Chapter 3 — The Queen Likes to Eat Melon Seeds

One day, Bach Dao ran into the room with tears in her eyes, sobbing and saying:
"Miss, it's not okay! His Royal Highness Yen Vuong said... he wants to cancel his engagement with you and change his engagement to the eldest lady!"
I calmly threw down the melon seeds, stretched out my arms to hug the little maid who was rushing into my arms, patted her back and gently comforted her:
“Don't panic, this is a good thing.”
Bach Dao raised his head, choked with doubt and looked at me:
“…Miss, do you… no longer like His Royal Highness Yen Vuong?”
“That matter — let's talk about it later.”
I followed the line of thought and said:
"Based on Yen Vuong's personality, if he really lost his memory, he would definitely be curious and want to see his former fiancee again. But he didn't come."
“So, he is basically pretending to lose his memory.”
Bach Dao was so surprised that his eyes widened. She still doesn't understand why I can be so sure, and she doesn't understand why this is a good thing. But seeing my calm and leisurely expression, she felt reassured, quickly wiped away her tears, and chattered, pouring tea and putting breakfast into my mouth. In the Minister's Palace, up and down were filled with bustling joy. It's completely different from the day Yen Vuong's people came to give me the bride price. Just because Du Ninh Xuyen is a noble eldest daughter in everyone's eyes, And I - just a concubine without a mother, not loved by my father. Even my own blood brother stood by their side and happily congratulated them. Du Ninh Xuyen was cold and contemptuous towards me, but in front of my father - the only son of the Minister's Palace, she showed affection and tenderness. I stood behind the fake mountain and heard her giggling and asking my younger brother: "Sister stole my biological sister's marriage, are you angry with me?" My younger brother - Du Phong Minh, didn't pay any attention and calmly said:
"What's the matter? Besides, you're my real sister, and she's just a country girl who crawled out of nowhere, how can she be worthy of such a good marriage?"
5

I stood quietly listening. Hearing that my younger brother used to rely on me to go to the mountains to pick medicine and sell medicine to raise him because of his mother's early death, so that he could have food, clothes, and books to study... Now he's behind my back, looking down on me like that. At first I was really a little heartbroken. But right now, I just feel lucky because Bach Dao - the little maid who always sees me as a sister - is not here. I love her like my own sister, and she also firmly trusts and relies on me. If these words reach his ears, I will be fine, but he will definitely cry until he chokes on his breath because he feels sorry for me. At first I intended to leave quietly. But then I suddenly thought - if Du Phong Minh really gets on the same boat with the enemy in the future, then at least I should let him understand clearly what choice he made. So I shook off the snow on my shoulder, stepped out from behind the fake mountain, and softly called out: "Phong Minh." Du Phong Minh was startled and quickly turned his head to see if Du Ninh Xuyen had gone far. Waiting until he breathed a sigh of relief, he frowned and looked at me, unhappily reproaching: "You dare eavesdrop on my conversation with you?!" The word "yes sister" was said lightly, but it was clearly the same as the way Du Ninh Xuyen called me "little sister" - his thoughts were clearly revealed. I didn't scold him anymore, just calmly said: "I have something... I want your help." Unexpectedly, he immediately took a step back and cautiously asked: "Is it related to Yen Vuong?" I nodded slightly. His face immediately changed and he raised his voice to refuse: "No way! Sister, Yen Vuong himself said he wanted to annul his marriage to you, why do you still want to bring humiliation on yourself?" "Besides, right now you and your sister are in a deep relationship. Wouldn't doing that make you feel sad? I absolutely won't help, please put that thought aside for me!" Even if he wanted to ask for a favor, he didn't bother to ask a single question, so he coldly refused, and even put on a mantle of nobility. I smiled coldly in my heart, but on the outside I still maintained a stubborn look and stubbornly said: "It's just sending a letter. Because of the love you once showed me, won't you help with such a small thing?"
"Small thing? What small thing is this?!"
He angrily clasped his hands behind his back, walked back and forth in front of me, angrily saying as he walked: "If I help you, then will I have the face to see you again?" "Isn't it just a marriage? Fighting back and forth, you women are truly too troublesome!" Finally, he stopped in front of me, his face full of impatience and impatience at all. Then - he uttered the exact words that my father had said to me in the room a few days ago: "When I become a maid of the Ministry of Justice, I will personally find a good marriage for you, okay?" I calmly looked straight into his eyes and asked again: "How long do I have to wait?" He paused, his eyes slightly avoided, he looked away, and hesitantly replied: "It's only... three years, five years." Really funny. A woman — how many times “three years, five years” can she wait in her life? What's more, now that my reputation has been ruined, if I wait a few more years... Won't I become an overage girl, who would still want to get married? At that time, don't say it's a "good marriage", as long as there is a family willing to marry me, they will probably thank heaven and earth and rush to marry me off to avoid debt. Du Phong Minh is no longer an ignorant child. He cannot help but understand these things. I was completely disappointed in him, so I just asked one last question:
"My matter is a small matter. But you... do you still remember our mother?" "You have always been healthy and skilled in medicine. How can you say illness is illness and death is loss? Have you really never doubted anything?"

He paused, not expecting me to suddenly ask so directly. His first reaction was to quickly look around to see if anyone was eavesdropping. Then he lowered his voice and said: "Keep your voice down! That happened a long time ago, so why bother mentioning it again?" "Besides, now that you and I are both living peacefully, isn't that also fulfilling our mother's wish? Let her rest in peace, don't talk anymore." This time — I actually laughed coldly out loud. Living peacefully? It seems that the only one who lives peacefully... is only him. Truong Thi's mother, after giving birth to Du Ninh Xuyen, was physically injured and could not continue the pregnancy, but she also did not allow any concubine to give birth to an heir. At that time, she remembered Du Phong Minh - her son who was being raised in the countryside, and reluctantly let him take him back to the palace. And by the way… take me with you. He lives well. Because when I was young, my mother took care of me, and after my mother passed away, I had someone to take care of me. And now, he is the only son of the Minister's Palace, with many expectations from his father. Can he not live well? Even when instigated by outsiders, he can truly believe that - my current life is thanks to the blessing he bestowed! A person who was clearly once a pitiful child has now turned into an unjust and inhumane person who only knows about glory and profit and tramples on blood and love. Or maybe — he was originally, in his bones, that kind of person. I turned around and left, not bothering to look back at him once.