Chapter 6 — This Year's Peach Blossoms Bloom Again

The day Bui Nhien left for the war, the capital was still snowing. He rode on horseback and turned his head to look at the royal citadel. Truong Ninh saw him off at the city gate, crying. “Brother, you must return.” Bui Nhien adjusted her robe and gently advised her. “Truong Ninh, if big brother can't come back, please go pray to Princess Concubine Than, she will take care of you.” Truong Ninh panicked, gritted his teeth and stomped his feet to cover his mouth. “Phi Phi Phi, brother, don't talk nonsense!” Bui Nhien smiled, threw himself on the horse, and did not turn back. In the following days, the border continuously announced the victory. Bui Nhien in the North fought battles as if he did not need his life, three battles and three wins, stubbornly repelling the Tut Quyet people. When news of Tut Quyet's request for peace spread to the capital, I was in the pain of dying over and over again in the delivery room. Tieu Dien walked back and forth outside the palace, his face even more solemn than during court. Suddenly, a baby's cry rang out. Immediately after that, the midwife shouted happily. "I'm born, I'm born! I'm a princess! Congratulations, your majesty, congratulations!" Tieu Dien was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. Immediately after that, despite everyone's objections, he rushed into the delivery room and kissed me hard on my sweaty forehead. “Uyen Nhi, thank you, I have a princess.” I was so tired that I couldn't speak, I just smiled at him. On the day the little princess turned full, Tieu Dien granted amnesty to the world. Appointed Bui Nhien as general of Tran Bac and bestowed the title of Marquis of An Bac. When the emperor arrived at the Northern border, Bui Nhien was standing on the citadel, looking at the vast wilderness outside the gate. He received the order, his tone was calm. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” The deputy general approached and said happily. "General, this is a great reward from heaven. When we return to thank you, I don't know how many girls will throw handkerchiefs to you." "You're still alone now, why don't you think about getting married and having children?" Bui Nhien rolled up the sacred thread and stuffed it into his sleeve. “No rush.” A word that is not hasty, is three years. During those three years, Bui Nhien built the Northern Landscape as strong as a copper wall and an iron wall. When the Tuet Quyet people heard the wind, they were scared to death. Truong Ninh married To Nguyen Sach. I asked Tieu Dien to give her a kiss and increase her dowry. The relationship that year was destroyed because of me, but this time it has finally resumed. With my back, you can live more comfortably in the To family. The day they got married, Bui Nhien ran back from the North. He sat in the upper position in the main hall, watching Truong Ninh wearing a wedding dress kneel down and bow his head. His eyes turned red, but he still smiled and nodded. After the bridal party left, he stood on the porch, facing me far away. The distance is only a few steps, but the difference is the life before this life, the distance between life and death. He clasped his hands and performed the ceremony of the courtier. I nodded slightly, turned around and left. “Your Highness.” We stopped, but did not turn back. Bui Nhien's voice came from behind, carrying a bit of hoarseness. "I will not return to the capital again. Please take care." “The Northern region is suffering and cold, the general must also take care of it.” He looked at me deeply, as if he wanted to engrave that look into my bones. Then he turned around and strode away, never looking back again. That was the last time we met in this life. Bui Nhien passed away one spring. Reporting from the North to the capital, General Tran Bac relapsed into an old wound and could not stand it. Tieu Dien stopped writing and spoke for a long time. "After burial, posthumous title of Tran Quoc Cong." I'm going to the funeral. Not as Princess Concubine or Mrs. Bui, just outside the pavilion outside the citadel, watching the funeral team carry the black painted coffin into the citadel. Truong Ninh hugged the mandarin and cried loudly, fainting several times. To Nguyen Sach stood next to her, supporting her and advising her in a low voice. For some reason, I suddenly remembered a certain night in the Northern Realm of my previous life. We hadn't talked to each other for a long time then. He returned drunk, crawled on the table and fell asleep. I covered him with a blanket, he suddenly grabbed my hand and said something hoarsely. I can't hear clearly. Wait for me to come closer,

he said no more. Thinking back now, maybe he said, if there is an afterlife... In this life, everyone will change their way of life. Bui Nhien died in battle, not because he was melancholy, but Truong Ninh married a good husband, not because he died of old age in the North. Tieu Dien has someone in his heart who makes him amazed with just a glance, I have a life where I don't need to look back. Only when I dream about it late at night, sometimes I will remember the man who whispered before his death. "A Uyen, I'm thinking about whether this life's tribulations all arise because of you." Later I thought, maybe he was right. It's just that the source of our suffering is not because we went on that spring trip. It's that we have never learned how to express our love clearly, and how to say goodbye kindly. The spring wind blows again, peach blossom petals are swept up by the wind, flying through every place in the world. Like a gentle yet solemn farewell.