Chapter 14 — On the big wedding day, the Queen Mother exchanged me for another prince

"Your Highness is waiting for her to make a mistake."

"Waiting for her to make an irreversible mistake in front of everyone."

I sat down opposite him.

"Tong Hanh, the chessboard in your Highness's heart is bigger than I ever thought."

He looked at me and was silent for a moment.

"You're the first person to call me by my name."

"Really?"

Tong Duc has taken action. Not at court. But at the Tham family. On the 8th of October, my younger brother Tham Nhuoc An was blocked in front of the Quoc Tu Giam gate. The people who stopped him were a few playboys. The leader was a concubine of the Bui family, named Bui Van Phong. They stopped Nhuoc An, in front of dozens of Quoc Tu Giam's students, and talked loudly.

"Master Shen, I heard that your sister married a prince of unknown origin? That Ninth Highness, even his biological father refused to accept, yet your sister still has the face to walk around the capital? Tsk tsk, the Shen family's reputation is truly becoming less and less valuable."

This year, Nhuoc An just turned sixteen years old, has the same personality as her father, extremely stubborn. That guy immediately decided to take action. Being held back by fellow students. But those words spread everywhere. The whole Quoc Tu Giam was discussing the matter of the Tham family. When the news reached Lan Vien, I was looking at the books. After finishing everything without missing a word, I closed the book.

"Bui Van Phong. A concubine of the Bui family. Tong Duc did not dare to directly touch the Tham family, so he used a playboy from a concubine background to test the limits."

I stood up.

"Prepare the car."

"I'm going back to the Tham family."

When I returned to the Tham family, Nhuoc An was sitting in the hall sulking, with scratches left by someone else on her hands. As soon as he saw me enter, he immediately stood up.

"Sister, don't stop me. That guy Bui Van Phong, I must beat him."

"You beat him, he just had an excuse to accuse you of being a Quoc Tu Giam student of assaulting someone else. When it comes to being expelled, who is the one who suffers?"

Nhuoc An gritted her teeth and said nothing. Father walked out of the study room.

"Nhuoc Van is here. Sit down."

I sat down and looked at my father.

"Father, people from the Bui family dare to openly bully Nhuoc An, which proves that Tong Duc is no longer afraid of the Tham family. He is examining father's attitude."

Father sighed softly.

"I know. But I can't stand up. I'm the Prime Minister, if I agree with a playboy, I'll lower my status. But if I don't, it's tacitly admitting that the Tham family can let others oppress me at will."

"Then let me handle this matter."

Father looked at me.

"What are you going to do?"

"Bui Van Phong is a playboy, what he values most is face and money. There are definitely more than one dirty things he has done. Just let Luc Hang's side investigate, within three days there will definitely be results."

Father was silent for a moment.

"Since when did you become so decisive?"

"Because I married a good person."

Three days later. Bui Van Phong held a party in the largest restaurant in the capital. During the party, he spoke extravagantly and continued to hurl insults at the Tham family and the Ninth Prince. Early the next morning, an anonymous denunciation letter was placed on Te Tuu Quoc Tu Giam's letter. Inside is Bui Van Phong's evidence cheating in the Quoc Tu Giam exam last year, including the check receipt used to bribe the examiner, the examiner's handwritten letter, and the testimony of several students who knew about it. Authentic evidence. Indisputable. Tutor Quoc Tu Giam immediately announced that Bui Van Phong's name would be removed from the student body. The day the news spread out, the Bui family up and down lost all face, Bui Van Phong's father even personally went to the Tham family to admit his mistake. Nhuoc An stood in the hall, looking at the bowed appearance of the Bui family, the corner of her lips curled slightly and then tried to suppress it. When I passed by him, I patted him on the shoulder.

"In the future, when you meet people like that, don't bother. There are many ways to hurt them more than being beaten."

Nhuoc An looked at me and nodded very seriously.

"Sister, you've changed."

"That's right."

I have changed. No more just being patient. After Bui Van Phong's matter was resolved, I thought it would be peaceful for a while. But Queen Trieu's counterattack came faster than we thought. In mid-October, a rumor spread among noble ladies in the capital.

"I heard that Mrs. Tham, the Ninth Prince's Princess, had an affair with a man before getting married. That man was a distant cousin of the Tham family, named Phuong Minh Vien, who opened a bookstore in the south of the city. The two corresponded for several years, and their relationship was extremely 'close'."