Chapter 2 — The Fifth Year After Reconciliation

But Little did Tham Nam Tinh know, before the day we got married, my father had secretly pulled me aside and told me: He said, this... something is not right. If Tham Nam Tinh truly loved me, he should have stayed away from me, not after having feelings for him and telling me to retreat. Now that I think about it, it's clear that he was taking advantage of our family! His father felt that although Tham Nam Tinh had suffered a lot since childhood, he was still able to exonerate the whole family in the end, which was enough to know that he had a superior character. In his heart, I'm afraid the most important thing... is only himself! My father is worried that one day he will betray me. But I don't believe it, I just say my father thinks too much. I grew up with him since childhood, how come I can't see him clearly? If he dares to bully me — I will chop him up myself! 3. I originally thought that after getting married, life would still be the same as before. Tham Nam Tinh takes care of the strategy, and I protect him. But I didn't know, the capital was completely different from the North - women from the official family couldn't go out casually. The only way to communicate is at gatherings of ladies. But my father was a martial artist. I followed him to learn martial arts since I was young. I didn't understand etiquette at all, and I didn't know anything about housekeeping or household chores. Having no choice, I had to put aside my sword and sword and take up my math table and poetry book. Even so, it still makes fun of many people. In front of the ladies, I fidgeted with my hands and feet, becoming the object of ridicule. Tham Nam Tinh just said faintly:

“Mai Lac, this is the capital, not the North!” "Don't bring your Northern country habits here anymore!" "Now that you are out, you are no longer the young lady of the Song general, but the wife of my Tham Nam Tinh." “You should also pay attention to your speech and actions!”

I don't want to make him lose face, I just have to learn how to communicate with aristocrats. But that... still couldn't satisfy him. Next to him was his cousin who had reunited after many years of separation, a lady from the mandarin's house who admired his academic talent, and several young ladies from the same class in the library. At that time, every day he told me:

“Why don't you learn a little from others?” "Stop trying to make up those things all day long! You should read books diligently and understand more about the principles!" “Your temper is like this, how can you help me in the future?” "Sure enough, if our family hadn't suffered, we wouldn't have been on the same path..."

At that time, I just wanted to ask him... How long had it been since he watched the stars with me? How long has it been since you went with me to catch sparrows? I wasn't originally like this, why didn't he criticize me before? 4. Even though he said I had a bad temper, he still never left my bed at night. Not long after, I conceived and gave birth to Tham Lan. Just that time of birth, I almost lost half my life. The midwife guessed that when I was in the North, I was infected with cold poison, and I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to get pregnant again after this time. That's why our body becomes visibly weaker. There was no other way, Tham Nam Tinh had to invite his sister Tu to help me manage things. Everyone advised Tham Nam Tinh to become a concubine, so that the Tham family would soon have an heir. But he just said faintly, he didn't want to. At that time, I loved Tham Lan so much, I wished I could rip out my heart and give it to you. Not only because he could be my only child, but also because of him is the flesh and blood that I gave birth to for Tham Nam Tinh. Tham Lan grew up like me, with arched eyebrows and a gentle smile. But his temperament is similar to his father's, preferring quiet and not liking movement. I'm worried that he will be like Tham Nam Tinh when he was young and will grow up as skinny and weak as a young chicken. So every day, outside of literacy classes, I let him run and practice standing up. I actually don't want him to take up martial arts, I just want to train him to have a strong body so that in the future he can go far and stand firm in the world. At that time, Lan Nhi liked archery the most. He said that if he wanted to get married in the future, he would personally shoot a pair of large swallows as a bride price. He also begged me to make him a very sharp bow... But later, when Tham Nam Tinh started teaching Lan Nhi to open up. When he saw me forcing my child to stand, he immediately thought it was crude and not something a writer's child should learn. So he immediately moved Tham Lan to the hospital. Every day, I only teach my child to read poetry and books. He is not allowed to go out when he has free time, and is only confined to the study room. One day, it was rare to see Tham Nam Tinh go out, so I brought Lan Nhi's favorite bow and arrow, intending to give him a surprise. Who would have thought that Tham Lan would see a series of aiming targets, look at the small bow next to him, and frown in disgust.

“Ah lady, why do you bring these useless things again!” "As father said, my hands were born to hold a pen, not to play these games!"

After speaking, he immediately threw the bow on the ground. I couldn't help but tell him: "The body is the root of all things. If you don't have a strong body, do you want to be like your ancestors?" "Lying in the room every day, only applying powder and scent, dressing like a woman, not having the slightest bit of manliness!" Martial artists have swords, spears and sticks, writers have pens, paper and ink, these are all things that make men proud and upright. That's why I wanted to be with Tham Nam Tinh in the past, and I also dreamed that my future children could both inherit his mind and be as strong as my father's body. I didn't expect that today, my child would turn out like that. Even more unexpected, that night Tham Lan told all the words I taught to Tham Nam Tinh.

“Convenient!”

"How dare you defame my parents in front of Lan Nhi!"

“What is it that people who read books die early, they have to be like your father to live long?!”

“If I knew this, I really shouldn't have married you!”

“We are not inherently the same person!”