Chapter 16 — I was once traded for, then became someone they couldn't reach for the rest of my life

Whether we are pure or not, even if everything is not our fault, the world's tongues will not let go easily. I raised my head to look at him.

“I had two engagements.”

“Don't you care?”

Trieu Hanh did not immediately respond. He took a step forward, but still didn't cross the distance, making me uneasy. A long time later, he said:

“I care.”

My heart sank slightly. But his next sentence made my eyes suddenly heat up.

“I care about her most painful years.”

“The person standing next to you is not me.”

I looked at him, momentarily unable to say anything. Trieu Hanh continued to say:

"I care because when she was traded, I was still at the border and couldn't stop that chess game for her."

"I care because when you entered the Ta residence from the side door, the person who reached out to help you was not me."

"I care because when you prayed all over the capital, no one dared to save your father. I still didn't have time to get back to you."

“But I never paid attention to whom she had an engagement with.”

“Because it wasn't her fault.”

My eyes turn red. I thought no one would ever say these words to me in my entire life. The world always likes to turn a woman's wound into a woman's sin. Being abandoned means she is not good enough. Being betrayed means she cannot keep people's hearts. Being caught up in the conspiracy means her reputation is no longer clean. But Trieu Hanh said, it's not my fault. Just that one sentence, it was like someone gently brushed away the dust that had been clinging to my soul for a long time. I choked up and asked:

“So what if someone talks about it the next day?”

He smiled very slightly.

“So let them talk.”

"I married you, not the rumors in people's mouths."

"I married the person who once gave me a piece of cake under the almond tree, married the person who, even though he was betrayed, still did not bow his head, married the person who, in order to save his father, dared to use himself as a chess piece, and then turned the entire chessboard with his own hands."

He looked at me deeply.

“Trieu Ca, you have never been a stain.”

“She is the person who has made me want to become a better, stronger, more worthy person for many years, just thinking about it.”

My tears finally fell. Not because of heartache. But because after so many years, someone finally sees that we are not based on value that can be exploited, nor because we have been hurt in the past. He saw me. I bowed my head, tears falling on the back of my hand. Trieu Hanh took out a handkerchief, moving carefully as if afraid of disturbing a dream.

“I'm late.”

“But from now on, I won't let you be alone anymore.”

Outside in the yard, the wind blew through the almond branches that had just sprouted buds. I received his handkerchief. For the first time in a long time, I am no longer afraid when thinking about the words getting married. Because this time. The person standing in front of me does not want to possess me. He just wants to spend the rest of his life with me. WEARING robes three times, I finally met the right person. The day I became friends with Trieu Hanh, the capital poured a rain of almond flowers. (Almond flower rain is a classic poetic image in Chinese culture, not a rain of water, but a simile of almond flower petals flying thickly in the wind, like a rain, like a video reel) The general's palace did not like to show off, but bride gifts from the Eastern Palace still filled three long streets. Not because Trieu Hanh wanted to show off his power, but because he said, this time he wanted to let it go The whole world knows that Ly Trieu Ca is not someone who can be chosen arbitrarily, nor is he a chess piece that can be exchanged back and forth. She was the person he used the highest courtesy and deepest sincerity, step by step to ask for his hand in marriage. I stood in front of the bronze mirror, looking at the crimson robe on my body. This is the third time I've worn the robe. The first time, I didn't even have time to meet my intended husband before he exchanged me for another woman. The second time, I took on the name of Ta Van So's wife, entered the Ta mansion through the side door, staying in the place where others had left behind, using a little temporary gentleness to trick myself into thinking that perhaps there was still hope in this life. The third time, I stood in the general's palace, my father was outside on the main street, A Chieu cried while adjusting my brooch, and outside the door was the person who had been waiting for me for many years. Not because of destiny. Not for military power. Not because of the picture. Not because of the feeling of regret after losing it. Just because I am Ly Trieu Ca. A Chieu looked at me in the mirror, tears falling again.

“Miss, you are very beautiful today.”

“Don't cry, today is a happy day.”

She wiped her tears, then choked up and said:

"It's because it's a happy day that this slave cries. From now on, there is finally someone who truly loves you, Miss."

I said nothing. It's just that my eyes are a little hot. When the flower palanquin arrived in front of the general's palace, Trieu Hanh did not stand on the high steps waiting for me to arrive like Trieu Viet did. He himself got off his horse and walked to the door. My father stood next to me, looked at him for a long time and said:

“I only have one daughter.”

"If the girl at His Highness's place suffered half of the wrongs, even if he was the Crown Prince, I would personally go to the Eastern Palace to demand justice."