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

In the warm pavilion of Songhe Garden, the old lady leaned against a pillow, her belly being rubbed by a maid.

She was so happy on her wedding day that she ate a few extra wedding cakes, and has been suffering from indigestion ever since.

Pei Yan held a bowl of digestive soup, skimming off the foam little by little with a spoon, and fed her spoonful by spoonful.

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

Ah Fu urgently reported this from outside the curtain in a low voice.

"Your Excellency, something has happened in the study."

Why is it the study again?!

Pei Yan put down the porcelain bowl, comforted the old lady with a few words, and then strode out of the warm pavilion.

I rushed to the courtyard outside the study, where the fire had already been extinguished, leaving only a faint smell of burning.

Green Ripple stepped on Green Screen, who had been shaking like a sieve, and stomped on it.

Xue Lingyi stood to one side, while Jiang Guo'er held an inkstone in her hand, playing with it.

Pei Yan scanned the entire room and walked straight to Xue Lingyi.

"I'm so scared, what... what happened?"

Xue Lingyi curtsied.

"Thank you for your concern, Prime Minister. This maidservant sneaked into the study to steal during the chaos. She was caught red-handed. Please decide on her punishment, Prime Minister."

Pei Yan raised his hand, and Xiao San, who had been hiding in the shadows, appeared out of thin air and grabbed Cui Ping.

"It's late and the dew is heavy, Madam, please go back to your room and rest early."

After saying that, he glanced at Jiang Guo'er and said, "You too."

Xue Lingyi agreed and turned to leave with Lüyi and Jiang Guo'er.

Jiang Guo'er silently placed the medicine ink back on the table. Just before leaving, she happened to meet the man's deep black eyes.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she immediately lowered her head and slipped away.

The two carved wooden doors of the study slammed shut.

Xiao San pressed down with his backhand, pinning Cui Ping to the blue brick floor.

With a single glance from Pei Yan, Xiao San grabbed Cui Ping's left arm and twisted it upwards forcefully.

Click!

The crisp sound of bones breaking echoed in the empty study.

"ah--"

Cuiping let out a scream, which quickly turned into a series of gasps.

My limbs trembled uncontrollably, and cold sweat instantly soaked my back.

Pei Yan lifted his robe and sat down in the armchair.

Seeing this, Cuiping desperately crawled over, reaching for his boot with her right hand to beg for mercy, but he kicked it away in disgust.

He then took out a handkerchief and wiped the boot surface that she had just touched.

"I gave you a chance, but you refused to repent."

He tossed the handkerchief onto the table.

"Then let's settle this score properly."

Cuiping was in so much pain that her vision went black, and she bit her lip until it bled profusely. She kowtowed desperately.

"Your Excellency, spare me! This servant was truly just momentarily confused and greedy!"

Pei Yan snorted coldly.

"To plot against the wife of the Grand Secretary is, according to the law, a capital offense."

"If I were to take this piece of musk ink to the authorities, the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture would surely sentence you to death by a thousand cuts."

Cuiping's lips turned white; she was so frightened she almost lost her soul.

"If I were even more ruthless, I could join forces with the Minister of Personnel to submit a memorial."

Pei Yan leaned down.

"I'll exterminate your entire family. Guess if the emperor will approve it?"

This sentence became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Cuiping completely broke down, collapsing to the ground, incoherent in her panic, screaming madly.

"Prime Minister, you can't kill me! I'm the Empress's person!"

"If you harm me, Her Majesty the Empress will absolutely not let it go!"

Upon hearing that name, Pei Yan gripped the armrest of the armchair tightly with his fingers.

With a muffled "crack," a corner of the hardwood dragon head was crushed by his bare hands.

He tugged at one corner of his lip.

"I dared to expose the Emperor's spies planted in the Pei residence, so why would I be afraid of a woman confined to the deep palace?!"

Cuiping, seeing that even her last trump card was useless, was utterly desperate.

"Your Excellency, have mercy! This servant was originally a third-class maidservant by the Empress's side."

"After the Empress entered the palace, she sent someone to kill Cuiping, a servant girl who had lost both her parents, and made me take her place in the mansion."

"Her Majesty has ordered that any woman you might like appear near the Prime Minister must be eliminated at all costs!"

"My parents' and siblings' indentures are all in Your Highness's hands, and I... dare not disobey!"

After saying that, Cuiping banged her head on the ground, her forehead hitting the blue bricks and leaving a pool of blood.

Pei Yan gestured for Xiao San to bring over the offering paper, and then grabbed Cui Ping's hand to press her bloody handprint onto it.

He carefully folded the signed confession and tucked it into his sleeve.

In the future, this will become a powerful tool to suppress Xiao Yuzhen.

"For the sake of your entire family, I will spare your worthless life."

Pei Yan poured out a dark, black pill.

"But from this day forward, you will be loyal only to me."

Xiao San pried open Cui Ping's mouth and forced the pill down her throat.

Cuiping coughed repeatedly, desperately trying to vomit, but nothing came out.

"The poison you ingested requires an antidote every seven days."

"If you disobey, when the poison takes effect, your whole body will be covered in sores and ulcers, your flesh will rot to the bone, and your death will be extremely gruesome."

Cuiping trembled so much that she could barely speak her pleas for mercy; she could only nod frantically.

"If the Empress sends someone to contact you again in the future, no matter what method you use, steal a token from that person."

After dismissing the absent-minded Cuiping, the study returned to silence.

Xiao San stepped forward and lowered his voice.

"Your Excellency, I was on duty in the shadows, watching the study. Cuiping's confession was all true."

"However... there is something I find strange."

Pei Yan tapped the now-cold teacup.

"explain."

"As soon as the sound of the water started, the lady, along with Lüyi and Jiang Guo'er, hid behind the pillars in the corridor."

"But the three of them didn't say a word, they just stared intently at the study door."

"Only after Cuiping slipped inside and found the medicinal ink did they jump out to catch the thief."

Xiao San paused for a moment, then boldly voiced his guess.

"As I see it, Madam's method of luring the snake out of its hole and catching the turtle in a jar..."

"Your methods of scheming against Third Master are practically identical!"

"If they had anticipated that Cuiping would come to steal the medicinal ink containing musk, then the rumors that have been circulating in the manor these past two days..."

It must have been bait they deliberately released.

Pei Yan slowly paced back and forth behind his desk.

interesting.

That's so interesting.

The two women got together and started putting on a grand opera.

I just don't know whose idea this elaborate scheme was.

Is it Xue Lingyi?

Or... Jiang Guo'er?

Pei Yan pushed open the study door and walked into the inner room, stepping on the moonlight-dappled floor.

Calming incense was burning in the inner room.

Xue Lingyi sat on the daybed, holding a book and flipping through it, trying to appear calm.

Jiang Guo'er stood obediently to one side, her hands folded in front of her, her eyes lowered.

Hearing footsteps, the two of them looked up at the same time.

Pei Yan strode across the threshold, walked to the Luohan bed and sat down, his gaze sweeping frankly over Xue Lingyi's face.

She glanced at Jiang Guo'er, whose expression remained unchanged.

"Tonight's events were all thanks to your planning, Madam."

He deliberately slowed his tone, making it sound sincere.

"Using rumors as bait to lure Cuiping into the trap was an extremely clever tactic."

"Madam is indeed a lady of noble birth, with such a meticulous mind. She will surely become a wise and capable wife to me in the future."

Xue Lingyi blushed from the praise.

The idea was entirely Jiang Guo'er's; she was merely following the plan.

She instinctively turned her head to look at Jiang Guo'er.

Jiang Guo'er lowered her eyes and quickly shook her head at her.

Unbeknownst to them, Pei Yan noticed all of these subtle actions.