Chapter 4 — Snow Lotus from the Northern Landscape

Old General Bui was in his fifties, had the back of a tiger and the shoulders of a bear, his voice rang like a bell, and at a glance, he knew he was someone who had fought on the battlefield. He looked at me and nodded. "Hanh Nhi's wife, not bad." He looked again at Ha Dao standing behind Bui Nghien, frowned but said nothing. Ha Dao's face turned pale. During the party, old General Bui mentioned something. "After spring, there may be a war in the North, the court needs to send people." Bui Hanh put down his chopsticks. "Father, I'm willing to go." My heart immediately sank. The old lady was the first to speak up: "You just got married, why are you still going to Bac Canh?" Old General Bui waved his hand again. "The military affairs cannot be abandoned because of personal matters. Hanh Nhi has the ability, so go." Bui Nghien suddenly interjected: "Father, I also wish to go." Everyone at the table looked towards him. Ha Dao's face immediately changed, and he couldn't even hold his chopsticks firmly. Old General Bui looked at Bui Nghien for a long time, then snorted coldly. "What about you? You can't even do your own wedding properly, what can you do on the battlefield?" Bui Nghien's face turned red. Ha Dao stood behind him and secretly pulled the corner of his shirt, only then did he lower his head. That meal was extremely heavy. After the party ended, on the way back to the hospital, Bui Nghien chased after me. "Little sister." This was the first time he called me that. I stopped walking. "Big brother is about to go to Bac Canh, won't you stop him?" I turned around. "On what basis can I stop?" Bui Nghien was speechless when I asked him. "You do what you should do, I do what I should do. What about you, Bui Nghien? What should you do?" He opened his mouth, but in the end still couldn't say anything. That night, I sat under the lamp sewing a cushion to protect Bui Hanh's knees. Bac Canh is cold, knees can easily get sick. Thanh Hoa helped us find a premium piece of deer skin. The inner door suddenly opened. Maybe Bui Hanh woke up and wanted to pour water. Seeing me still sitting under the lamp, his steps stopped. "It's so late, why aren't you sleeping yet?" "Almost done." I bit off the last thread, held up the pair of knee pads to see the needle line. He walked over, saw the item in my hand, his movements immediately stopped. "Do it for me?" "Yes. You're going to Bac Canh, it's very cold there." He took it, his fingertips gently stroked the needle lines on the deer's skin, and didn't say anything for a long time. The firelight shook, his shadow on the wall also shook slightly. "On Tri Y." This was the first time he called both my full name and my first name. "Yes?" He looked at me, his lips moving slightly. That sentence lingered around his lips for a while, and finally he swallowed it back. "Go to sleep early." He turned around and returned to the room. The moment the door closed, I vaguely heard him say something softly, but I couldn't hear it clearly. It's just that I feel like you said: "I will return." 8 Before Bui Hanh left, something big happened in the palace. Ha Dao fell into the water. The lotus pond in the back of the garden, in the middle of winter, the water is bone-chillingly cold. When he was picked up, Ha Dao's lips were purple. When Bui Nghien hugged her and ran back, her eyes were red. The maid next to Ha Dao pointed to a small maid in my yard. "It was she who pushed! People in the young lady's yard pushed Miss Ha into the water!" The eyes of everyone in the palace immediately turned to me. The little maid was so scared that she collapsed to the ground, crying and complaining. "Young lady, it has nothing to do with the slave. The slave didn't do anything!" Bui Nghien looked at me with red eyes. "Young sister-in-law, what did A Dao do to stop you?" In front of me, there was also the old lady and Chu ma ma who just heard the news and ran over. Everyone in the yard was looking to see how I would answer. I'm not panicking at all. "Call all the servants near the lotus pond here and ask each one

Bui Nghien was impatient. "A Dao is still lying there, what are you investigating at this time?" "It involves human life, of course we have to investigate." I looked at him. "Do you want to investigate clearly, or do you want to determine the crime first?" Bui Nghien was blocked and couldn't speak. The old lady sat on the chair, not saying a word, just looking at my actions. I turned around and asked Ha Dao's maid: "You said my people pushed her, at that time you were standing there. Where?" The maid stammered: "The maid stood next to the fake mountain, saw the young lady's maid talking to Miss Ha, then Miss Ha immediately fell down..." "How far it is from the fake mountain to the lotus pond, you yourself understand. From such a far distance, how can you confirm that she was pushed?" The maid's face changed. The ladies in the garden were quickly called. There were two people cleaning near the lotus pond, their statements were completely consistent. Both said Ha Dao was walking by the lake by herself, then slipped and fell down. There was absolutely no one in the range of three steps from front to back, left and right. My little maid was watering flowers ten steps away, and couldn't touch her at all. Bui Nghien's face turned pale and white. Finally, the old lady spoke: