Chapter 3 — Kinh Thao

Waiting until he fell asleep, I fumbled for the short knife next to the bed and slashed my wrist. The fresh blood quickly stained the blanket red. When Tieu Hanh woke up, his whole body was stiff. He frantically pressed down on my wound, his eyes were bloodshot and scary. I looked at him. "If you dare to ordain me again, I will die one more time." He stared at me, his eyes seemed to burst. The next morning, the written holy decree was quietly revoked. Since then, Tieu Hanh never mentioned the ordination again. Next to him, there was only one more poisonous palace maid with an ambiguous identity. ... In the evening, the investiture banquet for newcomers was held in Ngu Hoa Vien. When we arrived, it was completely dark. The Queen sat in the chair, two noble people sat on both sides. Tieu Hanh's harem did not have many concubines, and because of this, the mandarins had repeatedly offered remonstrances. Today, finally, a new person joined the palace. Not long after, from afar, a laugh as clear as a silver bell rang out. Tieu Hanh held the hand of a lady and entered Ngu Hoa Vien. That is Tang Ninh. Indeed, she is different from the other ladies in the capital. A cavalryman dressed in red, wearing a short whip at his waist, each step was light and flexible. There was no thick layer of makeup on her face, her long black hair was only tied high with a silver silk strip. When arriving in front of the Queen, the ceremonial official quietly guided her in performing the ceremony. Tang Ninh frowned slightly, clearly not very willing. Tieu Hanh smiled again and supported her. "If you don't want to kneel, then don't kneel. I brought you to the palace to have fun, not to learn these rules." At that moment, Tang Ninh became happier and sat down directly next to Tieu Hanh. Tieu Hanh held her hand and announced in front of everyone: "Tang Ninh has a straightforward and innocent personality, which I like very much. From today, I ordained Tang Ninh as Divine Concubine, residing at The Emperor's Palace." The word "Thanh" is the word used for the emperor's residence. Except for the emperor, no one in the palace dared to arbitrarily use this word. As soon as Tang Ninh entered the palace, she was promoted to the title of Concubine. With such honor and favor, even the Queen, who was always calm and sitting in the chair, frowned slightly. I walked to the throne and took out the silver needle. I bowed my head and started trying each dish. Each dish must be tested with silver needles first, then tasted by me before being presented to Tieu Hanh. When pulling the silver needle out of the plate of dried bamboo shoots, Tieu Hanh instinctively raised his hand and pushed the plate of food towards me. "It's something she likes to eat." As soon as the words ended, Tieu Hanh himself stopped. It is a habit that has been formed over the past five years. Every time there was dried bamboo shoots on the table, he would push it to me first. Tang Ninh tilted his head and kicked me. She grew up in the mountains and forests from a young age, not knowing how to hide her thoughts. Curiosity, hostility and even aggressiveness were clearly evident in his eyes. "Is this sister also your Majesty's beloved concubine?" The whole Ngu Hoa Vien suddenly became quiet. All eyes were on him and Tieu Hanh. Tieu Hanh smiled slightly. "Is she worthy? Just a withered flower that has been through a husband's life. Being able to serve you by your side is already a great blessing." The wariness in Tang Ninh's eyes finally disappeared, she raised her chin triumphantly. I tried the remaining dishes one by one, confirmed there were no problems, then put down the silver needle. "Your Majesty may now have your meal." After saying that, I stepped aside. Suddenly a soft laugh rang out next to him. Is the Queen. When people look at us, there is rarely a look of disgust in their eyes. On the contrary, there was also a bit of pity that was hard to put into words. "You are really confused. You clearly took all the opportunities, yet you let me

"I did not answer. But what you said was not wrong. When I was kept in the palace, the Queen had not yet married into the royal family. However, after being favored for five years, I had no children, no title, not even a name properly recorded in the royal jade. Now that Tieu Hanh has a new person, I am like an old thing, quietly taken out of the palace. In anyone's eyes, I am a lost loser. I turned around and bowed respectfully to the Queen. "You're right." The Queen was stunned. I didn't know where I was looking. On the chair, Tieu Hanh was personally serving food to Tang Ninh, patiently listening to her telling interesting stories at the banquet. Only I stood quietly in the darkness, my eyes scanning the entire table of seafood, stopping at the bowl The medicine was placed in Tieu Hanh's hand. It was the new medicine prescribed by the Thai doctor. Tieu Hanh was afraid of the bitterness, so he usually had to let me coax him to drink it all. Today, he probably didn't want to lose face in front of the new person. He picked up the bowl of medicine, without even frowning, drinking it all. … The next morning, it was not yet dawn, and Duke Thich came to urge him I have only brought a small bag of luggage with me. During the past five years, the gold, silver and jewels Tieu Hanh bestowed on me have filled three warehouses. But I didn't bring anything with me. When I arrived empty-handed, I shouldn't have brought anything with me when I left. Cong Cong Thich quietly followed me the whole way, many times wanting to say it again. "You just leave like that? Have you forgotten something?" He repeated it several times before I suddenly remembered. It was true that I had forgotten something. I immediately turned around and ran back. But the place I arrived at was the Thai hospital.