Chapter 2 — A Life Without Return

Tan Man turned his eyes elsewhere.

“What right do you have to say about me?”

"If you don't respect your ancestors, that's fine. It's normal for a man to have three wives and four concubines. Aunt Van works so hard to take care of her father, her father just wants to marry her as a wife, why can't he tolerate it?"

"It's the person who taught Iron Iron the wrong way. He's not worthy of being our mother!"

The mother's body suddenly trembled violently, as if a heavy mountain was pressing down on her back. I know she was heartbroken.

03

“Tan Man.”

The mother's face was still pale, but her expression had become serious.

"That year, your great-grandmother said I came from a lowly background and was not worthy of raising the eldest son of the Qin family. At that time, your father's illness was at a critical point and Iron Sat was still young, so I had no choice but to leave you to her to take care of."

"I originally intended to wait for things to calm down and take you home. Who would have thought that in just a few short years, you would be taught to look like this..."

"It's a bit biased what you say."

The mother hadn't finished speaking yet, but a gentle female voice came from the door.

“Van di.”

Tan Man's cold expression from before immediately disappeared. He ran a few steps and jumped into Lieu Van Ha's arms, looking like he was suffering from great resentment. Lieu Van Ha mournfully rubbed the top of his head, showing the appearance of a kind mother. Even her words are like a mother impatiently protecting her child.

“No matter how much you disagree with me, I still have to say a few words of justice.”

“You stay outside all year round, abandoning your mother, husband and children, how can you understand the hardships of the people at home?”

"The mother is already old and has worked hard to educate Man Nhi to become a literate and polite person. At such a young age, her literature has been constantly praised by the man in the library."

"Why do they become so bad when it comes to sister's mouth? I really feel it's not worth it for the mother and Man Nhi."

After saying that, her tears fell drop by drop. Tan Man immediately took a handkerchief to help her wipe away her tears. His father standing next to him also frowned. When he looked towards us again, there was only coldness in his eyes.

"I know that those years were not easy for you. Even though after returning, you were always cold towards Van Ha and disrespectful to your mother, I still gave in."

"But what about you? Co Minh Thu, how long do you want to cause chaos?"

His cold gaze fell on his mother, mixed with a complex emotion that was difficult to put into words.

"I give you the last chance. As long as you agree to accept Van Ha as your wife, apologize to your mother, and later settle down in the house, I can take back the letter of separation, as if this never happened."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lieu Van Ha stopped crying, tightened her handkerchief, and looked nervously at her mother. Tan Man also pursed his lips and stood close to her. The three of them looked like a real family, standing opposite me and my mother. I suddenly felt extremely sad. I am heartbroken for my mother. That year, more than once I hid outside the door and saw her guarding my comatose father, gently stroking his eyelids.

"Min Nhi has grown taller. Although Iron Sat still likes to act like a babe, he is gradually understanding things. As for the rest of the Qin Palace, you can rest assured, I will take care of you for you."

“When you wake up, our whole family will be reunited.”

The candlelight fell on the mother's face, softly easy as water. I remember that scene deeply in my heart. Up until now, I have never doubted what she said. But at this time, the mother just calmly spoke:

"That year in Van Chau, I was entangled by an evil young man. Seeing that I refused to be his concubine, he ordered someone to break my father's legs. You yourself came down from the sky and saved my whole family. That was your kindness for me."

"That's why I have never regretted saving you. Even though I went through many dangers, even though I became separated from you because of that, I have never regretted it."

“But Qin Thoi Thua, there are only those things left between us.”

"It's not that you can't stand me, it's that I want to be at peace with you."

“Now, I want to take Iron Iron away.”

My father's pupils trembled slightly, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped. At that moment, Lieu Van Ha suddenly covered her mouth and vomited. Seeing that her body was limp and about to fall to the ground, father immediately stopped paying attention to us. The person picked up Lieu Van Ha and shouted loudly:

“Why don't you hurry up and invite the doctor!”

Ca brother also hurriedly followed. The door slammed shut, the wind blew dry leaves floating on the ground. The front gate of the Qin Palace was empty, only the two of us remained. Mother smiled at me. The smile was a bit bitter, but also had some relief.

“Iron, let's go.”

04

The wheels rolled slowly, taking our carriage farther and farther away from Qin Palace. I leaned against my mother, smelling her pleasant scent, feeling a bit confused.

“Mother, where will we go next?”

My mother was originally an orphan. In the past, my great-grandmother always said she was a lonely comet, carving out all her relatives. Even her father was implicated by her. I only refuted one sentence, and my grandmother punished me to kneel in the temple hall. Now that we have left Qin Palace, we no longer have a home. Thinking about the skinny, skinny female beggars I've seen on the streets, I can't help but shudder. But the warmth transmitted from my mother makes me no longer seem so afraid. I buried myself in her arms.

“As long as I can be with my mother, even if I have to eat pickles every day in the future, I will not be afraid.”

My mother stroked my hair and laughed.

“Stupid child, what kind of pickles? What kind of things does your little head think about every day? Let's go find your uncle.”

I raised my head and asked curiously:

“The coffin?”

The mother's eyes sparkled like the stars in the sky.

"That year our hometown was hit by a big flood, and my uncle unfortunately fell into the water. We all thought he had recovered a lot."

“Later by chance, we met again and found out he was still alive, and had gone to the border to join the army and become a general.”

"Your uncle has been looking forward to seeing you for a long time. It's just that something happened at the moment so he couldn't come."

So that's it?