The night breeze blowing through the carriage window tousled René’s hair. As she watched the fluttering strands of hair in front of her, René murmured quietly.
“It’s been a long time since I had this hair.”
Short red wig. It had been well over six months since she last wore it. She thought she would use it again someday, but she never expected to use it so soon…
She, who always enjoyed unpredictable situations, didn’t find it amusing this time.
“Are you keeping up well?”
René asked the coachman through the clear front window with a stern expression. In response, the coachman replied.
“Yes… Yes… Miss.”
The situation, where neither of them knew what was happening just a step ahead, wasn’t enjoyable for the coachman either.
Originally, he had the entire day off today. In a moment of excitement, thinking about a date with his lover, he was given a mission by the madam.
The mission was to pick up Miss René on the way to her vacation and escort her to the palace.
It wasn’t a difficult task, and a bonus was offered, so there was no reason to refuse.
He immediately picked up Miss and headed towards the palace. The entrance was starting to come into view. All he had to do was drop her off there. But why…
‘Why am I still with Miss, whom I should have left ten hours ago?’
It was completely incomprehensible. Not only that.
Miss, after telling him to wait for a moment, disappeared somewhere, then reappeared wearing a short wig and even dressing as a man.
The coachman felt like he had taken on a burden too heavy for his own capacity. It seemed like he was deeply sucked into some enormous mission without knowing it.
“Really, are you sure there’s no harm to me? Right, Miss?”
“I’ve said it several times. If you keep asking, I’ll know you’re short on money.”
“No… Miss…”
The coachman was flabbergasted. Why did I come all the way here? I agreed to follow the orders, even enduring the wind while my lover was being blown away. She promised to pay an amount equivalent to a month’s salary for following orders, but if she said this now…
“So stop asking and stick close to Adrian.”
“Yes… Yes…”
To avoid wasting the time and labor invested so far, he had no choice but to submit quietly.
René entrusted the coachman with the pursuit and closed her eyes for a moment.
The faint smell of oil still seemed to linger around her nose.
She only realized it ten hours ago, right before the palace entrance, that the scent came from her hands.
She had touched the smooth mud inside the powder horn. Then, to wipe off the mud, she had wiped her hands on the nearby cloth.
That was all she had touched before getting on the carriage, so there could only be one of two reasons.
No, in fact, there was only one reason. The cause was not the mud, but the leather cloth soaked in oil!
The leather was soaked in oil.
Well, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable for oiled leather cloth to be there.
It was sometimes used to wrap the tip of a torch to light it. However…
As expected, an uneasy feeling lingered.
“Lately, she’s often in the backyard.”
Adrian is often in the backyard, there is oiled cloth in the backyard, oiled cloth easily catches fire…
Naturally, to break the chain of associated thoughts and find out the truth with her own hands, René wanted to do that before she could return to the palace.
René had left the carriage, which was supposed to take her back to the palace, not far away. And hiding near the mansion, just a few meters from the corner, as soon as Adrian came out, she followed him.
He had gone out that night and was wearing his familiar robe.
When she realized that the color of the robe was exactly the same as what she had seen through the telescope that night, René felt her heart sinking. But…
‘Originally, the robe color is just the same.’
With that thought, she could reassure herself.
Anyway, she planned to confirm with her own eyes immediately. To leave no room for suspicion.
“Oh… this is unexpected!”
A sigh from the coachman reached the front. Soon after, the carriage stopped, and in a voice on the verge of tears, he confessed.
“I… I lost… Lord Adrian… Miss.”
While René squeezed her forehead, the coachman’s apology continued.
“I’m sorry, Miss. Really… I’m sorry. I thought if I stuck too close, Lord Adrian might notice, so I kept some distance, but since you know my face…”
Before he could finish speaking, the sound of the carriage door opening from behind reached them.
When the coachman quickly got off, Miss was already quite far away.
“Miss…!”
The coachman couldn’t bring himself to catch Miss, and with his feet rolling, he called out. Then René’s voice clearly echoed in the darkness.
“Good job today. You can go now.”
“B-But…”
“Look inside the carriage.”
Due to the habit of unconditionally obeying the owner’s words, the coachman reflexively glanced inside the carriage through the window. There was a light blue velvet pouch on the seat. It was a money pouch.
“Miss, I don’t have the right to receive this…”
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.”
