Chapter 2 — I hid my patience in the Hospital Department for ten years, waiting for the day to overthrow the Dog Emperor

One time, I washed a bright yellow dragon robe. The delicate embroidery on it is exactly like the royal father's dragon robe in the past. It's just that the person wearing it... has changed. My hands were soaked in cold well water until they turned red, and underneath my fingernails were all mud and stains. I scrubbed that dragon robe over and over again, as if I wanted to wash away the stench of blood clinging to it. Mom came over, lifted her foot and kicked hard on my back.

"You little maid, what are you talking about! Do you want to die?"

I fell into the basin of water and choked several mouthfuls. No one helped me up. The surrounding maids all bowed their heads, their faces numb and dumbfounded. In this place, people are not as good as dogs. At night, Tieu Triet will secretly visit me. He always climbed over the high hospital wall of Hoan Y Department, carrying a body full of night dew and healing medicine. From the kitchen of the forbidden army, he secretly took me a mantau, or a piece of meat.

“Ah Man, did anyone bully you today?”

He applied medicine to my red, swollen fingers and asked in a low voice. I shook my head.

"Do not have."

I have never told him about suffering. His life is much more difficult than mine. In the forbidden army, the soldiers of the new dynasty all looked down on the old soldiers left over from the previous dynasty like them. Being beaten and scolded was a daily occurrence. We often see new wounds on his body. But he never complained once. He just smiled, then gave the curtain to me:

“Eat quickly, if it cools, it will become hard.”

We are like two rats struggling in the sewer, licking each other's wounds, struggling to live on. For a full ten years. I grew from an eight-year-old child to an eighteen-year-old girl. Our hands become rough and covered with calluses. The back is slightly bent because of bending over to wash clothes all year round. On my face, the layer of ash that my mother applied that year seemed to have completely absorbed into my skin, making my whole body always gray and dirty. No one can connect me with the precious eldest princess of that year anymore. Even I... almost forgot. Only on late nights do I take out that block of jade. Under the weak moonlight, the dragon pattern carved on the jade sister is still as majestic and domineering as before. Ngoc's body is gentle, and when pressed against the face, it should bring a warm feeling, but it makes me feel a chill that penetrates my bones. The feud lost the country. The emperor's father's bones, his mother's blood. I have never forgotten. A day never forgotten. Tieu Triet's official also rose from a small soldier to become a deputy commander. He doesn't have to climb the wall to see me anymore. He can walk straight into Hoan Y Department and bring things to me. The maids and maids who bullied me before began to turn to please me.

“Ah Man, you are truly blessed to have such a big brother.”

I just smiled faintly and did not answer. I know clearly that this so-called "blessing" cannot withstand a single blow in front of the royal power. Wei Yan's domination became increasingly solid. But he always had a sick mind. The national jade sister has never been found. There is one more thing, which is the missing Princess Dai Dien, Khuong Chieu Ninh. Every year he conducts a major cleansing in the palace, in the name of hunting down the remnants of the previous dynasty. Each Once like this, Hoan Y Department became a key place for inspection. Tieu Triet will notify me in advance, so I can hide the jade sister carefully. I used oilcloth to wrap it layer after layer, hiding it in the deepest abandoned well in Hoan Y Department.

“A Man, don't be afraid, there's a brother here.”

Every time he searches, he shields me from behind. His chest has been my only support for the past ten years. But in my heart I understand very clearly that that support... can collapse at any time. At this moment, a decree passed down from the palace. Wei Dien wanted to hold a banquet in Ngu Hoa Vien to entertain the courtiers. All the smart maids in the palace must come and serve. My name is also on the list. My heart suddenly sank. What I fear is not hardship, but fear of seeing that person. The person sitting on that long chair. My enemy. Tieu Triet came to find me, his face extremely heavy.

"A Man, I've already taken care of it. I said you're sick and can't go."

I shook my head.

“Brother, there's no escaping it.”

Wei Dien was born to be suspicious. This kind of grand banquet, deliberately using the excuse of illness not to go, instead made him even more suspicious.

“But…”……

“It's okay.”

I interrupted him, then smiled at him.

“I'm just a palace maid washing clothes, no one will pay attention to me.”

Tieu Triet looked at me, his eyes extremely complicated.

“Ah Man, promise me, no matter what happens, keep your head down and don't talk.”

I nodded. On the day of the banquet, I changed into a slightly cleaner maid's outfit. Following the crowd of palace maids, I entered the place I had been away from for ten years. Ngu Hoa Vien.