Chapter 1 — Changing the Bride and Marrying the Palace

The third year after leaving the capital to get married, my mother fell seriously ill, and I returned to the capital to visit my relatives. My older twin sister Khuong Nhuoc Ninh, currently the Crown Princess, was also present. She and the Crown Prince have been married for six years, and their love as husband and wife makes everyone admire them. But when the Crown Prince came to Khuong Palace to welcome his eldest sister, he mistook me for his sister and hugged me tightly from behind. A familiar voice rang in the ear, the warm breath blew into the hollow of the shoulder, making the whole person tremble. "I miss you very much." Few people know that before getting married, the eldest sister once ran away from the wedding. My parents didn't want Khuong Palace to be punished, so they announced to the outside world that I was the one who ran away with the man. As for me, I pretended to be the eldest sister and stayed with the Crown Prince for three years. During those three years, I hid it very well. Until the eldest sister returned to the capital, and because I had the reputation of running away with a man and had a scandalous reputation, I could only leave the capital to get married early.01The familiar cool smell of bamboo entered my nose. I immediately pushed my elbow back, pushing Tieu Doanh away. The people behind were caught off guard. I didn't dare look at him, just bowed my head and bowed. "Your Highness the Crown Prince has mistaken the person. I'm not the Crown Princess." He was silent, but his eyes falling on him carried an extremely strong feeling of oppression. I had to add: "The woman is the younger sister of the Crown Princess, Khuong Nhuoc Ngu." After a while, Tieu Doanh spoke up: "So it's you." "Why do you smell of cassia flowers?" Cinnamon flowers... Just now I made cinnamon flower cakes in the kitchen. My daughter craves food and keeps clamoring for food. She didn't like the cakes she bought from outside, so she insisted on eating the cakes I made. "Just now, the villagers helped make cinnamon flower cakes." I answered honestly, and a soft laugh came from above. The laughter brought with it anger, just like in the past. Tieu Doanh is always calm and cold, not revealing joy or sadness. This extremely light laugh proved that he was angry to the extreme. "But Nhuoc Ninh said you have never been in the kitchen." "I advise you not to have thoughts that you should not have." At this point I understood, Tieu Doanh thought that I deliberately dressed like the eldest sister to seduce him. But the cinnamon flower cake is the dish I made for him when I pretended to be the elder sister entering the Eastern Palace.02The elder sister doesn't like cinnamon flowers. She criticized cinnamon flowers for being too small and having a faint scent, feeling that this flower was too ordinary. When I first came to the Eastern Palace, I was very afraid of Tieu Doanh. Every day I was nervous and worried, afraid of being recognized by him, afraid of implicating everyone in Khuong Palace. So, I hid in the kitchen to learn how to make cakes, avoiding Tieu Doanh. The first dish we learned to make was cinnamon flower cake. What Tieu Doanh said is not wrong. Before coming to the Eastern Palace, I had never actually been to the kitchen. Therefore, the first batch of cinnamon flower cakes we made were not delicious. But after knowing what happened, Tieu Doanh still ate the entire plate of cake. He said it was delicious. I looked at him, a bit confused. After a long while, I followed the older sister's tone of speech and replied: "Your Highness, stop teasing me. I know this cinnamon flower cake tastes a bit bland." Tieu Doanh smiled gently. "What about bland?" "If you say delicious, then it's delicious." Later, I often made cinnamon flower cakes. I also gradually learned Tieu Doanh's taste. Cinnamon cake must use cinnamon sugar to create flavor. Cinnamon flowers must be flowers that have just been dried. Furthermore, when eating cinnamon flower cakes, Tieu Doanh likes to drink a cup of Bich Loa Xuan tea. After that, the elder sister had enough suffering outside. Before she returned to the Eastern Palace, I also taught her how to make cinnamon flower cakes. "Your Highness has been thinking too much. The daughter of a servant is hungry for food, the servant only helps in the kitchen."03 "Daughter?" The voice above carried a hint of doubt.

As soon as he finished speaking, my daughter, Tieu Man, ran out. "Mother, why haven't you found me yet?" "I hid behind a fake mountain, I'm about to be burned into mantau by mosquitoes." Tieu Man, not knowing Tieu Doanh's identity, quickly pulled me to my feet. "Good Tieu Man, this is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Hurry up and bow to His Highness." Tieu Man raised his head, looked at Tieu Doanh, then blinked. "Your Highness the Crown Prince is well." "Are you okay?" Do you want to eat the cinnamon flower cake that my mother made? It's delicious!” Tieu Man smiled at Tieu Doanh, took a piece of cinnamon flower cake out of the oil paper bag, and gave it to him. I quickly stopped him. "Tieu Man, don't make a mess." "Your Highness, Tieu Man is still young and doesn't understand things yet." I quickly explained to Tieu Doanh. But Tieu Doanh's face softened, perhaps he realized he really misunderstood me. "It's okay." Having finished speaking, he raised his hand to receive the cinnamon flower cake in Tieu Man's hand. "Your Highness, why are you here?" The voice of the eldest sister came from not far away. Tieu Doanh immediately withdrew his hand. The piece of cinnamon flower cake fell to the ground. "I heard that you returned to Khuong residence to visit your mother-in-law. After handling the official matters, you came here." "How is your mother-in-law's body? Do you need to invite the royal doctor to come and see?" The eldest sister lowered her eyes and sighed. "The mother's body is always the same. The royal doctor said that she can only try to ease her pain." Tieu Doanh hugged the eldest sister in his arms and softly comforted: "There will be a way." I used a handkerchief to pick up the piece of cinnamon flower cake from the ground. up, pulling Tieu Man to leave quietly. But after just two steps, the elder sister's voice rang out from behind: "Nhuoc Ngu, when did you come to Khuong Palace?"04 Hearing the call, I turned around. "Just arrived last night." "Really father, why don't you tell me so I can send someone to pick you up?" The elder sister smiled very cordially, but her eyes looking at me were full of caution. Three years ago, she cried and begged me, asking me to change my identity with her. She said she only had Tieu Doanh left. During that time, I often returned to Khuong palace. If we change it immediately, there are too many things the elder sister doesn't know, and it's easy to reveal loopholes. She asked me to recount every incident that happened during the two years I replaced her in the Eastern Palace. She always said thank you for taking care of Tieu Doanh on her behalf. But I know she is always wary of me. After remembering everything that happened in two years, the elder sister asked my parents to take me out of the capital. Firstly, because she ruined my reputation, I was afraid that if I stayed in the capital, people would object to me. Second, she was afraid that her replacement identity would be discovered by Tieu Doanh. Parents agree. Therefore, I quickly got married, and my husband's family was as far away from the capital as possible. "Mother was seriously ill and sent an urgent letter, saying she wanted to see me one last time." "Just when my husband had something to come to the capital, we came here together." "Is your husband treating you well?" Hearing me mention my husband, the elder sister clearly breathed a sigh of relief. "You treat me very well." I nodded. "That's good. Before, because of running away with a man, you had to bear the pain." She grabbed my hand and gently patted the back of my hand. "He treats you well, I also feel secure." The elder sister's words were vague, with other hidden meanings in her words. It sounded like she was blaming herself, but people who didn't know that the person who ran away with the man was her, would of course think that she was talking about me. Such as Tieu Doanh. He frowned and walked up. "Let's go visit the mother-in-law." Tieu Doanh doesn't like the eldest sister interacting too much with me. Or it could be said that he didn't want Khuong Nhuoc Ngu to have a bad reputation that would affect the reputation of elder sister Khuong Nhuoc Ninh. Even before I left the Eastern Palace, I knew that.05During my two years here

Dong palace, Tieu Doanh treated me extremely well. The elder sister ran away with the man too hastily. When I came to the Eastern Palace, I did not imitate her perfectly. But Tieu Doanh did not find out. I often ask him if he loves me. When I don't wear the Van Thuy blue color that elder sister loves, when I play the wrong note on the guqin that elder sister knows well, and even when it rains, I turn over and pin him under me. Every time like that, Tieu Doanh said without hesitation that he loved me. I also fantasized about whether he loved me or not. No matter who we are. I thought about frankly telling everything, the day I found out I was pregnant. I was both nervous and looking forward to going to the study room. I stood outside the door, thinking over and over again about what to tell Tieu Doanh. But a door away, the matter Tieu Doanh was discussing with his subordinates was: "Your Highness, the Crown Princess' sister Khuong Nhuoc Ngu has returned to the capital." "She had run away with a man before. This time she returns, I'm afraid people will disapprove of her, possibly implicating the Crown Princess. Do I need my subordinates to deal with the rumors?" My heart pounded against my chest, my stomach churning. flow. The elder sister has returned. If I want to tell the truth, perhaps this is my last chance. "No need." "You've met Khuong Nhuoc Ngu before. She acts recklessly and doesn't care about rules. Any wise person knows that she cannot be equated with the Crown Princess." The voice that carried out the door was very light, but extremely harsh. The sunlight shining down makes us feel dizzy. I took two steps back and left. Returning to the hospital, I received a letter from Khuong Palace. It's a letter from parents. They said the eldest sister had returned to the capital and that she had to endure a lot of suffering. She also understood that the Crown Prince was her destiny. In the letter, they also urged me to return to Khuong residence soon to reunite with my eldest sister. In every sentence, every word is implying that I must return her identity to her. I picked up a pen and wrote one word on paper: "Okay."06Mother is awake and wants to see me. This is the first time our two models have met each other after three years since we left the capital. It is said that my mother is seriously ill and often falls into a coma, with very little time awake. I told the servants to go pick up Tieu Man, and I walked into the room alone. The bitter smell of tobacco mixed with the smell of old, musty objects made people unable to help but frown. "Nhuoc Ngu, is that you?" Mother heard footsteps and slowly opened her eyes. I nodded and sat down by the bed. "Father wrote a letter saying he wanted to meet you." "You are my child, and you are married far away. The person who is most uneasy is you." She reached out to hold my hand, but the distance was too far. Seeing that I didn't reach out and didn't come close, she could only lower her hand. "Compared to three years before getting married, you're much plumper." "It seems you've lived well these past few years." "I heard you have a daughter. What's her name?" Mother was waiting for my answer. She said so much just to comfort herself. She is waiting for my forgiveness, waiting for me to say that I have let go of the past. But I cannot say. That year, when she brought me into the Eastern Palace and then forced me to leave the Eastern Palace, she was not like this. "Nhuoc Ngu, are you still resentful of me?" "That year, your father and I had no other choice. You also understand, don't you?" "I understand. That's why I didn't say anything. This time I returned to the capital only because my husband had something to come here." I calmly replied. The words of blame and resentment, I have said too much before. But the result still hasn't changed.