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

The next day, before dawn, Pei Yan was already dressed neatly and in high spirits.

Jiang Guo'er lay on the pillow, half-opening her eyes as she watched him fasten his belt.

Her slender fingers gracefully brushed against the jade buckle at her waist, exuding an air of lofty elegance.

Poor thing, she was tormented for most of the night, her back was almost broken, and she could barely turn over. Meanwhile, the culprit was impeccably dressed.

animals.

Pei Yan paused at the door and glanced back at her.

"Today I'm going to learn manners from the lady. Less talkativeness and more obedience."

"……knew."

Jiang Guo'er turned over, pulled the blanket over her head, and mumbled a reply.

Once the footsteps had faded into the distance, she crawled out of bed, rubbed her lower back, hissed in relief, and began to dress and comb her hair.

At 7:45 AM, Jiang Guo'er appeared before Xue Lingyi precisely on time.

Ostensibly, they were learning etiquette, but in reality, the two of them sat around a heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed).

With jujube paste pastries, osmanthus cakes, and a plate of torreya nuts beside her, she did needlework idly.

Green Ripple stood guard outside the door, coughing to warn anyone who came.

Xue Lingyi, holding an embroidered handkerchief in her hand, asked without looking up, "How was last night?"

Jiang Guo'er bit the thread and rolled her eyes.

"Don't even mention it."

"What's wrong?" Xue Lingyi put down the needle and looked at her curiously.

"I've never seen such a difficult person to please," Jiang Guo'er said in a low voice, her face full of accusation.

"Hands must be washed and scented beforehand, and washed spotlessly afterwards. The mat used must be changed daily and must be completely wrinkle-free."

"And—" she held up her fingers, listing the intimate rules.

"His hair must be tied up tightly with a hairpin, and not a single strand is allowed to fall and brush against him, otherwise..."

"So what?" Xue Lingyi's eyes widened.

Jiang Guo'er blushed instantly as she recalled the "punishment" she received last night.

"Let's change positions and start over."

Xue Lingyi covered her mouth in astonishment, "My God, is this still the Prime Minister I know?"

Even with the prepared hot water, he can tell the temperature is off just by touching it with his fingertip... He won't accept it being too hot or too cold, it's so annoying!

Xue Lingyi couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing.

"This...this is too much..."

"Sometimes I really wonder if he was a golden Buddha in a temple in his past life, because you have to choose an auspicious day to enshrine him."

Xue Lingyi laughed so hard her shoulders shook, and she could barely hold her embroidery needle.

Jiang Guo'er laughed along with her, but then she suddenly remembered something.

She picked up a torreya nut, cracked open the shell with her fingernail, popped the kernel into her mouth, and casually opened her mouth:

"By the way, Lingyi, when I was tidying up the Prime Minister's desk earlier, I noticed that he was using Xue Tao paper."

"It seems he wrote a love poem; it must have been written especially for you by the Prime Minister."

Xue Lingyi turned her head away in confusion.

"Love poems? What love poems?"

"It's... one of those small, crimson notepads with poems written on them. You've never received one?"

"Never." Xue Lingyi shook her head, her tone firm. "Before and after our marriage, there wasn't a single letter or piece of paper exchanged between the Prime Minister and me."

Jiang Guo'er's hand, which was peeling torreya nuts, suddenly stopped.

If it wasn't written for Lingyi, then who was it written for?

A chill ran down Jiang Guo'er's spine, and she popped another torreya nut into her mouth.

Pei Yan, Pei Yan, have you gone mad?

She risked being beaten and even self-harm to help cover up the love poem that Empress Xiao Yuzhen had written to Pei Yan.

So he also wrote to the Empress?

Who would have thought that the seemingly cold-blooded and ruthless Prime Minister Pei was actually a romantic at heart!

But how can this be allowed!

She jumped into a well last time to quell the matter, does she have to do it again?

No, absolutely not!

Jiang Guo'er grew angrier the more she thought about it, so she grabbed a large handful of torreya nuts and started peeling them nonstop.

Xue Lingyi was somewhat surprised to see her suddenly eating so voraciously.

"What's wrong with you? Didn't you eat enough for breakfast?"

"It's nothing, I just had a craving," Jiang Guo'er replied indistinctly.

She sat for a while longer, then got up and went to the tea room.

Pei Yan had specifically instructed that the imperial gift of pre-rain Longjing tea was for him to drink alone.

Today she's being rebellious and insists on drinking!

Jiang Guo'er deftly took the tea caddy, rinsed the tea with warm water, then filled it to seven-tenths full, steeped it for a few breaths, and filtered out a clear tea soup.

She carried the tea back to the inner room and poured a cup for Xue Lingyi and the others as well.

"This smell... could it be a gift from the Emperor?" Xue Lingyi sniffed it and raised an eyebrow.

"The Prime Minister isn't here." Jiang Guo'er blew on the steam from the cup of noodles and took a sip with a straight face.

Lu Yi hesitated for a moment, but couldn't resist and took a small sip as well.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office is on duty.

The large hall was empty except for Pei Yan, who sat behind his desk, burning a charcoal brazier, with a tall stack of urgent memorials spread out in front of him.

Today was his turn to be on duty, and he had to handle urgent official business. The two eunuchs were huddled in a corner, dozing off.

Pei Yan had just finished approving a few memorials when suddenly his nose itched. "Achoo!"

He frowned, wiped the tip of his nose with a handkerchief, and continued writing.

Not long after, I suddenly felt something fall into my clothes.

Round and pointed at one end, like a date pit, it slides down the collarbone and slowly rolls down the chest.

It rolled over his ribs, over his abdomen, and finally... precisely into his navel.

Pei Yan's vermilion brush hovered in mid-air.

The sensation was so itchy it made his scalp tingle, like someone poking his belly button with their fingertip.

He couldn't help but reach out and scratch a few times through his clothes.

However, the tingling itching not only did not lessen, but became even more pronounced.

Wasn't Jiang Guo'er going to learn etiquette?

How come you still have time to eat snacks?

Pei Yan's temple throbbed.

Just as I was about to endure it, a stream of scalding liquid flowed down without warning.

Sticky and hot, it meandered down from my chest, sliding along the lines of my abdomen toward more intimate places.

Pei Yanteng suddenly stood up from his chair!

His knee hit the edge of the table, and the stack of memorials scattered all over the floor.

He tried to suppress his breathing to barely get through the burning sensation.

This woman is so clingy!

Do you like him that much?

The little eunuch, who was dozing in the corner, was startled awake by the noise. He rubbed his eyes and peeked out, asking, "Your Excellency?"

"It's nothing."

Pei Yan raised his hand with a cold expression, squatted down and picked up the scattered memorials.

One of the books was laid out open.

"In the Chifeng area, bandits gathered 30,000 men, attacking and plundering prefectures and counties with unstoppable momentum..."

Chifeng?

Wasn't the secret letter from Marquis Dingyuan, Murong Kui, treason, intercepted in Chifeng?

Pei Yan immediately tucked the book into his sleeve and rushed to the Qianqing Palace.

……

Jiang Guo'er knew nothing about this.

She was still hungry after eating the torreya nuts, so she went to the small kitchen and got a freshly baked sugar cake.

He took a bite, and scalding hot syrup gushed out from the opening, dripping directly down his collar and into his clothes.

"Ouch!" She recoiled from the heat.

Xue Lingyi was startled and quickly put down her teacup and came over.

"Did you get burned? Let me see!"

She reached out and pulled open Jiang Guo'er's collar, then took a silk handkerchief and slipped it inside her collarbone to wipe her.

After wiping it a couple of times, my hand suddenly touched something.

Xue Lingyi was stunned.

A small rag doll, about the size of a palm, peeked out from Jiang Guo'er's open clothes, revealing half of its head.

The finest silk is used as the base, with fine and seamless stitches, and the facial features are embroidered with ink thread to make them lifelike.

He was also wearing a small, exquisite black brocade robe over his clothes.

Xue Lingyi's hand, which was holding a handkerchief, hovered in mid-air, and she blinked.

He looked down at the doll again, then looked up at Jiang Guo'er.

"Shun Shun".

Xue Lingyi deliberately lowered her voice, but her eyes were filled with shock.

"You...have feelings for the Prime Minister?!"

"No!" Jiang Guo'er exclaimed in surprise, quickly covering her collar.

"This doll is dressed in a black robe similar in style to the Prime Minister's, and its features are also very similar to his... You even kept it close to your heart!"

Xue Lingyi covered her lips with a handkerchief, her tone full of shock and guilt.

"Good heavens! I've usurped someone else's place and stolen their love!"

"Lingyi, let me explain—"

"No wonder you volunteered to be a concubine, no wonder you were so willing to go all out in front of the Prime Minister! So that's why..."

"No, no, no!"

Jiang Guo'er grabbed Xue Lingyi's wrist in a hurry and tried to explain in a low voice.

"I have absolutely no feelings for him! Serving him, sleeping with him, and even plotting to have his children were all for the sake of my revenge!"

She caught her breath and tucked the doll deeper into her undergarments.

"This... is just a heating device. I used to be so cold in the woodshed that I would hug it to keep warm."

"I got used to it and kept it with me, and the Prime Minister knew about it."

Xue Lingyi looked at her suspiciously for a while before she finally withdrew her "sorry, sister" expression.

"really?"

"Absolutely true. I have absolutely no romantic feelings for Pei Yan whatsoever!"