Chapter 4 — She chose Scissors to cut Hong Tran, I chose Peony to win the Phoenix position

Mother finally left that wolf-den-like manorial. There's no need to continue being bullied by the mandarin. No need to continue eating rotten food. There's no need to continue being watched by those vile, dirty people anymore. I clenched my fists, my nails digging deep into my palms. Mother, please wait a little longer. Wait until I am strong enough, I will definitely come to pick you up... That day, I was practicing writing with my mother, when my grandmother in charge suddenly came to find me.

"Second lady, the old lady invited someone to the main hall. The eldest lady has returned from Duong Quy temple."

My heart immediately tightened. Sister is back? After changing into another outfit, I went to the main street. The elder sister was wearing a moon-white robe, her hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin, and her appearance was elegant and worldly, sitting next to her grandmother leisurely drinking tea. Seeing me walk in, a trace of jealousy flashed in her eyes, but it was quickly covered by a smile.

“Younger sister is here.”

She put down the tea cup, smiled gently and said:

"I heard you learned a lot of things during this time with mom? Come on, let me check out your handwriting."

She ordered someone to bring a piece of Tuyen paper and a pen.

“Write a poem.”

I took a look at my ancestor. The mother-in-law nodded slightly. I picked up the pen and wrote down a poem called 《Peony》.

"In front of the yard, peonies are lovely but have no bones, on the pond are clean but lack sincerity. Only peonies are truly national colors, when they bloom they make the whole capital tremble."

The handwriting is neat and tidy, the pen tip is strong and powerful, each stroke carries a force. After looking at it, her face changed slightly, but then she smiled and said:

"Not bad, the writing is okay. Just, do you know who wrote this poem?"

I lowered my eyes:

“It is the work of pre-dynasty poet Liu Yuxi.”

Dich raised his eyebrows:

"So do you know that when Luu Vu Tich wrote this poem, it was also the time he was criticized?"

“He used the peony to compare himself, using it to satirize those who flatter the nobles.”

"My sister used this poem to express her thoughts, so who are you trying to mock?"

These words are extremely dangerous. If we explain, it's like "if you don't fight, it's already declared". If you don't explain, that's tacit admission. Grandmother raised her teacup and slowly took a sip, with absolutely no intention of helping me talk. In my heart, I smiled coldly, but on my face showed panic:

“Your teachings are very good.”

"It's because my sister didn't think carefully. She only felt that peonies were suitable for the scene so she wrote, completely without thinking about that deeper meaning."

"My younger sister is a coward and studies little. She will definitely work harder in the future."

Having finished speaking, I knelt down and bowed my head. Seeing this, a proud look flashed in her eyes, she turned around and said to her great-grandmother:

“Grandmother, although my sister is very hard-working, her inborn ability is too poor.”

"It's not like this. Even though you're practicing in the temple, you can still come back once every half a month."

"At that time, let me teach her how to read books and learn to read, to avoid embarrassing the Marquis when she goes out in the future."

My grandmother looked at me and calmly said:

"That's good. Thuc Hue, I followed Elder Dieu Tam at Duong Quy Temple, my education is getting better and better." Of course, teaching your younger sister is also something you should do."

Dich smiled and replied. But a cold feeling arose in my heart. In my previous life, when I was learning to read, she always liked to deliberately find fault with me, using all kinds of tricks to torment others endlessly. But we cannot refuse.

“Thank you very much, sister.”

I bowed my head and said. My sister stood up, slowly walked towards me, bent slightly and whispered close to my ear:

“Weren't you very powerful in your previous life? The second-class mandarin, the Buddha Dharma is profound. In this life, I really want to see what trouble you can make."