Chapter 2 — This life is not a stepping stone

02

Le Canh Hanh spoke at that moment:

“That's enough.”

He had just been pulled out of the water, his voice was hoarse, but his aura was still intimidating. He glanced at Chu Ky Bach, then looked back at me.

“Why did you sink me into the water?”

I calmly replied:

"At that time, his hands pressed against the thin layer of ice. The more he struggled, the faster the ice broke. If I pulled him directly, both of them would fall. We had to push him away from the broken ice, then bring him back to the dry land to save him."

That's the truth. It's also a fact that I spent half my life in my previous life to learn it. Le Canh Hanh lowered his eyes to look at the bamboo pole. The tip of the pole was indeed covered with ice chips, and there were also traces of water being dragged on the shallow beach.

“So you saved me.”

“No.”

I replied so quickly that he was slightly stunned.

"The guard is the one who pulled you up, the guests also helped call you up. I only gave you a bamboo pole. If you want to thank me, you should thank everyone."

I stopped for a moment, looking straight at him.

"Don't thank me. I can't handle it."

In his previous life, his thanksgiving was a marriage. My mother forced me to shut up, my father locked me in the firewood room. Thoi Minh Thu wore a phoenix mandarin, wore a ha ha secret, and married into the Marquis' Palace, and because of his cold, he was married to a fifty-year-old salt merchant as his successor. I ran away. He escaped until his sister died, but returned to the capital because of a letter from her. She was as thin as skin and bones, her ten fingernails dug deep into my neck, asking why I saved Le Canh Hanh. Only then will we understand. Someone falls into the water, the only thing that should be given is a bamboo pole. Not my whole life. After returning to the palace, her mother La ordered people to close the courtyard door. The rattan whip hit the table, causing the tea cup to fall over.

“Kneel down.”

I'm still standing still. La Thi smiled coldly:

“Today, outside, you've ruined the face of the Thoi family, do you still think you're right?”

"The person who secretly met my grandfather was Cui Mingshu, and the person who stole the jade pendant was also Cui Mingshu. What crime does mother want to punish me for?"

She didn't expect me to dare to disobey her, so she took the rattan whip and whipped it. I hold the whip. The back of his hand immediately burst with blood. Painful. But compared to the pain of ice water filling your lungs, what is this worth? I pulled hard and La Thi staggered half a step. The ladies in the room were all stunned.

"You've betrayed! You've truly betrayed!"

"I just want to remind my mother, today half the capital saw me saving the little marquis. If I am beaten to death tonight, tomorrow morning the Royal Palace will discuss what happens to the Cui family?"

La Thi's face darkened. Cui Wenzheng's father was in the midst of his examination. He worked hard for many years, just waiting to be promoted to the position of Household Minister; The thing he was most afraid of was being banned by the royal court. I let go of the rattan whip and wiped blood on the corner of the table.

"Mother can punish me. But it's best not to leave any marks behind, nor to make me sick. Three days later, Dinh Vien Marquis Palace will send someone over."

“Do you think that if you save the little Marquis, you can climb high into the Marquis Palace?”

La Thi's eyes were filled with contempt.

“You are just a concubine, marrying into it will only cause loss of face.”

Exactly the same words as in the previous life. I suddenly burst out laughing. La Thi laughed at me until it was scary:

“What are you laughing at?”

“Laughing at my mother, seeing what others don't need as a grace as great as heaven.”

There was the sound of broken porcelain outside the door. Cui Minh Thuu stood there, eyes filled with poison.

“Who do you say doesn't need it?”

“Tell me.”

I walked up to her, my voice very quiet.

“Le Canh Hanh, I don't need it.”

She looked at me for a long time, then suddenly burst into laughter:

“You better remember today's words carefully.”

“Don't worry.”

I glanced over her shoulder.

"If you like it, just take it. I just hope that in the future you don't die on that high branch, and then blame the people under the tree for not being able to support you."

That night, I took out the old wooden box from under the bed. There were no checks inside, only a book that had been eaten by moths. My mother used to be the daughter of the head of the revenue department at the Thoi family estate. Before she died, she taught me how to use the abacus and left three dyeing factories that were about to close in the south of the city. In her previous life, La Thi took away the land contract, saying that women should not interfere in business matters. After escaping, I worked as a revenue and expense manager at a commercial waterway for six years, helping the owner find out more than 100,000 taels of deficit, and also learned how to read water conditions, compare orders, and calculate routes. Reliving my life again, I don't ask anyone for pity. We must take back what belongs to us.

03

Three days later, Lady Dinh Vien Hau personally came to the door. She brought four boxes of thanksgiving offerings, specifically wanting to see me. Thi La asked Cui Minh Thu to change into an elegant white outfit and sit in front of me. She placed me behind a screen and warned me not to speak up.

“The Marquis likes a lady who is dignified and polite.” She adjusted the brooch for Thoi Minh Thu. “Today, if you dare to ruin your sister's relationship, I will sell the dyeing factory that your aunt left behind.”

I sat behind the screen, leisurely brushing away the tea foam.

“Just sell it.”