Chapter 4 — Princess Chieu Ninh Chooses Her Imperial Husband

I burst out laughing. "You see? I still do not think I was wrong." He suddenly opened his eyes. "A Lenh." I turned around. "Please show our guest out." Xuan Dao immediately stepped up. Ta Chiet Ngoc did not go. He stared at my back, his voice low and hoarse. "You chose Ve Tuan, is it to punish me?" I stopped. I wanted to say yes, then swallowed the word. I turned my head to look at him. "Ta Chiet Ngoc, I won't punish you." A little light appeared in his eyes. I snuffed out that small glimmer of hope. "I really feel that you are not suitable."
After the marriage was announced, the Ta family began to fight back. First, the word spread outside the palace, saying that I had supposedly chosen Ve Tuan out of old resentment, passed over Ta Chiet Ngoc despite his victories, and used marriage to vent my temper. Later, people claimed that the Ve family's military power had prompted the match, that the emperor had arranged it to win over the Northern Army, and that I was merely a pawn. Rumors spread to my mother, who called me to Truong Lac Palace. Agarwood incense burned in Truong Lac Palace, its heavy scent catching in my throat. My mother sat on a low couch while Tham Thanh Duong knelt beside her, massaging her feet. I bowed. My mother opened her mouth and immediately asked: "Have you caused enough trouble?" I raised my head. I furrowed my brows. "Ta Chiet Ngoc is the child I watched grow up. No one in the capital can match his talent or character. He got angry over a small matter and made the whole capital laugh at the royal family." I looked towards Tham Thanh Duong. She bowed her head, her fingertips gently pressing on my mother's dress. I said: "Do you remember the arrow from that year?" My mother's eyelids lifted. "What arrow?" Tham Thanh Duong's hand stopped. I recounted the story of a small competition when I was thirteen years old. When it came to Ta Chiet Ngoc pressing my wrist, my mother's face changed little by little. It was not pain I felt, but anger that the truth had come out. My mother looked bewildered and struck the armrest with her palm. "It was a childhood incident, and I still remember it to this day. Why do you call me narrow-minded?" I looked at my mother. "If it was the royal brother whose wrists were pressed down that year, would my mother also say that he was narrow-minded?" My mother's face darkened. "Chieu Ninh." I knelt straight. "I just want to know, when I lost, you all said I was not strong enough. Now that I know I didn't lose, you say I'm narrow-minded. So what should I do to be right?" Truong Lac Palace fell silent. Tham Thanh Duong furtively raised her eyes to look at me. My mother stared at me for a long time, her voice cold. "You marry Ve Tuan, don't regret it later." I bowed my head. "I have no regrets." When I left Truong Lac Palace, I met Ve Tuan on the palace path. He seemed to have been waiting for some time; a thin layer of snow covered his shoulders. Seeing me, he passed the heater in his hand. "Princess, take this." I did not accept it. "Did you hear that?" Ve Tuan nodded. "I heard a few sentences." "Do you find me annoying?" He thought for a moment. "I don't." I laughed softly. "You responded really quickly." He said: "In the Northern Army, wounded soldiers die if the physicians refuse to treat them." His words sounded rough, but the tight rope around my heart loosened a little. I accepted the handwarmer. The handwarmer was hot against my palm. Ve Tuan said in a low voice: "I will deal with the rumors." I asked: "How to handle it?" "We will investigate whoever started them." "What if the investigation leads to the Ta family?" Ve Tuan looked at me. "Then investigate them as well." He did not say that Ta Chiet Ngoc was my old friend, that the powerful Ta family should not be offended, or that I should be patient. I suddenly asked him: "Ve Tuan, why did you come to the son-in-law selection?" His ears reddened slightly, and his gaze shifted to the palace wall beside him. "Mother told me to come." "Just for your mother?" He was silent for a moment. "I have met the princess before." I was stunned. Ve Tuan said: "At the Western Suburban Riding Grounds, when the princess was fifteen, she fell from her horse, rose, and chased it for half a lap. I was standing beneath the viewing platform." I thought for a long time before I remembered that time. That day I fell into the mud. Ta Chiet Ngoc ran over, and his first words were: "A Lenh, don't run anymore, it's not appropriate." I stopped. But Ve Tuan remembered me and had run after the horse on foot. He said in a low voice: "I thought that was wonderful." I tightened my grip on the handwarmer, its heat warming my palm. Far away, someone stood in the shadow of the palace gate. Ta Chiet Ngoc watched Ve Tuan and me, his face frighteningly pale.
The origin of the rumor was quickly discovered by Ve Tuan. Not a member of the Ta family, but a servant who worked beside Ta Chiet Ngoc. The servant was dragged before the court and knelt, claiming that he had only voiced his master's grievances. Grand Tutor Ta's expression was grim. Grand Tutor Ta knelt in the palace, his forehead pressed to the ground. "I failed to keep my servant in check." Ta Chiet Ngoc also came. He did not kneel behind his father, but walked in front of the servant. The servant raised his head, his eyes filled with a plea for help. Ta Chiet Ngoc looked at him. "Who told you to pass it on?" The servant was stunned. "Young Master, I was only..." Ta Chiet Ngoc lifted his foot and kicked him on the shoulder. The servant fell and struck a stone pillar, and curled up in pain. Ta Chiet Ngoc knelt down.