Chapter 5 — Tham Dien

After hearing what I said, Ta Tranh clearly breathed a sigh of relief. Then there was a long silence. We know what he is thinking. Even lying there, his eyes were still lifeless looking into space somewhere. The scorpion venom destroyed the lower half of his body. Right now, he and To Vong are no different. Oh no, there's still a difference. If To Vong received good treatment, he might still be able to stand up. The toxins in his body will only get deeper and deeper, bit by bit gnawing away at his tendons, his vocal cords, his mind... Until he turns into a breathing corpse.

“Am I… also useless?”

He suddenly asked.

"What do you say, husband? You will get better soon."

I wiped the corner of his mouth and said gently:

“As long as you are still alive in this world, as long as I can still see you, I have nothing to fear.”

"We already have our child. I will take care of you for the rest of my life, and the Marquis will absolutely not collapse."

Ta Tranh looked at me bewildered. In those red eyes, something seemed to flash. Is it touching? Guilty? Or do you finally realize reality and resign yourself to it? It's not important anymore. The important thing is that he will never escape my palm again. … A tra man is indeed a tra man. As soon as he was able to get out of bed and walk a few steps, he remembered his ex-lover.

"There's been no news of Dieu Am for a long time. I have to go see her."

Little did he know... The fact that he could get out of bed and walk was just an illusion due to the temporary subsidence of the toxicity. In just a few days, he will be paralyzed again. Ta smiled and nodded:

"Husband, don't worry, Miss Su, on my side, will always take care of you."

Extremely attentive care is another thing. To Vong picked up a life, but the person was paralyzed and his mind was no longer alert. All day long, he only knows how to ask for money to go gambling and look for prostitutes. To Dieu Am of course refused. Every time she went to the music hall to sing songs, she locked him in the house. I was kind enough to ask someone to pick the lock, save him out, and even give him some money to spend. He accidentally let people tell him which bookmaker was the most exciting, which underground brothel had the most attentive lady. That idiot certainly took the bait. Not long after, he spent all the money I gave him, and still owed a pile of gambling debt. The creditors came to the door, destroying the house. To Dieu Am sold all the items that could be sold. Even the silver brooch Ta Tranh gave her in the past was pawned, but it was still not enough to repay the debt. Right at the end of the solution, a cloth merchant from outside appeared. He said that he saw his two sisters pitiful and agreed to help them pay their debt. The condition was that Miss Su would occasionally accompany him to drink tea, chat, and entertain him while he was away from home. At first she refused. But thinking about his crazy brother and the group of cruel and evil creditors, he finally nodded. So... When I took Ta Tranh out, the carriage just passed by a wine shop, the scene I saw was like this: To Dieu Am wearing an old peach dress, with cheap makeup on her face, forcedly smiling and sitting drinking with that businessman with a big belly and big ears. And that man's fat hand was accidentally placed on her shoulder. Ta Tranh's face immediately turned pale. His lips trembled violently. I also pretended to be surprised:

“Husband, is that… Miss Su?

“A few days ago, I ordered someone to send over fifty taels of silver. In theory, it was enough for them to spend, so why does she still have… who!”

Ta Tranh's face became even more unsightly. He propped up his crippled leg, jumped off the carriage, and staggered into the pub. I quickly followed to see the excitement.

"To Dieu Am! You... you treat me like that?!"

He grabbed her collar, not half as gentle as before. At first, To Dieu Am was still panicked. After that, I was too lazy to pretend:

“In the end, who is at fault?

"You say you love me, but you refuse to marry me, and you refuse to cure my brother."

“Now you don't even count as a man anymore, what's the use of keeping you?”

Ta Tranh stood frozen in place. After a long time, I burst out laughing softly. Laughter is harder to hear than crying.

“Go back to the palace!”

He grabbed my hand and didn't look back. Three days later. On the river on the outskirts of the capital, two corpses emerged. One is a young man with a broken body. One is a young woman. Both people's necks were broken. Clothes were disheveled and valuables on his body were also stripped clean. The government official came and took a look, saying that it was a migrant robbing people, and he quickly closed the case. When the news came, Ta Tranh was leaning on my shoulder taking medicine. I cooled the medicine spoon and said gently:

“Everyone outside said that Miss To was in trouble and encountered bandits.

“Husband, don't be too sad.”

Ta Tranh laughed coldly, then gently looked at me:

"Dien Nhi, don't mention them anymore in the future, let's live well."

I blinked my eyes and smiled a pure, clean smile.

"Okay!"

… The old man is already old. More bedridden and overly worried. After trying for more than half a year, I finally ran out of oil and turned off the light, closed my eyes and let go. Looking at his son's illness getting worse and worse, he more or less died without closing his eyes. The only comforting thing is... He got to see his grandson. Not wrong. I give birth to children. But it can only be a child. In my previous life, in order to serve my parents and husband well, I knew countless famous doctors. So in this life, from the beginning I found the best doctor and mixed medicine to give birth to a boy. Looking at the only grandson of the Marquis Palace, the old Marquis reflected back and was even able to say a few interrupted sentences.