After Cheston’s visit, Whitney faced great trouble. Melissa’s spitefulness had reached its peak. The attic was disturbed day after day, and her meals became increasingly meager.
“Please come downstairs. Madam is looking for you. Oh, and knock.”
Rael entered and then ostentatiously knocked on the door. Whitney ignored her and left the attic.
‘Why is my stepmother looking for me?’
Could it be that Cheston sent a letter to her? If not, she couldn’t fathom why she was being summoned.
Whitney’s hands trembled as she clutched her dress. Thanks to Prince Cheston, she had received a dress from Melissa. It was ironic that her first decent dress in the ducal mansion came under such circumstances, but at least she had one.
Being a one-dress lady didn’t matter. She also had a dress entrusted to her by her mother.
Descending to the lower floor, Whitney followed a servant to her mother’s office. As soon as the door opened, her stepmother grabbed her hand.
“Ouch.”
A sharp pain spread through her arm. The familiar pain, ingrained in her body, once again muddled her mind. Whitney looked at the hand gripping her arm and pulled her stepmother’s hand away.
“It hurts. Let’s talk without holding hands.”
“What have you been doing while I was bedridden? You’ve turned the ducal mansion upside down!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t know? They say a royal knight came to see you. Do you have some connection?”
“The butler must not have reported correctly.”
Whitney sighed. It was either incomplete reporting or deliberately skewing the story against her.
“Not reported correctly?”
“I went to the bookstore to exchange a book I bought. I worry if the butler didn’t stir up other matters while you were ill. He shouldn’t have such ulterior motives, right?”
“What are you implying?”
“That reporting everything accurately to you is the butler’s job. If even that’s not done properly, it’s concerning. It’s a significant event that a royal knight visited, and if he’s abbreviating it to his own liking, it means he’s deciding what’s important on his own.”
Cecilia’s expression became complex upon hearing Whitney’s words. It was as if she’d never considered it. Though she tried not to show it, her trembling eyelids revealed her agitation.
“I thought it was fortunate that I made a connection with the royal family, especially with the social season approaching. It might help big sister during her debut. Was I wrong?”
“No, no. You’ve thought well.”
Cecilia, with a distorted face, softened her expression and stepped back. However, still not fully trusting Whitney, she eyed her with suspicion.
“If there’s nothing else, may I go? Oh, and mother, I’d like to receive the funds for the dress I mentioned before.”
“Yes, I said I would give it to you.”
Cecilia returned to her desk, took out a ledger, and then a chequebook used by the Orleans ducal house. She filled in the amount.
Whitney hadn’t expected her to write a cheque so willingly. She thought she’d be given a small amount of money and dismissed. Why this sudden change? Whitney kept her gaze on Cecilia even as she received the cheque.
“Thank you. Your consideration ensures that the Orleans ducal house’s reputation remains untarnished.”
“Yes, I think so too. I hope you, as a lady of Orleans, will be of help to Melissa. Now that you’ve made a connection with the royal knight, I’m looking forward to your debut.”
“I’ll try to be helpful.”
At Cecilia’s words, Whitney nodded and smiled brightly. She had an inkling why Cecilia had given her the funds for a dress.
“By the way, mother, the food lately seems spoiled, so it’s hard to eat. If I fall ill, I won’t be able to attend the debutante ball… and then I won’t be able to help my sister.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re served good food so you don’t collapse.”
However, Whitney left with a face of feigned ignorance. Cecilia’s greed would pave another way for her.
Whitney was treated more humanely simply because a royal knight had visited the ducal mansion. It had taken so long to get proper food up to the attic.
“What kind of trick did you pull?”
Rael brought in a tray of food and asked. Her gaze towards Whitney was sharp. Whitney tilted her head and replied.
“Curious? I don’t mind telling you. But it’s not good for a servant to be overly interested in their master’s affairs.”
Rael’s eyebrows twitched, she hesitated as if she had many questions, then shut her mouth tightly. Whitney smiled and gestured for her to come closer.
She opened the window, letting in a cool breeze.
“Not so dumb after all. Keeping your mouth shut is wise. Come here, there’s something interesting happening at the ducal mansion.”
Whitney took a seat by the window and watched Rael approach timidly.
“Watch carefully. See the result of what I said.”
Rael narrowed her eyes, looking outside.
Whitney placed the food on the small table and sat on the windowsill.
“It looks like it’s going to rain. It’s a pity to be thrown out in the rain.”
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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