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

Pei Yan stepped into the room, his scarlet court robes as red as blood.

The room fell silent instantly, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The second wife instinctively stifled her sobs.

"Prime Minister..."

Granny Qin's legs trembled. Seeing that all the servants in the room had become mute, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward.

He stammered as he briefly recounted how Young Master Dingyuan poisoned the victim and how he confessed the truth.

Pei Yan's eyes were filled with a terrifying ferocity. With a "clang," his long sword was drawn, its cold light aimed directly at the six-year-old Ding Yuan on the ground.

"To have such vile thoughts at such a young age, daring to plot against one's aunt."

"Today I'll dislocate this arm of yours, to prevent you from making even bigger mistakes in the future!"

Pei Dingyuan was still crying when his face was suddenly illuminated by the cold light of the sword blade.

His survival instinct made him open his mouth wide, but before he could even let out a scream, his eyes rolled back and he passed out stiffly.

A yellowish water stain quickly spread across the blue brick floor beneath them, and a foul odor filled the hall.

The six-year-old venomous snake was so frightened that it wet its pants on the spot.

"Yuan-ge'er! My son!"

The second wife was terrified and crawled over on all fours, covering Pei Dingyuan with her whole body.

Then, he kowtowed to Pei Yan like a madman, his forehead hitting the hard bluestone slab with a loud thud.

In the blink of an eye, a large gash appeared on his forehead.

Blood streamed down his nose, smearing his face and making him look utterly miserable.

"Your Excellency, spare him! Your Excellency, have mercy! Yuan-ge'er is only six years old, what does he know!"

"It's all my fault as a mother for not raising my child properly. If you want to cut off something, cut off my hand instead!"

The cries, a mixture of tears and sobs, were incredibly mournful.

The old lady's prayer beads trembled and rattled, making the veins on the back of her hand stand out clearly.

She never expected that Pei Yan would see bloodshed as soon as he returned.

"How can this be?!" The old lady stood up shakily. "Dingyuan is your nephew, a member of the Pei family!"

"He was momentarily blinded by greed and did something wrong; we should just teach him a lesson!"

"If you really cut off his hand, what will become of the Pei family's reputation?"

Pei Yan, sword in hand, looked down at the mother and child on the ground, remaining silent for a long time.

The grandmother was the one who insisted on leaving offspring for the eldest son, regardless of whether he was a legitimate or illegitimate child.

At this moment, it was the grandmother who favored her great-grandson and asked him to show leniency.

He wanted to laugh mockingly, but he held back.

Seeing that he frowned and remained silent, the old lady assumed that her words had worked and that he had agreed.

"Quickly! Bring out the family discipline!"

The old lady immediately seized the opportunity, pointed at Pei Dingyuan on the ground, and raised her voice.

"I must personally give him a good beating today to teach him a lesson!"

Before long, a maidservant came running in carrying a whip—a gold-inlaid cowhide whip.

The old lady took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, snatched the whip, raised it high, and lashed it down with her eyes closed.

"Snapped!"

As the whip fell, the second wife let out a bloodcurdling scream, shielding her son in her arms and taking the lash for him.

The fabric on the back cracked instantly.

"Slap! Slap!"

The old lady's face contorted in a ferocious grimace as she lashed out more than a dozen times.

Although most of the whipping landed on the second wife, the residual force also affected Pei Dingyuan below.

A sharp pain struck, and Pei Dingyuan woke up in agony.

He trembled all over, looking at his mother's blood-soaked back, then at his uncle standing beside him with a sword in hand and a murderous look on his face, and he was filled with deep regret.

"Mother... Waaah, I was wrong... Great-Grandmother, please stop hitting me... Please stop hitting me!"

Pei Dingyuan burst into tears and clung to the Second Madam's neck with both hands and feet.

"I'll never do it again! Uncle, please forgive me, I really know I was wrong!"

In Songhe Garden, shouts, whippings, and wails mingled together in complete chaos.

In stark contrast to the chaotic scene in the center of the hall, Jiang Guo'er and Xue Lingyi sat far to the side.

Pei Yan's return was extremely timely.

She set up this scheme this morning, and from beginning to end, she didn't send anyone to the Cabinet to deliver the message; she relied entirely on herself to control the situation.

Right now, he's holding his sword, ready to cut off Pei Dingyuan's hand. He looks menacing, as if he's about to devour someone.

Jiang Guo'er, however, felt that he did not really intend to cut off Pei Dingyuan's hand.

Was his swift and decisive action merely a moment of extreme anger, or had he already seen through her true intentions today?

He could hear the old lady's panting whip crack in his ears, and Pei Yan turned his head slightly to the side.

Yu Guangli saw that Shunshun was sitting there calmly watching the play, not at all frightened, and her pretty pink face showed a sense of leisurely composure.

Pei Yan's heart skipped a beat.

If Shunshun really wanted to torment Pei Dingyuan, she wouldn't have needed to make such a big scene at Songhe Garden.

And considering what Granny Qin just said...

She made a big fuss, and her ultimate goal was not just to punish Pei Dingyuan.

She had long been disgusted by the second wife's secret ambitions, and in order to have a peaceful childbirth, she was determined to take this opportunity to kick the second wife out of the Prime Minister's residence!

Having guessed Jiang Guo'er's thoughts, Pei Yan smiled, but his murderous aura grew even stronger.

"Has Grandmother finished?"

The old lady was too weak to continue, and she tremblingly handed the golden whip to Granny Qin, nodding to Pei Yan.

She thought the matter was over, but unexpectedly, Pei Yan flicked his wrist, and the cold light on the blade was once again aimed at Pei Dingyuan.

"The family discipline is over, it's my turn now."

The second wife had been whipped so badly she didn't even have the strength to lift her hand. Seeing this, she desperately screamed, "No, no—"

"Your Excellency, we dare not do it again! We really will never dare to do it again!"

"If all else fails, just kill me, but don't hurt Yuan-ge'er... He's still so young, he's only six years old..."

At the critical moment, a figure rushed into Songhe Garden and, seeing that Pei Yan's sword was about to strike, roared and lunged forward.

He reached out his right hand without hesitation and gripped the sharp blade tightly.

The extremely thin blade instantly sliced ​​through flesh and severed finger bones, and crimson blood dripped "plop plop" from between the fingers onto the bluestone slab.

"Your Excellency! Please, Your Excellency, spare my life!"

The person who arrived was Pei Duo, who had rushed back from the yamen after receiving the news.

He fell to one knee with a thud, his right hand gripping the sword tightly. Most of his palm had been cut open, and he was in so much pain that his face contorted and his whole body trembled.

"It is the father's fault if his son is not taught properly! All the mistakes are mine! I am willing to take the blame for my son!"

"I only beg... Your Excellency, please spare him this time, considering he's still an ignorant child!"

Pei Duo's hand was essentially ruined; it was bleeding profusely, and the sound of bones breaking could be heard.

He couldn't imagine what would happen if such force were actually applied to Yuan Ge'er.

However, he dared not let go and could only look at Pei Yan pleadingly.

Pei Yan glanced at his hand, a cold glint in his thin lips.

In fact, he had already caught a glimpse of Pei Duo rushing straight here from outside the door out of the corner of his eye.

The force and speed of that sword strike were all calculated.

He wanted to know how much sincerity Pei Duo truly had for his son.

Pei Yan twisted his wrist and pulled the longsword back, disgustedly wiping the blood off Pei Duo's shoulder with the blade.

With a clang, the longsword returned to its sheath.

Pei Yan remained expressionless, his tone chilling.

"You, as the father, deserve a lot of credit for raising such a wicked child who dares to drug people at such a young age."

Pei Duo gasped in pain, feeling resentful, but could only clench his hands, not daring to utter a single word in rebuttal.

"Thank you, Your Excellency, for showing mercy!"

Pei Yan's gaze swept over the couple, and his voice rose several octaves:

"The offspring of the eldest son cannot be allowed to suffer even the slightest mishap. My Prime Minister's residence will not tolerate blood relatives like you who harbor treacherous intentions and malicious thoughts!"

"Considering that you still have some blood ties, I'll spare him this time."

"You have three days to move out of the Prime Minister's residence with your wife and children and establish your own household!"

Pei Duo was struck dumb, frozen in place.

Move out of the Prime Minister's residence and establish a separate household?

The reason the second wife was able to live comfortably was entirely due to Pei Yan's official prestige and the monthly allowance they received from the public funds.

Now that he's being separated and living alone, without Pei Yan as his backer and without his monthly allowance, how will he, a mere fifth-rank official, survive in the future?

Just as the old lady was about to speak to stop him, she suddenly heard Pei Dingyuan's words.

His face clouded over, a chill ran down his spine, and he swallowed his words back.

The second wife, believing that it was Lingyi who was pregnant, even dared to poison her.

If Jiang Guo'er had known about the pregnancy from the beginning, wouldn't she have taken action long ago?!

If Pei Yan really wants to take this seriously and trace it back to the source, he might even hold her responsible!

Thinking of this, she immediately abandoned her idea of ​​pleading for him.

Jiang Guo'er subtly curled the corners of her lips.

She tilted her head slightly, and her gaze met Xue Lingyi's in mid-air.

The two exchanged a knowing, satisfied look.

In fact, even if Pei Yan hadn't returned today, she would have had ways to force the old lady to drive away the second branch of the family.

But after Pei Yan returned, she no longer needed to say anything, and he could even perfectly connect every step she had planned.

This unspoken understanding, where one can comprehend the other's thoughts without words, warmed Jiang Guo'er's heart and brought her an unprecedented sense of comfort.