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

Pei Yan's face was so gloomy it could drip water.

He didn't ask another question. He wrapped Jiang Guo'er tighter in his cloak, turned around, and strode towards Songhe Garden.

Xiao San understood immediately and, carrying A Ping like a tattered sack, followed behind.

In Songhe Garden, the old lady had just finished her dinner and was being helped by Granny Li to digest her food in the courtyard.

Pei Yan barged in carrying a woman, his face grim, followed by a half-dead servant.

The old lady's cane slammed heavily on the ground.

"What happened?"

Pei Yan settled Jiang Guo'er in the warm pavilion, carefully tucked in the corners of her cloak, and then turned and walked to the corridor.

Without saying a word, he gestured with his chin towards Xiao San.

Xiao San kicked A Ping in the back of the knee, and A Ping fell to his knees with a thud, kneeling on the bluestone slab in the center of Songhe Garden courtyard.

"Go, call Hongzhu here." Pei Yan's voice was devoid of any warmth.

Granny Li's heart skipped a beat, but she steeled herself and went to call her daughter.

A moment later, Hongzhu came out with Granny Li.

Her face turned deathly pale the moment she saw A-Ping kneeling on the ground.

"Prime Minister..."

"Kneel down!"

Pei Yan only uttered two words, and Hongzhu's legs went weak, and she knelt down next to Aping with a thud.

The maids and servants around had already gathered around, craning their necks to look, but no one dared to utter a sound.

"Aping, repeat what you just said in front of everyone."

Aping trembled like a sieve and stammered as he spoke.

He recounted in detail how he was instructed by Hongzhu to push Jiang Guo'er into the water.

In the courtyard, the sounds of air conditioners being drawn could be heard one after another.

The maids were so frightened that they covered their mouths.

Hongzhu's face turned from white to pale, and she shook her head frantically: "He's talking nonsense! Your Excellency, he's spouting lies!"

"The Prime Minister actually believes the words of a lowly servant like him?!"

"Does he think he can convict me based on just his words? Where's the evidence? Where are the witnesses?!"

Pei Yan looked down at her without saying a word.

Hongzhu thought he believed her, and gritted her teeth, saying:

"I only asked him to check where Jiang Guo'er was hiding, but who would have thought that this scoundrel would be so heartless as to push someone into the water!"

"My lord, this has nothing to do with me!"

"Are you done talking?"

Pei Yan's voice was soft, but his eyes grew increasingly cold and deep.

"Then why did you humiliate Jiang Guo'er on the arched bridge?"

Hongzhu's expression froze.

How did the Prime Minister know?

"Jiang Guo'er's right hand," Pei Yan's gaze fell on her, each word like an icy shard.

"When you stepped on it, did you think about today?"

The color drained from Hongzhu's face, and she trembled several times before managing to squeeze out a sound.

"My lord...this servant has none!"

"You can't just assume it was this servant who did it based on Jiang Guo'er's one-sided account!"

Pei Yan suddenly smiled.

"I'll ask you one more time, why did you step on her hand?"

Hongzhu continued to argue, refusing to admit anything no matter what.

Granny Li, however, seemed to realize something, her face turned ashen, and she collapsed to the ground.

The Prime Minister kept a group of secret guards, who were at his sole command.

In addition to protecting his safety, they were sometimes responsible for keeping watch, especially monitoring his study.

The curved bridge is very close to the study, so if Hongzhu really did something, it's very likely that the guards would see it.

She shoved Hongzhu with a stern face.

"You wretched child, confess now! Do you really think the Prime Minister knows nothing?"

Hongzhu felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar, but she still held onto a sliver of hope.

"Yes, it's Zhou Xiuniang!"

"She said Jiang Guo'er stole the storeroom key, and she said it with such certainty that I believed her. I was prejudiced and misunderstood!"

Pei Yan suddenly raised his voice.

"You think you can just dismiss it all with a misunderstanding?"

Everyone present shrank back half a step, not daring to even breathe.

"You have plenty of opportunities to find out where the key came from. At the very least, ask your mother, Granny Li, and the truth will be clear!"

"But you didn't do anything, you just kept insisting that Jiang Guo'er was the one who made the mistake!"

"Do you know that I personally gave her permission to use that key?"

He looked at her coldly, his tone full of sarcasm:

"As expected of the head maid of Songhe Garden, her temper is almost as bad as that of the master of the mansion."

Granny Li was so frightened that her vision went black.

He staggered and knelt at the old lady's feet, his voice hoarse and trembling:

"Grandma, please spare me... Hongzhu may have committed a grave mistake, but she was raised by you!"

As he spoke, he crawled to Hongzhu's side, tears welling in his eyes, and slapped her several times across the face.

Each blow was more brutal than the last, drawing blood from Hongzhu's mouth instantly.

"You wretched child! Quickly kowtow to the Prime Minister and admit your mistake!"

Hongzhu felt dizzy and lightheaded.

But a surge of intense jealousy overcame his fear, and he roared out:

"Why should I, Your Excellency! I have served the Dowager Lady since childhood and have never done anything wrong!"

"When you were a child, you even held me in your arms and took a nap on a couch!"

"In terms of kinship, am I not even as good as a lowly maid of unknown origin who rose to power through seductive tricks?"

"Why should I be able to gain your favor and serve you in bed right away...?"

"Shut up!" Granny Li covered her mouth, her voice already trembling with sobs.

She was cautious her whole life, how did she raise such a clueless daughter!

He grabbed her hair and slammed her head against the ground again and again.

"You wretched child! Kneel and admit your mistake! Admit your mistake!"

"Are you dragging our whole family down with you to die?!"

The old lady leaned back in her chair, her cane resting on her knees.

Originally, looking at Hongzhu, who had grown up beside him since childhood, and at Li Mama, who was crying uncontrollably, he was very happy.

I do feel a little sorry for them.

Unexpectedly, Hongzhu was so ignorant of social hierarchy!

He actually dared to shout about the things he used to play with the Prime Minister when he was a child.

Does she really think that just because she gets to see Yan'er often because of her mother's connections, she's the master?!

Then look at the girl in the warm pavilion.

Since arriving, she has remained silent, neither crying nor playing the victim, nor trying to implicate anyone.

A person's character and temperament can easily reveal their superiority or inferiority.

Moreover, she was the woman he had longed for and prayed to for so many years before finally finding her.

Almost.

They almost died without any explanation!

The fear that follows is more intense than the heartache.

The old lady closed her eyes and sighed heavily.

"Every family has its rules, and since it's Rangzhi who should be in charge, let him be the one to enforce them."

Having received the old lady's confirmation, Pei Yan no longer showed any politeness.

He coldly swept his gaze over the two people kneeling on the ground.

"Aping, instigated by others, premeditatedly murdered another person and was beaten to death."

"Hongzhu, driven by jealousy and hatred, instigated a violent act, causing someone to nearly drown. Afterwards, she wantonly humiliated and trampled on the winding bridge."

"Break one of his legs, expel him from the manor, and never allow him to enter the Pei family again for the rest of his life."

The entire venue was deathly silent.

In the blink of an eye, Aping’s piercing howl exploded first, followed closely by Hongzhu’s cries.

Granny Li collapsed to the ground, nearly fainting.

The executioner's strong servant arrived quickly.

A long bench was placed in the courtyard, and the hands and feet were bound with thick hemp rope.

The paddle struck flesh again and again, accompanied by heart-wrenching screams, filling the air above the entire Songhe Garden.

Jiang Guo'er took in all of this through the window of the warm pavilion.

She never expected that Pei Yan would publicly assert his authority and stand up for her.

Although she was ruthless, she had no intention of pleading for the two men.

The surrounding stench of blood made her involuntarily recall a strikingly similar scene from a year ago when the Marquis's mansion was ransacked.

Countless servants were killed, and their blood flowed down the steps, forming a winding stream.

The eldest brother, chained up and with every inch of his back covered in welts, cried out in anguish to the arresting officers:

"The Murong family has no traitors!"

"You have slaughtered loyal and virtuous people; you will die a horrible death! You will die a horrible death—!"

Jiang Guo'er closed her eyes, trembling.

A wave of nausea washed over him, and he instinctively tightened his cloak around his neck.

He suppressed all that untimely excitement and fear deep in his heart.