Chapter 4 — In this life, the Crown Princess will no longer be my sister's turn

I held up the green jade pendant hanging in front of my neck. Jade pendants under the sun radiate a warm light that cannot be ignored. The grandmother's face darkened. She coldly glanced at the trembling mother.

“Is master also someone whose tongue you can chew on?”

“Pull down, play twenty copies, then get kicked out of the palace!”

The ghost's cry to kill pigs was silenced and dragged away. Lam Thi supported Thang Thanh Ngo who was sobbing, her nails digging deep into her palms. She stared at me, her eyes seemed to want to swallow people alive. I hid behind my grandmother, revealing only one eye, calmly looking back at her. In Thang Thanh Ngo's cry, there was a trace of resentment. First engagement. We won. Relying on a little "arrogance", and the weight of the jade on the neck. This is just the beginning. Days passed between the peaceful surface and the silent struggles behind. I am like a weed, desperately trying to absorb all the nutrients I can. Thang Thanh Ngo studied chess, calligraphy, painting, and I also studied. She read Female Gender, Female Training, and I read it too. Lam Thi invited the best Westerners to teach Thang Thanh Ngo. I immediately hugged my ancestor.

“Grandmother, Thuoc Thuoc also wants to go to school!”

My grandmother loves me, and the matter of the Crown Prince's jade pendant makes it even more important to me.

“Okay, okay, our Tuyet Thuoc also goes to school.”

She invited an old Academician who had returned home to teach me how to open my ass. The old Academician surnamed Chu, being an upright person, initially saw that I was still young and that I was a female, so he didn't really pay attention. Until I brought the Thien Tu Van that he taught, in just three days I was able to read it backwards and forwards fluently. Chu Hanlin's dull old eyes suddenly lit up. He began to seriously teach me. The Four Books and the Five Classics, History Books, and Essays. Lam Thi knew this and just laughed coldly: "What's the use of a girl learning those things? It's useless." She devoted even more effort to fostering Thang Thanh Ngo's talent. Thang Thanh Ngo's guitar sound is becoming more and more excellent, and his dancing is also becoming more soft and flexible. During a flower banquet at the Minister's Palace, she played a piece of Xuan Giang Hoa Nguyet Da, causing amazement all around. The reputation of "talent and perfection" has since spread. As for me, wearing a dress that was half new and half old, I sat quietly in a hidden corner. In his hand he held a book called Sun Tzu's Art of War with annotations. A lady covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled softly: "Is that the eldest lady of the Thang family? Why does she look like a bookworm?"

"That's right, I heard she reads quite a few books, but looking at her, she's as dull as a log, not as flexible as the second lady."

“I heard you have a bad temper.”

Tang Thanh Ngo finished playing the song, amid resounding applause, his graceful figure slowly walked towards me. Her face carried a suitable look of concern: "Why are you sitting here alone, sister? Isn't it very sad?" Her voice was gentle: "How about I let you teach me how to play the piano? You should also learn some girly skills." The ladies around nodded in unison, feeling that Thang Thanh Ngo was truly kind and understanding. I raised my head and closed the book. The book page closed, making a soft "click" sound. I looked at her, my eyes calm.

"Okay." I said.

A flash of surprise flashed in Thang Thanh Ngo's eyes, followed immediately by pride. She I thought I would be like before, angered by her until I lost my temper. She led me to the piano bench and pretended to give instructions: "Sister, put your right hand like this..." I interrupted her: "The song Xuan Giang Hoa Nguyet Da, when you were playing, in the third inflection, it seems like a beat is missing?" Thang Thanh Ngo's smile stiffened on his face. The surrounding chatter also quieted down.

“You use the 'soak-nao' method too much, it sounds a bit heavy-handed.” I stretched out my finger and gently made a sound on the strings.

A clear, pure sound spread out.

"Xuan Giang Hoa Nguyet Da focuses on clarity and emptiness, takes the intention first, the method is too cumbersome, instead it falls to the bottom."

My voice was neither high nor low, it clearly carried throughout the quiet pavilion. Thang Thanh Ngo's face immediately turned red.

“You…what nonsense are you talking about!” Her voice became shrill.

I smiled slightly, no longer looking at her, my fingers casually plucking a few sounds on the strings. Not a song, but naturally exudes a sparse, spacious taste. In my previous life, in order to please Trieu Canh Hanh, I worked hard to study piano.