Chapter 2 — On the night of the wedding, he said we were just husband and wife in name, I quietly wrote a letter of separation

The smile on Lieu Nhu Hue's face finally couldn't be held anymore.

“Brother Hoai Can, sister, this is…”

“Call the owner.”

I raised the teacup and the clear sound of porcelain colliding rang out.

"The rules of the Chu family are that concubines must call the main wife master and mother. Concubine Liu, please remember this carefully."

The whole room fell into silence. Chu Hoai Can stared at that piece of paper, candlelight dancing in the bottom of his eyes. I held the cup of tea in my hand, not urging him, just waiting quietly. Outside, there was faint noise from the guests in the front yard. Those three rules were like three blades, one by one, cutting away the face of his wedding night. But he spoke first. He finally grabbed a pen, signed his name, and then pressed his hand on the paper. The force of his hand was so strong that the back of the paper absorbed ink. I withdrew the contract and stood up.

“If there is nothing else, please return.”

"This main courtyard is from now on where I live and rest, it is not convenient to keep guests."

The tea cup placed on the table made a crisp sound, the intention to send off guests was clear. Lieu Nhu Hue bit her lower lip and reached out to gently pull Chu Hoai Can's sleeve. He looked at me, then turned and left. The door was closed, the wedding candle was still burning, red wax was flowing all over the cup like red tears. I sat back in front of the dressing table, looking at the bride with her head full of pearls in the bronze mirror. The light in the eyes of the person in the mirror gradually dimmed. I took out a piece of pure white paper and picked up the pen again. On the paper slowly appeared four words... Hoa Ly Book. After writing, I realized my hands were shaking. Not out of anger. It's because I finally realized something... From beginning to end, this marriage was just me hidden blindfolded in a drum. The Chu family wanted my dowry, Chu Hoai Can wanted his cousin Lieu, but no one ever asked me if I wanted it or not. I folded the book and placed it in the deepest layer of the jewelry box. Tears blurred the ink, the corner of the paper also wrinkled a small piece. Outside, the sound of the three-hour gong rang out. On the wedding night, my husband slept in the heavenly garden, and I sat alone until dawn.

“Aggregates.”

I looked in the mirror and spoke softly.

“From now on, you must know how to calculate for yourself.”

Early the next morning, I followed the rules and went to have tea with my mother. The mother, whose last name is Trieu, comes from a mandarin family, sits neatly in the upper chair and receives my cup of tea. She looked at me once, the smile on the corners of her lips not reaching the bottom of her eyes.

“Was last night okay?”

We put the tea cup back on the tray.

"My husband feels sorry for your hard work and is afraid that you will be tired so he told you to rest early."

This statement is discreet and has no loopholes. The model nodded and did not ask any more questions. The second aunt next to her burst out laughing and said:

"Since the new wife has entered the door, she should soon give birth to more nails for the Chu family."

I lowered my eyes and didn't speak, just pretended I hadn't heard. Leaving the main room, maid Thu Hoa followed behind me and said in a low voice:

"Young lady, last night the young master stayed at Thien Vien. This morning it was spread throughout the palace."

“Transmit what?”

"Say...say the young master doesn't like you."

Our steps never stop. The main door of the courtyard is right in front of your eyes, on the sign hangs the three words "Uan Hoa Duong", an autograph written by the author himself. topic.

“Uan” is my name, and the heavenly monastery “Lan Hue Hien” where Chu Hoai Can has been staying for the past three years is two yards away from here.

That's good too. Pure. After breakfast, I started reviewing the dowry list. My father was a merchant in Minh Chau, working as a cloth merchant. The Zhou family is a mandarin, and the public servant holds the position of judge. This marriage, from the moment they came to propose to the moment they decided to leave, only took exactly three months. My father was overjoyed, thinking he had climbed a high branch. Mother cried again, saying there were too many rules in the official house, afraid that I would suffer resentment. The dowry was carried on sixteen platforms, silver, money, land deeds, cloth, jewelry, each item was heavy. His father almost lost half of his fortune. I looked through each land deed sheet one by one, then asked Thu Hoa to take the last three years' rent book and compare it again.