Chapter 5 — Snake Tail in the Crown Prince's Hand

10The days in the palace passed slowly. Soon, the Crown Prince will be old enough to wear an adult hat. That day, it was not yet dawn, and there was a soft rattling sound next to the bed. The Crown Prince has to go listen to the lecture. In the past, he didn't need to wake up so early, but since he was little, he wanted to quickly come back and play with me, so he decided to move all the time he had to wake up early and listen to lectures to the morning. Poor old Grand Deputy, every day he was busy until noon and then had to go to the palace to report to the Emperor about the Crown Prince's studies. Trembling when he returned home to eat dinner, it was late at night. Not long after lying down, he had to get up and go to the palace and wake up early. The last time I saw him, the two eye bags had turned into four, hanging on his wrinkled face, looking both funny and pitiful. A month ago, the master said he had to go far, then disappeared with That Royal Family. After practicing the exercises, I had nothing to do, so I sat down at the table to practice writing. Master once told me that I am the Crown Prince's blood-guard and must be both civil and martial. My handwriting was taught by the Crown Prince himself, every stroke is exactly like the handwriting he wrote. After writing a paragraph, I felt proud, so I wrote his name on the proclamation paper. Huyen Tu Than. Huyen Tu Than. At the tenth name, I heard him return. I still sat still, continuing to write the eleventh. The Crown Prince came next to me and sat down: "This word is a bit off, let me teach you." Then he held my hand and finished writing the eleventh name, adding "Trang Niem Han" next to it. The Crown Prince picked up the piece of paper, looked at it again and again, extremely satisfied: "Our Tieu Han's handwriting is so beautiful, we will reward you with the biggest roasted chicken later!" After eating the roasted chicken, the Crown Prince had to go to the training ground, I didn't follow him, I found a palace roof to lie down and eat. For many years, he took me to eat every delicious dish in the palace, while I searched every corner of the palace, not missing a single brick. Suddenly I heard someone in the palace mentioning the Crown Prince. I lifted the tile up and looked down, seeing a woman in gorgeous clothes sitting on a monk's chair, in front of her was a young man in a flower costume kneeling, next to him was a wounded, dying man lying on the ground, his face obscured by long hair. The young man hugged her thigh, calling out "Mother Concubine". "Mother Concubine, this slave is so useless, I have done nothing." The woman was angry: "You still dare to deny? People are injured like this and you still say you won't do anything? If your father knows, I don't know how the punishment will be!" Hearing the word "father", the young man shrank back, unwilling: "It's also... also because of your father's bias, giving the Immortal Monarch in Thu Minh Son to Thai Tu! As for me, I only have this useless person, I can't help anything." The woman held the jade pendant in her hand and slammed the table: "Shut up! The blood contract shadow guard is the royal family's secret. You are a disobedient son, and you treat him like a toy!" The young man immediately bowed down: "Mother, I know it's wrong. It's just that he's a rabbit, he shouldn't do anything, how can he help me fight?" Steal?" The woman sighed: "Your father certainly has an intention. Quickly send the guards back for treatment, don't cause more trouble. I will find you someone more powerful." Hearing that, the young man cried with joy: "Mother loves you." The royal palace is deep, there is indeed no shortage of secrets. Unexpectedly, I overheard the conversation between the Third Prince and his mother, Imperial Concubine Vien. Remembering the shadow guard next to the Third Prince, I bent down to look closely at the dying man lying on the ground. At that moment, I saw those eyes full of sadness and resentment. My heart suddenly tightened. It's Soc Nguyet. His humiliating look was so obvious, I quickly closed the roof and rushed out of the courtyard. 11 That night, the Crown Prince had not returned yet, I struggled to sleep, my mind filled with sorrowful eyes.

by Soc Nguyet. Not knowing how many hours it was, the Crown Prince returned. Seeing that I was still awake, he was surprised and bent down to gently rub my ear. I turned around to look at him, my heart heavy: "Your Highness, it turns out someone really treated the security guard very badly." He patted my head: "What did you see?" I recounted the afternoon's story, the conversation between Imperial Concubine Vien and the Third Prince, along with the scene of Soc Nguyet's accumulated injuries. The Crown Prince sighed: "I have also heard of Huyen Tu Minh's methods. Mistreating blood-contracted guards is not allowed by the royal family. But that Soc Nguyet guy is especially loyal, I can't get any words out of him." "But it's obvious that he is very miserable, Crown Prince, can't he leave?" "It's possible. But first of all it has to be his own will. If he doesn't want to, then no one can help, understand?" I nodded vaguely. If someone dares to hurt me like that, I will absolutely not let it go. I don't know when, the Crown Prince stopped holding my tail while sleeping. He hugged my shoulders, patted my back and comforted me: "Now you have to sleep, rest your strength, and join me on the southern expedition in three days." I woke up: "The southern expedition?!" The crown prince was reluctant: "That's right. The country of Dien in the Southwest continuously violates our country's borders. Today, my father gave me orders to lead the army to quell the rebellion." "Depart in three days? Shall I go too?" "Yes, that's right."