Chapter 3 — Red Rope Binds Fortune

"Today you should not cause trouble in front of the servants." I laughed. "So when should I make trouble? Wait for you to get on the palanquin, wait for Tieu Phuc Duong to be sealed, or wait for this lamp to burn until I die?" Tham Hoai Canh's voice lowered: "No one wants you to die." "So what does the sentence sealing Tieu Phuc Duong in Phuc Luc mean?" Outside the door it was completely silent. suddenly. I went to the door: "You know this notebook." After a long time, Tham Hoai Canh said: "Sometimes mother's behavior is a bit too harsh, but for all these years she has been managing the Tham family, it has not been easy. When Linh Nghi was very sick when she was young, I also saw it." "So all my things should be given to you?" "Those things are just external objects." I took the notebook out of my sleeve and slid it through the crack in the door. "Then you read it." Go.” The sound of flipping papers was very light. When turning a certain page, the sound stops. I know what he saw. "The eldest daughter copied seven sutras and gave them to the eldest son to participate in the incense offering." That year I was thirteen years old, my mother locked me in Tieu Phuc Duong, only letting me sleep for two hours seven days. The elder brother came in once, put a plate of apple pie on the table, and said that when he passed the exam, he would buy some sugar from the store in the south of the city for me. Then he passed the exam. But don't buy street people. Outside, the sound of books being closed was heard. When Tham Hoai Canh spoke, his voice was a bit dry: "Back then, I didn't know you had to copy to such an extent." "Now you know." He was silent again. We wait for the next sentence. He said: "But the marriage has come to this point. If the Marquis refuses the engagement, Lenh Nghi's entire life will be ruined. Tri Tan, you have to be patient first, wait for him to get married, I will tell your mother to return all your things." "Every time you guys say to wait." I pulled the notebook through the crack in the door and said: "Waiting for her to get better, waiting for you to pass the exam, waiting for your father to get promoted, waiting for the Tham family to stabilize. Brother, when will it be my turn? me?” Tham Hoai Canh did not answer. He just said: "Since childhood, your blessings have been thick, not lacking this bit." I put the Phuc Luc in my sleeve: "Go ahead." He stood there without moving. "Tri Dan, tomorrow the lobby will hold a blessing ceremony. If you don't want to dab blood, I will tell mother, change it to copying a sutra." I laughed out loud. "Brother really knows how to love people." It was a long time before the footsteps left. Before dawn, the door of Tieu Phuc Duong opened. Mama Trieu led four maids in, holding a light blue dress in her hand. That was the piece of fabric I chose for my sixteenth birthday, then my mother said the color was too dark and didn't suit the young lady, so she took it away. Now it is back before us again. Not for me to wear, but to save face for the Tham family. I didn't make things difficult for the maids. I obediently changed my clothes, washed my face, and used powder to cover the wound at the corner of my lip. Mama Trieu looked at me with a lighter expression: "Young lady, it's good. She said that as long as you are obedient today, you will of course arrange a good marriage for you in the future." I asked: "What marriage?" She avoided my eyes: "You already have a plan in your heart." I laughed: "Is it because after sealing Tieu Phuc Duong, you arranged a marriage for me where I can't see anyone?" The comb in Mama Trieu's hand fell onto the dressing table. point.5The lobby has already set up the table for the blessing ceremony. Many relatives of the Tham family came. His mother sat in the top position, Tham Lenh Nghi leaned next to her, with a small piece of flower field on the corner of his forehead. The position of the field flower coincides with the pale mole on the corner of my forehead. Mother said: "Come here." I went to the ceremony table. On the table were placed silver needles, cinnabar, clean water, red silk and that set of robes. Mother smiled at everyone

person: "Leng Nghi's health has been weak since childhood, and her older sister like Tri Dan loves her the most. Today, adding a page, letting her sister put three drops of blood on her sister's blessing, is also considered a deep sisterly love." The aunt in the clan laughed and chimed in: "The eldest girl has good fortune, the second girl marries the Marquis, of course everything will go smoothly." Another person said: "Sisters should help each other."Kim did not stab their hands. Blood is of course not considered blood. Ma Ma Marquis also arrived, standing by the door, holding a long box in her hand. Seeing her, mother's smile became even more steady: "Mother is also here, I just happened to be able to testify." Mother nodded slightly: "The old lady heard that today the Tham family is holding a blessing ceremony, so she sent her servants to come and see." Mother's face changed slightly to the point of being difficult to recognize. Mama Trieu brought clean water and wanted me to wash my hands. I don't put my hand out. Mother's eyes turned cold: "Tri Dan." I asked: "Which hand do you want to take blood from today?" She frowned: "What nonsense are you talking about?" I rolled up my left sleeve. There are three thin scars on the wrist. I rolled up my right sleeve again. The fingertips, the base of the hand and the side of the wrist all have small old scars. They weren't fierce, just too many, like a series of books that had been hidden by others.