Chapter 15 — From Kissing Before the Big Wedding

The entrance to the secret passage is located in a shallow well in the cold palace. Before going down to the well, I turned my head and looked back deep into the palace. There, the Duong Tam Palace light was still on. Tieu Da Han must be in the palace. Will he... be okay? “Little master, hurry up!” Ty Da urged. I quickly jumped into the well. The secret passage is long and damp, but it is clear that there are often people passing by, and the ground is quite flat. We walked for about a moment, and light gradually appeared ahead. The exit is a dry well in an abandoned house in the west of the city. Outside the well, eleven Kinh Hong Ve have been waiting for a long time. "Little master, the carriage is ready. Going south or north?" The leader of the Ox tribe is an agile middle-aged man, with a scar left on his face by a soldier. I pondered for a moment: "Leave the citadel first, go to Tam Hoe Duong pharmacy." "But the pharmacy has been sealed..." "The most dangerous place is often the safest place." I said, "Besides, there are a few things I must take away." The carriage sped through the night. When passing by Chien Vuong Palace, I suddenly called out to stop. I jumped out of the car and handed a jade brooch to the guard guarding the gate: "Give it to the King, he will understand." That's the white jade brooch that Tieu Da Han once gave me. I will come back to get it. Will also come back to find him. But at this time, I was forced to leave the palace, leave the capital - the warnings of the dragon, phoenix and jade pendants and the tension of Kinh Hong Ve all showed that a huge storm was about to come. But we need to stay out of that storm. Only when we are no longer standing in the center of the spiral of power can we clearly see where this entire chess game is headed. Three days later, the capital began a purge that on the surface looked like a punishment for treason, but if you think carefully, it was more like a thorough cleaning of traces that the Emperor did not want to leave behind. Everything happened so fast. So fast that it makes people understand that everything was prepared in advance, just waiting for a suitable reason to act. At the Prime Minister's Palace, Vuong Thi suddenly "died" while under house arrest. The doctor concluded that it was due to accumulated mental illness and resentment. But in the capital, those who truly understand the situation know that it is a predetermined death. A living person can become a variable. But a dead person is the safest secret. Vuong Thi knows too many things. Know who is really behind. Know the transactions that cannot come to light. So she cannot live. That death, which looked like suicide, was actually the only outcome she could choose. Vuong Sung was executed by beheading. The verdict was issued extremely decisively, without any opportunity for delay or pleading. The royal family's property was confiscated and the entire clan was exiled. The name is to purge corruption. But in reality, it is the Emperor who is uprooting all the forces that once stood behind the Crown Prince. In this court, the Emperor can allow fighting. But absolutely do not allow factions to form beyond his control. This is not punishment. It's about restoring order. Because To Uyen Nhi did not participate deeply, she was only punished to enter a nun's monastery to practice for the rest of her life. It sounds like tolerance. But we know, it's just another form of detention. A person knows too much but doesn't have enough value to shut up, so the best way is to let her live her life in a place where she can't contact the outside world. No need to kill. But it also did not give her the opportunity to exist like a normal person. That is the true way of royal power. The crown prince was deposed as a commoner and imprisoned for life. Many people think it's because of fatherly love. But

I understand clearly. The emperor did not kill him, not because he was soft-hearted. But because keeping him alive is even more valuable. A prince being deposed, living in humiliation for the rest of his life, is the clearest warning for all those with evil intentions in the royal family. Killing him is just the end. But letting him live is a deterrent. That is the true coldness of an emperor. And we also understand one thing very clearly. This purge is not only aimed at the Crown Prince and the Royal Family. But also to close all the secrets that we have dug up. I know too much. Know the death of Duc Phi. Know the secrets of the previous dynasty. He also knew about military provisions being appropriated. It is also known that in the court, there were people who used forbidden drugs to control officials. If a person like me continues to stay in the capital, sooner or later he will become a factor that the Emperor cannot completely control. The thing the Emperor is most afraid of is never the enemy. They are people who cannot be controlled. So he gave me a choice. Give me your identity. Give me the honor. But at the same time it's testing me. If I accept the title of princess, I will become a member of the royal family, which means I will have to stay under your eyes. If we stay in the capital, we will be caught in the vortex that we have struggled to escape. But if we leave. I will become someone who is no longer attached to power. And that is the answer that the Emperor wants to see the most. So when I refuse the title. He was truly assured. After her mother was buried in the royal mausoleum. After all the resentment finally ended. We return to Thinh Vu Hien. This hospital used to be the place where I measured each move step by step, each step through dangerous situations. It's also where we started it all. I don't bring many things with me.