It was morning when he arrived. The Duke's Mansion was full of guests, but now most of them had left. The red gate had returned to its usual quietness, with several servants guarding it.

Seeing Pei Yuan and Bao Ning leaving, the servants hurriedly greeted and said goodbye.

There was no tree blocking the door. It was noon, and the sun was bright and hot, making his eyes hurt. Pei Yuan shook his sleeves and stood in front of Bao Ning's forehead, walking towards the carriage at the street corner. Noticing that someone seemed to be following him, Pei Yuan roughly guessed who it was. He didn't look back, but continued to walk lazily, with a plum candy brought from Xu's house in his mouth.

When they arrived at the carriage, Pei Yuan helped Bao Ning get in. After she sat down, he lowered the curtain, leaned against the door frame and looked at Chen Jia: "I say, why were you standing there like an idiot just now?"

Pei Yuan's eyes were unhappy, "If I didn't say anything, would you just stand there and watch that crazy woman make a fuss?"

Chen Jia was stunned for a moment, and shook her head quickly: "No..."

"Are you nervous?" Pei Yuan interrupted his explanation and tapped his shoulder with a finger, "I think you've been living too comfortably these days, and you want to relax, huh?"

Chen Jia felt very aggrieved: "The prince's concubine..."

"Are you afraid that the prince will blame you in the future?" Pei Yuan turned the candy on his tongue over and suddenly said in a sharp voice, "Don't forget who is paying you!"

Chen Jia shuddered at his scolding, and the weather was hot, so his face was covered with sweat. He was already dark, and with the sweat on his face, he was shining.

"Don't do it again, otherwise, I won't keep you here, and you can't go back to the barracks. Pack up your paving and go to Shanyang to herd horses!"

Chen Jia stood up immediately: "Yes!"

Seeing his panic, Pei Yuan softened his voice, "I've assigned you a task, so do it well. Serving the lady is not a loss of your talent, but a respect for you. If you do well in the future, I guarantee that you will climb much faster than your colleagues. When you return to the northern border in the future, you will be my confidant, and I will train you to be the next general. Do you understand?"

Chen Jia's eyes lit up.

He was a person who could obey orders from his superiors without hesitation, but the gap from the barracks to the woman's backyard made him uncomfortable for a while. He didn't say it, but he felt uncomfortable in his heart. Baoning treated him very well, and he was willing to do his duty to take care of Baoning, but Pei Yuan's words today undoubtedly gave him a more solid and honored feeling.

Chen Jia's heart was fuller, and he said loudly: "Yes!"

"And more." Pei Yuan lowered his eyes and adjusted Chen Jia's collar, and said lightly, "Don't worry about the identity of the prince. He is the prince now, but he may not be the prince in the future. As long as someone threatens Madam, even if it is the king of heaven, you have to pinch his head off for me. Otherwise, I will pinch your head, understand?"

Chen Jia said: "Yes!"

Pei Yuan looked at him with satisfaction and turned to get in the car.

Although he was scolded at first, Chen Jia still couldn't hide his joy now. He was affirmed and assigned a more difficult task, which was enough to make a soldier's blood boil. Chen Jia sat on the front board of the car, and suddenly felt annoyed when he thought of the reason why Pei Yuan scolded him!

He was not hesitant because of Ji Jiaying's identity. In fact, he couldn't touch women's perfume powder, or he would get a rash.

Ji Jiaying smelled so good, and he was subconsciously frightened when he smelled that smell, so he missed the opportunity at the beginning!

Chen Jia looked down at the palm of his hand that touched Ji Jiaying's ankle, and it was swollen, very swollen. A look of surprise and panic appeared on his face. Do women even have to put on makeup and powder on their feet? He suddenly thought again, has Ji Jiaying been rescued now? If she is still soaking in the water, she should be dead, right? If

she dies, will he be arrested and sent to prison...

Pei

Xiao and Chang Xi stood beside the stone lion in front of the Duke's Mansion, watching Chen Jia driving the carriage westward, getting farther and farther away.

After a while, several plainclothes men in black quietly followed.

Chang Xi whispered, "Your Highness, I guess they should have returned to the manor in Lihu. They have been sending people to watch over the manor. I know that a pregnant woman with a child moved in more than half a month ago. But I heard that the child is very lively and has a completely different personality from the little prince, so I didn't think in that direction, which delayed me for some time..."

As he spoke, Chang Xi was about to kneel down, "I have failed to do my job well, please punish me, Your Highness!"

"No need."

Pei Xiao's eyes flashed with Baoning's face and the small drum that fell on the ground, and he felt a splitting headache.

He turned his head and coughed heavily a few times, then said after a while: "Did you put the nail in?"

Chang Xi stood up slowly, with a flash of embarrassment on his face: "Still looking for an opportunity. The Fourth Prince's wife guards the manor as strictly as an iron barrel. Now I can't put the nail in."

Pei Xiao frowned and asked: "What's going on?"

"Your Highness, you don't know." Chang Xi said with a bitter face, "The Fourth Prince's wife is very shrewd and calculating. She has a limited number of people in her mansion, and she won't add any more. I even tried to arrange for someone to go to the gate of her manor and perform a play of selling oneself to bury her father, hoping to gain her sympathy and insert someone. But the Fourth Prince's wife stuffed two silver coins and sent the person away, saying that there was no shortage of people in her mansion, and she thought it was too expensive to hire servants..."

Chang Xi didn't dare to tell Pei Xiao that Bao Ning actually took the initiative to recruit maids some time ago, apparently to take care of the pregnant woman in her mansion.

After he learned the news, he quickly prepared seven or eight beautiful little maids, all of whom were pretty and beautiful, thinking that they would definitely be chosen. Unexpectedly, the old nanny who came to choose was just as stingy. After choosing for a long time, she picked the ugliest one, thin and skinny. He worked hard for half a day, but it was all in vain.

Pei Xiao misunderstood Chang Xi's meaning and asked in a deep voice: "Is her life very difficult?"

Chang Xi didn't know that his claws had not yet extended into the manor, so how could he know how Baoning lived, but he couldn't tell him directly.

He recalled the situation he learned and described it to Pei Xiao: "Maybe she is not very well off. The Fourth Prince's wife sends out maids to buy vegetables every day, but they buy very little. Maybe in order to save money, they opened up a piece of land in the backyard and planted a lot. And there are very few servants in the mansion. The Fourth Prince's wife is only accompanied by an elderly nanny, and her life is not as decent as that of our Crown Princess Toufa Si'er."

Pei Xiao felt distressed.

He had never thought that Baoning would actually live such a life.

Moreover, apart from the financial difficulties, Pei Xiao thought that with Pei Yuan's personality, her life would definitely not be smooth.

He knew Pei Yuan too well. He was a moody person who had been ruthless and calculating since he was a child. When he was twelve years old, he dared to pick up a knife and kill the family of the palace maid surnamed Luo who was rumored to have murdered his mother. There were nine people in the family, and the road was stained with blood, but he didn't look afraid at all. It was also from then on that Pei Xiao made up his mind that he had to guard against this younger brother.

He used all means to get rid of Pei Yuan, and thought that the mission had been accomplished. Who would have thought that he would stand up again...

Pei Xiao closed his eyes, recalling Bao Ning's appearance. She was so delicate, he wondered if Pei Yuan would hurt her when he was angry?

Chang Xi carefully looked at Pei Xiao's expression, and seeing that he had not spoken for a long time, he tentatively called: "Your Highness?"

Pei Xiao said: "Chang Xi, you go back home immediately and buy some pearls and treasures, the more the better, and send them to the manor of the Fourth Prince's wife."

Chang Xi was surprised: "This..." He didn't know why, but based on his understanding of Pei Xiao, it was probably for bribery, and he wanted to open this way through the Fourth Prince's wife. Which woman doesn't like jewelry? With the current financial resources of the Fourth Prince's wife, it is difficult for her to have any precious jewelry. Your Highness's move must be exactly what she wants. It's really a good idea!

"I'll do it right away!" Chang Xi thought he had guessed Pei Xiao's idea, so he happily agreed.

Pei Xiao asked, "I heard that when she lived in the general's mansion, she also liked to raise fish?"

"Yes."

Pei Xiao waved his hand, "Send her some more fish, whatever she likes, send it to her as soon as possible!"

Chang Xi took the order and left.

...

Chen Jia drove fast, and Saifeng had good footwork. They set off at noon and returned to Lihu in two hours. The summer days are long, and the sky is still bright.

Wei Meng had been waiting for a long time. When he saw them get off the car, he hurriedly led them to the study, closed the door, and unfolded the list he had found: "I have roughly known where the bear skins came from."

Pei Yuan took a pen and wrote and drew on the list with Wei Meng: "The Luosha Kingdom has been in contact with us for a total of 30 years, has been subservient for 15 years, and has paid tribute 14 times. A total of 50 bear skins were sent, including 20 brown bear skins, 5 white bear skins, and the rest were black bear skins. The emperor awarded three black bear skins to the harem, 15 to the foreign officials, and the rest were stored in the treasury. Among the bear skins given to the foreign officials, 12 are still intact in their respective treasuries and have not been moved. The remaining three, one is with the young lady's aunt, and one is with the crown prince Pei Xiao. There are two in his hand."

Pei Yuan's eyes flashed: "Who do you suspect?"

Wei Meng said: "Of course it's Pei Xiao!"

Pei Yuan threw the wolf-hair brush in his hand on the table and snorted: "I guess it's him. Today in the Duke's Mansion, his expression was clearly not right after he saw the small drum!" Pei Yuan walked around the room a few times, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got

: "I feel so embarrassed. I raise someone else's son and make him happy and fat. What do I want!" Wei Meng echoed: "It's just a bad fate!" Baoning paused: "When Yuanzi called you daddy, weren't you very happy? And General Wei, who accompanied Yuanzi to feed salt to Amian, also had a bright smile." Wei Meng stopped awkwardly. Veins popped on Pei Yuan's forehead. He wanted to refute Bao Ning, but couldn't. Originally, he thought Yuanzi was pretty good. The more he looked at her, the more he liked her. He even thought that if he couldn't go home, he would just keep her here and raise her. But now, it turned out to be Pei Xiao's child. Pei Yuan even wanted to kill her. Was it necessary for him to return the child to Pei Xiao in good condition? In the past, he certainly wouldn't do that. He would either kill Yuanzi or cut off one of his legs. But now, Pei Yuan thought, he really softened his heart. He couldn't bring himself to kill a child he had only seen for a few days. Bao Ning suddenly thought: "What happened to the wound on Yuanzi's arm? Did Pei Xiao abuse him, or did the Crown Princess abuse him?" Wei Meng hesitated and said: "Maybe it was the Crown Princess who did it. After all, he is a concubine's son, so it is reasonable for the Crown Princess not to tolerate him." Bao Ning felt that he was right, but after thinking about it for a while, he still shook his head: "Yuanzi's birth was very strange. How could Pei Xiao allow a concubine to give birth to a child before the Crown Princess entered the mansion?" Pei Yuan frowned and pondered for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out. I think this is strange, but I just can't find the point where the problem occurred. But no matter what, this child can't stay in the manor. Pei Xiao already knows about it, and he may come to take him back at any time. After lingering in the study for a while, Pei Yuan and Bao Ning went out and walked towards the yard. Yuanzi was sitting under the osmanthus tree, playing with the dogs and feeding them with soft beans in his hands. Baoning looked at his small shadow, feeling sad and pity. Why was Yuanzi Pei Xiao's son? They could have been very close, but now they were enemies. Pei Yuan walked over holding Baoning's hand, patted Ah Huang's butt to make room for it, and they sat side by side on the stone chair under the tree. "Yuanzi." Pei Yuan hooked his chin and teased, "What's the matter? Why don't you say anything when you see me?" "I should say something." Yuanzi rummaged in his sleeves, "Mammy bought some candy, and I hid a few pieces. I'm giving them to you. Look for them." He turned out a handful of very delicate round beans wrapped in oil paper. Yuanzi looked at them eagerly: "Peanut, milk, and sweet pear flavor, all delicious." Baoning's nose was a little sour, and he took it with a forced smile, touched his hair, and said thank you. Yuanzi tilted his head and asked: "Auntie, are you unhappy? You went out for a day, why are you unhappy when you come back?" Pei Yuan spoke before Baoning: "Yuanzi, you are going home." Yuanzi was shocked: "Why? Don't go back, I'm fine here, don't go back!" Pei Yuan picked up a candy and kneaded it on his fingertips: "Your father is here to pick you up, this is not up to you." Yuanzi thought of Pei Xiao's cold face and slowly closed her mouth, but her expression was still unhappy. "After you go home, you must not tell your father what happened in this manor, understand?" Pei Yuan leaned over, pinched Yuanzi's nose, and threatened with a smile, "If you dare to say a word to him, I will spank your butt!" "I won't say anything..." Yuanzi said slowly, his head drooping, "I don't say anything, no one there is willing to talk to me, only the little spiders and little snakes are willing to talk to me..." He spoke the second half of the sentence very softly, and Pei Yuan didn't hear it clearly, and asked him, "Who talked to you?" Yuanzi was startled and shook his head immediately: "No, no." Pei Yuan was used to his abnormal appearance sometimes, and didn't take it to heart. He and Bao Ning looked at each other, and then said to Yuanzi: "But don't feel too bad, this will also be your home. If you want to come back anytime, just come back. The premise is that you have to think about it. The next time you come to my place, you will never be able to come back in this lifetime, understand?" Pei Yuan said this partly out of his feelings for Yuanzi, and the rest out of selfishness. Controlling a person who should be considered important to Pei Xiao is of great benefit to him, just like the enemy countries wanted to send hostages in the past, Yuanzi would be his hostage to deal with Pei Xiao.

"I will set up a candied haws stall near your house in the future." Pei Yuan looked at Yuanzi and said slowly, "Whenever you want to come back to my place, go and tell the uncle who sells candied haws. You can sneak out at midnight, and he will be waiting for you at the back door. Let him take you back."

Yuanzi nodded heavily, and he looked happier: "Yeah!"

...

Back in the house, Baoning still had the half-finished clothes for Yuanzi on the couch.

Baoning's mood had improved a little just now, but now seeing these things, the sad and uncomfortable mood surged up again.

Pei Yuan sat at the table and poured a cup of tea. He waved her over to drink: "No matter how good someone else's son is, he is someone else's. If you like him, let's have our own."

Bao Ning took it and sipped it slowly: "It's not like you can have a baby just because you want to."

"Just work hard. Hard work pays off." Pei Yuan wanted to make her happy, so he put his big hand on her waist and slowly climbed up, "Baby, come here and let your brother see if your little peach has grown a little today?"

Bao Ning was almost choked, Pei Yuan snatched the cup from her hand, put her in his arms and put her on his lap, and asked ambiguously: "Do you want to untie it yourself or do I do it?"

Bao Ning blushed: "Untie what?"

Pei Yuan tapped her back: "Xiao Yi's belt."

"..." Bao Ning pushed him, "Don't talk about this in broad daylight, why don't you wait until the moon comes out?"

"What are you afraid of? No one will come."

"What if there is someone here?"

Pei Yuan said, "No..."

He was about to put his hand inside when he heard a thunderous voice outside: "Your Highness! The little eunuch beside the prince is here to deliver something! So many boxes!"

Pei Yuan did not let Chen Jia get within three feet of him. He stood far away and shouted even harder, making people's ears hurt and even dogs barking.

Pei Yuan's face turned dark, and he did not have time to scold him before he realized the meaning of his words.

"What did Pei Xiao come to deliver to me?"

The author has something to say: Pei Xiao: The kind-hearted me ran over.