Chapter 7 — A Life Without Return

Father protected Lieu Van Ha behind his back, not knowing if he wanted to show up for her, or for something else. The look in his eyes was extremely complicated, both angry and unwilling.

"What was the wrong word that Van Ha said just now? She had a shady relationship with another man, she didn't know how to be shameless, so why didn't she let people tell her?"

Whew! This time, the uncle's fist hit him directly in the face. The uncle grabbed his father's collar, every punch hit his skin. It didn't take long for someone to be beaten and his face covered in injuries.

"I'll let you talk nonsense! When I wasn't around, you bullied my A Thu. Now you dare to insult her right in front of me. I'll beat your beast to death!"

The uncle is a martial artist, and soon beat his father to the point of dizziness. Lieu Van Ha screamed and wanted to stop, but she didn't dare to come close, fearing she would get hit with a few punches. Tan Man was completely scared to the point of being stunned. Until his mother spoke up to stop him:

"Brother, Iron Iron is tired. Let's go home."

The uncle stopped and hugged me to the car. But that call of "elder brother" made his father, who was lying on the ground, get up again.

"What brother? Co Minh Thu, tell me clearly, who is he?"

In the carriage, my mother never turned around, just hugged me. The wheel rolled forward, leaving his father's screams behind.

13

The next day, two big things happened at the court. The first story is that King Hue was ordained as Crown Prince by His Majesty. Since then, the Dai Thinh Dynasty has had a successor. The second story, General Tran Vien Co Vien in the middle of the court denounced the royal historian Qin Thoi Thua.

"Your Majesty, when I was a child, I fell into the water and was lost with my family, thinking that all my relatives had passed away. Later I learned, it turned out that I still had a younger sister, and she was married to Tan Thoi Thua."

"For several years my younger sister was married to the Qin palace. She was filial to her mother and had a meaningful relationship with her husband. Qin Thoi Thua lived half-dead for three years. My younger sister never gave up on him. On the contrary, she used all sorts of means to go everywhere to ask doctors to find medicine, to save someone even the royal doctor said he couldn't cure."

“But what about him!”

The uncle's eyes turned red and he loudly denounced:

“He had just recovered from his illness and had an affair with his widowed sister-in-law, and even chased my sister out of the Qin family.”

"For a wife with such great kindness, you can still say that you leave her. Your Majesty, what right does a heartless and meaningless person like him have to stand in the court?"

His father's face turned red and he quickly argued:

"You talk nonsense! When did I say I wanted to kick her out of the Qin family? She herself refused to comply, so how can she blame me?"

"You want to marry that sister as your wife, aren't you intentionally humiliating my sister? Is that any different from sending her away?"

“You…”

The two argued back and forth, no one willing to give in. Until the Emperor lost patience and violently threw down the scroll. Today was originally the day the Crown Prince was ordained, which was a happy event. Yet at court, he was dragged into the Qin family's affairs. The Emperor remembered Princess Truong's words about Co Minh Thu's kindness to the Crown Prince. He also remembered that yesterday his little niece spoke in his ear for half a day about the good things about his mother. People are even more unhappy inside. The Emperor's face darkened and he spoke coldly:

“The Imperial History of Qin Shi Cheng is not knows how to correct internal affairs and foolish behavior. In the coming days, stay at home, close your doors and reflect, no need to go to court."

The court immediately fell silent. Everyone saw the Emperor's disgust. His father's face was pale, his movements were stiff, he knelt down to confess and give thanks. From that day on, the Tan family began to close its doors and not go out. Even the wedding that was once said to be held is no longer news. In the capital, not many people were talking about it. But all of that is no longer relevant to us. My mother and I moved into the Tran Vien general's palace. Ky Thanh still comes often. Sometimes he brought along his guards and knocked on the general's door early in the morning, saying he wanted to learn martial arts with his uncle. Sometimes he goes with the Crown Prince. The prince is very busy. Every time I came, I went into the study with my uncle, not knowing what was being discussed. Mother is also very busy. The princess said Tu Au Cuc was lacking a manager, so she recommended her mother. Every day, she was busy diagnosing illnesses for the children there, paying attention to whether the rooms were old and leaking from the rain, and thinking of ways to find more supplies for the children. Beautiful spring scene, gentle wind shaking the branches. I sat down in the hallway, my legs swinging, my chin in my hands. Until Ky Thanh waddled over, holding two kites in front of me.

“Sat Sat, can we go pedaling today?”

The butterfly-shaped kite is painted so lifelike that as long as the wind blows, it seems to flap its wings and fly up. But I'm still not interested. Ky Thanh leaned closer.

“What's wrong? My mother is just busy for a few days, why are you still like a weaned child, always wanting to stick to me?

I'm not satisfied.

“You are a child who has not yet been weaned!”

As soon as I turned my eyes, I saw my mother walking out from the corner of the hallway, so I quickly stood up and rushed over.

“Mother, are you busy today? Ky Thanh, this guy who likes to cling to people, wants someone to go fly a kite with him."

I blinked my eyelashes. Ky Thanh wanted to say something, but just puffed her cheeks and swallowed the words back. His face was red. Mother gently tapped my forehead.

“Don't bully Thanh Nhi.”

I didn't bully him. I glanced over and sure enough, Ky Thanh hesitantly stepped forward, pulling her mother's sleeve and gently shaking her.

“Iron Iron does not bully me. Mother-in-law, let's go together."

The mother laughed.

“Okay, okay. If she shakes any more, the mother is about to fall apart."

14

The wind outside the city is softer, the warm sunlight covers me, and before my eyes is my mother's smiling face. All of this makes me unable to help but run and jump happily. Ky Thanh deliberately pulled the monster kite in his hand towards me, saying he wanted to compete to see who could fly higher. But today the wind clearly favors us. The butterfly fluttered as if it wanted to become a fairy, pressing down on the ugly beast below. I was so proud that I wanted to call my mother to come and see. But when I turned around, I couldn't see her figure. I panicked, the kite string slipped from my hand. Ky Thanh followed behind.

“Iron Iron, where are you going?”

The two of us ran behind the carriage, then to the woods, and finally saw our mother. She stood coldly next to her father, her voice cold as winter ice.

“You've been following me for a few days, is it interesting?”

The father's eyes looked intently at her, his voice was hoarse again.

“Minh Thu, can we start again?”

“I will will not marry Lieu Van Ha anymore. You bring Iron Iron back, we can live like before, is that okay?"

The mother didn't say anything, even her breathing was very quiet. I hid behind a tree trunk, using my strength to clench my fingers. How can it go back to the way it was before?