As Zhang Qin finished speaking, he coughed and laughed, his smile carrying a hint of smug satisfaction at having gained the upper hand.

"As far as I know, you were pregnant when you left back then."

"You must have given birth to that child, right?"

Ye Ningwan neither admitted nor denied it.

She simply stared at Zhang Qin indifferently.

"So, what are you trying to prove?"

Zhang Qin spoke with difficulty, each word distinct and deliberate.

"Do we have to talk like this? Please let me go, and we can have a proper discussion about this deal."

"It's really uncomfortable to have you talking to me with your neck choked like this."

Zhang Qin had only meant it casually and didn't expect Ye Ningwan to actually listen to him at this moment, but...

Ye Ningwan did as he asked, releasing her grip on his throat and cracking her knuckles.

Zhang Qin clutched his neck, which was marked with bruises, and coughed violently. He bent over slightly and curled up involuntarily.

Ye Ningwan glanced down at her watch.

"I'll wait for you for two more minutes at most."

Zhang Qin then slowly raised his head.

Ye Ningwan stepped to the side, making room for him.

"Get up and talk to me! Who gave you permission to sit?"

Zhang Qin leaned against the wall, straightened his back, looked up at Ye Ningwan, and said in a hoarse voice.

“Miss Ye, I imagine you are also troubled, what if Pei Fengzhi knew your true identity and that you have a child?”

Ye Ningwan laughed.

"Just because you say I have it doesn't mean I do. Even if I was pregnant, so what? It's just that I was pregnant. Pei Fengzhi is already married to me. At worst, he can just divorce me if he's unhappy. It's not like I can't accept that!"

That's certainly the truth.

But Zhang Qin said...

“Miss Ye, you yourself said that I am a smart person, and I have been keeping an eye on your whereabouts ever since you came back.”

A slight smile forced onto his pale face.

"That so-called biological son of Pei Fengzhi, is he actually your biological son? Although I don't know what methods you used to persuade that forensic doctor to give false testimony and forge a DNA report. But... but according to my reasoning, Young Master Xing should be your son. He was only adopted by the Pei family as a temporary measure."

"Of course, Miss Ye, you can deny that. However, if this matter gets out, or even if it doesn't get out, and it's just Pei Fengzhi and the old man who find out, within a few hours, your DNA paternity test results with Young Master Xing will be presented to them."

"Deception can't work forever. What more perfect lie will you be able to come up with to cover it up when the time comes?"

Zhang Qin seemed very certain that he would win this time.

To his surprise, Ye Ningwan seemed to show no signs of tension or anxiety, and continued to look at him calmly.

Zhang Qin suppressed a hint of uncertainty in his heart, stared into her eyes, and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Consider our deal, Miss Ye. I don't actually want much. I just want you to leave a way out for the Madam, and also for yourself. We're all living in big families, and no one has it easier than anyone else. Why should women make things difficult for each other?"

Hearing this, Ye Ningwan couldn't help but want to laugh.

Why do women make things difficult for other women?

When they were making things so difficult for themselves back then, why didn't they think of this sentence?

"Zhang Qin, do you think you can threaten me with just this?"

Ye Ningwan pulled over a chair, crossed her legs, and sat back in it, tilting her head slightly with a mocking smile.

"Aren't you underestimating me?"

Zhang Qin walked forward step by step, bent down slightly, and slowly approached Ye Ningwan. Their faces were almost touching as he coldly stared at her.

"Ye Ningwan, empty words are useless. Instead of making a show of force here, you should seriously consider cooperating with me."

“You invited the physician to cure the eldest young master and resolved this crisis for the eldest son’s family. I will keep your secret for you, and we can pretend that nothing happened and go our separate ways.”

Looking at Zhang Qin's confident demeanor, Ye Ningwan couldn't help but laugh.

"Zhang Qin, when you investigated me, did you ever think that you yourself would also be investigated?"

Zhang Qin's pupils contracted, as if he had suddenly thought of something.

"You? How is this possible..."

No one would know about this! Apart from himself, everyone in the world who knew about this is already dead, so how could Ye Ningwan possibly know?

How is that possible?

Zhang Qin thought.

Perhaps Ye Ningwan was just bluffing him, trying to trick him into revealing something, and that he actually knew nothing at all. He couldn't let Ye Ningwan's few simple words throw him into a panic!

He immediately calmed down.

"How could you possibly uncover my secrets? I don't have any secrets that you can easily manipulate."

"Or are you going to join those bored people in spreading rumors that I'm the First Madam's lover?"

"These kinds of things have been circulating in the company for who knows how many years. Even Grandpa Pei knows about them. If you're trying to threaten me with something like this, you're being far too presumptuous."

Ye Ningwan raised an eyebrow and sneered.

"Oh, really?"

"If Madam Pei knew that she had a son out of wedlock, and that this son had been quietly lurking by her side for so many years, I wonder what she would think?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qin's expression instantly turned extremely ugly.

"Ye Ningwan, what nonsense are you spouting?! Don't think you can get away with slandering the First Madam like this, you won't succeed!"

His clenched fist was trembling slightly.

Ye Ningwan clearly noticed Zhang Qin's subtle movements, and the corners of her lips curled up slightly. It seemed that she had guessed correctly.

In fact, she didn't know about the relationship between Zhang Qin and Madam Pei, and she had no concrete evidence. She was just trying to trick Zhang Qin, but she didn't expect that Madam Pei was really that important to him.

I wonder how Madam Pei felt after learning about this.

"Assistant Zhang, now it's my turn to negotiate with you."

"Or rather, you can take this as me blatantly threatening you!"

Zhang Qin gritted his teeth.

"It's no use! I won't be threatened by you. Even if you have something on me, I have something on you too!"

Ye Ningwan stood on tiptoe, with three legs of the chair suspended in the air, leaving only one leg wobbling on the ground.

She laughed cynically.

"Then let's give it a try. At worst, I'll take my son and run away, or I'll make a big scene. The Pei family won't touch my son for the sake of their reputation! As for me, what do I need a reputation for? Wasn't my reputation ruined by you guys eight hundred years ago? Even if it gets a little worse, so what?"

Ye Ningwan simply acted like a dead pig that wasn't afraid of boiling water.

She can slack off, but can Zhang Qin?

As long as Zhang Qin still cares about Madam Pei, he can't do anything even if he takes the initiative.