Madame Duplée’s lip trembled slightly. Though she wore black for the mourning, her lips were as red as a fox that had swallowed a ripe berry. Even Cedloy, who generally paid little attention to others, was reaching a point of disgust.
“I don’t understand what His Grace is so concerned about. He suggested calling a notary, but my son is Menéo’s nephew and Swan’s cousin. Surely you don’t mean to imply that someone with no blood relation to my son would be fairer than him? Or do you suggest my son would engage in less honorable conduct than others?”
“Wouldn’t you know the answer to that question better than I do?”
Madame’s round head moved slightly. Though she was doing her best not to show signs of broken spirits and anger, her quivering lips and twitching nose laid bare her true feelings.
“Swan, come here. Come and greet the guests.”
Finally, Madame Duplée shifted her target from Cedloy to Swan. Swan, caught between fear and sorrow, stood still, gasping for breath.
Then, Madame’s face twisted horribly.
“Come out here right now! Stop whimpering like a helpless donkey! Is that how a Marquis’s son behaves?”
Her voice was threatening, like the distant rumble of an impending earthquake. Frightened Swan, gasping for breath as if he might faint at any moment, burst into tears.
“Get out immediately.”
Cedloy glared at Madame Duplée with wide eyes. However, she was not an easy opponent. She furrowed her eyebrows to make the wrinkled skin around her eyes more prominent, looking up at Cedloy.
“I believe His Grace mentioned earlier that you don’t have the authority to dictate to me.”
“If you don’t leave now, I’ll call the servants to kick you out!”
“Your Grace has no authority to interfere in any affairs of this house!”
Madame Duplée’s spiteful retort was cut short. Cedloy, convulsing with sobs, called for the butler while holding Swan in his arms.
“No, young master!”
The elderly butler ran towards Cedloy at the sight of Swan in his arms. As people gathered and murmured, Madame Duplée sullenly lowered her tail.
If strange rumors spread, her plans could easily be ruined…
“Take Swan and lay him down. Call a doctor.”
“Oh, understood. Young master, please regain your composure. Young master!”
The butler’s sobbing voice faded away. Cedloy glanced briefly at the gathered crowd before turning his gaze back to Madame Duplée.
“Madame Duplée, it would be a grave mistake if you think everything will go as you wish.”
“Now, why are you saying such things? Do you really think everything will go as you wish? Your Grace, perhaps you are shamelessly manipulating people like this?”
Madame Duplée’s voice had now regained its thinness. Just like when she gathered people to mourn the death of Lord Glodon, there was a faint sob mixed in her voice.
For those visitors who did not know Madame’s reputation or reality well, this appearance seemed to go down well. The elderly lady appeared to be struggling with difficult household matters, showing only a distressed image…
But Cedloy could only smile bitterly. He felt no desire to blame her. He could have said all sorts of things to criticize her true nature, but he couldn’t find it worthwhile.
“Think about whether I really manipulated the lady unfairly. Stand in front of the late Menéo’s coffin and reconsider. I will now go to announce to Her Majesty. The reasons, I believe, are better known to the lady.”
As Cedloy turned away, Madame Duplée, who had been sobbing loudly, glared at him as if she had seen through him.
Maiana put letters and coins into a small handbag and descended to the village. She hadn’t met Blencon today, but the shopkeeper who had brought fruit on the carriage offered her a ride.
“Thank you.”
Arriving at her destination, Maiana bid him farewell with a cheerful greeting. The shopkeeper, who seemed friendly, stroked his scruffy beard, smiled, and then slowly drove the carriage.
“Miss Maiana!”
As soon as she entered the building to send the letter, a familiar voice greeted Maiana. There was no uncomfortable corner that felt like a creepy breeze was blowing from somewhere.
“Hello, Luke.”
Maiana smiled, but she felt a slight discomfort in a corner of her heart. Even though she thought there was no reason, she couldn’t shake off the lingering sensation. It was a vague feeling like an incomplete fan.
Luke said, “Are you here to send a letter?”
Maiana smiled, feeling a sense of relief as the awkward topic changed. But she sensed a slight unease. Even though she thought there was no reason for it, it was a lingering feeling. Something like a delicate discomfort.
“Uh, yes. It’s urgent, so I want to send it by express delivery.”
“Seems like urgent matters always come up.”
“That’s true.”
Luke said, “Are you always in a hurry?”
“Usually not.”
Luke subtly extended his hand to help Maiana quickly process the mail.
The postal worker in charge of express mail cast a quick glance at Luke, who was subtly helping Maiana, and smiled as if to say he knew, and that subtle gaze extended to Maiana.
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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