Chapter 5 — Half a Year I Called Brother Wrong, He Asked Me to Repay Myself

He is always nearby. It didn't appear today by chance. But he is always there. After what happened at the flower feast, no one in the capital dared to say even half an unpleasant sentence to my face. But the rumors still spread silently.

"Miss Tham has climbed up to the Regent King, she really flew up into the high branches."

"I heard that they use messenger pigeons to convey love. It's a very clever method."

"Can someone like the Regent Prince be seduced? I'm afraid it feels new for a while."

When these words entered my ears, I was sitting in my room looking at those pieces of paper. Thuy Truc returned from outside, her face full of anger.

"Miss, they are too much! It's obvious that the pigeon flew in the wrong place, it wasn't intentional!"

We put the pieces of paper back in the makeup box and close the lid.

“Thuy Truc, actually they didn't say anything wrong.”

“Why is it not wrong?”

“I really don't deserve it.”

Thuy Truc was stunned. I smiled, the smile carrying some bitterness.

"He is the Regent King, a man of power."

"What about me? I'm just a concubine of a third-class mandarin's family, with no talent, no skills, and my only advantage is probably just a presentable face."

“He feels new now, so what if the new feeling passes later?”

Thuy Truc opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word. That night, I wrote my last letter.

"Your Majesty is in good health. Chieu Ninh thought about it many times, really did not dare to climb high with the Royal Family. Being favored by the Royal Family, Chieu Ninh was extremely grateful, but the household registration was different, the status was different, forcing them both to fail. In the future, Chieu Ninh will think of a way to repay all the debt, I hope the Royal Family will not remember it again. Tham Chieu Ninh kowtows."

The moment the dove flew away, my eyes suddenly felt sour. I bowed my head and rubbed my eyes.

"What are you pretending to be so sentimental about? It's not yours in the first place."

That night, there was no response. The next day, also nothing. On the third day, Thuy Truc tried to interrogate me:

“Miss, the pigeon hasn't flown back yet.”

“It won't come back again.”

“I said there's no need to come back anymore.”

But when I said this sentence, it was like someone had punched a hole in my heart. Extremely empty. On the evening of the fourth day, I sat in the hospital and let Doan Tu eat grass. The little octopus rubbed against my palm.

"Doan Tu, tell me if I'm making myself miserable. The person who is at peace is the Prince Regent, yet I insist on pushing him away."

Doan Tu tilted his head and looked at me, softly making a "uu" sound. Then suddenly his ears moved and he turned his head to look towards the hospital gate. The hospital gate was pushed open. The person who arrived was dressed in mysterious clothes and was windy and tired. It's Tieu Hanh. There was still dust on his robe, and his hair was a bit messy, as if he had rushed here in a hurry. The usual calm and leisurely appearance completely disappeared. He stood at the door of the hospital, looking at me. In those pair of phoenix eyes, which were always cold and sharp, there were now emotions that I had never seen before. Panic, impatience. There is also self-pity that cannot be hidden.

“The words you wrote in the letter… are all true?”

I stood up, my hands still shaking.

“Your Majesty ——”

“Not the Royal Family.” He stepped forward one by one step.

"She used to always call me brother, then she stopped calling me. Now she calls me Vuong."

“What do you want to call me?”

"She said that the household registration is different." He took another step forward.

"This king's guardianship is decided by this king himself. This king says she is worthy, she is worthy."

“She said her identity is different.”

"This king is the Regent King. Whom does this king want to marry? No one in the whole civil and military court dares to say more than a word."

“She said she was afraid that this king's new feeling would pass.”

He walked in front of me and stopped. The sound suddenly lowered, carrying a tremble that was difficult to detect.

"It's been half a year. Every day this king looks at the pieces of paper she wrote, no less than a hundred times. In each letter, what she wrote, what she wanted, how many words 'most' she used, this king remembers everything."