Madam didn’t even lift an eyelid, "Don’t be angry, I’ve saved the best for you."
Suddenly, the gloomy sisters smiled brightly.
Madam verbally berated her own two foolish daughters often, but when it came to doting on them, she truly did.
Coincidentally, as Madam said this, Cinderella was clinging to the threshold with a face full of grievance, no one knew when she had arrived.
"You’re biased, you’ve never treated me like your own daughter!" Cinderella shouted this loudly and then ran away.
One didn’t need to think twice, she definitely ran under the big tree to cry again.
Lady frowned, pouting, her voice filled with discontent for her mother, "She never treats us as her sisters nor treats our mother as her mother, why does she expect our mother to treat her as well as us..."
Second Young Lady continued, "Exactly, we are our mother’s biological children, does she think she can compare to us? Dream on..."
Listening to the conversation of these sisters was unbearable.
Decent words came out of their mouths distorted.
It was just like listening to a villain’s speech.
What made people laugh and cry even more was that these sisters, while flattering and parading their achievements to their mother, said, "Mother, we are right, aren’t we..."
The two were quite proficient at playing the role of wicked stepsisters in an utterly farcical manner.
Seeing Madam roll her eyes extravagantly, she probably had no energy to critique these two foolish daughters she couldn’t get rid of.
She hummed noncommittally, "Alright, there are three dresses in the upstairs cabinet, pick out the good ones and send one over to Cinderella, see if she wants to attend the banquet tonight."
As for whether Cinderella would be appreciative, no more thought was given to it, the behavior of the complaining sisters upon returning would be telling.
Today, the topic among the common folk on the streets, driven by the zealous attention of various madams and ladies, had elevated the status of the banquet in Prince’s Mansion.
By the time help arrived, the carriages departing for the banquet were even more splendid than yesterday, with the ladies seated inside dressed even more elaborately and exquisitely.
However, the foolish sisters of Madam’s house appeared nearly the same as yesterday, no better and no worse.
The sisters indeed clamored to be the most beautiful socialite flowers, too bad their sense of aesthetics was quite lacking.
It was still up to their mother’s outfitting; whatever she put together was what they would look like, if left to their own devices, they would absolutely epitomize the rural non-mainstream style.
Their mother’s taste wasn’t bad and being around her all day, they still hadn’t learned to be a bit more sophisticated, leaving one to wonder if they were steadfast in their nature or just dumb to the core.
Su Li quite approved of Madam’s approach, she seemed to be a sensible person who saw things clearly and didn’t blindly chase after matters that didn’t match their status.
While the sister flowers had the ambition to rise above, they lacked the matching capabilities, with obedience being their only standout quality.
Not too bright, but quite obedient.
Actually, this alone put them ahead of many.
The world isn’t short of smart people, what’s dreadful is a smart person who overestimates their own cleverness.
After Madam’s carriage departed at the same time as yesterday, there was no need to say it aloud, Si and the others headed towards the big tree.
As expected, Cinderella was kneeling under the tree, her hands clasped together praying for something.
After yesterday’s magic, Cinderella was even more confident than the day before, speaking her wishes to the tree like the most devout believer.
This time, an even more beautiful silver-fish tail dress appeared on the ground.
The next day, just after midnight had struck, Su Li once again saw Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage on the street.
Learning from the previous day’s lesson, Cinderella left much earlier than the day before.
At that moment, she still maintained her dressed-up appearance, resembling a noble Princess on a formal inspection.
It seemed that she was very excited herself, very pleased with the stir she had caused on her own account the previous evening.
The Prince had even decided to arrive early at the banquet, turning down all the ladies’ invitations, just waiting to dance with her.
This honor would, no doubt, quicken any girl’s heart.
Even the hearts of the two young people, in this special and ambiguous atmosphere, rapidly drew closer.
Cinderella even shyly and subtly confided to the Prince the sorrows hidden in her heart for many years, which she had never revealed to anyone else.
Not even to her father had she ever laid bare her heart so openly.
Behind the mask of the masquerade, Cinderella could see the love and pity in the Prince’s eyes for her, and she also spotted her two jealous stepsisters in the crowd, their faces twisted in envy.
This feeling of triumph was utterly intoxicating.
Unfortunately, she could not see on her stepmother’s face what she had hoped to see.
They would never guess that this mysterious woman, who was the hot topic of the town, was her.
Cinderella even pondered the amusing expressions they would have if they knew her real identity.
However, she dared not reveal her identity in such a setting.
Cinderella might have been a tad melodramatic, but not lacking in intelligence—she knew well enough that facing the hateful gazes of so many women, if they were to find out that she was not a princess or noble lady as they might have guessed, they would tear her to pieces.
She just had to wait, wait for the Prince’s infatuation to deepen a bit more...
Joyous moments are always fleeting; as the first chime of midnight rang out, Cinderella was startled, without time to explain anything, she swiftly released the Prince’s hand and turned to leave.
It was precisely her mystery that piqued the Prince’s interest even more.
On the third day, as expected, everyone was still discussing the mysterious woman.
At the entire banquet, all the dolled-up girls were overshadowed by the enigmatic woman.
The Prince’s eyes never left that woman, the other girls were like mere decorations, unable to spark any interest in him.
What was more, besides the Prince, the gazes of most men were also focused on that woman.
They too were fervently discussing and guessing her identity.
Some said she was a noble Princess, others said an official’s daughter, and some even speculated she might be the daughter of a wealthy family...
The Prince even issued a reward order throughout the town.
He promised a large sum as a reward for any clues regarding the girl’s identity.
With that, Cinderella had become the object of envy, admiration, and hatred from all the women in the town.