Chapter 8 — Pearl Award

The day the verdict was announced, cries rang out throughout the Hau Palace. The officers and soldiers came to confiscate like wolves and tigers rushing into the palace, chests of gold, silver and jewels were continuously carried out. Lady Hau went crazy. She sat in the middle of the snow, holding a blue ceramic bowl with white flowers that had just been broken by a mandarin, sometimes crying and laughing like a lunatic. Trieu Minh Nguyet took the entire dowry with him, held his head high and left the Marquis Palace. Before leaving, she didn't even bother to look at Madam Hou who had gone crazy once. As for me, dressed in white mourning clothes, calmly standing in front of the main gate of the Marquis Palace. In my hand I hold a black wooden box. Inside are sister A's ashes. That year Sister A passed away, the Marquis said it was unlucky so he simply buried her in a cemetery outside the city. Taking advantage of the fall of the Marquis Palace this time, I spent a large amount of money to invite someone to rebury her remains and cremate her to ashes. …Autumn is the time of executions, the wind at the execution site is cold to the bone. Tham Xac was tied tightly to a wooden post, his hair was messy, his once handsome face was now distorted by fear and despair. The dignity he cherished the most has now been stripped to nothing. My father was kneeling in the prison car next to him, preparing to go into exile three thousand miles away. He was old and haggard, no longer had any of the prestige of the great mandarin of the past. I held sister A's ashes box and slowly walked up to the beheading stage. That was my chance to exchange five thousand taels of silver to see the death row prisoner one last time before his execution. As soon as he saw me, Tham Xa felt like he had seen a ghost, struggling wildly, the iron chains clashing against each other, making deafening sounds. "Lin Tuyet Tran! It's you! It's all a trap set by you!" He screamed hoarsely, his eyes bloodshot. I walked up to him and looked down from above. Those eyes were exactly like his noble eyes when he first met me. He understood everything. Unfortunately, it was all too late. I smiled softly, my voice so low that only he could hear. “Husband, don't get excited.” "Aren't you the one who values rules the most? I'm just following the rules you set yourself." I raised sister A's ashes box in front of him. "When sister A was still alive, he taught sister A to obey the three virtues, to be patient, and to be generous." “She did it.” "That's why he and his father colluded to poison him to death." The smile in my eyes gradually disappeared, leaving only bone-chilling coldness. “All my life, the only rule I believe in is life for life, blood debt must be paid with blood.” Tham Xa's whole body trembled violently. He looked at the ash box, as if he was seeing Sister A's pale face. "You evil woman! You harmed me and even harmed your own father. Do you think you will have a good ending?" “There's no need for your husband to worry about that.” I took a step back and respectfully bowed to him, just like the first day I stepped into the Marquis Palace. “Husband, have a safe journey.” “A sister is down there waiting for you.” “When she got down to the yellow spring, she also wanted to take revenge herself.” I turned around and walked towards my father's prison car. Father looked at me, tears streaming down his face, trying to use his last bit of affection to beg. "Tuyet Tran, father knows he's wrong." “Father is just for the Lam family!” "Save your father. You still have money in your hand. Go and pay for it, so that your father will not have to suffer on the way to exile..." I coldly looked at the father who gave birth to me. "Father, don't worry, my daughter has already taken care of everything." I leaned close to the prison car, my voice as soft as a devil's whisper. “The daughter gave the escorting officials a thousand taels of silver.” “In exchange for letting my father die in the first snow on the way to exile.” His father's pupils suddenly shrank and he screamed in despair. I won't look at them again. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the beheading officer threw down the order. The blade flashed. Fresh blood splashed. I turned around, turned my back to the execution ground, and took a deep breath. … Two years later, I came to Giang Nam. On the flower boat, the sound of the flute still echoed endlessly. I leaned my body against the school

Soft bed, holding a cup of tea, silently admiring the Giang Nam river area as beautiful as a watercolor painting outside the window. I changed my name and last name. Now, I am boss To, the owner of the largest silk merchant guild in Jiangnan. That year, when the Marquis Palace was confiscated, I secretly transferred all of my dowry, along with the assets that had been taken out of the Marquis Palace's books for many years, to Jiangnan. I did not return to the Lam family, nor did I linger in the capital. Carrying only sister A's ashes and a few confidants, she headed south. I buried Sister A in a mountain-like place facing the river, with a pure landscape. The female treasurer walked in and respectfully presented the books to me. "Boss, the accounts of the new batch of silk have been reconciled. Please take a look." I took the book, flipped through a few pages, and nodded with satisfaction. The people who work under me are mostly women who have been pushed into a dead end by life. We teach them to read, calculate accounts, and do business. “Very well done.” “This month, each person will receive an additional two months' salary.” I closed the book, smiled and said. The female storekeeper looked delighted, repeatedly thanked her and then retreated. I stood up and walked to the front of the boat. On the river surface, a thin layer of smoke slowly rose. I felt like I saw sister A's soul smiling gently at me amidst that smoke, then gradually disappearing into the vastness of heaven and earth. A billion. Sister, look. The scenery of this world is so beautiful. Run out of.