Chapter 20 — I was once traded for, then became someone they couldn't reach for the rest of my life

He put his cloak around my shoulders and said in a low voice:

"The spring breeze is still cold. If you sit for a long time, you will easily catch a cold."

I smiled at him.

“Your Majesty is becoming more and more like my father.”

He also laughed.

“If General Ly hears this sentence, he will probably feel that I have finally learned some of the skills to take care of you.”

I looked at the two children playing under the almond tree. The little princess picked up a fallen flower petal, ran to Trieu Hanh, raised her head and asked:

“Your Majesty, why do you like almond flowers so much?”

Trieu Hanh bent down to pick up his daughter and looked back at me.

“Because many years ago, under a tree like this, someone saved my father.”

The little princess immediately opened her eyes wide.

“My mother.”

The girl turned her head to look at me, full of surprise.

“Does the mother still know how to save people?”

I laughed, reaching out to gently touch the tip of her nose.

“At that time, my mother was only a little older than me.”

Trieu Hanh hugged his child, his voice slowly telling the story of the past. He said he was once an unappreciated teenager, injured in the rain, and no one stopped to ask if he was in pain. He said a little princess in red passed by, gave him water, bandaged his wound, and even gave him a piece of almond cake. He said she once said:

"If you become stronger in the future, you won't have to wait for others to save you."

The little princess listened passionately.

“So your father became powerful because of those words?”

Trieu Hanh looked at me, his eyes deep.

“Father wants to become more powerful.”

"So that one day, if she needs it, her father can stand by her side."

The girl tilted her head and thought for a moment then said:

“So the emperor really likes the mother.”

Trieu Hanh laughed.

“Not like.”

“Love for a long time.”

I turned my head to look outside the pavilion, pretending not to hear, but the corners of my eyes felt a little hot. Over the past ten years, he has never made me regret holding his hand. He ascended the throne to become emperor, and the harem was still only me. The courtiers had repeatedly submitted requests to him to choose a concubine, saying that the Royal Family needed to open a branch, saying that the emperor should not have only one person in the harem. He only answered one question:

“It is enough for me to have the Queen.”

At first, some people were not convinced. Later, when I saw him handling palace affairs with me every day, respecting my opinions in court, teaching his children to respect their mother, those words gradually quieted down. Because people finally understand. The emperor's deep love is not something written in books. But day after day, year after year, he uses his actions to prove that I have never made a wrong choice. Late in the afternoon, the two children were taken home to rest by the palace maid. In the suspension, only Trieu Hanh and I remained. The almond flower fell on his shoulder, I reached out to brush it away. He took my hand and placed it in his palm. I looked at the almond tree in front of me and suddenly asked:

“Trieu Hanh, what if I didn't save you that year?”

He did not hesitate.

“Then I will go find her.”

I burst out laughing.

“You don't even know who I am, how are you going to find out?”

He also smiled, his eyes strangely serious.

"I will go around the border, around the capital, asking everyone if they have ever met a little red-shirted princess who likes almond cake."

“It will probably take a long time.”

“There will probably be a lot of detours.”

“But I will definitely find her.”

I looked at him for a long time.

“Why definitely like So?"

Trieu Hanh bowed his head and gently kissed the back of my hand.

“Because there are some people who, no matter how many times their fate twists and turns, will still meet each other in the end.”

Spring wind blows. Almond flowers fell all over the yard, like the rain from many years ago finally falling to a perfect ending. I leaned on his shoulder and said softly:

“That year I thought that those sufferings might be my destiny.”

“Now I know, it was just a very long road before meeting you.”

Trieu Hanh hugged me.

“No.”

“Even without that suffering, I will still come to you.”

I close my eyes, hear the sound of flowers falling, the wind blowing, the sound of children laughing in the distance. In this life, we have been traded, overlooked, and hurt to the point of thinking we are no longer worthy of love. But in the end, there is still someone who goes through all the rain and wind, spends ten years, twenty years, even a lifetime to tell us: I am worthy. Worthy of love. Worthy of respect. Deserve to have a home without having to wait for anyone to turn around. Under the almond tree that year, I once saved a young man. Many years later. That young man spent his whole life giving me back a spring that never fades. (END OF FULL TEXT)