“Open the castle gates!”
“Open the gates!”
A courier sprinted full force to the castle gates, crying out desperately.
“Who goes there!”
“Quickly open the gates so the King may pass without delay! He says anyone who stops him will have their necks sliced!”
The courier waved the royal flag of Yurik, his voice strained.
Each flutter of the dazzling white royal garment, which glittered in the sunlight, was more compelling proof of his identity than a badge.
The captain on guard duty immediately blew the horn, summoning the nearby knights.
The silhouette of the King was already faintly visible on the horizon.
Thirty knights were sufficient to open the heavy wooden gate, two fists thick, but he called fifty.
Just as he had said he would pass straight through, the King did not slow down his horse.
His fading figure suddenly became clear again, and soon the sound of hooves would be close enough to hear.
“Open quickly!”
The captain in charge of guarding the gate spurred the knights on, and with his face turning red, he himself pulled the winch with all his strength.
As soon as the bolt was removed, the doors opened much faster than usual.
With the opening of both castle gates, a swirling dust cloud was kicked up, and the sharp sound of a whistle struck the ears.
It was a real close call.
Curious about what was going on, the captain quickly closed the gates instead of voicing his curiosity.
The King’s expression as he galloped past was frozen in anger.
This was not a good sign.
[Star Icon] [Star Icon] [Star Icon]“Where is Her Majesty!”
Yurik, who usually treated his horse tenderly, harshly grabbed the reins and dismounted as if jumping down, asking.
“She is in the eastern garden.”
The master of ceremonies at the main castle skillfully caught the riding glove that Yurik threw in the air and respectfully answered.
“Is she tending to the flowers?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“At times like this, fragrant tea is just the thing.”
“I will prepare the tea you enjoy.”
The master of ceremonies, although mentioning preparing tea, did not follow Yurik and relinquished all his services there.
He had served him since childhood, and he astutely realized that Yurik wanted to spend time alone with the Queen Dowager without being told.
Clopping, clopping.
The road from the main castle to the eastern garden was utterly silent.
There may have been secret guards following, but they would not make a sound until commanded.
Pushing aside the lush branches, he walked for quite a while.
As sweat began to bead on his smooth forehead, a beautiful flower garden came into view.
“Mother.”
Yurik gently brushed aside the softly waving green leaves, calling to the Queen Dowager, who was holding a pair of flower scissors.
Clink.
“Mother.”
Clink.
With each movement of the silver scissors, a large, yellow rose was cut.
“Though the flower is big and the color pretty, do you not like it?”
Yurik’s words caused the finely sharpened silver scissors to halt, open.
“What a pity. Your Majesty?”
Standing with the gleaming scissors, Queen Dowager Pasetra smiled.
A graceful smile, even the wrinkles fanning from her twinkling eyes looked elegant.
Yurik looked into her gleaming light green eyes and smiled back.
“I wouldn’t know, Mother.”
“Your Majesty. To have the largest and best bloom, no matter how pretty the ones that sprout from the side branches, they must all be cut.”
“Oh my.”
The Queen Dowager’s feet were surrounded by tempting roses.
Yet, her face showed not a hint of regret.
“Originally, that’s how it is. What you should rightfully have, Your Majesty, is that one bloom.”
“Mother.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Where did you hear about Termina’s ambassador?”
“Why, did seeing the princess make you curious?”
“I didn’t see the princess.”
It was then that the gentle smile on the face of the Queen Dowager clenched tightly.
“You missed the princess?”
The Empress Dowager, whose smile had vanished, wore a terrifyingly ruthless expression.
Her gaze, her domineering tone, all felt too natural for someone who had ruled all her life.
“Did you miss it?”
Despite the frightening momentum as if ready to cut a throat, Izar showed no signs of tension.
Instead, he smirked.
“Ah, it really was scary; I almost missed it.”
At the words that it hadn’t yet escaped her grasp, the stiffened cheeks of the Empress Dowager relaxed slightly.
“Your Majesty, you’ve developed a bad habit of teasing an old woman.”
The Empress Dowager, who had scolded loudly like Izar, smiled faintly.
“No, Mother, I too rushed here in surprise.”
“Gold is not omnipotent, but it makes many things possible. So don’t worry too much. Did they ask for more? Then give more,”
“No, gold is not the problem. Please tell me what the regent said. That way, I can decide how far to move.”
“How far?”
The Empress Dowager, as if gauging the meaning behind the words, softly whispered and cut off the rosebud that was clinging to the thin stem with strength in her grasp.
With a crisp sound, the tempting flower bud was thrust into the earth.
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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