Chapter 9 — Kneeling before the Queen and Duke

A month after waking up, Khinh Vu's health had recovered significantly. Although still not completely like before, it was enough for her to be able to walk steadily, hold a pen to write, and even began to practice a few basic martial arts moves that she had learned from Viet Khoi in her childhood to protect herself. She understands that, to confront those who have harmed her, she must first be strong enough both physically and mentally, and cannot rely only on the mercy or help of others forever.

Meanwhile, the plan to collect evidence of the poisoning plot was gradually implemented cautiously. Viet Khoi understood that, to accuse Bach Quan and Nhuoc Lan before the court, he could not rely only on Khinh Vu's story or logical speculations, but needed specific, authentic evidence, enough to convince even the most demanding mandarins in the court. He then discussed with Khinh Vu about installing people in Tu palace to secretly monitor and collect information from inside.

"Butler Binh," Khinh Vu said, her eyes flashing with hope when mentioning this name. "He has followed my father since he was young, then continued to stay at the Tu palace to serve me when I got married. I believe that he is absolutely loyal and will never betray me, no matter what happens."

Viet Khoi nodded, but still cautiously reminded. "If you want to contact him, you must do it very discreetly, without revealing any traces, lest Bach Quan or Nhuoc Lan become suspicious and take precautions in advance. I will have Guard Bang approach quietly and find a way to verify his loyalty before revealing anything important."

A few days later, guard Bang disguised himself as a cloth merchant and tried to strike up a conversation with butler Binh at a tea shop near Tu palace, where he often stopped by to rest after going to the market to buy supplies for the government. Through several conversations, Bang realized that butler Binh always carried in his heart an indescribable melancholy about the young lady's sudden death, especially about the decision to bury her in a remote deserted mound instead of the Sam family's ancestral grave, which he considered extremely unusual and suspicious.

Realizing that this was the right time, Bang decided to reveal part of the truth, discreetly letting butler Binh know that Lady Khinh Vu was actually still alive, currently being secretly sheltered in a safe place, and needed the help of loyal people like him to find evidence of the plot to harm her. When Butler Binh heard the news, he was so happy that he cried. He knelt down in the middle of the tea shop, constantly thanking God and Buddha for giving his wife a way to live. Then he immediately expressed his willingness to do anything to help, even if it meant risking his life.

From then on, butler Binh became the most important focal point in the evidence collection plan. With the position of managing all books and papers in the Tu Palace, he can easily access important documents without suspicion. He began to pay closer attention to every move of Bach Quan and Nhuoc Lan, silently recording unusual meetings, strange expenses, especially a large sum of money transferred to an unknown medicine man in the eastern market right before the birthday party of old lady Tu.

Not only that, butler Binh also discovered that, just a few days after Khinh Vu was buried, Bach Quan secretly brought the death certificate and a number of important documents to the mandarin's office to carry out procedures to transfer the entire Sam family estate to his name, a suspiciously hasty action, completely different from the sorrow and grief he still showed in front of outsiders. He carefully copied a copy of those documents and hid them at the bottom of a trunk of old clothes, waiting for the day to hand them over to guard Bang.

Butler Binh also told Bang about the changes in Bach Quan's behavior since the funeral. He no longer had to wait for Khinh Vu's signature on any document. He spontaneously ordered the sale of two small merchant fleets that had been under the private management of the Sam family, using that money to pay off old debts that the Tu family had hidden for a long time. At the same time, he bought many more luxurious items for Nhuoc Lan, under the pretext of comforting her for losing her close sister. Those actions, in the eyes of an experienced butler like him, were nothing more than a naked confession about the true motive behind his wife's sudden death.

He also noticed that recently Nhuoc Lan no longer needed to be as reserved as before, often going in and out of Bach Quan's office without any excuse, and a few times even openly sitting at the same banquet table with him in front of the servants, causing many people in the palace to start whispering, although no one dared to speak out their suspicions directly. Butler Binh silently recorded all those details in a small, hidden notebook, telling himself that these would be important pieces of the puzzle that would contribute to bringing the truth to light when the time was right.

Along with that, Viet Khoi also did not sit still. He took advantage of Duc Vuong's name to skillfully inquire in the court about the relationship between Tuong Ba Khiem and the small mandarin families in the capital, to find out whether there was any connection between this powerful Grand Master and the Tu family. After some investigation, he discovered that Bach Quan's father, when he was still in the court many years ago, was once a small subordinate in Tuong Ba Khiem's faction. Although the Tu family later declined and could no longer maintain the close relationship as before, there was still an underground connection that was not completely broken.

This discovery made Viet Khoi even more convinced that the fact that Tham Nhuoc Lan was sent to the Sam family at a young age was not a coincidence, but most likely a deliberate arrangement from Tuong Ba Khiem's forces, to install people to monitor him from afar, in case Khinh Vu's true identity was one day discovered. However, all these speculations still needed more specific evidence to be able to draw firm conclusions, so he decided not to rush into action and continued to quietly collect more information.

Late at night, when sitting together to discuss progress, Khinh Vu and Viet Khoi gradually became more compatible in their coordination, each with a role, one to collect information from inside the court, one to process information from the Tu palace, together piecing together each piece of a larger conspiracy picture than either of them initially imagined. Khinh Vu realized that the deeper she delved into the truth, the more deeply she understood that her revenge was not simply a private matter between her and her ex-husband and adopted sister, but became part of a much larger struggle for justice, related to the fate of an entire royal family that had been unfairly wronged for twenty years.

"I didn't expect," Khinh Vu said softly on such a night, her eyes looking far away through the window, "everything would be so complicated and profound. I thought just exposing Bach Quan and Nhuoc Lan would be enough, but now I understand, behind them there is a much larger force hiding and waiting."

"That's why," Viet Khoi replied, his voice steady, "we have to be even more careful. Every step from now on must be carefully calculated, not revealing any loopholes, because our opponents this time are not just two ordinary traitors, but an entire network of power that has been deeply rooted in the royal court for the past twenty years."

The two looked at each other, their eyes shining with a steely determination, moving forward together, preparing for the next steps in a journey full of hardships but also full of hope, towards the day Khinh Vu officially reappears, bringing with her both justice for herself and the truth that has been buried for too long.

That night, after Viet Khoi left, Khinh Vu still sat quietly at the table, flipping through the notes that butler Binh had sent to guard Bang. Looking at the familiar handwriting of the loyal butler, she couldn't help but feel moved, remembering the many years he silently served her family without ever asking for anything. She silently promised herself that once everything was clear, she would definitely not let loyal people like him suffer. She closed the notebook, took out a small piece of silk to mark the date, and counted mentally: there were five more months until the half-year date with Viet Khoi. Five months, for a widow in a fake grave to become a little princess standing firmly in the eyes of the court - she folded the piece of silk, telling herself that time was just long enough to prepare, but also short enough so that Tuong Ba Khiem, if he smelled anything unusual, would not have time to react first.