Chapter 13 — The God of Light's Swapped Bride

Before leaving, Da Vu stopped by the Lang family residence one last time, not to ask for mercy, but to find out more clues about the conspiracy surrounding his wife. He knows clearly that if he continues to act blindly, he may miss important details that could save Y Nhi from an unfair sentence.

Hiding behind a low wall in the garden behind the palace, he happened to meet Y Nhi's nanny - the elderly woman who had taken care of her since she was born, served Y Nhi's biological mother until her death, and still silently stayed in the palace despite being treated coldly after her former owner passed away.

"Mr. Da Vu," the nanny whispered when she recognized him, her eyes filled with worry, "you came at the right time. I was trying to tell you the news but didn't know how."

"Do you know what's going on?" Da Vu asked, his voice tense.

The nanny nodded, pulled him into a more private corner, her voice lowered cautiously. "I overheard a conversation between Lady Doan and a strange man a few weeks ago. They mentioned the jade brooch and the arrangement to frame Miss Y Nhi. I wanted to tell you sooner, but the lady kept a very strict watch on me, afraid that I would reveal this to the outside."

"What does that strange man look like?" Da Vu asked, trying to suppress his rising anger.

"Skinny, eyes as sharp as knives, dressed like a strategist in a mandarin's palace," the nanny described. "I heard the lady call him Mr. Ta, it seems like he serves some great person in the court."

Da Vu gritted his teeth. As he predicted, this was Co Bat Uy's plot, carried out through the hands of Doan Thanh Nhan and the strategist Ta Khac Dung. "Do you know what they plan to do next?" he asked.

"I only vaguely heard that, after Miss Y Nhi is sentenced, someone will come forward to 'help' to lighten the punishment, in exchange for the lady having to accept a certain condition," the nanny replied, her voice filled with worry. "I don't know what that condition is, but from what I heard, I can guess that it's not a good thing."

Da Vu held his nanny's hand tightly, his eyes filled with gratitude. "Thank you for letting me know. I will find a way to save Y Nhi before things go too far. Please, if you have any more news, please find a way to notify me through the tea shop where I often perform."

The nanny nodded, her eyes filled with confidence. "I believe that you will protect the young lady. From the day you appeared, I saw that even though she lived a miserable life, her eyes were much brighter than the years she spent living in this palace. You are the lady's blessing, I firmly believe that."

Those simple words warmed Da Vu's heart amidst the surrounding storm of anxiety. He said goodbye to his nanny and left the Lang palace with even stronger determination.

Before he could leave, his nanny called him back and thrust a small package wrapped in a dried banana leaf into his hand. "I only have this little rice cake. You should bring something to eat along the way. The road to the suburbs is far away and very dangerous. You have to be careful."

Da Vu took the cake package, his throat choked. During twenty years of wandering in this world, he had become accustomed to fending for himself, rarely receiving such sincere concern from strangers. “Thank you,” he said, his voice low with emotion. "I will not betray your trust and that of Y Nhi."

"I trust you," the nanny replied, her eyes shining with a steadfastness rarely seen in a woman who had spent half her life living in a state of submission and resignation. "Go ahead, don't lose precious time."

On the way to the suburbs, he stopped at Nha Mon, trying to ask for news about Y Nhi. Through a few silver coins paid to a guard, he learned that the trial would take place within the next five days, and in the meantime, Y Nhi was kept in a small cell, not treated too harshly but also not allowed to have visitors.

"Five days," he muttered, calculating in his head. The journey to the ancient temple ruins in the suburbs, according to the vague memory left over from twenty years ago, took at least two days to get there, and then more time to search and activate the light stone, if it really still existed. Time was so urgent, but he had no other choice but to risk his luck and try his luck.

He wrote a short note, asking his nanny to forward it to Y Nhi through the contact line in the house, telling her to have faith, that he would return in time to save her, even if he had to go to the ends of the sky to find a way.

The journey to the suburbs was more difficult than he thought. The trail leading to the ancient ruins area has been covered by overgrown weeds over the years since it was left unvisited. He had to rely on vague memories and the remaining aura sensations in his body to find the right direction. Sometimes he had to cross open forests and wade through shallow streams. His mortal body quickly became tired from the long and strenuous journey.

The first night on the road, he had to sleep temporarily under an old tree along the roadside, without a fire to warm him because he was afraid the fire would attract wild animals or bad people in the dark. The hunger was raging, the legs were tired from walking all day long, but the worry for Y Nhi was greater than any physical fatigue. He lay on his back looking up at the starry sky, wondering if she was suffering in the cold cell, whether she was afraid or desperate, and that motivated him even more to quickly find the stone of light, no matter how much hardship it cost.

The next morning, he continued on his way as soon as it was dawn, not daring to rest too long. There was a steep mountain road with slippery gravel that almost made him fall into a deep abyss, only having time to hold on to a protruding tree root to keep his balance. There was a part where he had to wade through a fast-flowing stream. The cold water seeped through his thin clothes, making him shiver, but he still gritted his teeth and continued, not allowing himself to stop for even a moment.

At the end of the second day, when the sunset dyed the sky red, he finally saw in his sight a cluster of crumbling ruins, mossy stone pillars leaning among head-high weeds, nestled in a small valley surrounded by low hills - the same place that used to be the small village he risked his life to protect twenty years ago.

Stepping through the ruined stone gate covered with green moss, Da Vu felt a familiar aura, although it had faded over the years, it still lingered somewhere in this quiet space. He walked among the broken stones, his heart filled with indescribable emotions as he remembered the fire and rain night of the past, the cries of the villagers, and the fateful decision that changed his whole life.

In the middle of the ruins, where the small main hall of the ancient temple used to be, he found a half-collapsed stone pedestal covered with moss and rotten leaves. With the intuition of a weakened god, he realized that this was the center of the aura he felt from afar.

He knelt down, placed his hands on the cold stone, closed his eyes and focused all his mind, trying to awaken any aura left here. It took a long time, when night had completely fallen, for him to feel a faint stream of energy beginning to stir under the weathered rock, like a small, dying fire trying to rekindle.

“Please wake up,” he whispered, his voice shaking with both hope and worry. "I need you, not for myself, but for someone who is more worthy of protection than anything I have ever been entrusted with before."

Under the layer of stone, a faint ray of light began to glimmer, as if listening to that sincere plea, slowly responding to the steadfast will of the man who once traded the whole world just to protect the small lives on earth.

But that ray of light was too weak, only enough for him to feel its existence but not strong enough to separate it from the dense layer of weathered rock outside. Da Vu understands that a piece of spiritual energy that has been dormant for twenty years cannot be fully awakened with just a simple prayer - it needs something stronger, more genuine, perhaps the resonance between the sincere feelings he is carrying in his heart for Y Nhi.

He took the moon harp out of its leather cover, placed it lightly on the stone, and began to strum the melody that he often played for Y Nhi every night in the small house in the Ben Muon area. Each musical note resonates in the quiet space of the desolate ruins, blending with the faint rays of light stirring under the stone, gradually creating a magical resonance.

The light began to spread more widely, from a tiny speck to a pale halo covering the entire stone pedestal, enough for Da Vu to recognize the shape of a small piece of stone, sparkling like jade, hidden deep inside the weathered rock layer. That was the Light Stone that he had been looking for - although still very weak, not strong enough to completely restore his divine status, but enough for him to carry, continue to nurture and wait for the right opportunity to fully awaken the power still dormant within.