Chapter 18 — On the day of the big wedding, the main concubine was changed, I still refused to kneel down

The begonia flowers in the garden have bloomed, white rose petals fluttering gently in the night wind.

"The battle in the North is not over yet. Although the main force of Mac Bac has retreated, it has not disbanded. They will return."

“In the letter, your father said that the final decisive battle will probably be in the second week of June.”

“At that time ——” Ta Truong An took a sip of wine.

"If your father wins, the Co family will become Dai Thinh's number one minister. If the four princes want to firmly sit on the throne, they must attract the Co family."

“If your father loses——”

“The old man will not lose.”

I interrupted him.

“Father will not lose.”

Ta Truong An looked at me.

“She trusts General Co very much.”

“He is my father.”

The space was quiet for a while. Ta Truong An suddenly said a very strange sentence.

"Co Cam Dao, if one day you don't need to marry anyone, you can have everything you want - what will you choose?"

“What are the things we want?”

“She decides for herself.”

I thought for a moment.

"I want the Co family to be safe. Father can return alive. Brother can grow up. Mother no longer has to be afraid or insecure."

“What happens after that?”

“Then ——”

We look up at the moon in the sky.

“I want freedom.”

"Don't be anyone's main concubine, don't be anyone's concubine. Don't be anyone's chess piece."

“Only do Co Cam Dao.”

The cup of wine in Ta Truong An's hand stopped at his lips. He turned his head to look at me. The moonlight shone into his eyes. Those eyes, which were always cold, now had something shining.

“Then let me help you.”

Summer of June. The decisive battle is here. Mac Bac once again gathered ninety thousand troops, using all his strength south to attack Nhan Bac Quan. This is the largest scale war in the North in the past twenty years. My father commanded on the front lines. I am in the capital, holding the rear. War reports three times a day. Day 1: Mac Bac's vanguard approaches the second defensive line. Day two: fierce battle. The Northern army suffered five thousand casualties. Day three: Mac Bac's main force pressed on. The second line of defense is critical. Day four: the second line of defense falls. The Bac Canh army withdrew to Nhan Bac Quan. This is the last line of defense. Day five: Nhan Bac Quan was surrounded. On Friday, there was no war report. Saturday, still nothing. only at ot.my.banh. The whole capital is waiting. The candles in the Queen Mother's Tho An palace did not go out all night. I sat by the window, in my hand clutching the dagger that my father left behind before going to war. On the hilt of the knife are engraved four words: "Co Thi Cam Dao." Early morning of the eighth day. Bich Nhi rushed in like crazy.

"Miss! Believe in victory! Great victory!"

In Bich Nhi's hand, she held high a gold-rimmed war sign.

"General Gu set up an ambush a hundred miles outside of Nhan Bac Quan, used eight thousand star cavalry to lure the enemy into deep penetration, and the main force formed a siege at Tuyet Coc gate!"

“Ninety thousand Mac Bac army was divided into three parts, the beginning and the end cannot correspond!”

"Three days and three nights of fierce battle, destroying more than sixty thousand main forces of Mac Bac! Capturing the great prince of Mac Bac!"

"The remnants of the Mac Bac army fled to the north, the Northern landscape is finally settled!"

The dagger in my hand fell to the ground. Bich Nhi was startled.

“Miss?”

I bent down to pick up the knife. Hands tremble. Then I realized I was smiling. Laughed to the point of tears flow. Dad won. Really won. His father triumphantly returned to the capital. The emperor's body, under the care of Ta Truong An, recovered seven parts and personally came to the city gate to welcome him. This is an unprecedented honor for this dynasty. The civil and military mandarins neatly lined up on both sides of the city gate, their clothes and hats solemn, their aura majestic. Hundreds of people from all over flocked in, filling the avenue, spreading all the way to the city, people were as crowded as water, so crowded that there was not even a single empty path left on the large street. His father rode the old horse that had followed him for twenty years, an armored body, weathered and tired. He was completely thinner than when he left. But his eyes were brighter than ever.

“Co Ai Khanh!”

The Emperor personally walked down the steps of the city gate.

“This Khanh family formation will keep Dai Thinh for twenty years of peace!”

“I don't dare accept it.”

His father turned around, dismounted from his horse, and knelt down to worship.

"This victory is all thanks to the soldiers risking their lives and providing effective support from the rear. I just fulfilled my duty."

"Discharge?"

The Emperor helped him up and patted him on the shoulder.

“More than thirty-eight years of fighting, forty-two scars, defending Nhan Bac Quan alone, destroying sixty thousand enemies - is that called duty?”

"Today I say in front of the whole world - Co Kinh Thuong, is the pillar holding up the sky of my Dai Thinh!"

Inside and outside the city gates, cheers echoed like thunder. I stood on the castle floor, looking down at everything. Bich Nhi stood next to me sobbing, tears falling non-stop.