Chapter 17 — The Husband and Little Uncle Fake the Disaster, My Sister and I Clean Up the Marquis' Palace

Tieu Ngoc Xu once said that this person is a bit stupid. I say it's good to be a little stupid. People who are too smart often like to calculate others. After listening, she was silent for a long time, then nodded and said it was right. During these years, she often comes to my house to eat. Sometimes she brings her husband, sometimes she comes alone, sometimes just because she cooks a new dish at home and has to bring it over for me to taste. Her personality is still the same as before, her mouth still refuses to lose to anyone, but her eyebrows are no longer as sharp as before. I also have a daughter. The girl's family name is Ta, her name is Ta An Nhien. The name is Ta Can Ngon. He said that the first half of my life was too turbulent, so he wanted our daughter to grow up peacefully and calmly. After listening, I did not object. Because I also hope so. One afternoon in early summer, Ta An Nhien squatted under a pipa tree to pick up fallen fruit. She was only six years old, her hair was tied in a bun on both sides with a red string. She picked and chose the fruit that was bitten by worms and threw it aside, and the fruit that was still intact was put in a small basket. I sat under the eaves sorting medicinal herbs. This scene is similar to many years ago. The only difference is that that year I was alone. And now, in the kitchen there is the sound of Ta Can Ngon instructing someone to cook soup, in the yard there is the sound of Tieu Ngoc Xu arguing with my daughter because she hid the biggest pipa fruit. Next to it there is also a small chair reserved for me, on the chair is a thin robe, because for the past few years everyone in the house has known that I am afraid of the cold. Ta An Nhien ran over holding the basket and looked up at me.

“Why did you leave the Marquis Palace that year?”

My hand, which was selecting medicinal herbs, stopped. The yard suddenly became a little quieter. Tieu Ngoc Xu, standing under the pipa tree, also turned to look at me. She doesn't know what kind of place the Marquis Palace is. He had only heard adults mention those two words occasionally. To him, Hau Phu is probably just like a very far away house, a very old story, a place that once existed but is no longer relevant to the present. I look at the pipa tree in the yard. The leaves are green. Golden fruits hang all over the branches. Sunlight passes through the leaves and falls to the ground, streaks of light like flowing water. I suddenly remembered many things. Remembering my past life, I held two broken jade pendants and cried for three days and three nights. Remember the debts that cannot be paid off. Remembering the nights when I had to stay up all night to figure things out. I remember the moment I coughed up blood on the bed, and there wasn't even a maid nearby to bring water. I also remember in this life, I held the key to open the warehouse of the Marquis' Palace, and Tieu Ngoc Xu moved each chest out. Remember the day we stood in front of the yamen, watching the three words Tham Tri Vi and Tieu Ngoc Xu be crossed out from the Tieu family's household registration. Remember the horse carriage leaving the capital, remember the windy mandarin, remember the Giang Nam ferry station, remember the first day we bought this cottage. At that time, I thought I was just running away. Only later will I understand. We don't have to run away. I'm just saving myself. I put down the medicinal herbs, pulled Ta An Nhien in front of me, and wiped away some dust from her cheeks.

“I don't leave the Marquis Palace.”

The child blinked.

“So what is it?”

I smiled.

“You just leave hell.”

Ta An Nhien didn't fully understand this sentence, but still nodded seriously, as if he remembered it well. Tieu Ngoc Xu stood under the pipa tree for a long time, then suddenly turned away. I know she's not crying. Little She will definitely say she's not crying. It was just that the wind in the yard was a bit strong that day, blowing so much that it made people's eyes sting. That year, the North had a lot of snow. Tieu Thua Duc stood in front of his parents' graves for a long time. After the Marquis Palace was raided, his father died in prison, and his mother did not live a few more years. Tieu Thua Trach was exiled three thousand miles away, and later heard that he died on the way back home, and no one even brought him back his coffin. Besides Tieu Thua Duc, there is no wife. No children. There was no one waiting for him to return. People in the capital gradually forgot about the great prince of the Marquis Palace who once stood in glory. Occasionally, when someone mentions it, they just say one sentence about how unfortunate the Tieu family was that year, and then move on to something else. He wore an old robe, stood in the snow, looked at the tombstone in front of him for a long time. In his sleeve he still kept a piece of paper. It was the book of reconciliation that year. The ink has faded a lot. But the words "each person is unrelated" are still clearly visible. He had many years to think. Thinking if I hadn't faked my death that year. If I had turned my head to look at Tham Tri Vi one more time that year. If that year I had asked her what tea she liked to drink, what cake she liked to eat, and whether she was afraid of the cold or not. Maybe a lot of things will be different. But in this world, the most useless thing is what if. He raised his head and looked towards the South. There was someone he lost there. She used to be his wife. Been waiting for him for three years. It was because of him that he supported the entire Marquis Palace. But in the end, she left his hell and returned to her own world. But for the rest of his life, he won't be able to find her again. (FULL TEXT)