Chapter 4 — Chess Game In The Palace

“The items in the chest were handed over to the queen to handle.” Quynh Tam garden was more than half burned. Luu Thanh Van moved to the most remote Lam Hoa pavilion. That night, the lights in there stayed on all night. But this time there was no crying. It was so quiet that it felt like there was no one inside. Three days later, Luu Thanh Van arrived at Phuong Nghi palace. She knelt on the brick floor of the main hall, her forehead pressed against the cold yellow tiles. She wore a cloth dress with a hemp brooch, even more tattered than the old dress before. The cuffs of her shirt were worn, her hair was empty, not even a ribbon. "Your Majesty." Her voice was small and soft. "Over the past few days, I have thought through everything before and after. It was my fault. I should not hide rewards, should not slander the palace staff, should not deceive your Majesty." Having finished speaking, she hit the ground with her forehead. A "pop" sounded, neither heavy nor light, just loud enough for others to hear. "I beg your majesty to punish me, I accept the punishment." I sat on the throne, flipped through the books, without raising my head: "You admit your mistake?" "I sincerely admit my mistake." "So you tell this palace, who helped you steal the two tributes from the Internal Affairs Palace?" Luu Thanh Van's forehead that was pressed against the ground paused. She slowly sat up straight, her eyes red again: "Niang, I really don't know anything about those two tributes. Someone stuffed it for me, I thought it was just normal jewelry..." "Who stuffed it for you?" She bit her lower lip again. This time she bit for a long time. It took me so long that I had turned three pages of the book before she opened her mouth: "I can't say it. If I say it, that person will lose his life." "If you don't speak, the person who will lose his life will be you." Luu Thanh Van lowered her eyes, tears falling onto the yellow tiles. She suddenly knelt, took two steps forward, grabbed the edge of my desk: "Your highness, I beg you to spare me this time. From now on, I will never dare again. I may not need anything, I only ask to stay in the palace to do the most lowly work. Washing clothes, cleaning is fine..." I closed the book, bowed my head to look at her hand clinging to the edge of the table. "Suffering and humiliating schemes have no effect in front of this palace." I brushed away your hand. off the edge of the table. "Go back to Lam Hoa Pavilion. Your Majesty said detention is detention. Without his instructions, don't expect to go anywhere."Luu Thanh Van's hand that I pushed away hung in mid-air. She looked at me, her eyes quickly flashing with a ferocious glint. Then she crawled up on her own, brushed the dust off her knees, and turned to leave. That very night, something happened to Lam Hoa Pavilion. When Lien Khe pushed open the door and walked in, she didn't have time to put on the hairpin: "Niang, Lieu Thi hanged herself! When Bao Duyet saved her, her eyes widened!" I put the hairpin in my hand into her hair bun: "Are you still alive?" "Are you still alive? The royal physician has come, saying that it is impossible to die." "How is your Majesty?" "Phuc Loc has come to report. Your Majesty's chapter is only half done. Put it down, I'm going to Lam Hoa Pavilion now." I stood up, adjusted my shirt in front of the mirror, then turned and walked out. When we arrived at Lam Hoa Pavilion, Trieu Hanh was standing in front of Luu Thanh Van's bed. Luu Thanh Van leaned against the pillow, a white bandage wrapped around her neck. Beneath the bandage, bruises were visible. Her face no longer had any color left, her lips were dry and cracked. Seeing Trieu Hanh coming, she immediately turned her head, buried her face in the pillow, her shoulders kept shaking. Trieu Hanh stood next to the bed, his hand hanging next to his body, clenching and then relaxing. "What are you causing trouble?" Luu Thanh Van did not turn his head, his voice was buried in the pillow: "I have no face to continue living. I have deceived Your Majesty for a year, I am guilty."

"So you went to find the dead?" "The dead will be clean." Trieu Hanh was silent for a long time. He turned to look at me. I stood by the door, not entering. He suddenly asked Luu Thanh Van: "Since when did you start to feel that I didn't put you in my heart?" Luu Thanh Van's shoulders shook even more violently. Finally she turned away from the pillow. Her face was wet with tears, the bandage on her neck was half rubbed off. inch. “Since the day Your Majesty brought me back to the palace. You left me at Lam Hoa pavilion, only coming to visit me once every half a year." "You said you like to listen to me sing, but every time you listen to sing, you have never looked at me." Trieu Hanh's throat moved slightly. He stood there without saying anything, but the hand he was holding tightly loosened. Watching his fist let go, my heart felt like someone had poured a bucket of cold water on him. He had stirred. That thorn was still there. Luu Thanh Van used his life. My life teased it once, and it became loose again. That night, Trieu Hanh did not stay at Lam Hoa Pavilion, but he told Phuc Loc to bring a bowl of ginseng soup. On the way back to Phuong Nghi Palace at night, Lien Khe walked behind me and asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, have you become soft-hearted again?" I looked at the royal lamp in front of me, being swayed back and forth by the wind.