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

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Xue Lingyi didn't even eat breakfast, leaving Lüyi to guard outside the door, and hurriedly slipped into the side room.

Jiang Guo'er was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a small ox horn comb in her hand, dealing with the tangled tuft of hair at the back of her head.

Xue Lingyi bolted the door shut, grabbed her wrist, and his voice, though low, betrayed his barely concealed excitement.

"Guo'er! The person in his heart is definitely you!"

Jiang Guo'er's hand trembled, and she almost dropped the comb. She quickly grabbed it and pulled Xue Lingyi to sit down on the stool.

"Lingyi, it's barely dawn, have some water first—"

"Oh, I'm not dreaming! Let me tell you!"

Xue Lingyi couldn't wait to tell everyone what Pei Yan had said the night before, including when he showed her the painting "Lotus Picking" and asked her if she recognized the handwriting, as well as all the questions she had been asked.

"...He closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time. When he opened them again, his eyes were red!"

After Xue Lingyi finished speaking, she twisted the handkerchief in her hands and stared intently at her.

Jiang Guo'er lowered her head and remained silent for a long time.

My heart skipped a beat without me even noticing.

"Lingyi, didn't he say it himself, that he was asking on behalf of General Xuanwu, Sima Di?"

Xue Lingyi stood up abruptly, stamping her feet in frustration.

"If it truly was General Xuanwu's request, why would he be so heartbroken that his eyes welled up with tears?!"

"He's thought of you for four years; his feelings are truly deep and profound! Shunshun, why don't you just tell him the truth!"

Xue Lingyi grasped her hand and spoke rapidly.

"Even knowing you are the daughter of a disgraced official, he would never hand you over to the court! Besides, you are carrying his child!"

"With his help, overturning the verdict will definitely not be difficult, and the child can be born with a clear conscience!"

"I'll ask to be divorced then, and he'll make you his legal wife, so you'll never have to suffer again!"

Anyone else, upon hearing such good news, would probably burst into tears on the spot and readily agree.

Jiang Guo'er looked down at the doll in her hand and remained silent for a long time.

"I understand your concerns," Xue Lingyi sighed.

"This matter concerns your life and fortune, so you should consider it carefully... Whatever decision you make, I will support you."

After saying that, Xue Lingyi quietly left.

The side room fell silent again.

Jiang Guo'er leaned against the bedpost and patted her chest forcefully.

She appeared calm just now, but in reality, her heart was in turmoil, like a storm raging inside.

She reached out and grabbed a damp cloth, wiping the silk doll's hands little by little.

After wiping my left hand, I wiped my right, my mind already wandering far away.

The Lantern Festival four years ago.

To escape her mother's nagging, she secretly slipped out of the mansion.

She wore a thick veiled hat and her simplest outfit.

We ate and drank along the way, and even solved riddles along the way, winning a rabbit lantern.

Just as she took a fancy to a glass revolving lantern and was about to pay for it, a hand suddenly cut in from the side.

A man wearing a mask with blue fangs also wanted to buy the lamp.

The two then competed in a game of flying flower poetry.

She lost a sentence, and on the spot, she painted this "Lotus Picking Picture" as a reward for losing to that man.

He neither wrote a poem nor signed his name.

Wait… Jiang Guo’er’s heartbeat suddenly stopped.

She remembered that the bet wasn't suggested by the stall owner, but by him!

She just thought it was fun and didn't think much of it at the time.

Now that I think about it, could it be that he did it on purpose... just to leave behind a keepsake?

No, no, no, that's impossible. She must be overthinking it.

Pei Yan is a man whose mind is more cunning than a lotus root, and whose scheming is boundless.

If he turns ruthless, not only will I not survive, but I will also drag Lingyi down with me.

but……

What if Lingyi's judgment is true?

If he truly cared for her for four whole years, then she had a protector... a support...

A real home.

With her father and brother soon to be exonerated, she will no longer have to live in fear and anxiety!

Jiang Guo'er was restless and distracted, but she never dared to take that step.

Over the next few days, she tried every possible way to avoid Pei Yan.

When Pei Yan returned to the main courtyard after court, he picked up his teacup and was about to call for someone when Jiang Guo'er immediately grabbed a stack of account books, made an excuse to go to the embroidery room to check the fabrics, and disappeared in a flash.

In the evening, it was her turn to bring the white fungus and lotus seed soup to the study to serve him.

She simply shoved the tray into the hands of the green ivy beside her, claimed she wasn't feeling well, and turned to hide back in the side room.

Even at night, there's no escaping it.

That person was unusually gentle and patient.

They whispered sweet nothings to each other, unhurried and gentle, their affection tender and tender.

Jiang Guo'er bit her lip, afraid to move, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst her eardrums.

She felt she was going to be in trouble.

When I occasionally bump into him during the day, my heart starts pounding uncontrollably.

She hurriedly lowered her head, but her peripheral vision kept involuntarily sweeping over his lips.

Even when he walked across the corridor with his hands behind his back, his lean waist and broad shoulders made her cheeks flush.

Murong Shunshun, wake up!

You can't like him!

Once you fall in love... it's like harnessing yourself to a plow and handing the reins to him.

From then on, joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, advancement, and retreat were no longer within their own control.

That day, Pei Yan was receiving guests in the front yard, and Jiang Guo'er quickly slipped out for some fresh air.

Just then, in the waterside pavilion of Songhe Garden, they bumped into Master Longchuan, who was dozing off.

The old Taoist priest leaned against the railing, his head nodding slightly.

Jiang Guo'er shook him awake, feeling embarrassed, and handed him a packet of pine nut candy.

"Master, please do me a favor."

"There's something I'm really struggling to decide. Since you're knowledgeable in Yin and Yang, could you please divine my fortune?"

Master Longchuan picked up a pine nut candy, popped it into his mouth, and chewed it with a crunching sound.

Then he took out six shiny copper coins and casually tossed them onto the stone table next to him.

The copper coin spun around a few times before coming to a stop.

The old Taoist priest glanced at it, and his already somewhat cloudy eyes immediately narrowed.

"Very bad luck."

Jiang Guo'er's budding expectations were instantly crushed.

As dusk fell, lanterns were lit throughout the mansion.

Jiang Guo'er carried an empty tray into the tea room, and just as she finished filling it with tea, she was about to turn around.

A broad, upright chest pressed silently against her back.

Pei Yan stood against the light, his expression indistinct, but the gaze falling on her made her scalp tingle.

He took off his hairpin and pen and wrote on the table:

[Avoiding me? What's it this time?]

His breath fell from above her ears, the hot air brushing against the thin downy fur and seeping into her collar.

Jiang Guo'er's neck hairs stood on end.

Pei Yan took a step forward and closed the wooden door behind him.

Jiang Guo'er kept her head down, not daring to move, her chest pressed directly against the wooden shelf holding the tea leaves.

"Your Excellency...this servant does not have it."

She lowered her head, her throat dry.

Pei Yan moved closer and trapped her in the narrow gap between his arms and the wooden frame.

The scent of agarwood emanating from his body, mixed with the heat emanating from his collar, enveloped him completely.

Mixed with the mellow aroma of the tea leaves on the shelf, it blocked all her escape routes.

For five consecutive days, he ran away whenever he saw me. He would order others around, serving me tea and water, but would pretend to be asleep as soon as night fell.

The brush touched the paper again, the characters slightly heavier than before.

Pei Yan raised his right hand, pinched Jiang Guo'er's chin with two fingers, and gently forced her to tilt her face up.

He pressed his fingertips against the delicate skin on her chin, stroking it back and forth.

You treat this main courtyard as your backyard, a playground for playing hide-and-seek.

Forced into eye contact with him, Jiang Guo'er simply pretended to be stupid.

"This servant doesn't recognize these two lines you wrote..."

Pei Yan frowned slightly.

He was already annoyed these past few days because of Xiao Yuzhen.

Jiang Guo'er was avoiding him like the plague, deliberately causing him trouble.

What's even more annoying is that if Jiang Guo'er doesn't kiss him for the duration of an incense stick at night, he won't be able to speak the next day.

And... there's an inexplicable restlessness pounding in my chest.

Pei Yan tightened his grip on the back of her head, his fingers sinking deep into her soft skin, and slowly leaned down.

They were so close that their noses touched, their breaths mingling completely, before he turned his head slightly and, very gently and slowly, took her lower lip into his mouth.

His teeth gripped the soft, thin lips, held them for a moment, then released them, slowly licking away the teeth marks left behind.

Jiang Guo'er tried to push him away, but as soon as her palm touched his chest, he grabbed her wrist with his other hand and pressed her against the wooden frame.

He squeezed his ten fingers between hers and tightened his grip.

Pei Yan pressed the tip of his tongue against the corner of her lips, then slowly hooked it inwards, a tender touch that made her weak all over.

Even though she was angry, every touch was excessively gentle.

Jiang Guo'er's knees buckled, and she slid down half an inch, making the tea canister clang.

Pei Yan smirked, tightened his arms around her waist, pulled her up again, pressed her into his embrace, and kissed her again.

My thumb pressed down along her spine, segment by segment, through her clothes.

Xue Lingyi had just returned from paying her respects to the Old Madam in her courtyard and walked to the corridor of the main courtyard, intending to ask Jiang Guo'er how her decision was going.

As I passed by the tea room, I heard a noise and instinctively peeked inside.

At just one glance, Xue Lingyi gasped and hurriedly covered her mouth.

Pei Yan pressed Jiang Guo'er down onto the wooden frame, his tall body encircling her, kissing her so hard she couldn't even straighten her back.

Good heavens!

Is the Prime Minister really going to devour Shun Shun?!