Sister, I'm the Queen This Life (330 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 222
If Leo III were to be compared to an animal, he would be a rabbit.
Not just any rabbit, but a cunning one. He always dug three burrows, and today was no exception.
If the first method failed, he would simply dig a second route.
“Summon Cardinal de Mare.”
Leo III ground his teeth, his face twisted in frustration.
He had already complied with that reckless girl’s demand and purchased 20,000 cantaro worth of grain. This at least prevented the grain from being exported out of the Republic of Porto.
In other words, the remaining grain he had not bought was still within the Kingdom of Etruria.
He had bought time. He could gradually apply pressure and acquire it eventually.
‘No matter what… if I don’t secure that grain…’
Leo III was keenly aware of how his kingdom’s administrative capacity was slowly crumbling under the nationwide onslaught of the Black Death. Tax collection was the biggest issue.
Whenever the king’s tax collectors visited local regions, they often encountered entirely deserted towns—entire cities wiped out by the plague.
It would have been easier if the cities were genuinely ruined—after all, that would be an act of God. But local lords used the plague as an excuse to withhold taxes from the central government.
– “We can’t collect taxes…”
– “Look at the state of our city—we might have to flee at any moment ourselves.”
– “We have no reliable way to send the collected taxes—they’d surely be stolen en route.”
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.”
I’m still curious of what Alphonso meant by the last chapter
I’m still curious of what Alphonso meant by the last chapter
So Alphonso is misunderstanding now?