Chapter 4 — Hong Trang Chess Game

The last bit of pain in my chest suddenly quieted down. I stood up, put Tham Hac Chau's cloak on the rattan chair. "Tell him, I admitted my mistake." Bui Chieu Ninh raised his eyebrows. "Where was the mistake?" I put away the torn pieces of drawing, calmly said: "The mistake was entering the chess game." That night, I went through the palace gate, placed the marriage certificate and the embroidered palm order in front of Princess Truong. Princess Truong finished reading the engagement letter, raised her head and asked me: "If you received an order to weave garments for the envoy's reunion and were not allowed to return to the capital for three years, have you really thought it through?" I picked up a pen and wrote my name on the engagement certificate. When the red seal was stamped, outside the palace suddenly an announcement from the inner house rang out. "The Marquis of Tinh An asked for an audience, saying he wanted to welcome his fiancee back to the palace to prepare for marriage." The Princess looked at me. "Do you want to meet?" I blew dry the engagement medal. "No meeting." Outside the palace door, Tham Hac Chau's voice came through the rain. "I have an urgent matter to ask to see Your Highness." The Princess ordered someone to pick up the medal and said calmly: "Tell me." Marquis Tinh An, this palace has rested." The inner lady went out to convey the message. Tham Hac Chau did not leave. He stood outside the palace gate and waited for half an hour, then asked someone to bring in a brocade box. Inside is a repaired white jade shuttle. The broken spot was encrusted with gold, and the matching pattern was also repaired to look like two cranes standing opposite each other. At the bottom of the box is a piece of paper. Thanh Tu, tomorrow I will go with you to worship my mother-in-law. I closed the brocade box and gave it to the palace maid. "Please return it." The eldest princess flipped through the collection of embroidery samples left behind by her mother. "This double-sided weaving technique has been lost for many years. Your mother passed it down to you, why have you never revealed it in the capital?" "Father said that a daughter who is too famous will overwhelm her husband's family. The Marquis also said that after marrying into the Marquis Palace, I don't need to continue doing these things." "So you hid it for ten whole years." year?” I nodded. The princess did not comfort me, but just pushed Ty Weaving's seal forward. "The Xiling delegation will leave the capital in three days. They want to open a trading weaving guild at the border of the two countries. If you can repair the old looms there, the On family's embroidery technique can spread throughout the Western border." I grabbed the seal. "The goddess received her command."After dawn, I did not return to Wen's palace but went straight to the new guild in the south of the city. The ladies have finished cleaning up. A Nhuoc said in a low voice: "Last night, Marquis came to Wen Palace and found out that the young lady was not there, so he became very angry." "What do you say, father?" "The old man said that you are being arbitrary, when your anger is over, you will naturally return." I smiled. Everyone is sure that I will return. Because before, I understood things too much and was too unwilling to let go. In the afternoon, Tham Hac Chau finally found a new ward. He pushed open the door and walked in, his clothes were still damp from the rain that had not yet dried. "Why didn't you return to the palace last night?" "Where I am has nothing to do with the Marquis." "We're getting married in three days, how can it not have anything to do with me?" I continued to arrange the thread. "The marriage has been canceled." He looked at me for a moment and suddenly burst out laughing. "Are you still angry about yesterday?" "No." "I punished you because you hit someone in front of everyone. Chieu Ninh said something wrong, I also punished him with detention for a month. This matter ends here." "The Marquis handled it very fairly." My voice was too polite, on the contrary, it made him frown even more. "Thanh Tu, don't talk to me like that." "So what should I say?" Tham Hac Chau stepped closer, raised his hand to touch my face. We take a step back. His hand stopped. "The jade has been repaired, my mother-in-law's drawings have been returned, the embroidery still belongs to you." He placed a stack of contracts on the table. "Whatever you want, I will give it back to you. The marriage contract will not be changed.

Otherwise, Chieu Ninh will not appear. Are you satisfied now?” “Master Marquis, take it back, I don't need it anymore.” For the first time, a clear panic appeared in his eyes. “You don't even need your mother's embroidery guild?” I picked up the contract, tore off the page written by Marquis Tinh An, keeping only the land contract that belonged to me. “It's not that I don't need the embroidery guild, but I don't need Marquis's alms anymore.” Tham Hac Chau's face was gloomy. "On Thanh Tu, I've made concessions to this point, what else do you want?" Outside, the sound of horse hooves was heard. The carriage of the Tay Lang delegation stopped at the entrance of the alley. A female official of the Princess' Palace walked in and bowed to me. "On the chancellor, the passport to leave the city has been prepared. Your Highness sent me to ask, do we need to depart earlier for the three-day journey?" I received the travel document. "Depart early." Shen Hac Chau immediately pressed his hand on the travel document. "Where do you want to go?" The female mandarin calmly said: "The governor embroidered the thread to the Western border, presided over the textile trade at the trading market, term of three years." Shen Hac Chau looked at me, his knuckles slowly tightened. "Dad. The next day is our wedding day." I took out my passport. "Master Marquis remembered wrongly." "Three days later is the day I leave the capital."