Chapter 3 — I Agree To Give Up The Marriage, But No One Knows I'm Smiling

The little bit of spirit that my great-grandmother had just struggled to support instantly collapsed. She fell limply to the ground, with only despair and silence like ashes remaining in her cloudy eyes.

"No... no way..."

She muttered to herself, like an old woman who had lost all her senses.

"Marquis, our Van family has always been absolutely loyal to the court, and has never betrayed even half of our hearts!"

The woman also crawled and rushed to Tieu Dien's feet, hugged his feet tightly and begged.

"The Marquis spares his life! The Marquis shows his gratitude!"

"It's all of us who are blind and can't see Thai Son. It's all of us who let greed cloud our reason. If you want to punish us, just punish us. It has nothing to do with the other people in the Van family!"

The model screamed even more pitifully. She no longer begged me, but turned her head and glared at me with resentment.

"Van Thu Dien! You cruel woman!"

"After all, we are your relatives, yet you collude with outsiders and want to push our whole family into a dead end!"

"If your father knows about this, he will definitely not forgive you!"

Those words are like a poisonous thorn. But it can't make my heart flutter even a little bit. I looked at her coldly, without a trace of heat in my eyes.

"If he really cared about this girl, how could he let you guys trample me all these years?"

"When my mother had difficulty giving birth and passed away, where was he?"

"When you cut off my food and clothing, and in the winter there was not even coal for heating, where was he?"

"Now you guys use him to force me, don't you think it's funny?"

Every word I say is like a slap on their face. The model was speechless and her face was as red as pig liver. Tieu Dien's eyes became even colder. He lifted his leg and mercilessly kicked away the woman holding his leg.

"Relatives?"

He laughed coldly, his voice filled with contempt.

"When you stole Thu Dien's bride price, imprisoned her in the courtyard, and forced her to watch her marriage being stolen by someone else, did you ever think you were her relative?"

"When you let an impostor take over her identity, deceive me, deceive the Emperor, did you ever think about the consequences?"

"The things you have done, one by one, are enough to cause the Van family to perish a hundred times over!"

Tieu Dien took a step forward, completely blocking me from behind. His back is large and sturdy, covering us from all rain and wind.

"Where are you?"

He commanded in a low voice.

"Arrest all the Van family members, leave no one behind, escort them to heaven, wait for the Emperor to decide!"

Outside the door, the guards of the Marquis Palace and Kinh Trieu Palace officials who had been waiting immediately rushed in. They held shackles in their hands, their faces were cold, their aura fierce. Suddenly there was a loud cry in the yard. The great-grandmother was pulled up from the ground. She desperately struggled and reached out to me.

"Uyen Nhi! Grandmother knows it's wrong! Save her!"

"Out of respect for your father, you can't be so cruel!"

The assistant and the model were also put in shackles. You two are like two crazy dogs, constantly cursing me.

"Van Thu Dien! You will not die properly!"

"I have Even if you become a ghost, you won't be spared!"

I quietly looked at them. Watching them being dragged away, struggling, crying, little by little, they left my sight. Until their voices completely disappeared outside the palace gate. The chaotic courtyard finally returned to quiet. Sunlight penetrates through the canopy of trees, scattering patchy patches of light and dark. I'm so long... So long... Let out a breath. The turbid air that has been pent up in my chest for over ten years seems to have truly been emptied at this moment. Tieu Dien turned around and gently held my hand. His hands were large, warm, covered with a thin layer of calluses from years of battle.

"It's all over."

He looked at me, in his deep eyes only my reflection was reflected.

"From now on, no one will be able to bully her anymore."

I nodded slightly, my eyes getting a little hot. It's over. Our dark past that never saw the sun finally ended with a full stop today. The big gate of the Van family's palace has been sealed. The glory and wealth of a time, in the blink of an eye, turned into a passing cloud of smoke. The servants were all dispersed, each received a small amount of scrap money and then left in fear. The large mansion only left me, Tieu Dien and Thanh Hoa. Thanh Hoa stood not far away, looking at me and Tieu Dien, wanting to step forward but not daring to, on her face was an expression of both excitement and fear, extremely complicated.