Chapter 13 — Hoa Mi Revenge of Vengeance

In his hand he carried an empty birdcage. The cage door was wide open, there was nothing inside. After the last suction, the nightingale had exhausted all its essence. Its body turned into a layer of smooth gray chalk dust, falling along the openings of the cage. Parked on the railing of the second floor, then was blown away by the wind and disappeared into nothingness. Tham Thanh Van lay paralyzed in a pool of blood, his mouth open, emitting a hoarse sound.
“Miss. What did you do?”
I held my hand on the railing and lowered my head to look at him.
"Me? I didn't do anything."
My voice was not loud, but after the whole restaurant fell into silence, every word uttered was transmitted very clearly.
“This bird was given to me by you.”
“You said it can keep the family safe.”
"I raised it for a month, it died. You also collapsed."
“I also want to ask you, what did you do?”
Tham Thanh Van glared at me. His lips trembled, not from pain, but from the nervous trembling of someone whose true nature has been exposed. He wanted to say something, but the crowd below had already rushed up to surround him. The doctor was invited, and a group of male servants carried the horizontal painting out, some screamed for water, others shouted for a stretcher. Shopkeeper Ma stood next to the podium, his face pale, looking from Tham Thanh Van to me on the second floor, his mouth moving, but in the end he couldn't say a word. Ton Duc Su stood crouched in a corner, the rosary in his hand spinning rapidly, the expression on his face was like a puddle of stagnant water that had just been stoned to pieces. Luc Truong Thanh walked out from the back of the crowd, stood tall in the middle of the hall, clasped his hands and headed up to the second floor.
“Dear Eastern gentlemen,”
His voice was not loud but steady, "Today's events have already been seen by all of you."
"Tham Thanh Van used the title of To Family Representative to participate in the election."
“However, in my hand, I currently hold the core evidence entrusted by the To family's Old Grandfather himself, with the Old Grandfather's seal on it.”
"The old man's meaning was very clear: The representative of the To family is the First Lady of the To family, not the son-in-law named Tham."
"Thham Thanh Van's candidacy was, from the very beginning, a false impersonation."
The whispers in the hall immediately exploded into deafening buzzing sounds. Tham Thanh Van was carried down from the stage. His legs were completely paralyzed and could not move. As he passed by the crowd, he turned back and shouted at me with all his might. But that sentence was drowned out in the noisy commotion of the entire auditorium. I don't even bother to listen. I carried the empty birdcage and quietly walked out from the side door on the second floor. Outside the door is the bright sunlight of Jiangnan May. The sails on the canal are dazzling white, and the green willows shade the entire street. The bustling scenes outside the city and inside the city were in complete contrast to the earth-shattering changes inside the restaurant, just like two separate worlds. Xuan Vu stood waiting at the beginning of the alley. When she saw me step out, her eyes were red. She reached out to pick up the bird cage, her fingers touched the steel wire of the empty cage, and suddenly trembled.
“Madam, that bird—”
“Gone.”
I gave her the birdcage, raised my hand to caress the jade hanging on my side.
“They're all gone.”

When Tham Thanh Van was carried back to the To family courtyard, his legs were wrapped in thick wooden splints. The doctor said the bones were broken into many pieces. He was arranged to lie in the Eastern courtyard, attended by Bach To To. Old Mrs. Tham sat on the edge of the bed for a whole night, her stick kept poking the ground, each sound louder than the last. The curses in her mouth repeated over and over were only my name. The news coming from Lieu Alley was even worse. After a high fever that did not go down, Tham Thua An's limbs began to stiffen, and his right arm and right leg lost feeling. Bach To To cried until he almost stopped breathing, and continuously sent three groups of people to find Tham Thanh Van to ask for money to invite the doctor. Tham Thanh Van is no longer able to find money anymore. The things that had happened to him over the past month combined were enough to fill half the canal. Silk boats sank, underground businesses collapsed. The money that Treasurer Ma bribed for him because his candidacy was exposed, Treasurer Ma sent someone to urgently reclaim it. The silver in his hand is currently only left in the To family's books. But I had already secretly ordered Treasurer Luc to recalculate all of the Su family's books. The actual number was completely different from what he reported to the stores. Lost seventeen thousand taels. During the past three years, he had extracted 17,000 taels from the Su family's books. Everything flowed into the mansion in Lieu alley along with shady bourgeois things that did not dare to come to light. Now the bourgeoisie has evaporated, the mansion in Lieu alley has also followed his destiny and gone up in smoke. He lay paralyzed on the bed, his hand constantly rubbing the jade ring on the pillow, rubbing it until deep lines were left. Bach To To sat next to her, wiping away tears, while old lady Tham cursed heaven and earth in the outer room. As for me, I am in the main courtyard feeding the Patriarch porridge. The Patriarch's essence after the nightingale's death is gradually recovering. This morning, he was able to sit up by himself, drink two bowls of white porridge, and even talk to me for a long time.
“The flying banner broke your leg, right?” Patriarch finished his bowl of porridge, wiped his mouth and asked.
“It's broken.”
“What about that bird?”
"Dead. The essence has been exhausted and has turned into ash."
Patriarch leaned back on the pillow, stared at the top of the curtain for a long time, and quietly uttered a sentence:
“Thirty years ago, when my grandfather Thai encountered that bird, he also used this method to neutralize it.”
"Exchange the talisman, so that the bird turns around and attracts the luck of the person who gave the bird."
"It's just that the person who gave the bird in the past was a competitor in the marketplace, not the son-in-law in the family."
“Did Patriarch always know the truth about this bird?”
"I know. But I'm so sick I can't walk."
Patriarch's voice became extremely relieved.
“I just have to wait and see if you can think clearly for yourself.”
"You are even more powerful than my Grandfather Thai. In the past, it took him three months to complete the job. I only used one month to completely handle it."
My hand pressed tightly against the jade hanging on my side, the cold air gradually seeping into my palm.
“Did Patriarch intentionally hand over the core evidence to Luc Hanh Vien?”
Patriarch smiled, a very faint smile, but there was a bit of warmth in his eyes.
“I'm sick and about to die, but my mind is still unclear.”
“That guy named Tham, three years ago I saw through his abnormality.”
"It's just that there's no evidence, plus your father's sudden departure, I can't bear the burden."
“The evidence entrusted to Lao Luc for preservation is a pre-arranged retreat.”
“Even if you don't go look for him, sooner or later he will give that thing to you.”

I bowed my head, staring at the remaining rice water in the bowl. It turns out I'm not the only one who's trying to deal with Tham Thanh Van. Patriarch, behind the curtain, had already prepared a final retreat for me. The Chamber of Commerce's grand election date has been postponed. After Tham Thanh Van's candidacy was revoked, the vacant President's seat caused a new round of fierce competition. Treasurer Ma was the first to jump out and announce his candidacy, in addition, an old man from the salt shop also registered to attend. I never registered. But I did one thing. I asked Luc Truong Thanh to spread a list outside. The list clearly lists the entire direction of all the money that Tham Thanh Van has siphoned from the To family in the past three years. Seventeen thousand taels, each item by item, where to go, what to buy, who to give it to. The mansion in Lieu alley, Bach To To's jewelry, Tham Thua An's longevity lock, bribe money for treasurer Ma, bribe fees to clear the waterway, hush money to bribe Lao Chu in charge of the tea estate. Everything is listed without missing a single glass. These records were not investigated by me alone. It's because Sun managed it and handed it over to me.