderer, but they were worried that there was not enough evidence. So they simply joined forces to set a trap and deliberately used glutinous rice flour to trick Yuan Ge'er.

The child was young and had a guilty conscience. He thought he had been poisoned and gone crazy, which is why he gave himself away!

The old lady took two quick breaths and swayed three times.

She pointed her withered finger at the second wife and rebuked her sharply:

"You wicked child! Did you instigate Ding Yuanqian to do this?!"

"He's so young, how could he have such a cruel heart? You must have bewitched him, right!"

In order to protect Pei Dingyuan, the old lady did not hesitate to shift the blame to the second wife.

As long as it was done by the Second Madam, Dingyuan was just an innocent child being used by his birth mother, and the Prime Minister's Mansion could still tolerate him.

The second wife was struck dumb, trembling all over.

"Grandma, I..."

She instinctively wanted to deny it, but the thought of Jiang Guo'er's threat made her tremble uncontrollably.

What should we do? What should she do now?

Should we really do as the old lady says and take the blame for Yuan-ge'er?

Jiang Guo'er almost burst out laughing at the farce.

Would you rather abandon a lowly concubine's wife to save this little viper?

dream.

When she decided to set up this scheme against the second wife's family, she was determined to do it all in one go and drive them out of the Pei residence.

To avoid future trouble!

Jiang Guo'er squatted down to meet Pei Dingyuan's gaze, her tone gentle, yet every word pierced his heart.

"Young Master Dingyuan, as long as you tell the truth, everyone will only punish you a little for the sake of you being a child, and won't do anything to you."

Jiang Guo'er drawled, "But what if the mastermind is your mother..."

Pei Dingyuan's lips trembled as he clung tightly to the old lady's clothes.

"Your father will write a letter of divorce and kick her out of the Pei family in order to sever ties with her."

"If your maternal grandparents knew that she had done such a wicked thing, they would surely despise her for disgracing the family and would refuse to take her in."

"At that time, your mother will be left to wander the streets, begging, or even sold into prostitution..."

This was not an exaggeration on her part; it was simply the reality of the world, where this was the only possible outcome for the second wife should she be convicted of this crime.

Pei Dingyuan was only six years old and still very dependent on his mother.

Hearing that her mother was going to be kicked out and forced to beg, her psychological defenses completely collapsed.

"No! Don't send my mother away! I did it, I did it all!"

Pei Dingyuan released the old lady, turned around and threw himself into the arms of the second wife, bursting into tears.

"What nonsense are you spouting!" the old lady exclaimed in exasperation. "You little brat, where did you get such a vicious idea from!"

"Great-grandmother, it really is me..."

Pei Dingyuan cried so hard he could barely breathe, and then he broke down and told the whole truth.

It turned out that ever since Pei Dingyuan was old enough to understand, his parents had been nagging him every day.

It is said that the eldest son's family has no sons, and the male members of the eldest son's family have always died young, so the uncle should not live past the age of thirty.

Then, the immense wealth and power of the Prime Minister's mansion in the future will surely belong to Pei Dingyuan.

In an effort to please Pei Yan, his father, Pei Duo, once dragged him to the study to memorize the "Classic of Filial Piety".

As a result, his uncle completely ignored him, and Pei Dingyuan felt very wronged at the time.

When he got back, his father beat him again, which made him even more resentful.

Later, when news spread that his uncle had gotten married and his aunt was pregnant, his parents were filled with resentment.

"Dad and Mom... Waaah... They argue in the house every day, saying I'm useless... They say if I had won Uncle's favor earlier, I would have been adopted long ago."

He sobbed intermittently.

"Later, whenever I didn't memorize my lessons well or my handwriting was bad, they would hit me with a ruler and scold me... Waaah..."

"They say that once the eldest son is born, I'll be dependent on him for the rest of my life..."

The old lady felt extremely uncomfortable upon hearing this.

She rolled up Pei Dingyuan's sleeve and found that there were still many bruises on his forearm.

That second wife is truly inhuman!

But they don't consider who the real culprit is in causing the second wife's distorted mentality.

"That day I hid through the crack in the door and overheard my father and mother discussing how they had spent a lot of money to get some kind of... something powder from the Western Regions."

"If your aunt smells it for two or three months, the baby in her belly will not be able to be born."

"However, they never found an opportunity to make a move."

Pei Dingyuan wiped away his tears, sniffed, and his eyes were already swollen and red like walnuts.

"I don't want to be beaten anymore, and I don't want them arguing all the time."

"I'm just a kid, so my aunt definitely won't be wary of me. That's why I had Ah Tong keep an eye on the eldest son's side every day... hoping to find an opportunity."

"This morning, Atong told me that Lüyi brought back a book."

"I knew my aunt loved reading, so I thought I could sprinkle poison in her books."

"And this poison is odorless...it shouldn't be easy to detect, who knows..."

He choked for a moment, then continued:

"I secretly took the medicine and hid it behind the hanging flower gate... When Lüyi came over, I stuck my foot out and tripped her."

"I deliberately ran over to help her up, and kicked the book aside. That way, Ah Tong, who was hiding in the shadows... spilled the medicine inside."

The entire room fell silent.

Only Pei Dingyuan's sobs echoed endlessly in Songhe Garden.

The second wife collapsed to the ground, her face ashen.

The old lady seemed to have all her strength drained away, collapsing slumped onto her pillow, her hands trembling uncontrollably.

The truth was far worse than she imagined.

She originally thought that placing the second, third, and fourth wives in the Prime Minister's residence would be a way to check and balance Pei Yan.

But this incident made her realize that her indulgence had inadvertently fueled the ambitions of these families.

The three members of the second wife's family plotted and schemed to seize the family property from the first wife.

Pei Dingyuan, who had just turned six, was influenced by his parents and became a venomous snake who dared to kill in secret!

Jiang Guo'er straightened up and gently dusted off her sleeves.

"Grandmother, this matter is not to be taken lightly. What do you think... we should decide?"

Old Madam Pei sighed dejectedly; it seemed that this second branch of the family could not be kept.

Just then, a series of steady and powerful footsteps came from outside the door.

A tall, imposing figure, carrying the heat of early summer, strode in.

Pei Yan had already received the news on his way off duty. He was furious, his eyes were extremely gloomy, and his body was filled with murderous aura.

"Who poisoned him? I will cut off his hand!"