"Eldest daughter, you're heavily pregnant, why aren't you at home taking good care of yourself? What are you busy with every day?"
Li Niang felt that Zhou Yingying had been acting very strangely these past few days, going out before dawn and returning after dark.
There's nothing for her to do most of the time. Even if she goes out for a stroll, she doesn't have to get up so early and come back so late. It just feels a bit strange.
“Mother, I just heard from Mrs. Li next door that more exercise is good for the baby’s delivery, so I thought I’d exercise more.”
Upon hearing Zhou Yingying's words, Madam Li didn't think much of it.
"You should also take care of your health; too much exercise isn't good either."
"Yes, Mother."
Zhou Yingying smiled and agreed, then went out again.
Zhou Yingying went out these past few days because Wang Xiangyu told her that Li Youran was no longer going to the previous winery, and asked her to find out where Li Youran had gone.
However, Zhou Yingying waited outside Li Youran's door several times but did not see Li Youran come out, let alone go to ask her. The maid in the house seemed to be very wary of her.
With no other option, she had to wait outside.
In the past few days, Li Youran has been staying at the Second Prince's residence and has not returned to her previous courtyard.
"The method is surprisingly simple."
The Second Prince's Consort, knowing her own nature, watched as Li Youran refined coarse salt into fine salt.
"The method is simple, but nobody knows it."
Li Youran smiled as she collected the fine salt from the bottom of the pot, then looked at the Second Prince's Consort with a showy expression.
For several days in a row, Li Youran was engrossed in various experiments, but no news of coarse salt came, which made Li Youran and the Second Prince's wife very anxious.
"I never imagined that the Prime Minister's residence could be involved in such matters everywhere."
Tang Lei and the Second Prince originally planned to import coarse salt from the South China Sea, but they did not expect that the Prime Minister's Office had actually planted people in the South China Sea.
"Now the Prime Minister already has the intention to pledge allegiance to the Fourth Prince, and his relationship with the Third Prince is merely superficial."
Tang Lei felt that if he started by working on the prime minister, he might be able to make a breakthrough.
"But the Prime Minister has no real weaknesses. The only weakness is that he has a mistress, but that's just a family matter. Even if the Prime Minister's wife falls out with him, he will still remain in his position as Prime Minister."
The Second Prince felt that this approach was not feasible, so he thought of starting with the Ministry of Justice to force the Prime Minister to abandon the Hainan matter.
"But if you do that, the emperor will think you have ulterior motives and will become wary of you."
The Second Prince's wife rejected the Second Prince's idea. As the Emperor grew older, his paranoia intensified. Nowadays, he trusted no one and kept a very strict watch on his princes every day, fearing that what had happened before might repeat itself.
Just as everyone was deep in thought, unsure of what to do, Li Youran spoke up.
"Leave this matter to me, and I can get the prime minister to relinquish control within two days."
Li Youran kept everyone in suspense, not revealing what methods she would use to get the Prime Minister to let go.
However, no one asked any further questions, since Li Youran usually had a lot of clever ideas, and she might actually have a good solution.
"You scoundrel! How could you be so reckless? If people find out about your affair with Wu Yong, how will you ever get married?" In a fit of anger, the Prime Minister's wife slapped Hu Huqinqin across the face.
“Mother…” Hu Qinqin cried out, “Wu Yong is a heartless man. He stopped liking me because he saw that Li Youran was beautiful.”
"Shut up!" The Prime Minister's wife looked at Hu Qinqin with exasperation and said in a low voice, "I told you long ago, no matter how much you like Wu Yong, you can't do such a despicable thing."
"Mother, I want Wu Yong..." Hu Qinqin didn't understand why her mother was so angry. After what she had done, Wu Yong was definitely determined to marry her, so why was her mother still so furious...
"You scoundrel!" The prime minister's wife was so angry that her chest ached. She closed her eyes and leaned back on the chaise lounge.
All my years of hard work have been wasted, and the daughter I raised is brainless, worse than an idiot...
Thinking this, the Prime Minister's wife opened her eyes. This was a trap set by Li Youran! If she hadn't leaked the information, her daughter wouldn't have done such a shameful thing.
"It seems I underestimated you..." the Prime Minister's wife said softly, her face dark as she turned her prayer beads.
It turned out that Li Youran had deliberately leaked the information that she had secretly arranged to meet Wu Yong to Hu Qinqin, and unexpectedly Hu Qinqin actually fell for it.
Not only that, she also added her own drama by drugging Wu Yong's tea and forcing him to sleep in the same bed with her.
Hu Qinqin was unaware that the Wu Yong in question was not the real Wu Yong, but rather a man whom Li Youran had carefully selected who looked remarkably similar to Wu Yong.
Although Hu Qinqin was quick-witted, she never imagined such a thing.
However, the Prime Minister's wife was clever. She first sent someone to investigate what Wu Yong had done that day and found that he had been in the mansion all day. She then realized that he had fallen into Li Youran's trap. So she immediately drove her carriage and hurriedly found an excuse to be lazy.
Since it was something that couldn't be done in the open, the Prime Minister's wife changed into an extremely low-key carriage and wore an ordinary woman's dress.
"I never expected that the Prime Minister's wife would come to visit us. She is a rare guest indeed!"
When the Second Prince saw the Prime Minister's wife arrive, he knew that Li Youran's plan had succeeded.
"Speak, what exactly do you want?"
"The Prime Minister's wife is indeed a heroine; she speaks so frankly. Since that's the case, then I won't beat around the bush either."
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