Chapter 83 — The Medicine Bearer Through the Chaos

The Night Before Confrontation

Two days before the confrontation, Nhuoc Tran had all the evidence - the notebook with the lotus symbol, the piece of leather found in Thanh Phong's armor, and the collected testimony documents - transferred to a closed room in her palace, strictly guarded by absolutely loyal personal guards. Tinh Yen personally brought another half piece of white jade and the book Bach Thao Chan Sutra, placing them next to other evidence in a wooden chest with a sturdy bronze lock.

"From now on, no one is allowed to leave this area without someone accompanying them." Nhuoc Tran advised, her stern eyes scanning each person in the room. "Can Ba Thong has been in charge of the Ho Ministry for many years, his minions are planted everywhere in the capital, including in my brother's government. I cannot be absolutely certain about anyone who has not been thoroughly verified."

Tinh Yen nodded, clearly feeling the weight of that warning. She had experienced the feeling of being slandered and trapped in a royal court full of invisible conspiracies, and she knew clearly that tonight was not the time to let her guard down.

That night, when most people in the palace were asleep, Ton Ba Nghi - who still kept the sleepless patrolling habit honed from his nights on the front lines - discovered a strange figure sneaking into the corridor leading to the evidence storage room, wearing the usual uniform of a clerk but moving with unusual stealth.

"Stop!" Ton Ba Nghi shouted loudly, pulled out the short sword he always carried with him, and rushed to block the stranger's path.

The man turned around in surprise, his face showing panic, trying to hide in the darkness but could not keep up with the quick reflexes of a battle-hardened soldier. The loud noise woke up the whole house. In just a moment, Nhuoc Tran and the guards were there, tightly surrounding the intruder.

"Who are you, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Nhuoc Tran asked, her cold and authoritative voice made that person tremble and not dare to raise his head.

After a period of interrogation, the intruder finally revealed his identity - his name was Uy Trong Khoat, a low-level clerk working under Ho Ministry, secretly sent by Can Ba Thong with the sole mission of finding a way to burn or exchange the most important notebook among the evidence, in exchange for a large sum of money enough for him and his family to leave the capital and start a new life in a far away place.

"I'm just a little minion." Uy Trong Khoat said, his voice trembling, tears began to flow out of fear. "Sir Near threatened that if I did not comply, my entire family would be in danger. I had no other choice."

Nhuoc Tran looked at him for a long time, her eyes both angry and a little pitying at a person caught up in the vortex of power without enough strength to resist. "If you truthfully declare everything you know about Can Ba Thong, I will consider granting you leniency before the court." She said. "But if you continue to hide anything, the consequences you will face will go beyond detention."

Lieutenant Trong Khoat nodded vigorously, and that night, he revealed many important details - the secret money transport lines, the names of other officials who had received bribes from Can Ba Thong to turn a blind eye to the food theft cases, and most importantly, confirmed that it was Can Ba Thong who ordered Chu Dac Hoanh to withhold relief medicine at Nghinh Phong, not an arbitrary decision of the Luong Officer alone.

"This will be another important piece of the puzzle in the cross-examination session." Kinh Ba Van said, after hearing the full report the next morning, his face was both relieved and wary. "But this also shows how desperate Can Ba Thong was when he dared to recklessly let people break into the middle of the capital, under the eyes of Princess Truong."

Ve Khai Trach, standing next to him, nodded in agreement, but his eyes still could not hide his worry. "A desperate person is often more dangerous than a confident person." he said. "We need to strengthen our defenses even more until the official confrontation session begins, especially around Thanh Phong and Doctor Do - the two people holding the most key evidence and testimony."

That morning, before the sun rose, Ngan Ba Thuyen and Tinh Yen sat down to check each page in Chu Dac Hoanh's notebook one last time, comparing each number and each date with what Dinh Ba Kham had recorded in the report sent from Nghinh Phong. That meticulous work helped them both temporarily forget the insecurity that was covering the room, focusing all their attention on ensuring that no detail could be intercepted by Can Ba Thong and his court lawyers.

"Look here." Ngan Ba Thuyen pointed to a faint note, his voice lowered. "The date recorded in the book matches exactly with the batch of relief food sent to Dong Hai town in the year of the July epidemic outbreak. I have suspected this for a long time, but never dared to confirm it for sure until today."

Tinh Yen stopped, her heart beat slowed down a beat. She had heard rumors about this relationship before, but hearing Ngan Ba Thuyen confirm it with specific numbers still made her feel a cold chill running down her spine. "So that means..." She said, her voice hoarse. "The relief money that year, which my grandmother and the whole Lach Dua village believed in, was also in his line?"

"I don't dare to say with absolute certainty just from what I have in hand right now." Ngan Ba Thuyen replied, his voice careful but his eyes could no longer hide the heaviness. "But these numbers are enough to open up a direction of investigation that no one dared to touch before. If it is as I fear, then the tragedy of your village and the conspiracy you are trying to uncover today, may never have been two separate things."

Tinh Yen clasped her hands together, trying to keep herself from trembling at that prospect. Over the years, she has always believed that the July epidemic was a disaster of heaven and earth, a cruel irony of fate. If it now turns out that there was a human hand behind it, then all the suffering she has endured will have a completely different meaning — no longer a fate, but a crime that must be paid for.

"You will need to know the truth, no matter how cruel it is." She said, her voice regaining some steadiness. "But right now, the most important thing is still to bring Can Ba Thong to justice with what we have. The rest, you will find out later, no matter how long it takes."

Ngan Ba Thuyen nodded, placing a thin hand on her shoulder in a rare gesture of comfort. "You are much stronger than I thought, Miss Do." He spoke softly. "Stronger than the person who taught you your first lessons."

In the afternoon, when all precautions were tightened, Thanh Phong went to Tinh Yen who was sitting by the window, still holding the Bach Thao Chan Sutra in her hand, looking wistfully out into the empty yard.

"Are you afraid?" He asked, sitting down next to her, his voice gentle.

Tinh Yen thought for a moment before answering honestly. "Have." She said. "Not afraid for ourselves, but afraid that, after everything we've been through — Nghinh Phong, Go Say, those who have fallen — if we fail this time, it will all be meaningless."

"It won't be meaningless." Thanh Phong said, his voice was firm. "No matter what the outcome of the confrontation, what she did - saving people at Nghinh Phong, saving even the soldiers of the North Dich, saving me at Go Say - all had meaning from the moment it happened, regardless of the judgment of anyone in the court."

She turned to look at him, clearly feeling the sincerity in each of his words, a rare feeling of warmth rising in her heart amid extremely stressful days. "Thank you guy." She spoke softly. "For always being here, no matter what."

The two sat quietly together for a long time, without any need for words, just the sunset yellowing the window frame and the sound of the wind gently shaking the trees in the yard. They both understand that tonight is the last night before all the secrets and injustices that have been accumulated for many years will be exposed to the light - or will be extinguished forever by the hands of the one who caused it all.

Late at night, before going to bed, Tinh Yen also stopped by Tep's room and pulled back the thin blanket that was slipping off the sleeping child's shoulders. Looking at its rare peaceful face, she thought to herself, this is the deepest reason why she cannot back down - not only for justice for Mrs. Khue, for Lieu Nguyen, for the lost Lach Dua village, but also because children like baby Tep, deserve to grow up in a world no longer trampled by people like Can Ba Thong.

She closed the door gently, stood for a while in the dark hallway, looked up at the moon hanging in the sky of the capital, then returned to her room, trying to get some sleep to gain strength for tomorrow - the day when everything she had sacrificed during her long journey from a fishing village girl to a physician in the royal court, would finally be judged before the entire court.