Chapter 5 — The God of Light's Swapped Bride

Three days after the night of the great ceremony, when the whole Lam Thanh capital was still buzzing about the shocking "incident" at Quang Minh Temple, Lang Tuyet Vy sat in her splendid chamber, letting her two maids take turns combing her hair, applying makeup, and admiring herself in the large bronze mirror without hiding her satisfaction.

"Have you heard, young lady," a maid with a small name whispered while fixing Tuyet Vy's brooch, "the whole capital is buzzing about the eldest lady. People say she really has a miserable fate, marrying a beggar right in the middle of the most sacred ceremony of the year."

Tuyet Vy smiled slightly, not hiding the pride rising in her heart. "How many times have I told her that fate has already been arranged and there's no point in fighting."

She looked down at the sparkling jade bracelet on her wrist - a gift that her future fiance, the son of the Ve family, had personally given her after learning the truth about the "error" on the night of the ceremony. Even though the marriage with the Ve family had now completely broken down after they discovered that the real bride in the original engagement was Y Nhi, not her, Tuyet Vy was still not worried at all. Because, just two days ago, her mother secretly met with an intermediary, bringing her news that made her heart pound all night long, unable to sleep.

"You don't need to regret the Ve family," Doan Thanh Nhan told her, his voice full of mystery. "What I aimed for from the beginning is much bigger than that. You just need to be patient, sooner or later you will have a marriage that will make even Lam Thanh look up."

Tuyet Vy did not understand her mother's entire plan, but she knew enough to guess that there was a powerful figure, even higher than the Ve family, who was eyeing the Lang family. She did not expect that the plan to exchange Chi Hong on the night of the grand ceremony was never intended to bring her to the young man surnamed Ve - it was only a small part of a much larger plan that she herself had never known about.

In fact, many months ago, when Lang Vinh Khoi began negotiating the marriage contract between Y Nhi and the Ve family, an invisible hand silently intervened in the entire process. Count Co Bat Uy - one of the most powerful figures of the Nine Great Families, who held military power to protect the capital - happened to see Y Nhi during a market at the beginning of the year, and from that moment, he was determined to have her, no matter what the cost.

But Co Bat Uy was a cautious person, never acting hastily when his prey was still carefully protected by his family. He understood that if he took action to usurp Y Nhi right when she was still a young lady cherished by her parents, it would easily cause a stir, affecting his reputation in the court and in the Nine Great Families. Therefore, he secretly had people approach the Ve family, promising great benefits if they agreed to an engagement with Y Nhi, then secretly arranged for that engagement to break down at the most appropriate time - causing Y Nhi to fall into a situation where she was no longer valuable in the eyes of the nobility, abandoned by her own family, becoming a helpless, easy-going woman for him to "save" and take her back to be a concubine in the palace without anyone daring to speak up. object.

His original plan did not include a single poor musician. The appearance of Tham Da Vu at the grand ceremony, along with Y Nhi's accidentally being swapped into the right wedding line for the poor, was a variable that was completely beyond Co Bat Uy's calculations. When he heard the news, he angrily broke a precious tea set, because his plan was now much more complicated: Y Nhi was not only abandoned by the family as he wished, but also became the legal wife of another man, witnessed by Chi Hong Quang Minh, something that even his power could not openly break.

But Co Bat Uy is not someone who gives up easily. He quickly adjusted his plan and sent people to find out information about Da Vu - a person with unknown whereabouts, no family, no hometown, who had appeared in Lam Thanh for several years now just as a busker. Such a person, he firmly believes, will not be strong enough to resist the power of the entire Nine Great Families once he decides to act.

"Just let them live in poverty for a while longer," he told his confidant, Ta Khac Dung, during a private evening discussion in his private study. "The more miserable she is, the easier it is for her to realize the value of what I can give her. At that time, I will appear as a savior, and that musician will no longer have any reason to stand in my way."

Ta Khac Dung, a thin man with sharp eyes always hidden behind a polite smile, nodded in agreement. "You're right, sir. Just wait a little longer, everything will happen as you wish."

Returning to Tuyet Vy's bedroom, she was completely unaware of those deep plans. She only knew that her mother had promised a brilliant future, and she believed absolutely in that, without the slightest doubt that she herself was just a small pawn in the big game of Co Bat Uy - who had never intended to marry her, and simply used the Lang family as a tool to approach Y Nhi.

"Miss, do you want to go out for a walk?" the maid asked, after finishing Tuyet Vy's makeup. "I heard that today there is a big market in the central area, many merchants from other regions also come to sell."

"Okay," Tuyet Vy nodded, stood up, and looked at her reflection in the mirror one last time with satisfaction. "I also want to see what the street she is living in is like now. I heard that the Ben Muon area there is full of poor people, so she is probably suffering from extreme deprivation right now."

She burst out laughing, a laugh so carefree that she didn't have the slightest hint of guilt, then, along with the maids, left the chamber and headed towards the palace gate.

On the way to the street, Tuyet Vy's palanquin happened to pass by the carriage of Count Co Bat Uy's palace. She lifted the curtain of the palanquin, glanced curiously, and met the eyes of a majestic middle-aged man sitting in an exquisitely carved carriage. His eyes glanced at her for just a brief moment, paying little attention, then turned away as if she didn't deserve even a second more attention. Unbeknownst to Tuyet Vy, that was the man who was secretly arranging the entire fate of her family, and in his eyes, she was never a valuable pawn - she was just a tool for him to access what he truly desired.

"Who is that gentleman?" she quietly asked the maid, a little curious and impressed by the majesty of the carriages.

"I heard it was Count Co Bat Uy, one of the most powerful men in the Nine Great Families," the maid replied, her voice filled with awe. "Holding all military power to defend the capital, no one dares to offend."

Tuyet Vy nodded slightly, a little admiration flashed in her heart, completely unaware that very name, shortly after, would become the biggest nightmare of her entire family, and of the very sister she had just laughed at not long before.

The procession continued to roll, completely unaware that the very road she was confidently walking on was actually gradually leading her closer to a trap that she never expected.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the capital, Co Bat Uy stood at the window of his magnificent mansion, looking down at the bustling stream of people below, his eyes cold and calculating. He had waited a long time to get what he wanted, and now, with his prey in the exact position he needed — no family to protect him, no noble title to cling to — he believed that with just a little more time, everything would be his.

Little did he know that the poor man he considered a small, easily eliminated obstacle actually held within him a power that could make his entire Nine Great Families tremble if fully awakened.

Co Bat Uy turned the tea cup in his hand, his eyes looking far out to the horizon where the sun was gradually disappearing behind the curved roof tiles of the capital. He climbed to today's position of power through patience and cold calculation, never letting temporary emotions influence important decisions. To him, Y Nhi was not simply a beauty that captivates him - she was also a chess piece that can help him strengthen his position in the Nine Great Families, because the Lang family's merchant bloodline held many trading relationships with foreign trade groups that he had long wanted to acquire.

"When do you plan to take action, sir?" Ta Khac Dung asked, pouring more tea into the owner's cup.

"Not in a hurry," Co Bat Uy replied, his voice was calm but contained cold determination. "Once I've taken action, I have to make sure there's no way back for anyone who gets in my way. Just let them enjoy this brief moment of peace, and soon everything will go my way."

Outside, the sunset dyed the entire sky of Lam Thanh capital red. No one in the bustling crowd below knew that, amidst the peace and prosperity of this kingdom, dark plots were silently intertwined, waiting for the ripe opportunity to blossom into a storm that no one could predict.