Chapter 14 — The day my mother wanted to reconcile, I tore up her letter of reconciliation

But right now, my heart is clearer than ever. Lieu Nhu Nuong, midwife, medicine doctor, and translation station recorder. Each rope is held in hand. So the next step is our turn to pull them out of the water one by one. I put the translation station's notes into my sleeve, raised my head and said: "Thank you, Lord Ta, for giving me the knife." Ta Hanh glanced at me, did not accept this, just said faintly: "The knife has been given to you, how to use it, is your business." After speaking, he turned around and left, even his back was neat and decisive. I stood there, watching him leave, with only the few lines of words on that piece of paper left in my mind. During the months when Lieu Nhu Nuong said she was pregnant, Bui Triet was not in the capital at all. Let's see what else she can do and force that child to be included in the Bui family's family tree. The wind in the National Palace is getting colder and colder. The mourning period has not yet ended, but there are no longer heavy cries in the palace, but heavy hearts. When I returned from the western city, it was just dusk. Down the hallway, the lantern was gently blown by the wind, and the shadow cast on the ground seemed to tremble. Ngan Binh opened the curtain to let me into the room. Tham Thi was sitting under the lamp, with a few old notebooks spread out in her hands, her fingertips resting on a page, not moving for a long time. Over the past few days, she had become noticeably thinner and her face was also pale, but that look of weakness and patience was being worn away little by little. Like a piece of jade that has been soaked in cold water for a long time, its true hardness is finally revealed.

“Back?” She raised her head to look at me.

I nodded, took the prescription and translation station notes out of my sleeve, and placed them on the table.

“Is the midwife willing to speak?”

“Say half a sentence.” I replied, “but it is enough.”

Tham Thi first saw the translation station records. She read line by line, her breathing gradually became heavier.

“These months…” her voice tightened, “Bui Triet was not in the capital at all.”

I repeated everything the midwife said. From Lieu Nhu Nuong taking birth control medicine, the amount of medicine did not match the month, to intentionally creating the appearance of premature birth, to the fact that someone was always watching the midwife, not even bothering to kill her on the spot. The room was very quiet. So quiet that there was only the occasional crackling sound of candles. After listening, Mrs. Tam did not say anything for a long time. I know what she's thinking. Thinking of the years of suffering, thinking of the money spent, thinking of her nominal status as the National Princess, but having to stand by and look at the exterior of being raised in Thanh Phong Trang, raised to the point that the whole capital knew about it, and finally wanted to climb on her head. The more she thought about it - if that child was really not Bui Triet's bloodline, then all the humiliation she had endured over the years would be nothing more than a huge joke to the extreme.

“Nguyen.” I called softly.

She seemed to have regained her composure, raising her hand to press her eyelids.

“I'm okay.”

Her mouth said it was okay, but I could see clearly that her hand on the book was shaking. A moment later, she suddenly pushed another notebook in front of me.

“I also found out a few things today.”

I bowed my head and opened it. The notebook is part of Tham Thi's dowry, recorded very meticulously. The first few years were still considered stable, but later on, there were still large sums of money missing. The list was very vague, not "renovating the manor house", then "replacing the old servant", otherwise it was also "going back and forth between lovers". If you just look at one account, it's not too outstanding. But if you connect the front to the back, it's completely wrong.

"These sums of money," Thi Tham said, "before, I only thought that the old lady borrowed my dowry to make up for the mother and daughter at Thanh Phong Trang. But today in the accounting department, an old manager accidentally said that there was an amount in there, which was not made up."

I raised my head: "So what is it?" Thi Tham's lips turned pale, word by word she said: "It is used to arrange matters." My eyes lowered.

“What?”

"He didn't say it clearly. He only said that something happened on Trang Tu that year. It almost caused a big commotion. Later, he used silver to suppress it. After it was suppressed, Lieu Nhu Nuong's side was calm again."

The story was suppressed. Silver gagged. The midwife's irregularities, the medicine's irregularities, the iron and magnetic evidence from the epidemic station's records, suddenly all pointed in the same direction. That year, Lieu Nhu Nuong didn't just secretly give birth. It's about giving birth to a child who basically can't see the light, then using layer after layer of lies, covering that dirty thing, and stuffing it into the Bui family's door. I closed the book, but my heart became even stronger. The more chaos, the more it proves that the bottom is near.

“What about Ta Hanh's side?” Tham Thi asked.

“He is investigating the former border ministry.” I said, "The midwife is not the only person he is following. He suspects this matter is also related to an old route that Bui Triet left at the border that year."

Tham Thi frowned, a trace of insecurity flashed in her eyes.

“Will it lead to a bigger disaster?”

"Have." I looked at her, "but now is not the time to be afraid. Mother, we have come to this step, if we back down, Bui Thua An will be recorded in the family tree. At that time, the fake will also become the real thing."