Chapter 3 — The Day I Retired, I Reversed My Destiny

“He returned from the bench, picked up a blank piece of paper, and began to write.

"In these three years, in the Co family, what have you done, every single thing, tell me."

I stabilized my mind and began to recall. From the first day I got married there. My grandmother criticized my dowry as obscene, it was all gold and silver, there were no ancient records from the previous dynasty, no calligraphy or paintings from famous families. Co Yen said his salary was meager and told me to use the dowry to cover household expenses. The servants in the palace saw that the wind was going in that direction, on the surface they obeyed, but behind their backs they did the opposite. We disband the old people and replace them with our own people so that we can manage the internal affairs. My grandmother was sick all year round, the medicine was endless, famous doctors all over the capital, I invited them all at once. Co Yen wants to make friends with colleagues and give social gifts, which account does not come from our accounts? To give him dignity, I even transferred the most profitable store that my mother left me into his name. I speak very slowly, very meticulously. Father listened very attentively, the pen in his hand did not stop. By the time I finished speaking, he had filled three sheets of paper. He blew the ink dry, carefully folded it, and placed it in an envelope. He called out the door. Butler Phuc Bo immediately pushed the door open and walked in.

“Give this to Truong Khanh of Dai Ly Tu.”

"Tell him to look up these accounts for me clearly that night, not even one item is missing."

"Also, go investigate a woman named Lieu Nhu Yen. I want her entire background from childhood to adulthood."

“Yes, old man.”

Uncle Phuc received the letter, turned around and left. In the study room, only the two of us remained.

“Father, this person is…”

“Didn't Co Yen say I was immoral?”

Father laughed coldly.

“I will let the entire capital see clearly how the so-called scholars of the Co family rely on the dowry of a ‘family daughter’ like you to support themselves.”

“Doesn't he want to have a child?”

“Then I will let him slap my face on the court tomorrow.”

I looked at my father plotting and plotting, the big rock in my heart finally fell. I have returned. Return to your shelter. Even if the sky falls, my father will still support me. Parents waved their hands.

“Go back to your hospital and rest well, take a shower, and change into clean clothes.”

"Don't let the servants see and laugh."

I withdrew from the study room and returned to my pre-marriage residence - "Van Tinh Residence". The begonia tree in the hospital is still the same. The room was swept clean without a speck of dust, and the decoration was exactly the same as when we left. Maids Xuan Dao and Ha Ha saw me and cried until their eyes were red and swollen.

“Miss, you have finally returned!”

"That Co family's house is not a place for people to live at all!"

The ladies took care of me, bathed and changed my clothes. The warm water enveloped my cold body and I felt like I was alive again. Changing into soft casual clothes, I sat in front of the dressing table. The person in the mirror had a haggard face, the bottom of his eyes were dark blue, and the corners of his lips still had red swelling that had not yet disappeared. There is not even half of the appearance of the golden general's palace. In these three years, I have finally tortured myself into what kind of devil I am. I picked up a pair of scissors. Xuan Dao panicked.

“Miss, what are you planning to do?”

I look in the mirror, One blow cut off his waist-length hair. Hair fell all over the ground.

"From today onwards, To Van Khanh, live for yourself."

The person in the mirror's eyes have changed. No longer gentle, no longer obedient. Co Yen, Lieu Nhu Yen, Co family. What you owe me, I will reclaim it all in installments, both capital and interest. The next day, I woke up very early. I don't wear soft girly clothes. I chose a set of light white glasses and tied my short-cut hair high. Looking at it, it looks like a female general preparing to go into battle. Father is waiting for me in the dining room. Seeing my appearance, he froze for a moment, then showed an appreciative smile.

“That's the daughter of the To family.”

“There are some parts of your mother's old style.”

My mother was originally a strange woman. She can play the abacus, and can also draw a bow and shoot a great eagle. Before, I was always painstakingly forcing myself to follow the rules, hoping to become a well-mannered, noble lady. Only today do I understand clearly that what has been engraved deep into the core... is not something that can be learned and achieved. My father and I had breakfast. He told me that Dai Ly Tu had been checking the books all night. The stores that had been transferred to Co Yen in my name over the past three years had made a lot of profit, but the books were in chaos, there was a lot of money whose whereabouts were unknown. Lieu Nhu Yen's background has also been investigated. She was not an orphan at all. Her father was once a petty official in the Ministry of Health. Because of embezzlement, he was dismissed and his family situation deteriorated, so he sold her into Thanh Lau. The person who investigated her father's case in the past was a royal historian named Tien at Ngu Su Dai.