“You’re a genius, Riyan! To think of all that!”
Serben exclaimed excitedly, then kicked his shin again.
“Lower your voice. Before someone hears.”
“No, si, ow, it hurts……. Ha, who’s going to hear? There’s no sign of anyone around.”
“Presence isn’t everything. They say even birds can hear a whisper.”
Serben wrapped his shin and groaned, then raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
“If a bird hears it, what could possibly happen?”
“The Empress might overhear it, for one. Then all my wicked and cunning plans will go up in smoke.”
Serben released his shin and patted Riyan’s shoulder, then asked with a very serious face.
“Riyan. You’re not wrong somewhere, are you? I’m really worried about you.”
“This sister is very healthy and smart, so there’s no need.”
“No, it might be your misconception. There’s no bird in this world that understands human speech and gossips. You know that, right?”
Riyan chuckled.
“Little brother. It seems you’re the one with a problem. Even after seeing the Duke of Shraiden’s actions?”
“No, that’s an exception. So, in the first place, didn’t the Duke of Brenen also think of passing on the trick?”
“I find that very strange.”
“What?”
Riyan grabbed Serben’s earlobe and pulled it. Serben winced but obediently bent down to lend his ear.
“I keep getting caught by birds.”
“Huh?”
“You remember when I told you I stole something from the Empress’s bedroom?”
“That red stone?”
“Yes.”
Riyan’s expression turned serious, and Serben became serious following his twin brother.
“You remember I said a crow stole that stone?”
“I know.”
“When Her Majesty the Empress disappeared earlier, I looked around the room, and I found this.”
Riyan rummaged in his pocket and pulled something out.
It was something smaller than an apple seed.
“What’s this?”
“The piece of stone I stole, and the black bird stole again. It’s gone back to the Empress.”
“Huh?”
“It was broken and lying on the floor. From the looks of it, it must have been dropped accidentally while cleaning.”
“The stone is broken?”
“It couldn’t be. Not a stone, but maybe it wasn’t an eggshell?”
Serben shook his head.
“An eggshell so hard? Stones and eggshells feel different in weight.”
“I know that. But look at this. It’s too thin to be a stone, too hard to be an eggshell.”
Serben cautiously felt the small piece.
“That’s true.”
“And there happened to be a bird where Her Majesty the Empress was.”
“Why?”
Riyan, who put the stone piece away again, blew a puff of air towards his bangs as he spoke.
“This is too remarkable to be a coincidence. Didn’t that crow take the stone I stole back to the Empress? And look at what the Duke of Shraiden did today. He helped at a crucial moment. He was also clingy to the Empress, causing Her Majesty discomfort.”
“So what are you trying to say?”
“The birds seem to be helping the Empress. And not just one or two.”
Serben tapped his forehead.
“No, come on……. It’s strange that it happened twice, but isn’t it a bit too… delusional?”
“The first companion.”
Serben sighed.
“Riyan. Sometimes you’re too fast. First, explain why the conversation suddenly jumped there.”
“There’s a record that the first companion always had birds, isn’t there?”
“There is a record. A bird with red feathers like flames, that never dies……,”
“‘Was so called and was given the title of the king of birds by later generations.'”
“……?”
“The king of birds, you see. That didn’t come from nowhere, did it?”
Serben sighed for the second time.
“Do you remember who insisted on including a fairy tale that even a child wouldn’t believe in the royal records, and made it mandatory reading for the guard? I said I’d spank him as many times as there were pages.”
“Now I believe. Because Her Majesty the Empress is real.”
“……Riyan. Again, I’m still cautious.”
“Whatever. We’ll see later. I’ll be right, you know. Anyway, I’m done now? I’m going.”
Riyan quickly moved away from Serben’s side.
“Ah, wait.”
Serben reached out in haste, but Liyan smoothly slipped past Serben’s hand. In other words, it wasn’t that he blocked the way, but that Liyan had stopped himself.
Serben stared at the corridor where Liyan had disappeared, muttering to himself.
“It’s a problem if it’s not real, and it’s a problem if it is real. Then His Majesty will dreadfully love Her Majesty the Empress for life, but what to do about that?”
His muttering turned into a sigh at some point.
“Now, who knows, it might look fine. I don’t know why, but it’s because he’s pretending to have amnesia like someone else. But that doesn’t mean that his wicked and malicious nature is going away. Liyan, you’re being deceived there.”
In fact, he was almost deceived today. The Empress looked entirely different today.
Trying so hard to save a palace maid’s life. It was nothing like the usual Empress.
“No, if she’s pretending, she should of course…”
But, if not.
If she’s just an ordinary palace maid and the Empress has really lost her memory.
“……Ah, that would be nice.”
Serben lifted his head and sighed.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
