Chapter 7 — Tham Gia Horse Carriage

"She didn't even accept her sister's old jewelry, clearly she hates us." Mother stood in the hallway, listening to them call me "she" over and over again, suddenly feeling strange. She remembered herself before. She also said the same about Tham Uyen. She said Tham Uyen understood the most. She said Tham Uyen did not compete. She said just giving her a little bit was enough. It turns out that what she personally taught her two daughters was not fairness. But if you cry harder, if you make trouble more fiercely, you can take everything from the quietest person. Father woke up later. At first, he still felt that the Marquis's current situation was partly due to me. If I had been willing to stay in peace and get along, if I had been willing to hide and help my family at the palace banquet, if I had thought about the Marquis's reputation, everything would not have reached the point where the whole capital would know. Until one big snow day. The eldest sister and the second sister fought over who got to ride in the carriage. In the car there are clearly four positions. The eldest sister placed the piano box and dress chest, the second sister filled the jewelry box and cat cage, and no one was willing to give up space. The eldest sister cried and said: "My piano is precious, if it is damaged by the snow, will she be able to pay for it?" The second sister hugged the cat cage and said in a shrill voice: "Snowball is afraid of the cold, why did he keep it outside?" Father stood in front of the palace gate, suddenly remembering the day his grandmother fell critically ill. That carriage has never really been able to hold me. It's just that they would rather keep unimportant items and refuse to give us a little space. He was silent for a long time, then finally spoke. "Bring down the instrument box, the clothes chest and the cat cage." The elder sister looked at him in disbelief. "Father, in the past you valued fairness the most, why now only make me suffer the pain?" The second sister also had red eyes. "That's all if her things have to be moved, why should my things also be moved?" Father looked at them. In the past, he always comforted people who cried more intensely than before. Then forced Tham Uyen to quietly take a step back. Now, he suddenly felt extremely tired. "The justice in your mouth has never been about fairness." "It's about sacrificing the quietest child, not crying, not making a mess, not daring to cry, in exchange for peace for the two of you." The eldest sister and the second sister were stunned. Father turned around and went back into the palace. He went to the door of my villa and stood there all night. After that, mother opened the old wooden chest I left behind. There was no gold or silver inside, only a hard candy, a faded hair tie, and a page of letters written by his father that had been damaged and then conveniently thrown away. At the bottom of the chest there is also a small notebook. When I was six years old, I wrote: Today my mother patted my head. Even though she recognized the wrong person, I was very happy. When I was nine years old, I wrote: My father said that if I understood things a little better, he would take me to see the lights next year. I will really understand. When I was thirteen years old, I wrote: Mother agreed to organize a birthday party for me. If the eldest sister hadn't gotten sick, if the second sister's cat hadn't gotten lost, this time probably wouldn't have been forgotten. The last page has only one sentence. My grandmother is gone, no one in this world remembers me anymore. Mother held a notebook and sat on the rainy floor, crying until she could barely breathe. She finally understood that I was not born cold. I used to consider the occasional glances they gave me like a treasure, carefully cherishing them for sixteen years. But every time they broke that little treasure with their own hands. In the winter of the second year, father and mother went to Bac Dich. They will not continue to use the Marquis's kindness to coerce me. Just kneeling outside the palace for a whole day. Hac Lien Soc asked me: "Have you met?" At first, I wanted to refuse. Mother Tan said again: "Let's meet once."

good." "Let them know where the pain has been in the past years." I stood a wing away from the palace gate to meet them. Behind my father was a box containing a thorn whip. Inside were pieces of broken jade, a newly copied set of Buddhist scriptures and a copy of that year's love letter. He knelt down first, bowed his head strongly three times. "A Uyen, father was wrong, I apologize to you." His voice was hoarse. "All my life I valued rules and dignity the most." "But again." Use rules to punish the most obedient girl, use face to protect the girl who is the best at lying." "From the beginning, father chose to trust them and not trust me." Mother hugged that small notebook, crying until her whole body trembled. "Mother was also wrong. That night when I brought you love, I knew you would believe me." "I knew that if I received just a little bit of tenderness, you would consider it everything." "But I still took advantage of you." She cried until she could barely continue speaking. "I didn't ask for your forgiveness." "I just wanted to tell you." "It's not that you don't deserve to be loved." "It's that you and I don't deserve it." Apology I've been waiting for sixteen years. But when I actually heard it, there was only peace in my heart. I looked at them. "Broken jade can be mended with gold thread." "But the crack will not disappear."