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

Jiang Guo'er was awakened by the scent of sandalwood.

Opening my eyes, I saw a crimson silk canopy with dark gold crane patterns.

She looked around in surprise.

A huanghuali wood canopy bed, a zitan wood multi-treasure cabinet, and a Ding kiln white porcelain incense burner on a long table, emitting wisps of smoke.

This is the Prime Minister's inner chamber.

What is she doing here?

Her memory of last night was fragmented; she couldn't remember anything that happened after Lianhua left.

Jiang Guo'er subconsciously reached for the pillow. The doll lay there quietly, its little clothes already dried.

Her mind raced for a moment.

He carefully tucked the doll away, threw off the covers in one swift motion, steadied himself against the bedpost, hastily put on his clothes, and headed outside.

Green Ivy was squatting under the porch changing the charcoal in the copper basin when she saw her come out, and she stood up abruptly.

"Jiang Guo'er! What are you doing out here?"

Jiang Guo'er ignored her, tightened her clothes, and walked towards the curved bridge.

Green Ivy caught up, stretching her arms out: "The Prime Minister ordered that you are not allowed to get out of bed!"

"Get out of the way."

Where are you going?

"pond."

"Are you crazy? The royal physician says you still have a fever!"

Jiang Guo'er ignored him, her dark eyes staring blankly ahead as she muttered to herself:

"I've lost something... I've lost the Prime Minister's things... I must find them..."

Green Ivy tried to stop him three times but failed. Frustrated, she stomped her feet, gritted her teeth, and ran towards the study.

In the study, Pei Yan was staring intently at a memorial to the throne.

The vermilion brush hung in mid-air, drooping for a long time without falling.

He appeared to be reviewing the document, but in reality, he didn't absorb a single word.

The image of Jiang Guo'er, who kept rubbing against my chest last night, kept replaying in my mind.

"Prime Minister!" Green Ivy almost tripped over the threshold as she ran in.

"Jiang Guo'er, Jiang Guo'er ran out! She said she was going to the pond to look for something! I couldn't stop her!"

Pei Yan's eyes darkened instantly.

"You brat, are you out of your mind?!"

He grabbed the dark cloak from the back of the chair and strode out of the study.

After crossing the winding bridge and passing the withered rose trellis, I could see that slender figure in the distance.

Jiang Guo'er was near the artificial hill, bending over, sometimes shoveling at the withered grass, sometimes squatting down to feel the cracks in the stones.

His clothes billowed in the wind like paper lanterns, and he swayed unsteadily.

Pei Yan approached and heard her muttering with a heavy nasal tone.

"What to do... the boots are lost... the Prime Minister's boots are lost..."

"...Zhou Xiuniang said I stole the fabric...Sister Hongzhu said I stole the key..."

"But I didn't... The key was given to me by the Prime Minister... Why won't they believe me?"

She wept silently, her eyelids swollen like ripe peaches, her face covered in mottled tear stains.

Pei Yan stopped three steps away with a cold expression.

He glanced down at his black official boots, which were still on; they were nowhere to be found.

"Jiang Guo'er!"

She seemed not to hear, still squatting on the ground turning over stones, muttering to herself in a monotonous, repetitive manner:

"I can't find it... I lost it... The Prime Minister will blame me... What should I do...?"

Pei Yan could no longer hold back. He strode forward and pulled her up from the ground.

The moment his hand touched her cheek, his brows furrowed sharply.

So cold!

Yesterday, when he came out of the cabinet and was still a short distance from the gate of the mansion, he had this feeling.

The chill of drowning felt like someone had pushed him into ice water.

Soon after, a dull pain, as if repeatedly rubbed by pebbles, returned to his chest.

It must have been when Jiang Guo'er climbed out of the water and crawled on the ground that her chest scraped against the ground repeatedly.

He took a deep breath and stabbed straight at the green ivy that had followed him.

"She's delirious with fever, and you just let her do whatever she wants?"

"You didn't even bother to put a coat on her! What's the point of keeping you around!"

Green Ivy was terrified and knelt down with a thud, crying, "I was wrong! I'll never do it again!"

Pei Yan ignored her, shook his cloak, and wrapped Jiang Guo'er up tightly from head to toe, pulling her into his arms.

She was as light as a feather, and at that moment she huddled against his chest, revealing only her small face, chapped by the cold wind.

Pei Yan softened his voice, coaxing her with a tenderness he himself didn't even realize:

"Stop crying, tell me slowly, what exactly did you lose?"

Jiang Guo'er raised her red eyes, her gaze unfocused.

Sobbing, she pulled a silk doll from her bosom and held it up to him with a wronged expression.

"Prime Minister...Prime Minister's little boots fell off."

Pei Yan's lips twitched violently.

The silk doll wore a black satin boot on one foot, while the other foot was bare, revealing a white cloth sock underneath.

After all that trouble, is this all you're doing?

An absurd and strange emotion churned and swirled within him.

Pei Yan took a deep breath and cupped her cold hand in his palm.

He placed his ten fingers on it, slowly closed them, and breathed out a warm breath.

"Did you fall into the water yesterday?"

Jiang Guo'er nodded, sniffed, and started to cry again.

"Thanks to the Prime Minister's protection... I didn't freeze to death yesterday..."

"But I failed to protect the Prime Minister... and even lost his little boots... I'm so useless... I'm so useless..."

Is it because they mistook the doll for him that they did this?

Pei Yan held her without moving.

Deep down, I was gently stung by that foolish remark.

He turned and yelled at Green Ivy, "Go find them! Turn over every patch of land by the pond, the rockery, and along the way!"

The pothos, as if granted a pardon, scrambled away.

Pei Yan, however, was still worried and made a gesture towards the sky.

Xiao San fell silently from the tree, landing on one knee.

"Master."

"Go find a boot." Pei Yan paused, then added expressionlessly, "...about the size of a thumb, black satin."

Xiao San: "…………"

My subordinates have killed people, set fires, and infiltrated enemy camps. You want me to do this?

"Aren't you going?"

Xiao San disappeared like a gust of wind.

Jiang Guo'er nestled in his cloak, her head spinning.

She instinctively shrank into his arms, her hands wrapping around his lean waist without hesitation.

She buried her face in his chest, rubbing against him, as if she wanted to burrow into his bones and blood.

Pei Yan's heartstrings were being constantly scratched.

His strong pectoral muscles rose and fell with his heavy breathing.

Jiang Guo'er couldn't find her little boots and refused to go back no matter what.

Pei Yan had no choice but to carry her to a sheltered corner of the corridor and wrap his cloak even tighter around her.

About half an incense stick later, Xiao San came over carrying a person.

To be precise, it was by the back of his collar.

He shoved the man in front of Pei Yan like a chick.

The man fell face-first into the mud, and when he looked up, it was Ah Ping, the one who had delivered the keys to Jiang Guo'er.

"My lord, I have spotted this man acting suspiciously in the bushes near the pond."

Xiao San crossed his arms, a mocking smile on his face.

"After a few punches and knocking out two of her front teeth, she finally behaved. Who would have thought that Miss Jiang was pushed into the water by this scoundrel!"

Jiang Guo'er looked up in astonishment, her bloodshot eyes widening instantly.

Why?

She couldn't understand, "Ah Ping... I have no grudge against you, why would you want to harm me?!"

Aping's mouth was full of blood, his whole body was shaking like a leaf, and after a few thuds, he banged his head on the ground.

"Your Excellency, spare me! Your Excellency, spare me! I deserve to die!"

Pei Yan gently placed Jiang Guo'er on a bench under the eaves and helped her pull her cloak tighter.

He turned around and delivered a vicious kick, striking A-Ping directly in the chest.

Aping flew half a zhang away, vomited a mouthful of blood, and curled up on the ground convulsing.

"explain!"

Pei Yan squeezed out the word through gritted teeth, his voice extremely cold and stern.

Aping kowtowed repeatedly, pouring out everything like beans spilling from a bamboo tube.

"It was...it was Miss Hongzhu who ordered me to do it!"

"This servant... has always liked Hongzhu. Yesterday, she came to me and said that Miss Jiang was hiding and asked me to guard near the rockery."

"As soon as she comes out, I...I go up to her and make advances..."

"But I was afraid she would shout and disturb others, so I didn't dare... and instead, I pushed her into the pond by surprise."

He wept bitterly, his forehead bleeding from hitting the floor tiles.

"Last night, the servants were all saying that when Miss Jiang fell into the water, she tore something off the person who pushed her."

"I was panicking, so I planned to find it this morning before the Prime Minister sent people to search... but I couldn't find it no matter what I did..."

Jiang Guo'er lowered her eyes, and a frightening bloodshot appeared in the depths of her eyes.

The rumors she had Lotus spread privately yesterday worked.

But he didn't show it at all on his face.

She looked up, her wet, red eyes filled only with the bitter resentment that followed her devastating injury.