“You can’t come in until we’ve confirmed it’s clean! You might have caught some filthy disease!”
Clank.
Lucrezia and Isabella kept their own declarations faithfully. Using quarantine as an excuse, they locked Ariadne in the barn outside the mansion as soon as she returned from the orphanage in Lambuye.
The funny thing was that they locked Ariadne up using quarantine as an excuse, but immediately took Maleta and Sancha.
“What is this child?”
Lucrezia’s sharp voice echoed through the hall as she first encountered Sancha. Ariadne calmly replied.
“She’s a child I brought from the orphanage.”
“Are you out of your mind? How can you arbitrarily bring people from outside?”
Lucrezia seemed truly upset.
“You really have a nerve. You say you’re sorry, you’ve made a mistake, and yet you act so arbitrarily with each step?”
She cried out, gesturing towards Sancha, who was standing with her head deeply bowed.
“I can’t keep this ragamuffin. We don’t know what she might have, get her out of here!”
As the servants approached to take Sancha away, Ariadne took a handkerchief from her bosom and offered it to Lucrezia.
“Mother, please look at this.”
“What is it?”
Lucrezia looked at the handkerchief suspiciously without touching it. The handkerchief was a gauze with lace decorated at its edges, overly luxurious for Ariadne’s belongings.
“You didn’t steal it, did you?”
“Of course not!”
When Lucrezia finally refused to take the handkerchief, Ariadne showed the side embroidered with ‘AFC’ in gold thread.
“It belongs to Prince Alfonso de Carlo.”
Lucrezia’s eyebrows shot up. Isabella’s eyes also changed.
“I happened to see the prince at the orphanage. I was only going to nurse this child while I was at the orphanage, but the prince praised the cardinal for his great charity in taking in the poor.”
Ariadne carefully gauged Lucrezia’s reaction as she continued.
“Prince Alfonso thought I was taking this child to give her a job. I couldn’t bring myself to say no… it wouldn’t stain the Cardinal’s name, would it?”
Lucrezia had no more patience for Ariadne’s shenanigans, whether it was selling Prince Alfonso or selling Cardinal de Mare.
Cardinal de Mare was already checking Lucrezia’s account book because of her stealing money under the pretense of hiring a tutor for her relatives.
Thinking about submitting an account book with unnecessary additional expenses because of Ariadne to Cardinal de Mare, and taking the Cardinal’s anger because of Ariadne, a headache rushed and her irritation suddenly surged.
“You’ve got a mouth! You’re good at talking! You both, get out! Go back to the orphanage holding hands! What do you take me for, acting so arbitrarily?”
What broke the tension in this situation, where Lucrezia’s anger was boiling, was Isabella’s greed.
“Prince Alfonso…? How did you meet him?”
Isabella’s purple eyes were shining with greed. Ariadne chose her words carefully so as not to provoke Isabella.
“I guess he came to inspect, as the Queen runs the Lambuye orphanage. Prince Alfonso was present at the overall meal distribution at the orphanage.”
Upon hearing that, Isabella suddenly turned around and began to nag Lucrezia.
“Mom! I want to go to the Lambuye orphanage next week!”
“Isabella! Where do you think that is for you to go!”
Lucrezia slapped Isabella’s shoulder.
“There are masses and tea parties if you want to see the prince! You can’t go to the orphanage!”
Isabella seemed a bit upset, but after a deep breath, she composed herself and smiled sweetly at Lucrezia.
“Mom, then I won’t go to the orphanage, but please let me keep that beggar child.”
“Now you too, doing as you please? Do you think I’m easy?!”
“Oh, come on, mom. When I see the prince at a tea party, I should have something to talk about, right!”
Isabella reprimanded Lucrezia, thereby earning herself some reputation.
“Dad doesn’t leave any bridges with Prince Alfonso, so I’m racking my brain like this! Not to mention helping!”
In the midst of Lucrezia’s bafflement by Isabella’s hostility, Isabella approached Ariadne and pulled the handkerchief.
“I’ll keep this.”
Ariadne, on an unconscious grudge, strengthened her grip on the handkerchief, but there was no way not to give it up, so she held out after a little resistance.
Isabella, with Prince Alfonso’s handkerchief in her hand, looked at Ariadne and gave a smug smile. Her flaxen hair waved, and her small features shone like a fairy.
“You’ve worked hard.”
At the condescending tone of Isabella, Ariadne bit her teeth and managed her facial expression. Isabella’s consistent dominance. It’s still the same in this life after the previous life.
“No, it’s nothing, sister.”
Lucrezia ordered Ariadne to be taken to the outside stable and went inside with Isabella and the rest of the maids. Maleta and Sancha followed the group awkwardly.
Once Lucrezia turned her back and the rest of the maids followed her, causing a bustle, Sancha seized the opportunity and approached Ariadne for a moment.
The small, skinny girl whispered quietly.
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.”
