Chapter 2 — In Rebirth, I Won't Save Thanh Mai Anymore

The princess smiled arrogantly:

“Little general Tiet, Tong Dinh is this palace's male favorite, why do you dare to stop this palace from teaching him?”

I opened my mouth, but was speechless and unable to respond. The four princesses whispered in my ear:

"Nam Ngoc, my royal sister wants to change to a new palace. As long as you are willing to spend ten thousand taels of silver, she will clean Tong Dinh and bring it to the general's palace for you."

At that time, my heart was as hot as fire, so I immediately ordered my maid to get money from Princess Truong to redeem Tong Dinh. Afraid of an incident, that night I hurriedly worshiped with Tong Dinh and got married. He held my hand affectionately:

"Nam Ngoc, you are my benefactor. I swear, in this life I will only love you, my heart is strong, I will never change!"

I looked at the young man I had secretly loved for many years, my heart filled with joy when I became husband and wife with him. Ten years together, to help him wash away his father's injustice, I took the initiative to present the tiger talisman I held in my hand to the emperor. To pave the way for him to advance in the official position, I scraped up all my dowry and boldly went to my mother's house to ask for money several times to manage the housework. I love him without holding anything back. After ten years of marriage, I gave birth to a son and two daughters for him. I thought we would live peacefully and happily like this forever. But on the day the news that Princess Truong had to go to Khuong Kingdom to spread, Tong Dinh suddenly took a sword and rushed into the room, one sword stabbed straight into my heart:

"It's all because you insisted on buying me in the past! Slut!"

"Even without you intervening, I can still clear my father's name! Get rid of my status as the son of a criminal!"

"If I stay by Princess Truong's side, I will become her concubine! She will not have to marry off to Khuong Kingdom! She should have been my wife!"

It was the third day after I gave birth to my little girl, and my body was extremely weak. I burst out laughing sadly, spitting out a mouthful of blood. I never expected that Tong Dinh would fall in love with the woman who tortured him every day - Princess Truong. He actually loves someone who sees him as a toy and tortures him arbitrarily! What a born-again vile creature! I poured all my heart out for him, but in the end I received such a sad ending! Hatred burned in my chest, I gritted my teeth to endure the pain, knocked over the candlestick, then hugged Tong Dinh tightly with both hands, burying his body in the sea of fire. Lady Huong Qua helped me down from the carriage:

“Miss, did you really not save Young Master Song?”

I come back to my senses:

"No help. He said he would rather beat his head to death in front of the princess's palace gate than be sold to me, so why am I still stubborn?"

In that case, if in this life he wants to be a dog that can wag his tail and beg beside Princess Truong, I will fulfill it for him. I took off the sword tassel embroidered with gold thread and studded with pearls on the sword, which was a gift given to me by Tong Dinh before the battle. He once said that he would come to the ancient temple to pray for my blessings. Waiting for the day I triumphantly returned to the court, he would marry me with a palanquin carried by eight people to the door. Returning to the room, I searched for a chest full of clay statues. During the three years in Southern Cuong, I was injured many times, nine deaths and one life. Every time I lie in bed recovering from injury, I sculpt a clay statue like Tong Dinh, borrowing things to remember people. That's it. I dumped all the clay statues in the yard, step by step trampling them into mud. Compared to being a monk The owner is gentle and kind, I want to become a female general riding a horse in the battlefield. In this life, I live for myself, not being "nobody's wife", just being Tiet Nam Ngoc. What happened during the reception very quickly reached his father's ears. Early the next morning, he called me into his study and seriously asked:

"Daughter, can you really let go of Tong Dinh?"

I put the sword tassel on the table in front of you:

"This is a gift that Young Master Tong gave me before I left for war. Now I have decided to break up with him, and hope that father will return it to Old Lady Song on my behalf."

"Young Master Song would rather lick Princess Truong's shoes than let you spend money to save him from the sea of suffering. Thinking back on the three years of days and nights together, Young Master Tong is afraid he has developed deep feelings for Princess Truong."

"Love is something that cannot be forced. The old engagement between you and him was just a verbal promise between father and uncle Tong, and now there is no need to carry it out."

Out of the study room, I immediately saw my mother waiting at the door. With tears in her eyes, she held my hand tightly:

"Nam Ngoc, you're so skinny... You must have suffered a lot these past three years."

"If it weren't for your father's relapse three years ago, you - a slender girl - would not have needed to go to the battlefield to fight for your life!"

"The second month I went to Nam Cuong, Uncle Tong was exiled to Linh Nam because of a forbidden book. The Tong family collapsed overnight. Tong Dinh got drunk and caused trouble, was sold by his creditors to human traffickers, and then was taken to the Princess Palace."

"His mother knelt outside the general's palace and begged my husband and I to save him, but he refused to leave, even telling his mother that... he willingly volunteered to be a toy under the Princess's skirt, as if that unfilial child was dead!"

My heart trembles in horror.