Chapter 4 — This life is not a stepping stone

I do not dye brocade for the maids. I want to create colors that every woman in the world can wear. The day the dyeing factory opened, Le Canh Hanh had someone deliver a yellow sign.

“Thanh Van ward.”

The shopkeepers around him congratulated him, saying that it was the little marquis's autograph, and no one else could ask for it. I ordered someone to carry the sign to return the car. Le Canh Hanh's face darkened:

“Don't like it?”

“My ward's name is Bat Phan.”

“Bac Phan?”

“Don't rely on high branches, don't borrow the east wind.”

I turned around and pulled the cloth off the wooden sign I wrote myself. The writing is not beautiful, even somewhat clumsy, but each stroke is written by my own hand. Le Canh Hanh blocked the door.

“I just want to thank you.”

"The Marquis's thanksgiving has already been sent."

“If it weren't for you that day, I would have died.”

“If I hadn't made you sink first, perhaps you would have crawled up on your own.”

Someone next to me couldn't help but laugh out loud. Le Canh Hanh's ears turned red, angry but unable to act. In my previous life, I only knew him through a few small words from my sister. He once donated jewelry worth thousands of gold, and when Cui Minh Thu fell ill, he also invited doctors from all over. But after three years of being married without children, he tacitly agreed to let his mother take care of him. In the fifth year, he listened to his concubine's favor and thought that Cui Minh Thu was jealous. In the tenth year, Cui Ming Shu died of illness in the heavenly courtyard, while he was admiring flowers with a new person. Perhaps he was not born cruel. It's just that people held me up too high, never knowing that my ungratefulness could kill someone. Le Canh Hanh was silent for a long time, then suddenly asked:

“Do you hate me so much?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

"Because you stand here, people will forget who opened this factory. They will say that the sign was written by you, that business is taken care of by you, and even the breath we take is said to be thanks to the glory of the Marquis Palace."

I looked at him.

“Little Marquis, your kindness is too expensive, I can't pay it back.”

The first time he was rejected like that, his face turned blue and white. Finally, he sent someone to carry the yellow sign away. Before the carriage left, he opened the curtain:

“Cui Thanh Quy, what if I insist on making you pay?”

I picked up the bamboo pole next to the door.

"Then I'll send you down to the cool water again."

05

The first month, Bat Phan ward only sold thirty pieces of cloth. People in the same profession laughed at me for being vain, La Thi also cut off my monthly spending money in the palace. Every day, Cui Minh Thu changed his clothes and passed by my hospital door, deliberately asking when I would close the factory. I don't care. Old fabrics take on uneven color, and the dyeing is often patchy. I told Uncle Trieu not to try to make it neat anymore, but instead to fold the fabric and tie it tightly, letting the color flow naturally with each fold. When the first canvas room was opened, the color was like the mountains after rain. Flip Dao looked stunned:

“Miss, this pattern has never been seen before.”

“So it's called Diep Thanh.”

We cut Diep Thanh fabric into narrow gauge, selling by the yard. Women who can't afford to buy a whole room can still buy a yard to make necklines and sleeves. Seven days later, the girl selling vegetables in the south of the city tied a Diep Thanh scarf to the market. Half a month later, the most famous dancer in the guild used it to sew skirt edges. A month later, orders filled the table. The final La Thi Can't sit still anymore. When she called me to the main courtyard, Cui Minh Thu was also present. On the table were placed soup cards from the Dinh Vien Marquis Palace. The Marquis came to pray for favor. Thoi Minh Thu's cheeks turned red, but his eyes couldn't hide his pride. La Thi pushed the concubine towards me:

"Lady Hau pleases your sister. You often appear outside, your reputation is not good. Take this opportunity to hand over the dyeing factory to the family, wait in peace and wait for marriage."

“Who do I marry?”

"Dou Vien Ngoai in the west of the city. Even though he's a bit older, he doesn't criticize you as a concubine."

The fifty-year-old salt merchant had the last name Do in his previous life. It turned out that there were maggots, even if they changed one path, they would still crawl under my feet. I picked up the soup card and looked at it. On it were written the names Thoi Minh Thu and Le Canh Hanh. I smiled:

"You finally got your wish, so congratulatory."

Toi Minh Thu looked at me:

“Aren't you jealous?”

“Why should I be jealous?”

"These past few days, brother Canh Hanh often comes to your dyeing factory, everyone says he is interested in you. But in the end, the person he married is still me."

She leaned closer, her voice both soft and urgent:

"A concubine is still a concubine. No matter how much you struggle, you cannot overcome me."

I put the card back in her hand.

"Then you have to hold on tight. Anyway, without my jade pendant, this marriage will not be easy."

Her face immediately changed. La Thi shouted loudly:

“Brilliant!”

Two women stepped forward to hold me. I raised my hand and knocked the table over. Tea, breakfast and soup rolls all over the ground.

“Wanting to use my dyeing factory to exchange bride-price, dreaming.”

The news makes people tremble:

“When it comes to marriage, parents are in charge!”

“Then please take the lead.”

I took out another notebook from my sleeve.

"The Ministry of Health is inspecting the deficit in river transport. The four boats my father was in charge of had an extra three thousand stones left in the register. Mother, guess, is he going for the little Do Yuan, or for the purple hat on his head?"

La Thi's pupils shrank.