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Nangong Qingya’s expression froze on her face.

She did not expect a lowly singer to dare insult a wealthy socialite like herself. Just how much did Li Lei dote on this singer? So much so that she dared to speak out at her, the likely future wife of Li Lei! Nangong Qingya shot Li Lei a look, hoping that he would keep his mistress in check.

Unfortunately, she was going to be disappointed.

Li Lei merely said gently, “Xiao Ling, don’t make a scene.”

“What?!” Xia Ling was unhappy. “I’m the victim, okay?” So her boyfriend could hold this massive “wife selection” ceremony and she couldn’t speak out at her love rivals?

Li Lei was in despair. If Xiao Ling were to lose her temper now, things were going to get ugly. He said, “Why don’t you just sit here and eat your cake? Once the ceremony is over, I’ll send you home.”

Xia Ling’s expression became a little happier. Even though there were so many women throwing themselves at him today, he was still thinking only about her. He could only send one person home, after all. She smiled at him winningly and said, “Okay.” She probably shouldn’t make a scene in front of so many people. She would take up the issue about this dinner with him at home behind closed doors.

Alarm bells rang in Nangong Qingya’s head as she watched their conversation.

This female singer... was not going to be easy to deal with!

She was going to be much more difficult to manage than the idiotic Gu Lin.

Clearly, Second Young Master Li had no interest whatsoever in Gu Lin. He hadn’t even looked in her direction though she had a whole cocktail thrown on her. And as for Xia Ling? All she did was show some displeasure and jealousy and Li Lei was already chiding and coaxing her.

Nangong Qingya decided to change her tactic. She adjusted her expression to appear more elegant, before saying, “I didn’t realize that Second Young Master Li was on such good terms with Miss Ye here. We just had a small misunderstanding. Miss Ye, I apologize for my words earlier. It was out of place, and for you to throw a cocktail at us was not uncalled for. Don’t take it to heart.”

She was not used to taking an inferior position but was able to change her manner where required. She didn’t mind showing her weak side in front of Li Lei. Generally, men tended to be more partial towards the weaker party. Weaker females tended to gain the upper hand later.

“It’s great that you realized that you guys deserved it.” Xia Ling rubbed it into her face.

Li Lei felt a headache coming on. While Xiao Ling was still wilfully ignorant, he was perfectly aware what Nangong Qianya was playing at. It would become troublesome if someone decided to investigate and pin the blame for the incident on her. He did not want Xiao Ling to get into trouble, and hence, chided her firmly, “Xiao Ling.”

Xia Ling did not expect him to react this way and bit her lip in disappointment.

Nangong Qingya smiled to herself. Yes, she was right. Showing weakness in front of a man was the way to go. The more domineering female tended to be on the losing end of the stick. It seemed she had managed to get some brownie points.

These wealthy socialites were brought up with the notion that they were to prepare themselves for political marriages. Many of them learned techniques from their mothers to gain favor from men and to deal with mistresses. Now, Nangong Qingya spoke up again in a gentle voice, “I heard Lin Lin say earlier that Second Young Master Li had been based overseas, but has already built a business here that can quash the formidable Imperial Entertainment. What an impressive feat. I’ve just come back here myself and am unfamiliar with the people and sights. Could I have the honor of learning a few tricks of the trade from you on how to assimilate better here?”

Li Lei could tell that she was finding a way to get closer to him.

Xia Ling understood her intentions as well. She gripped onto Li Lei’s arm and glared at Nangong Qingya and Gu Lin. “Aren’t you both going to get changed? Your dresses are so dirty.” She wasn’t going to allow Li Lei to leave with them.

Nangong Qingya looked down at herself before glancing over at Gu Lin. She laughed lightly and said, “Oh, you’re right, thank you for the reminder. I’m unfamiliar with this place. Second Young Master Li, could I trouble you to show us to the changing rooms as the host?”

She went with the flow and naturally raised her request.

Xia Ling was hopping mad. Was Nangong Qingya so shameless? How could a lady ask Li Lei, a man, to take them to the changing room?!

“You said you were going to accompany me to have this cake.” Xia Ling tugged at Li Lei’s sleeve and whined.

Li Lei was in a fix as he saw the security guards watching from the side. He sighed. He wanted to stay here with Xia Ling but could not. The Old Master had already made a death threat to say that he would make it such that they would have hell if Xiao Ling interfered with the ceremony today.

He had to acquiesce to Nangong Qingya’s request to be able to protect her.

He gently pried Xia Ling’s hand away. “I’ll accompany Miss Nangong for a little while. I’ll come back to you in a bit.”

Nangong Qingya felt victorious. She was confident with her charms. There was no way that this little singer could beat her in terms of family background, schemes, or beauty.

She stretched her arm out elegantly again, and this time, Li Lei held onto her hand. “Let’s go.”

“Brother Lei...” This time, Gu Lin spoke up. “Why are you holding onto Sister Nangong and not me?” She was the one that got most of the cocktail splash and was still dripping from the blow!

“That’s because I’m a female guest that he’s seen for the first time.” Nangong Qingya coaxed Gu Lin in a sweet voice. “Second Young Master Li is being courteous with me. Lin Lin, you are so close to Second Young Master Li. Naturally, he’s more casual with you.”

Hearing this, Gu Lin was overjoyed. “Oh, so that’s why!”

Li Lei was well aware of Nangong Qingya’s manipulation of Gu Lin, but he did not say anything. After all, he had no interest in either of them, and it made no difference which one of them he held onto. From his grandfather’s standpoint, he would much rather Li Lei show more concern to Nangong Qingya anyway. Gu Lin was just a bimbo and not an ideal wife candidate.

The group of them walked away from Xia Ling.

Xia Ling watched as they left, the glimmer in her eyes dimming. She looked down at the floor.

“Here, your hazelnut cake.” Wang Tao saw that she was unhappy and pushed the cake in front of her again.

“I’m not eating.” She grumbled.

“I told you not to lose the forest over a tree.” Wang Tao casually commented as he felt like they were closer after standing on the same side in the conflict earlier. “Someone like Second Young Master Li has very little say over his own marriage. Unless he becomes like Pei Ziheng and renders all the oldies in the family useless, such that he becomes the sole decision maker. Oh right, why didn’t you stay with Pei Ziheng before? It’s extremely hard to find someone of his status and wealth with the ability to marry you... oh no... I should say he’s the only one!”

Her divorce from Pei Ziheng was public news and the talk of the town.

Xia Ling lowered her head and stared at the water beyond the jade barricades without saying a word.