Chapter 8 — Absolute Contract

It's because she hates her for using an innocent child as a card. I ordered someone to carry the child inside and invite the doctor to treat him. Khuong Oan Oan's eyes just showed joy, I turned around and instructed: "Go to Kinh Trieu palace to report to the mandarin. Then invite the midwife to check whether Khuong has ever given birth or not." Her face immediately turned pale. Half a day later, the truth was clarified. The child was bought by Kim Nuong from refugees. Khuong Oan Oan shows absolutely no signs of ever giving birth. The child purchase contract, the check and the wife's testimony, everything is there. The child was taken to Tu Au Duong. I donated an additional amount of silver, enough for him to grow up safely. And Khuong Oan Oan. Buying children to impersonate their bloodline, pretending to be descendants in the clan, will be severely punished according to the law. In the end, she also put herself in prison. 10After Khuong Oan Oan went to prison, Ta Lam Xuyen came to see me once. That was the last day before he was expelled from the clan. In the hall from the street, it had become much thinner. The former Prince of Marquis wearing a brocade robe, riding a horse, now has sunken eyes, messy beard, and his clothes are wrinkled and out of shape. He sat across from me, not saying anything for a long time. I don't urge you either. In the end, he laughed first. "Mother, actually I already knew what Oan Oan wanted." I raised my eyes. He said in a low voice: "She wants the position of the crown prince's wife, wants money from the Marquis Palace, wants everyone who once despised her to kneel down and fawn over her. I know." This made me a bit surprised. "You still rushed in knowing that?" His eyes turned red but no tears fell. "Because the look she looked at me was real. At least I thought it was real." He looked at me, his voice gradually becoming cold: "But still What about you and your father? You two always said you loved me. As a result, just because I didn't do what you wanted, you two gave birth to another child and kicked me out." I almost laughed. Up until this moment, it still thinks that it is just "not doing what we want". Not forcing the mother, forging a contract, canceling the marriage, or pretending to be an heir. I asked: "You came today to want me to propose to you on your behalf?" He was silent for a moment. "At first you wanted to." "What about now?" He stared at me: "Now it feels meaningless. The human heart is too hard. From the moment Ta Canh Hanh was born, you have lost." I shook my head. "You have lost since the moment you wrote the contract of renunciation. Not losing to Canh Hanh, but losing to yourself." His face was unsightly. When he stood up, he suddenly said: "Mother, will you regret later?" I thought for a moment. "If I regret, maybe I only regret because I woke up too late." His body stiffened, then without turning around, he left. In the end, Ta Nghien Son did not take his life. He was removed from the main branch, sent to the service station in the Northwest to become a petty officer, and could not return to the capital to become an official for the rest of his life. Khuong Oan Oan was sentenced to exile three thousand miles because she bought a child to pretend to be an heir. Kim Nuong became more deeply involved in old cases and was directly exiled to hard labor. This farce seems to end here. A few years later, we still occasionally hear news about Ta Lam Xuyen from dispatches sent from the Northwest. At first it was very depressed, then for some reason it gradually became peaceful. I heard he married a local medical woman. That woman had an ordinary appearance but a gentle personality. She planted several acres of barren fields with him. Later, they gave birth to a daughter. Ta Nghien Son asked me if I wanted to see the child's drawings. I don't watch. Not resenting, not remembering, is the last face I can give him. Ta Canh Hanh is becoming more and more mature. It does not show sharp talent like Ta

When Lam Xuyen was young, on the contrary, he was extremely calm from an early age. When he was five years old, he would leave half of his favorite steamed milk cake with sugar for me. At the age of seven, Ta Nghien Son took him to the school. He fell off his horse but tried not to cry. After returning, he secretly asked me if he could cry if he was hurt. I hugged it and said: "Maybe." People must have bones, but they must also know pain. I don't want to raise a child who only knows how to treat other people's love as a card in his hand. When Canh Hanh was twelve years old, on the occasion of the Nguyen Tieu lantern festival, I took him to Chu Tuoc street to see the lights. On the street there were as many people as looms, and the lights and torches were as bright as fire trees with silver flowers. It held the rabbit lamp in one hand and carefully protected me with the other, afraid that the crowd would bump into me. When walking to the back of a restaurant, suddenly a woman was pushed out. The woman's hair was messy and her clothes were so old that the original color could no longer be seen. She fell to the ground. The moment she raised her head, I recognized her. Khuong Oan Oan. She also recognized me. The face that was once filled with a myriad of emotions is now filled with only fatigue and bitterness. She opened her mouth, as if she wanted to call me. Canh Hanh asked: "Mother, do you know her?" I took a look at Khuong Oan Oan. I quickly withdrew my gaze. "I'm not used to it." I held my son's hand and continued walking forward.