Hearing the prefect's wife's words, everyone was speechless. The fact that this happened showed that the prefect's wife took herself too seriously and didn't realize that the saying "a higher-ranking official can crush a lower-ranking one" was never just a saying.

"Just who is Madam Lu's husband? How come we didn't know about such a big thing as being able to live in Xishui Garden?"

"Yes, it looks like they've been living here for quite a while, but they haven't made a move at all. They clearly don't take us seriously!"

"What are you talking about? They never took us seriously to begin with, otherwise they wouldn't have treated us like that just now!"

"Sigh, in the end, it's still our fault for handling things poorly today. We were only thinking about giving the newcomer a hard time, but we didn't realize that he thought the same way."

...

After everyone sighed for a while, Madam Li asked again, "Madam Qian, what exactly is the background of that Lord Lu?"

Madam Li was puzzled. She asked Madam Qian several times, but Madam Qian wouldn't say anything. After all this, what was there that she couldn't say?

However, she misunderstood Madam Qian this time. It wasn't that Madam Qian didn't want to talk about it, but rather that she simply forgot about it after the topic was changed.

Hearing her ask again, Madam Qian sighed softly and said, "That Lord Lu is no ordinary person. I heard he is a close confidant of His Highness and has made many contributions over the years. He is currently a third-rank official and is temporarily the commander-in-chief of the Fire Cloud Division."

Commander-in-Chief of the Fire Cloud Division!

Everyone took a deep breath. Could just anyone become the commander-in-chief? Obviously not!

Madam Qian continued, "More importantly, this Lord Lu is very young, only in his early twenties. My husband said that if... well, this Lord Lu has a limitless future and will likely be promoted!"

"Hiss~"

Everyone gasped again; that's incredible!

Madam Li's face was ashen. The commander-in-chief of the Fire Cloud Division was her husband's direct superior, and he had to be ready to run errands for him at any time.

A few days ago, she heard her master mention the new boss, but she didn't know it was this Lord Lu. Her master said that Lord Lu was injured and usually kept a low profile and didn't like socializing, so she couldn't find an opportunity. She never expected that this would lead to such a big mistake.

"Then what is her relationship with Lu Hei Ya? Why can she not queue and have unlimited drinks?"

One of the young ladies couldn't help but speak up. She could ignore all the intrigue and backstabbing, since she had never gotten involved, but she was determined to find out the relationship between Madam Lu and Lu Heiya. She really wanted a card like the one for the Prefect's wife; no waiting in line and unlimited supply was just too tempting.

Her words successfully drew everyone's attention. Many people are worried about their husbands' jobs and have no time to think about food. Her bringing this up is like rubbing salt in the wound.

Realizing so many people were staring at her, the young woman became very embarrassed and hurriedly said, "I...I just asked..."

The prefect's wife glared at her irritably and said, "Let's end the banquet here for today. I'm a little tired, so I won't see you off."

Today's banquet ended on a sour note, and everyone present bore some responsibility. Faced with the prefect's wife's blunt order to leave, no one dared to say anything and left dejectedly.

If they hadn't gone to that pavilion to provoke Madam Lu in the first place, or if they hadn't joined in the commotion when the Li family mother and daughter were provoking Madam Lu, wouldn't they be less anxious now?

Unfortunately, there's no turning back in this world. They still made a mistake. It all depends on whether Madam Lu will tell Lord Lu what happened today, and whether Lord Lu will let their husbands off the hook.

Of the group, only Qin Yu and her best friend left happily. On the way, Qin Yu's best friend Zhang Qingqing couldn't help but sigh, "Yu'er, it's lucky you reminded me today, otherwise I would definitely have caused trouble for my father and older brother. Although my father dotes on me, if I offend any important people outside, he will definitely put me in solitary confinement."

Qin Yu gave a wry smile and said, "Isn't that just like my father? Last time, we offended this Madam Lu, and my father personally took me to apologize and gave us a lot of gifts. Fortunately, Madam Lu seemed unforgiving, but she was not a bad person in reality. She did not make things difficult for my father and me and let us leave. My father did not encounter any difficulties at the yamen either."

"Oh my, she's such a kind person! And what a beautiful piece she played today, 'High Mountains and Flowing Water,' it was absolutely gorgeous! It's like music that should only exist in heaven! How can there be such a beautiful, intelligent, and talented woman in this world! Just now, she smiled and gave those usually arrogant ladies a good scolding, and I was completely stunned! My God, I admire her so much!"

Zhang Qingqing's eyes sparkled with hearts as she transformed into a devoted fan, chattering on and on, hoping she could become like that person.

Looking out the car window, Qin Yu thought to herself: This woman is not only outstanding herself, but her husband is also a high-ranking official, a third-rank commander, at such a young age. And judging from what she saw at the jewelry shop that day, her husband must love her very much. The most prideful thing for a woman in her life is meeting a good man, and this woman seems to have it all.

When will she meet her Mr. Right?

He Jiuniang had no idea that after today's incident, she had become the object of envy, jealousy, and hatred of many girls. After leaving the prefect's house, she did not return to Xishuiyuan, but instead took a carriage to various branches of Lu Hei Ya in the city. She handed over the small cards she had just had made to the shopkeepers and gave them instructions: From today onwards, any customer who spends 100 taels at this shop will receive a small card and enjoy unlimited purchases of Lu Hei Ya.

Of course, when making unlimited purchases, you must provide the information of the head of household and the home address to confirm whether you are buying it for your own consumption or to help a friend, rather than simply purchasing goods here and then reselling them at a high price elsewhere.

He Jiuniang would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen.

This is appropriating postmodern marketing techniques. Of course, there are various other methods, but they need to be implemented one by one to attract customers.

By the time these matters were settled, the sun was almost setting when He Jiuniang suddenly remembered something.

"Yueyan and Yueshu, I remember the Prefect's wife said that whoever performed best today would receive that jade hairpin as a prize? I performed best, so why didn't she give me the hairpin?"

He Jiuniang blinked, feeling like she had been deceived.