The Resurrection Festival was one of the biggest annual events, and the number of goods coming in and out of the McKinnon mansion was beyond count. Not just ingredients and gifts, but even the daily necessities provided for the guests were astonishingly numerous.
So, the back door of the mansion through which all these goods flowed was never idle for a moment. A considerable proportion of boxes entering through the back door of the main building had the word ‘Railing’ elegantly written on them.
Joan Morie, who was checking the goods supplied by Railing, lifted her tired eyes.
Platinum blonde hair shining like candlelight in a dark corridor. Joan was discreetly watching her, admiring her noble lineage.
There wasn’t anyone coming into the mansion who didn’t know about this ‘friend’ brought by the McKinnon’s esteemed only daughter. Joan blinked and then asked,
“Did you lose your way, Miss? This is a path for the servants.”
“I know. I just happened to pass by and noticed you working, so I came to see.”
The girl explained her actions in a manner that seemed too mature for her age.
“Is it you, Miss?”
Had something offended her? Knowing well how his employer, Angelo, felt about Neris Trued, Joan became slightly anxious.
Word was she was an authoritative and ill-tempered child; if something had offended her, he didn’t know how to handle it.
Neris grinned and said,
“Yes, earlier a box confirmed by McKinnon’s servant was found in the waste bin, only to return in a box from Railing.”
The ledger in Joan’s hand fell to the floor.
With a wisdom beyond her years, Neris threw her words as casually as if suggesting a stroll. Joan sensed that.
Though she acted as if she didn’t know what her words meant, if she were that naive, she wouldn’t have angered Heder so much in the first place.
Suddenly, no servants were around. Joan shivered before he even had a chance to find it strange. She hesitated fiercely, then sighed deeply.
“Did you tell the adults?”
“Not yet. What, would you try to shut me up right here if I hadn’t?”
If such an impulse hadn’t crossed her mind, even for a second, it would be a lie. However, that was nothing but a daydream.
Ignoring the feasibility, Joan couldn’t become the sort of person who’d harm an innocent child just to cover her own guilt.
Knowing this, she eventually bowed her head. So, this is how it ends.
“If that wasn’t refreshing, then it’s a lie.”
“What a ridiculous thing to say. I don’t want to become such a terrible person.”
“How interesting.”
A frown settled on the child’s fine forehead. Yet both knew her expression was not really due to finding Joan’s words ‘interesting.’
“Stealing paid goods to double supply is fine, but taking measures to keep a secret is terrible?”
She was a clever child. There was no better way to describe the current situation. After searching for the right words for a while, Joan finally opened her mouth.
“… I’ve sinned, and it’s come to light, so I must face the consequences. That’s all there is to it.”
There was no intention to make excuses. That was clearly reflected in her answer. Looking up at Joan’s gloomy face, Neris gave a sly smile.
Before her return, Neris had certainly caused Joan’s downfall as part of the conditions for bringing Angelo into the Elandria family.
At that time, Joan had thought she was targeted simply because, as a rising merchant, she had offended Angelo. But now, it seemed Angelo had not just cut off the tail but burnt it as well.
“Wasn’t it Angelo who ordered you? How come you’re the one to pay the price alone?”
Suddenly, Joan lifted her head. The intense whirlpool in her eyes slowly settled as it met Neris’s composed face. She couldn’t believe it.
Having often encountered low-ranking ladies while working under Angelo, this was the first time Joan had seen such dignified grace in a young girl’s face, especially in front of someone of lower status like herself.
Moreover, was this really an ordinary situation?
“……Why do you think so?”
“Do people who commit injustice for their own benefit look like they’re withering away like you?”
A withering face. Was it that obvious? Unconsciously, Joan touched her own cheek.
Just a few years ago, her face had been soft and cheerful. Working atop the railing had gradually made her forget how to smile.
Initially, Angelo, her employer, had merely assigned menial tasks to the uneducated young Joan. However, he soon realized her meticulous and clever nature. Slowly, all the dirty work at the railing top had transferred to Joan.
No matter how unfair her job was, she couldn’t quit, considering her five siblings back home.
Though it appeared that her status within the company had improved and her salary increased, Joan felt she was nothing short of a slave. A slave bought with copper coins and exploited until death.
Did slaves even have the right to seek joy?
It was odd. The young lady before her eyes knew nothing of Joan’s circumstances, yet she looked at her with eyes full of certainty.
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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