Chapter 1 — Funeral Song Under the Ashing Mat

My mother was originally an orphan who was taken in and raised by a country doctor. Later, she was married to my father by a matchmaker, who was then just a crippled scholar. Later, her mother cured her father's disabled legs, helping him to be able to take the entrance exam. When I was ten years old, my father passed the third exam and took my mother and me to the capital. Not long after, the Queen decreed that her mother should enter the palace and become a royal physician. That day, my mother was extremely happy, caressing my head and saying:
"Being a royal physician was my grandfather's childhood dream, now it seems like my mother has fulfilled it, waiting for my mother to return to the palace."
However, I waited forever..., and finally received my mother's broken body, and a holy decree bestowing my father's marriage on the Queen's sister. Father knelt in front of the palace gate for a whole day and finally received the order.
1
After my mother passed away, my father left me alone in the palace, ran alone to the front of the palace gate, and knelt for a whole day. The next morning, the person returned. The person was originally gentle and elegant, dressed neatly, but now his hair was disheveled, his body was covered in mud, and his blood was splattered. In his hand he also held a roll of golden silk. The servants all said that it was a holy decree. Soon, I will have a bride. But I know clearly that the person who killed my mother was the person named in that decree. Father looked at me, his expression slightly confused. He forced a smile, but that smile was worse than crying. I have never seen such a person, hiding behind the maid in fear. His father's face suddenly darkened, and his footsteps quickly retracted. At that time, I discovered that my father seemed to be crippled again. The maid gently pushed me. I hesitantly stepped forward and raised my hand to wipe the mud from her face. My father immediately hugged me tightly, hot tears poured out, wetting my shoulders.
“Yet Truc, you are an incompetent father!”
I reached out and patted my father's head.
“Father, don't cry.”
But people cried even more pitifully. The last time father cried so pitifully was the day mother said goodbye to this world.
2
The day my mother passed away, my father was taking me around the street to buy gifts to celebrate her birthday. My mother's birthday was near, and the position of royal physician was newly granted, my father specially kept it a secret, taking advantage of the day off to take me out of the house early. He took me to choose and buy all kinds of gorgeous clothes. He said that his mother originally loved those dishes the most, but because she was worried about making medicine and afraid of getting them dirty, she said she didn't like them. I nodded, saying that Duyet Truc had remembered. My parents happily praised me for being a filial son. We bought a lot of gifts, just waiting for mother to return home. Just before he could return to the palace, the maid next to his mother quickly ran over. Her face was filled with panic.
“The lady has returned… but… the lady… is gone!”
Father was still smiling brightly at first, but when he heard the next part, his whole body suddenly stiffened. He didn't care about me, nor did he bother to bring the gifts he had prepared for his mother, so he rushed back to the palace. I cried until my heart was broken in the back, but I never looked back. After that, I numbly carried the gift and followed the maid back to the palace, seeing my father's torn clothes kneeling on the ground. Next to him was a mat, on which lay a person whose appearance was no longer clear. I was so scared that I cried. The maid named Xuan Sinh told me that she was my mother. Only then did I realize that the shirt was covering the body
mother, is father's coat. No one dares to come close to my father. Sometimes my father cried bitterly, sometimes he laughed loudly and crazily, his cries were heartbreaking, his laughter was like a deranged person. The servants in the palace whispered, "I'm afraid the old man has gone crazy, what should the young lady do in the future?" After all, my father is not crazy. He locked himself in his room for two days, and on the third day, he opened the door and came out. Also on that day, the Queen's royal edict came down, bestowing her sister's hand in marriage to my father. Father was silent for a long time, arranged the affairs in the palace, adjusted his clothes, and then left.
3
We know that the deceased must be buried. This is the first time I wear mourning clothes, a white scarf on my head, and a sash on my body. Xuan Sinh held my hand and led me in front of the coffin. Just reaching the end of the long street, suddenly there was a bustling sound of gongs and drums in front of them, a group of people carrying the bride was approaching. The coffin bearer tried to stop and get out of the way, but was stopped by his father.
“Don't stop, just keep going!”
I saw my father's eyes filled with hatred, and in my ears the words he said in the room that day still echoed:
"Yet Truc, please remember. Your mother was not killed by the Queen, nor was she harmed by the Princess, but by this damn so-called royal power!"
“Sooner or later, father will avenge your mother.”
"But before that, I have to be patient. You have to be patient too."
I have never seen my father like that before. But I understand, father is right. I replied: "Father, Duyet Truc will endure, Duyet Truc can also avenge his mother!"