Chapter 5 — The First Beauty of Xuyen Thanh

Only a homing pigeon landed on my hand. It's a letter from Ta Nhuoc Nho. "I told Tieu Yen Hoi, you and I are childhood sweethearts, we've been together like glue since childhood, we still write letters to each other every day, we can't be separated. Tell him to give up soon." I tore the letter into pieces. The first word I wrote had a crooked stroke because I was so angry. "Thank you! Nhuoc! Nho! Tonight at the hour of the Rat, the official duel will take place. Tonight if you don't die, then... you die!" Truong An night is extremely beautiful. But now there is only the sound of the guard. I held a kitchen knife and walked on the streets of Truong An. The palanquin was already waiting at the place where we met with Ta Nhuoc Nho. I pointed my knife at the palanquin: "Ta Nhuoc Nho, come here! Do you think the palanquin is a turtle shell?" Suddenly there were strange noises from all directions. We are surrounded from four sides. On the left is the Royal Guard in black armor with gold trim. On the right is Cam Y Ve in red and black. In the distance, hundreds of archers raised their bows and loaded arrows. My hand holding the knife began to shake. The leader of the Ngu Lam Army spoke up: "Brave thief, dare to assassinate the Crown Prince!" “Aren't you quick to catch it?” At this moment, Ta Nhuoc Nho lifted the palanquin curtain. With just one hand movement, the entire army stopped. He sat proudly in the palanquin, wearing a royal robe, extremely luxurious. He's the Crown Prince, I gasped. Knowing that, I secretly poisoned him. He smiled and looked at me: "What? Are you up here, or should I go down there and kill you?" I retracted the knife: "You are not Ta Nhuoc Nho, you are Crown Prince Ta Phu Nghien?" He arrogantly shook his finger: "You gave it to me, Ta Nhuoc Nho. You never asked my name." Looking at the crowd behind me, I chose to board the palanquin. Ta Phu Nghien smiled smugly and looked at me: "Do you still want to cut me now?" I lifted the curtain and clamped the knife to his neck. He was startled. My voice was cold: "What? As a Crown Prince, do you have the right to ruin other people's relationships?" Ta Phu Nghien felt a little guilty: "Calm down." “At best, I'll go explain to Tieu Yen Hoi.” I laughed coldly: "Explain your head. Last time you said it, everyone ran away. This time, if you say it again, my whole family will disappear." Ta Phu Nghien laughed: "That's right." I suddenly thought: "You are the Crown Prince, why don't you ask for a marriage decree and help me marry Tieu Yen Hoi?" Ta Phu Nghien's smile faded: "Do you really like him that much?" Me: "Is it possible? What a good son-in-law." Ta Phu Nghien puffed out her chest: "Actually, the woman in the capital dreams of the most is me." Ta: “Oh, so what?” Ta Phu Nghien got angry: "Then why don't you consider me?" My voice was cold: "Consider what?" Ta Phu Nghien: "I was on the battlefield for 223 days. I received 223 letters from you, each one scolding me." "But in the last picture, you wrote: 'Are you still alive? Phu Quy misses you very much.'" I countered: "I wrote that Phu Quy misses you." Ta Phu Nghien looked at me: "But I miss you." “I was attacked by the enemy, separated from the main army, and when I woke up, I was lying in the middle of a mountain of corpses, fire burning into the sky.” “Tieu Hong led his army everywhere to find me.” “My entourage saw birds and bees flying around in the sky, and on the ground there were cockroaches and mosquitoes crawling toward me.” “He told Tieu Hong, follow those insects and you will definitely find me.” "It's your scent that saved me." “At that moment, I really wanted to be provoked by you every day.” In the end, Ta Phu Nghien still came to explain to Tieu Yen Hoi. But we are confused. On one side is Ta Phu Nghien, a poisonous-mouthed, handsome man who has known each other for many years. One On the other side is Tieu Yen Hoi, gentle, calm, handsome, a good cook. In my eyes, there is only me, I'm speechless as soon as I meet him. I tapped the abacus in pain: "Tieu Dao, who do you think I should choose?" Tieu Dao said: "Just looking at that number of adjectives, you can clearly see that you are leaning towards Tieu Yen Hoi." I sighed. But when told to decide immediately, I'm still a bit hesitant. Tieu Dao said again: "Miss, have you ever thought about the household registration?" "The Prime Minister has sent someone to marry him, promising to marry you as the seventh general's wife. He will not accept concubines for the rest of his life." "But the Crown Prince... is the future emperor, has a harem of three thousand, three palaces and six courtyards." “You marry the Crown Prince, at best you are just a ‘So Concubine’.” I put my chin on my hand and thought carefully: Well, that's right. Outside the door, Ta Phu Nghien wears civilian clothes and is rarely without a fan. Seeing my father carrying a jar of wine, he quickly ran to help: "Uncle So, leave it to me." My father knew his identity, how dare he let him do it. Quickly avoid: "Don't dare, don't dare." Ta Phu Nghien grabbed it: "It's okay, it's okay." The two fought back and forth, resulting in the wine jar breaking. My father knelt down: "The peasants deserve to die, they alarmed His Highness." Ta Phu Nghien quickly helped him up: "It's okay, just consider me a junior." My father trembled: "Don't dare, don't dare." Ta Phu Nghien was a bit disappointed, so I pulled him aside and let the servants clean up. But he still didn't give up. In the backyard, he held a knife and stared at the fish tank. He raised the knife, swung it over and over, but still didn't let go. It's almost dinner time, my stomach is hungry. “Stop it, let my mother do it.” Ta Phu Nghien gritted his teeth and told me to get away, grabbed the fish, and cut it in half with a knife. Breaking even the fish's bile. My mother was heartbroken: "If the honey breaks, you can't eat it anymore." I pulled her, signaling her to stop talking. But Ta Phu Nghien put down the knife and went straight out. Not long after, he called the whole Musketeer team over. More than a dozen men and women soon emptied all the wine jars. The owner of Vong Nguyet Lau also brought lunch as a state banquet. But the guests who drank were all scared away by Ngu Lam. My father stood at the door, not knowing who to chase first: "The wine money, the wine money hasn't been paid..." Ta Phu Nghien was depressed: "Have I done something wrong again?" I comforted him: "You don't need to compare yourself with Tieu Yen Hoi, he is a general, you are a civil servant, your strengths are different." Then he pouted: "But you don't even dare to kill fish. What do you eat every day in Thanh Chau?" Ta Phu Nghien mumbled: "Stir-fried vegetables."