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

Before long, the three of them were led to the front hall like dead dogs.

Minister Xue rushed forward and kicked Zhao in the chest, pointing his finger at her nose and cursing:

"You wicked woman! You've failed to raise your daughter properly, daring to tamper with your daughter's bath soap! How vicious!"

Zhao was kicked so hard she rolled on the ground, clutching her chest and howling, refusing to admit anything.

"My lord, I am innocent! I know nothing! It must have been that lowly servant who did it!"

"Ever since my sister passed away, this unruly servant has frequently been disrespectful and disrespectful to you!"

She desperately tried to signal to Granny Xu with her eyes.

Granny Xu was so frightened that she trembled and closed her eyes.

Good heavens, it seems she's really going to have to take the blame today.

"This old servant...this old servant was momentarily bewitched..."

"Oh?" Jiang Guo'er frowned, looking puzzled, and casually delivered a subtle blow.

"Granny Xu, this saffron is very precious. With your meager monthly salary, which pharmacy did you buy it from? Tell me, and the Prime Minister will send someone to investigate."

"Furthermore, disrespecting one's master is a capital offense. Are you really going to admit it?!"

Granny Xu was momentarily speechless, her mouth agape for a long time, cold sweat dripping down her face.

Minister Xue cursed the stupid woman in his heart, saying that she did something bad but didn't know how to clean up the mess, leaving him with this mess!

Now that there was no scapegoat left, he grabbed Zhao's collar, leaned close to her ear, and whispered something in her ear.

"Plead guilty quickly, or if things escalate, your entire Zhao family will be implicated!"

Zhao was struck dumb, shaking her head frantically.

How could she admit it?

If she accepts it, her life is over!

Minister Xue was so angry that his chest ached, and he turned to point at Xue Lingfang, who was trembling beside him.

"You wretched creature! How could your mother have given birth to such a shameless and despicable person!"

"You worthless life, you might as well just smash your head against this pillar and die, at least that way you won't tarnish my ancestors' honor!"

"If I had known this would happen, I should have drowned you in a chamber pot the moment you were born!"

Xue Lingfang was so frightened that she burst into tears and crawled over to hug Minister Xue's leg.

"Father! I'm innocent! I don't know anything! It was my cousin... it was Zhao Yuanzhe who ruined me!"

"What you're saying, Second Miss, is quite strange," Jiang Guo'er said again, her face full of confusion.

"Since you didn't do it willingly, just how many wings does Young Master Zhao have to be able to climb over all the maids and servants in the courtyard and into your boudoir?"

"And then stripped naked and rolled around with you?"

"Who do you think you are!" Xue Lingfang completely broke down.

She screamed like a madwoman and lunged at Jiang Guo'er, her nails scratching at her face. "A lowly concubine like you dares to step on me!"

She didn't even touch the hem of Jiang Guo'er's clothes before a muffled "bang" was heard.

Pei Yan raised his long leg and kicked Xue Lingfang in the chest without any mercy, sending her flying half a meter away.

Xue Lingfang slammed heavily against the doorpost, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

"Fang'er!"

Zhao let out a heart-wrenching wail, like a pig being slaughtered, and scrambled over to embrace her daughter, screaming at Pei Yan:

"Your Excellency is so cruel! My daughter has already suffered enough humiliation; you're trying to kill her!"

Minister Xue was so frightened that he gasped.

At this critical juncture, there was no longer any fatherly or marital affection in his heart, only the fear of offending the Grand Secretary.

"Zhao Yunjiao, is this the good daughter you raised! If you don't shut up, I'll divorce you today!"

Minister Xue slapped Zhao across the face, stunning her completely.

He then turned his head and looked at his second daughter, who lay on the ground seemingly lifeless, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.

"Guards! Tie up this disgraceful whore, put her in a pig cage and drown her!"

Several burly men immediately grabbed ropes and prepared to step forward.

"Wait a minute."

Pei Yan dusted off non-existent dust from his sleeves, his tone cool and aloof.

"Why is Lord Xue in such a hurry? There are many suspicious points in this matter, and it should be carefully investigated. I have no intention of wrongly accusing anyone."

His cold, sharp gaze swept over Zhao Yuanzhe, who was lying on a stretcher, his lower body a bloody mess.

"Since Miss Xue insists that Zhao Yuanzhe harmed her, someone bring a basin of cold water and splash it on Young Master Zhao to wake him up."

"I wish to question you personally."

Whoosh!

A basin of well water mixed with ice shards was poured over the bloody, mangled body on the stretcher.

Zhao Yuanzhe, who had been unconscious, was abruptly awakened.

The medicinal effects of the snake slough and centipede have already fully taken effect in the body.

Instead of clotting, the wound on his lower body rapidly festered and became infected from the inside out.

Yellowish-green pus flowed down his groin, filling the entire front hall with a nauseating stench.

The imperial physician pinched his nose and hastily covered his mouth and nose with a cloth he pulled out of his medicine box.

Enduring the stench, he examined Zhao Yuanzhe's eyes and pulse, then used a silver needle to prick several bloody holes of varying depths at the edge of the festering wound, carefully inspecting it.

After a long pause, the imperial physician, his face pale, stepped back two paces and bowed to report.

"Your Excellency, Young Master Zhao's injury is in his private parts, and it's festering extremely rapidly. I'm afraid... he'll never be able to have sex again."

The imperial physician spoke cautiously, implying that Zhao Yuanzhe had not only become a eunuch, but even his life was in danger.

The courtiers in the front hall retreated in unison, covering their mouths and noses with their sleeves, their faces full of disgust.

Zhao Yuanzhe, on the stretcher, stood there stunned for a long time.

The excruciating pain and the stench, combined with the imperial physician's recent pronouncement, completely shattered his reason.

To be childless and without descendants?

No, that won't happen!

He, a dignified scholar from Jiangnan and a scion of a prestigious family, has become a cripple!

Despair instantly transformed into overwhelming resentment.

He stiffly turned his head and stared intently at Xue Lingyi, who was sitting behind and to the side of Pei Yan.

Since his life is ruined, he will never let Xue Lingyi have an easy time!

Even if it means death, he will drag Xue Lingyi down to hell with him!

"Bullshit! You're all talking nonsense!"

Zhao Yuanzhe suddenly went berserk and howled, his voice cracking and hoarse, like a demon crawling out of a mass grave.

"Xue Lingyi! Stop pretending to be all high and mighty and innocent!"

"You invited me to your room for a late-night rendezvous, but then you suddenly attacked me!"

"They say even a night of marriage brings a hundred days of kindness, how cruel you are!"

He gripped the edge of the stretcher with both hands, veins bulging on the back of his hands, and roared at the top of his lungs:

"You think you're clean just because you married Pei Yan? The child in your belly isn't Pei Yan's at all—"

"That's mine!"

Upon hearing this, the front hall fell into a deathly silence.

All the officials stared wide-eyed, not daring to even breathe.

Has Prime Minister Pei been cuckolded?

Holy crap, this is the kind of fun that could get you beheaded!

Seeing that everyone was stunned, Zhao Yuanzhe's face turned sinister, and he spat out bloody saliva through his teeth.

"My lords, you may not know this, but this woman has been my woman since my maternal grandfather's time in Jiangnan!"

"But she looked down on me because I was just a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, without any official position. Before the New Year, she heard that the Dowager Empress had chosen her to be the wife of the Grand Secretary, so she hurriedly left me behind and returned to the capital to climb the social ladder!"

"All of this she's doing today is to cover up the bastard child in her belly!"

Xue Lingyi was so angry that she trembled all over, her fingertips digging into her palms, her face pale.

Jiang Guo'er stood to one side, her face extremely cold and stern.

That heartless, rotten beast!

He brought this upon himself, so how dare he turn the tables and distort the truth?!

They even wanted to drive Lingyi to her death!

She gently comforted Xue Lingyi from behind with her hand, signaling her not to panic.

She silently took half a step forward, and her hand, hidden under the wide sleeves of her robe, precisely grasped Pei Yan's little finger hanging by his side and gently shook it.

Just then, a few fragmented words echoed in Pei Yan's mind.

[You beast...you deserve to die...Lingyi is so pitiful...]

[Your Excellency is upright and just... Please... Do justice...]

Pei Yan raised his eyebrows very slightly.

The little thing was so cunning and smug last night, but now that it's encountered a rabid dog that's biting people, it's finally scared and knows to come begging to him.

Out of pity for her.

Pei Yan slightly flipped his wrist and, from inside his sleeve, grasped Jiang Guo'er's soft little hand, holding it firmly in his palm.

He looked down at the pile of mud on the ground and let out a chilling laugh.

"Zhao Yuanzhe, do you know what the punishment is for falsely accusing the Prime Minister's wife?"

"I'm not lying! I have evidence!"

At this moment, Zhao Yuanzhe's mind was filled with the crazy idea of ​​dragging Xue Lingyi down with him.

"The Zhao family of Suzhou, from my grandmother to my personal maid, all know about my affair with this slut! They can all testify for me!"