Chapter 1 — Lac An Chua District

The first thing the fiance did after returning triumphantly was to use all his victories to ask His Majesty to grant marriage to the noble daughter. I know clearly that the Quy family's daughter that you placed in your heart from beginning to end will always be your true sister. Regarding this matter, I am committed to being completely honest. Who would have thought that on the day he was brought to the Quy Palace, he abandoned his sister and went to the palace all night. "Your Majesty, that's wrong!" "I and the eldest lady of the Quy family have no marriage contract." "The person I want to marry is the slightly stupid concubine of the Quy family." As soon as the words fell, the main hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. On the contrary, the prime minister had had enough of watching the excitement and leisurely smiled. "Is General Tieu confused? On the Quy family's family tree, since when has there been a concubine?" "On the contrary, I, a few years ago, picked up a pitiful little girl in front of the Quy palace gate." 1 My name is Canh Lac An, but I remember someone once called me Quy Xuong Bo. I also have a billion sister named Quy Bao Chau. At first, I didn't understand, so I asked my mother why she was a precious jewel, and I was calamus, an unworthy weed growing in the deserted mountains. After hearing this, the mother aggressively threw the jade comb onto the dressing table. In the bronze mirror, her face suddenly became distorted. "Do you still have the face to ask?" "That year I was pregnant with twins, your sister was born first, safely and smoothly." "Only a debt collector like you harms my roots, I can't live again for the rest of my life, and people laugh at me." She gasped for breath. "The kind of idiot who wants to die but can't die is like you. I shouldn't have invested my life in a noble family." "Should have been thrown into the graveyard, left to fend for itself, become your weed!" From that day on, I no longer blamed my mother for being biased. It turned out that I was a thorn deep in her heart. Every time she sees me, she feels pain again. Only later did I know that even this fiance Tieu Da was someone my sister didn't need, so she left it to me. The Tieu family was originally a noble family, but then got involved in a case and the family gradually declined. Mother couldn't bear to let her sister suffer, and didn't want to be known for breaking her marriage, so she pushed me to take her place. Tieu Da didn't say anything, just told me to call him A brother from now on. From then on, Tieu Da joined the army. We only see him two or three times a year. I can't tell what rank he has in military rank, I just see that his father and mother are increasingly respectful towards him. Even his sister changed her gentle look when she met him. In December of that year, Tieu Da asked someone to deliver a letter, saying that His Majesty had just awarded him a jade kettle and a fox fur coat. When you have leave, you will bring it to me. He said he came to visit me, but I was locked in the next room and could only watch him being led to my sister's hospital by his mother. By the time I am released, my fox fur coat is gone, my warm jade is also gone. The bridge of my nose stung, so I quickly grabbed his sleeve. "Brother, the engagement between you and I... is it still there?" He bowed his head, looked at me, was silent for a moment, then nodded. I breathed a sigh of relief, but the hand holding his sleeve still refused to let go. "That's good. The nanny said that a woman must get married when she reaches puberty. Please marry me quickly, I don't want to become an old lady." Having said that, I remembered something again, looked up at him. "I don't like the name Xuong Bo. After marrying you, can you give me another name? I also want to be called Bao Chau." The two words "Bao Chau" as soon as he uttered it, Tieu Da's eyes immediately darkened. Inside it seems to hide something that we don't understand. After a long while, he spoke up. "Xong Bo is also very good." "Ca Bo is as strong as silk, just like you... very resilient."3I was just about to

If he said no, Quy Bao Chau and his mother walked out of the room. Seeing me staring at the fox fur coat on her body, Quy Bao Chau laughed contemptuously. "Qui Xuong Bo, you are still young but you have a lot of thoughts." Having finished speaking, she took her mother's arm, her voice was neither loud nor soft. "Mother, it's not that I want to say, but the second sister usually doesn't have any rules." "Nowadays, I'm still learning the flirtatious and lowly style of the concubines, definitely taught by my nanny. You're a single female Marquis." government, how could such a daughter be born?" There was a loud explosion in my head, all the blood immediately rushed to my face. "No! The nanny only wants the best for me!" Before I could finish speaking, the mother suddenly turned around and slapped me. "Very good, now you dare to say that the biological mother is not as good as a nanny?" "An ungrateful bastard like you who deserves to go to hell also deserves to be treated like a pearl like a pearl? You're so jealous, you even want to take away your name!” She took a deep breath and loudly called out to someone. “Who are you? Take that old maid out and fight me!” I heard the nanny crying and begging outside. That sound was like a blunt knife, cutting into my heart one by one. But looking at my mother and sister's faces, I know it's useless to beg them. I can only put my last hope on Tieu Da. I raised my face, tears streaming down my face, tightening my grip on the hem of his shirt. "Brother... Tieu Da, say something... tell me something for me..." "I don't need anything else, I just need my nanny not to die... please..." After listening, Tieu Da squatted down to help me stand up, and conveniently stuffed a piece of jade pendant into my hand. He avoided my eyes, his voice was very low. "Xuong Bo, you take this first, it's the same." "The eldest lady is afraid of the cold, the fox fur coat and warm jade must be given priority to her. I will make it up to you later, so don't make trouble anymore." He stopped, his voice a bit helpless. "Your mother teaches the servants, I am an outsider, it is not convenient to interfere." "Wait until you learn how to think." After thinking carefully, the person next to you will not die because of you." 4After my nanny passed away, I often had nightmares. In dreams, we always feel that we only have one last breath left, which can disappear at any time. Mother said I was crazy and ordered someone to lock the hospital gate, afraid that I would run out in the middle of the night and disgrace the Marquis Palace. I don't go out the door anymore, nor do I open my mouth to speak. Everyone in the government up and down said I was becoming more and more stupid. Actually, I'm not completely stupid, at least I still know how to calculate the day. Trying to endure until the day of my birth, when Tieu Da arrived, of course I was also released. He entered the hospital, behind were two Tay Duong people with high noses and deep eyes. They wear strangely shaped wooden shelves with white cloth stretched above them. As he spoke, he looked at the old clothes on his body, paused for a moment before speaking. "Xuong Bo, go change into a nicer outfit. Today is my happy day." I looked up at him, not knowing how to open my mouth. "Brother, is this portrait painting really just me?" He nodded, seemingly not understanding why I asked such a question. "What stupid words are you talking about?" "Today." Today is your birthday, I specially invited them to come. Of course no one else will come to take away your joy.” I believe in you. But when I arrived at the flower hall, Quy Bao Chau was already sitting there. She leaned over to talk to Tieu Da, placing one hand on his arm. "Ah Da, do you think I look beautiful in this outfit? How does it compare to my second sister?" Tieu Da rubbed his eyebrows. "Big brother."

letter... that's not appropriate." "What's not appropriate?" Quy Bao Chau raised his eyebrows, with a smile in his voice as if it weren't for nothing. "It's because I want to rob her of her prominence, so it's not appropriate..." "Or I want to rob her of her husband, so it's not appropriate?" Tieu Da didn't answer, just sighed softly. "Today is her birthday." The sadness in my heart rose again. I walked over, pulled Tieu Da's wrist, quietly. voice: "Sister, this is my future husband." Quy Bao Chau laughed again, completely ignoring my resistance. She just looked at Tieu Da, her eyes gradually covered with a layer of water. "A Da, you know my thoughts. I know you favor your second sister, those things she has more than me, I don't complain." "But if you want to be fair, then today this portrait of only me is not too much?" My heart tightened. I shook Tieu Da's arm, my voice filled with pleading. "Brother, you have agreed with me. You said you wouldn't let anyone else be happier than me today." Tieu Da's expression was tense for a moment, but it was only a moment. He let out a breath, removed my hand from his arm, and lowered his voice. "Xuong Bo, there's still a chance next time." "Your sister is not an outsider. Birthdays happen every year, this time it's okay to let her go." I refused, immediately walked towards the chair placed in the middle of the flower hall. It was a chair set up by the Tay Duong people, covered with brocade cushions, especially for the person being drawn to sit. But Tieu Da was faster than me. He tugged on my sleeve. "That's someone from the palace, don't cause trouble for me." "How many times have brother told me, I have to think carefully before doing anything. Think about your nanny, think about how your impulsiveness killed her." "Do you still want to kill me too?" 5 Those words were like a nail pinning me in place, leaving me stunned. Quy Bao Chau took advantage of the situation and sat on that chair. But in the middle of painting, she was dissatisfied and insisted on pulling Tieu Da into the painting with her. "Ah Da, young man. stand a little closer. I'm sitting alone so empty, you should join the picture too." "Second sister has got everything I want. I just want a painting, are you still not willing to give it to me? "I don't know what I got in the end. I couldn't understand it for a long time, of course I refused to let go of the hand holding Tieu Da. "I don't need anything... I just need my sister not to take away my husband..." All around immediately fell silent. Painter Tay Duong put down his pen, the maids bowed their heads in unison, but I knew they were secretly watching. Right after that, Tieu Da suddenly pushed my hand away. "Originally, I must be Bao Chau's husband." As soon as the words came out, he himself seemed stunned. He cleared his throat, trying to calm his voice, but that gentleness was extremely forced. "Don't pretend to be pitiful. I have already favored you once." "It's just a portrait, it doesn't represent anything." "Obediently obey. When I have time, I will make it up to you." Having finished speaking, he stood behind Quy Bao Chau. Until the sun turned to the west, he did not say another word to me, not even let me look at him. Before he left, I stood not far from the door, wanting to say a few words to him, but saw him cradling a scroll of paintings, carefully stepping onto the carriage. That scroll of paintings was held in his arms, just like that year when my nanny gave me a piece of candy. I couldn't bear to eat it, so I wrapped it in oil paper and stuffed it under my pillow. I touched it once every day for three days before I could bear to eat a small piece. The nanny sat next to me and smiled, saying that the second lady should rest assured that if she finished this time, she would still have it.