Chapter 8 — The Voice of the Heart Unmasks the Fake

The Crown Prince brother suddenly looked towards Tham Thanh Dao. Her face was pale, her lips trembled, she couldn't say a word. 【How does it know the begonia tree? Last night it wasn't at the Eastern Palace! Could someone see me? No way, it was so dark when I picked up the bracelet...】

“Go look under the begonia tree.”

The crown prince stood up, his voice cold as ice. The two guards received orders to leave. Less than half a cup of tea, they came back, holding a towel in hand. There was a dahlia flower embroidered on the towel, covered in mud, one corner was torn off. Tham Thanh Dao fell limp on the ground. That scarf is hers.

“What do you have left to say?”

The crown prince threw the towel down in front of her. Tham Thanh Dao prostrated herself on the ground, her shoulders shaking like leaves in the wind. But her heart screamed sharply: 【Admit defeat, admit defeat! Consider me unlucky this time! But it's okay, I can't be a maid in this ghost place for the rest of my life. Sooner or later there will be a chance to turn around! Next time I will definitely do it more discreetly!]

“Chief.”

I spoke up:

"This maid has an unrighteous mind, keeping it will sooner or later be a disaster. It's better to hand it over to the queen mother to handle it and kick her out of the palace."

The crown prince nodded. Tham Thanh Dao suddenly raised her head, her eyes opened wide:

"Be kicked out of the palace? No way! Servants... slaves cannot leave the palace!"

【If I leave the palace, my life will be over! All my plans are in the palace. Leaving this place, I am nothing, I don't even have a place to live! Can't leave the palace, absolutely impossible!】

“Why not?”

I looked at her:

"You came from the common people, wouldn't it be nice to return to the common people?"

15 Tham Thanh Dao opened his mouth, but was speechless. She choked for a long time, tears welling up again:

"This slave... I can't bear to leave the royal palace. I like this place and want to serve the nobles all my life..."

Her heart was screaming again: 【Serve you? Dream! But now I can only say that, first stabilize them and then move on!】 The crown prince's brother frowned. It seemed that he had softened a bit before Tham Thanh Dao's appearance. I saw everything, silently sighing in my heart.

“Then there's no need to leave the palace.”

I calmly said:

"From today, you transfer to the Hoan Y Department. The work there is hard, but also quiet. You review yourself there well."

Tham Thanh Dao prostrated himself in gratitude, his forehead touching the tile floor, his shoulders still shaking. But her heart immediately changed direction: 【Hoan Y Department is Hoan Y Department, after all, it's not too far from the Eastern Palace. As soon as the Crown Princess looked at it, she knew it was a soft persimmon. The Crown Prince has begun to fall in love with me, I can feel it. Waiting for me to find more opportunities to approach him...】 I turned around and left the temple, not listening anymore. Tham Thanh Dao stayed at Hoan Y Department for ten days. Ten days later, she "coincidentally" met the crown prince on the bank of a small river behind Hoan Y Department. That day, the crown prince's brother had just returned from patrolling the capital's defense and took a shortcut along the base of the palace wall. Tham Thanh Dao was washing clothes by the river, his pants rolled up to his knees, revealing a white leg. She hummed softly. The melody is "Water Rhythm Ca Dau", but the lyrics were changed by her, turning into a more direct love song. The crown prince was riding his horse past and suddenly pulled the rope Diamond stopped.

“What are you singing?”

Tham Thanh Dao "panicked" and stood up. Her wet clothes stuck to her body, revealing her slender waist. She blushed and bowed her head, her voice as small as a mosquito:

“The slave... the slave just sings casually.”

“Sing it again.”

Tham Thanh Dao "shyly" sang again. In the lyrics there is both moonlight and love, combined with her wet eyes. The crown prince sat on the horse and looked at her for a long time. When I received the news, I was sitting in the courtyard of Truong Xuan Palace watching craftsmen renovate the waterwheel model. Thuy Binh, a maid close to the crown princess, knelt outside the courtyard door, crying until her eyes were red and swollen:

"Eldest princess, please save your maids and servants! Today, His Highness the Crown Prince returned to the palace, and brought that servant back with him, saying he wanted to let her go to the Eastern Palace to serve him... Her majesty angrily threw away the teacups on the table, and is now crying alone in her room, no one listens to her advice."

I put down the wooden wheel in my hand and sighed. Tham Thanh Dao has returned to the Eastern Palace. Her status did not change, she was still just a palace maid, but her brother the crown prince sent her to the inner courtyard to serve her. To put it bluntly, she had gone from a rough maid who specialized in washing clothes to a close maid. ## 16 That night, the Eastern Palace held a small party, the crown prince invited me to sit and play. When I arrived, Tham Thanh Dao was standing behind the crown prince pouring wine, his eyebrows bowed and pleasing to the eye, no different from before. But her eyes have changed. There were a few more things in his eyes, like a stray cat finally getting into the kitchen, looking at the shelves full of meat and fish, his eyes filled with greed and determination to possess. 【Waiting for so many days, I finally found a chance. What kind of ability does that useless Crown Princess have besides her face? I just casually sang two songs and the prince was so mesmerized that he spun around. After a few days, I'll see if she can still sit still.】 The Crown Princess sat opposite, her face yellow. She tried to smile and pick up food for me, but her hands were still shaking. No matter how many times you pick up the chopsticks, you can't pick up the food.

“Pipe.”

I raise my cup to her:

"In two days, I have to go to the South to consider renovating the water canal. If you are free, why don't you come with me to relieve your sadness?"

The Crown Princess was stunned. Before she could speak, the crown prince shook his head:

"The road to the South is far away. My sister-in-law's body is weak and can't stand the hardships."

“It's okay.”

I smiled:

"A girl's body is not that weak. It's not good for her to be upset and sad all day in the Eastern Palace. Going out for a walk and looking at the mountains and water will also make her heart more open. If the elder brother doesn't feel secure, just send a few more guards to follow."

The Crown Princess looked at me. In those eyes, there was both gratitude and a bit of hesitation. But in the end she still nodded:

“Okay, let's go.”