Chapter 10 — Books Hidden Under a Dry Well

She looked at me and slowly said: "The page writes about your life." When Luong Thanh Ha was led away by the translator, there were many people gathered in front of Ta palace's door to watch. She still wanted to save face, but when she stepped up to the threshold, the hem of her dress caught on the bronze lock of the ceremonial chest, causing her whole person to kneel on the stone steps. Luong's matchmaker immediately turned away and pretended not to know her. Xuan Dao hid behind the door and scolded in a low voice: "Deserve it." I don't laugh. Luong Thanh Ha's last sentence was like a hook, grabbing the thinnest page in the notebook. Co Minh Chau supported me, his voice tense: "A Duong, what did she say to you?" I closed the book: "She intentionally scared people." Old lady Ta ordered someone to invite the doctor to heal me, and asked my mother to help Co Minh Chau to the egg pavilion. "Children, the Ta family is sorry to you today." Co Minh Chau bowed: "Old lady's willingness to investigate everything clearly is a great favor." Old lady Ta looked at her and sighed heavily. "It's not a favor, it's the Ta family that owes me." Dieu Thi was guarded in the heavenly hall, Ta Hanh Chu stood in the hallway, wanted to step forward but didn't dare. I just came out of the egg chamber and met him. In his hand he held a bottle of healing medicine. "A Duong." I walked around him. He stopped me: "I didn't know mother had done so many things." I said: "Last night you knew half, today you pretend not to know half." His face changed from blue to white. "I just..." "I just can't bear to give up my future." He was hit by that sentence and took a half step back. "You're just a maid, do you have to speak so harshly?" I looked at him: "If Second Young Master feels it's hard to hear, think about what my lady has had to listen to in the past few days." He brought the medicine over: "This is for you." I don't accept it. Xuan Dao extended his hand from the side and immediately took it. "If you don't take it, it's a waste. Second Master Ta Nhi used the Co family's money to buy it, so it should be returned to the Co family for use." Ta Hanh Chu's face became even more unsightly. Co Minh Chau heard it from inside the room and called out in a low voice: "Xuan Dao." Xuan Dao immediately retracted her neck: "This slave was wrong, but I still dare next time." Mrs. Ta ordered someone to send the books to the dentist to copy, and the temporary contract was kept by her personally. While replacing the medicine for me, the old shopkeeper suddenly asked: "What did Luong Thanh Ha tell you?" I raised my head. He slowly put away the bottle of medicine: "Don't lie to me. After returning from her place, your face was even more unsightly than when you were beaten with a board." I asked: "Has Mrs. Gu ever mentioned me to you?" The old shopkeeper's hand stopped. "There was a mention." "What did she say?" He sighed: "She said you were in trouble. If I see you in the future and can help, please help." "What else?" "One more question." The old shopkeeper looked at my face, "She said A Duong should not be a maid all her life." I laughed: "A lot of people have said that." The old shopkeeper shook his head: "That statement is not out of pity, but for a reason." I was about to ask, but the mother next to Mrs. Ta had already walked in. "Miss A Duong, I would like you to come over." I arrived at the interior, Mrs. Ta was holding a letter from Mrs. Nguyen. Her eyes looked at me extremely complicated. "How old are you this year?" "Seventeen." "Before entering the Co Palace, what was your last name?" I said: "I don't remember. The year there was a bad harvest, when my parents sold me, they just called me Nhi Nha." The Buddha necklace in Mrs. Ta's hand stopped moving. "On your left shoulder is a birthmark shaped like a new moon, right?" I instinctively reached out to hold his shoulder. Co Minh Chau was also helped in. Hearing that sentence, her face immediately changed. "Old lady, why do you ask this?" Old lady Ta did not answer, just gave me the letter. At the end of the letter there is also a line of small letters. If A Duong follows Minh Chau to the capital, please protect her. It doesn't

Although she is a slave, she is an orphan of the Nguyen family. The old case has not been clarified and cannot be made public for the time being. I looked at that line of words, speechless for a long time. Co Minh Chau held the table: "Isn't A Duong a servant of the Co family?" Mrs. Ta said in a hoarse voice: "Sister Nguyen did not write clearly in the letter. She was afraid of implicating you children." I asked: "Who is the Nguyen family?" Old lady Ta looked out the window, as if she were looking back at the past years. "Fifteen years ago, in the capital, there was a female mandarin named To, in charge of weaving in the palace. She was falsely accused of stealing tribute brocade, the whole family was exiled, the young daughter was lost on the road. Sister Nguyen used to help bury her family, and was always looking for that child." Co Minh Chau looked at me, her eyes wide open. My head is empty. The old shopkeeper pushed open the door and walked in, as if he had finally made up his mind. "A Duong, I saw the birthmark on your shoulder a long time ago." I asked: "Where is it?" "Before something happened to the To family, I came to give medicine to Mrs. To. She was carrying a two-year-old girl, on her shoulder was that birthmark shaped like a new moon." No one in the room said more. Xuan Dao stuck her head in the door, heard half of it, and was so scared that she dropped the bottle of medicine. "Sister A Duong, aren't you a maid?" I lowered my head to look at the calluses on my palm.