Just then, Jiang Qianqian reached out and adjusted the hairpin in her hand before walking over and saying something.

"Miss Jiang's headdress is quite beautiful, especially this diamond necklace, which is very rare."

Hu Qinqin also has some diamond jewelry, but none of them are as big as Jiang Qianqian's. It seems that Li Youran's shop really has some good stuff.

"The women from those nouveau riche families, as well as their mistresses, all really enjoy going to Manager Li's jewelry shop!"

Just then, Qian Qingqing said in a sarcastic tone.

In terms of status and position, Qian Qingqing would not dare to act wildly in front of Hu Qinqin. However, the Qian family and the Prime Minister's Mansion have been extremely close these past few days, and Qian Qingqing has also been in frequent contact with Hu Qinqin in private. That is why she is so bold.

"Does Miss Qian mean that our aesthetic sense is the same as those people's?"

Jiang Qianqian couldn't bear to see Li Youran suffer even the slightest grievance, so she immediately retorted with a cold face.

“Miss Jiang, I'm afraid you've misunderstood. You can ask Manager Li yourself if you don't believe me. After all, you two are quite close, she wouldn't lie to you.”

Having climbed the social ladder, Qian Qingqing spoke with increasing confidence. A slight upturn of her lips revealed her as she looked at Li Youran with an air of anticipation.

Li Youran, who had been watching the commotion from the sidelines, had no intention of interjecting, but then she saw the target of the attack being pointed at her.

Moreover, this was a good opportunity for her, so she pretended to be hesitant and said something.

“Miss Qian is telling the truth…” Li Youran paused, lowered her voice, and continued, “Especially those in the foreign affairs offices, they are incredibly generous, even more so than the main wife…”

The ladies gathered around were curious about what Li Youran was going to say next, since she had only spoken halfway through her sentence.

However, since the daughters of the prime minister and the minister were both present, they were too embarrassed to ask directly.

"It's just casual conversation among women. Manager Li just said it offhand, so let's just listen."

Although Hu Qinqin was very shrewd, she was still a young girl who rarely left her home. She rarely had the opportunity to hear about these different things, and her curiosity was no less than that of her girlfriends, so she spoke up.

"Since Miss Hu has asked, I won't keep you in suspense any longer, but just listen casually."

Li Youran said this with feigned reluctance.

“Those mistresses kept outside are much wealthier than the wives. Sometimes, the wives have just left when the mistresses arrive.”

How do you know whose mistress she is?

Qian Qingqing said in an annoyed tone.

It was obvious that Li Youran was lying. A mistress wouldn't tell anyone whose mistress she was, and she certainly wouldn't show it on her face. Qian Qingqing felt that Li Youran was just trying to attract attention.

"The officials and merchants in the capital are all accountable, so I can easily find out the false information provided by their mistresses."

After Li Youran finished speaking, she hurriedly covered her mouth, looking as if she had let something slip.

Sure enough, as soon as Li Youran finished speaking, the ladies beside her all changed color.

After all, their fathers were officials of varying ranks in the capital. If they really were keeping mistresses outside the capital, then...

"Enough, enough. It's really inappropriate for a group of unmarried young ladies to be discussing these things here."

Just as Hu Qinqin finished speaking, the Prime Minister's wife arrived, and the group did not continue the topic.

A fleeting smile crossed Li Youran's face; she hadn't expected things to go so smoothly.

The fishing hooks have already been cast, and we're just waiting for the fish to bite.

Originally, she planned to find a way to get close to the Prime Minister's wife and leak this information, but she didn't expect to meet such a clever Hu Qinqin. Li Youran sighed that it was good to achieve twice the result with half the effort!

Today's event was mainly for the marriage of the prime minister's illegitimate son. To avoid embarrassment, the prime minister's wife also invited some of her family's sons and some unmarried young men to join her in organizing this poetry gathering.

Li Youran now understands why the ancients held various poetry gatherings so often. It turns out that they used poetry gatherings as a pretext to do things that were not very pleasant to talk about.

Until the poetry gathering began, the male and female guests did not meet, which shows that the rules of the Prime Minister's residence were well observed.

It wasn't until the poetry gathering began that Li Youran and her entourage headed towards the back garden.

Everyone else had maids attending to them, but Li Youran was alone, so she walked a little slower as she lagged behind. Just as Li Youran was left alone, a young maidservant approached her.

"Miss Li, please be careful. The stones in this back garden are uneven; you might trip over them."

The young maid was extremely well-behaved and spoke in a pleasing manner. As she spoke, she reached out and helped Li Youran up.

Li Youran did not refuse. After all, if she really fell flat on her face in front of so many people, it would be extremely embarrassing.

She doesn't care much about herself, but she also has two shops under her control. No matter what, she has to maintain a good image in front of others to avoid causing a bad impression.

“Miss Li, I only realized after hearing what you said that those gentlemen actually did such despicable things behind the scenes.”

The little maid continued, feigning innocence.

"Fortunately, our Prime Minister is different. He is devoted to our Prime Minister's wife and doesn't even have any concubines."

Upon hearing Xiao Ya's words, Li Youran realized that this little maid was actually a spy sent by Hu Qinqin, and thus began to devise a plan of countermeasures.

If one were to deny the maid's words outright, one's motives would be somewhat suspicious.

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