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

The following afternoon, in a side hall of the cabinet.

Pei Yan leaned back in the rosewood armchair, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

The emperor was old and senile, the crown prince was absurd and incompetent, and the various government affairs, large and small, weighed heavily on him.

I approved more than thirty folds of paper this morning, and my head is throbbing right now.

He raised his hand to pour tea, but his mind kept replaying the scenes from this morning.

Jiang Guo'er huddled under the covers, her eyes still closed, and mumbled weakly, "Prime Minister, no more..."

Her voice was like a kitten's, soft and sticky.

A sudden tingling sensation ran down my tailbone, and a feeling of heat shot straight up my spine.

Pei Yan quickly sat up straight and drank most of a pot of cold tea.

At that moment, the wooden door was knocked three times very lightly.

"Who?"

No one answered.

Pei Yan frowned slightly, stood up and opened the door.

Before he could see clearly, a very faint fragrance of plum blossoms, mixed with a hint of sweetness, gently entered his nostrils.

He turned around.

A woman dressed as a palace maid stood behind the screen and slowly walked out.

"cousin."

Pei Yan's gaze instantly darkened, turning icy cold.

Xiao Yuzhen removed her veil, revealing an extremely beautiful face.

Six years in the deep palace did not diminish her beauty in the slightest; on the contrary, it brought out a mature charm in her.

Her phoenix eyes were brimming with light, and her red lips were slightly upturned.

But beneath his eyes lay faint bluish marks, as if he hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time.

Pei Yan stood still, his posture as upright as a pine tree, his expression completely calm.

"Your Majesty, this is the Inner Cabinet."

"I know." Xiao Yuzhen took a step forward without paying attention.

"I know my cousin will be angry, but if I don't come, I'll go crazy within three days!"

Pei Yan stood with his hands behind his back, looking at her coldly without saying a word.

Xiao Yuzhen took this silence as tacit consent and took two more steps forward, lost in thought.

"Cousin, do you remember? When I was eight years old, I fell off a horse, and you carried me for three blocks to find a doctor."

"Your pale white robe was soaked with sweat, yet you still didn't put me down..."

"And that year on the Lantern Festival, I accidentally got lost and was shivering with cold."

"You found me and wrapped me in your white fox fur coat, which you never let anyone touch! You even wiped the mud off my face with your own hands—"

"You said you'd come and marry me when I come of age."

"Have you forgotten what you said back then, cousin?"

Pei Yan looked at her with eyes as deep as an icy pool.

How come he doesn't remember saying such a thing?

Moreover, the person who wiped her face that night on the Lantern Festival was clearly her cousin, Pei Zhang.

Xiao Yuzhen was oblivious, and her voice became even softer.

"Later, I was chosen by the old witch and sent to the palace to fill that fiery pit."

Her eyes reddened, and she choked up for a long time.

"You saw me off outside the palace gate, leaving only the words, 'Take care, Your Majesty.'"

"You dare not call me Yuzhen anymore, afraid of breaking the rules, afraid of bringing trouble to the family. But I know, cousin, you still care about me!"

As she spoke, she raised her hand with a dazed look in her eyes.

Her slender fingertips touched the first button of the palace maid's outer robe and slowly unbuttoned it.

"Six years, cousin. I've been living like a ghost."

The second one.

"The Emperor is impotent in bed, and the Crown Prince is a beast! In this deep palace, there isn't a single clean person!"

The third one.

The bluish-gray outer robe slipped down to one shoulder, revealing the apricot-colored inner garment underneath.

Most of her snow-white shoulder was exposed to the cool air, exuding charm and allure.

"Cousin, please, help me. Help Yuzhen, I want you, please cherish me..."

Xiao Yuzhen abandoned her former dignity as the mother of the nation and, as if bewitched, clung to Pei Yan.

She lunged at the man before her, the one who ignited her passion.

She reached out her slender hand, wanting to caress her beloved's face, her body involuntarily leaning closer, her breath ragged:

"We were meant to be husband and wife... Let's just go back to how things were before, okay?"

If it were an ordinary man, faced with the advances of a top-tier, powerful, and beautiful woman, he would have been aroused by his instincts and would have been eager to make love to her.

however……

Pei Yan's Adam's apple, which had been calm, suddenly bobbed twice.

wrong!

In addition to the fragrance of the snow-covered spring hymns specially supplied by Kunning Palace, he also smelled a hint of sweetness that shouldn't be there!

My lower abdomen felt slightly warm from the fragrance.

"You actually drugged yourself?!"

Pei Yan's expression changed drastically.

But before that heat could rise, my stomach felt like it was being violently churned.

A few breaths later, a strong feeling of nausea rushed straight to the top of my head!

"vomit--"

He dodged Xiao Yuzhen's lunge to the side, bent over and gagged, veins bulging on his forehead.

Barely suppressing his churning stomach, he grabbed Xiao Yuzhen by the neck.

His fingers clenched, and his eyes were filled with disgust.

"Outrageous! Violating all human ethics! You've gone mad!"

Xiao Yuzhen's face turned purple from being pinched, yet she managed a pathetic laugh:

"I'm going crazy! Every day of these past four years has felt like shedding a layer of skin."

"Every night I need to touch the note you gave me back then to fall asleep! Cousin, I miss you so much—"

Paper or stationery?

Pei Yan's eyelids twitched.

On her twelfth birthday, she insisted on having me write that one.

Pei Yan's face turned red with anger. He released his grip and began searching her undergarments and the outer robe she had taken off.

"That thing must not be kept! Find it and burn it!"

But how could she possibly carry it with her?

As he drew near, Xiao Yuzhen hugged his waist, desperately pressing her chest against his chest, crying her heart out:

"Cousin, please don't do this... Please have pity on me, just let me hug you for a moment... just for a moment..."

Pei Yan felt a chill run down his spine. Without hesitation, he pried her fingers apart and shoved her away.

Xiao Yuzhen staggered two steps and almost fell.

"Xiao Yuzhen, did you hear me clearly?"

Pei Yan stood three steps away, his gaze like a blade in the dark night.

"You must burn this note when you get back! Otherwise, we will never see each other again in this life, whether in death or in life!"

Xiao Yuzhen collapsed to the ground, terrified.

Meeting those unwavering eyes, she covered her face and choked out a sob:

"I'll burn it! I'll burn it as soon as I get back... Cousin, please don't refuse to see me."

"For the sake of how I suffered for you back then, drinking that poisoned tea, please hug me... okay?"

Pei Yan paused slightly.

It was indeed by a twist of fate that she shielded herself from a calamity back then.

He gritted his teeth, enduring the resistance of every inch of his skin, and took a step forward.

He gave her a perfunctory, cursory glance.

His arms were stiff as two pieces of wood, and he couldn't even touch her back.

A moment later, he decisively withdrew and walked out without looking back.

That evening, Pei Yan had dinner with the old lady and returned to the inner courtyard early.

He pushed open the door to the inner room, casually unbuttoned his collar, and waved to Jiang Guo'er.

"Come here! Let me hug you."

Jiang Guo'er was standing obediently by the bed, having just prepared hot water. Hearing the noise, she came over, her eyes lowered and meek.

"The Prime Minister has returned..."

He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.

The tip of his nose twitched.

Jiang Guo'er suddenly raised her eyes, her almond-shaped eyes wide open.

Isn't the Prime Minister on duty in the Cabinet today?

Why do you smell so strongly of a woman's perfume on you?

He's only been indulging in this vice for a short time, hasn't even finished sleeping with all the concubines in the house, and he's already going to brothels like those other princes?!