Another Western December is drawing to a close. The weather is freezing, but Huu Quan continues to study with Khac Tuan as usual.
Thai Thuy decides to go for a walk because he hasn't had any alone time in a long time. But the person sitting at the table behind him seems to know this ahead of time, or perhaps he was snooping here early, waiting for Thai Thuy to sit alone before approaching and sitting behind him, trying to get his attention. Since Thai Thuy arrived, the other person sat down, ordered tea, ordered peanut candy, and leisurely ate after that, drinking from one thing to the next.
"You seem to get a little younger when there's no need to worry about power, don't you?" Thai Thuy says sarcastically.
The man sitting behind him only smiles softly, then sets the glass down and says: "Long time no see." Minh Dinh observes "You don't seem to have changed much."
Thai Thuy stands up, looks around, and then sits at Minh Dinh's table. Minh Dinh looks at how worried his son is, looking back and forth, and jokingly says: "It's fine, no one is watching. Who do you think I am? I've reigned longer than you."
Thai Thuy snorts.
"No, I dare not. How dare I compare myself to someone who made the greatest joke of all time just to run away with love?"
Minh Dinh, whose real name is unknown, is the Emperor of Linh Nam, an emperor reviled by the entire dynasty, and the father of Hoang Chinh. Hoang Chinh has suspected Minh Dinh was homosexual since he was a child. The way he pulled up the hem of his shirt to avoid touching his concubines and maids, the way he was disgusted whenever the mandarins mentioned to him that he should have more children, the way he dressed beautifully even when it was inappropriate. Minh Dinh has never hidden or intended to hide his attraction to men. Minh Dinh faked his death to run away with the First Grade guard, whom he still hugged and slept with every night, when Hoang Chinh was just old enough to be regent.
This heinous crime was only known by him, Tu Cuc, and his mother.
"What makes you want to meet me now?" Hoang Chinh asks.
"I heard you're getting married, so I wanted to congratulate you." Minh Dinh says "I've met him, he's a great kid."
Minh Dinh has always been intrigued by Hoang Chinh. Although he was the one who saved his life, Minh Dinh was also the one who destroyed Hoang Chinh's life. Forcing a nineteen-year-old boy to keep a secret too big for him, putting him on the throne while leaving him with nothing, was truly selfish.
So, whenever he has the opportunity, Minh Dinh always finds a way to compensate Hoang Chinh.
"I know you've met him." Hoang Chinh replies "I was there the day you purposely bumped into him on the street."
Minh Dinh frowns when he hears that:
"What are you saying? Don't speak too harshly."
Hoang Chinh chuckles. Although Minh Dinh was neither a good Emperor nor a good father. Minh Dinh, on the other hand, is not a heartless person. Hoang Chinh always knows what Minh Dinh is thinking and worrying about. Not since he was a child, but since one afternoon when Minh Dinh hugged him, stroked his hair, looked at him affectionately with his beautiful eyes, and kept saying:
"Thai Thuy, I am sorry."
Minh Dinh places a brocade box on the table, which contained a silver necklace for women. Thai Thuy laughs as he opens the box and asks:
"Why are you giving me this?"
"I've been planning this for your future partner since you were twelve." Minh Dinh says as he peels off another peanut candy "According to my understanding of your taste, it's still reasonable. I also never expected you to be interested in a man one day."
Hoang Chinh accepts the gift by closing the lid of the box and pulling it towards himself.
"I'll give it to Huu Quan."
"I appreciate it." Minh Dinh gives a nod.
Hoang Chinh stands up to leave, but as he does so, he turns and asks Minh Dinh:
"Father... you don't want to ask about mother?"
Minh Dinh looks at his son and tilts his head as if he doesn't understand:
"What?"
"Don't you intend to ask about Empress Tu Cuc?" Hoang Chinh repeats himself.
Minh Dinh frowns and then realises something. Looking at Hoang Chinh, he smiles and shakes his head:
"Ah, no need for that."
Hoang Chinh puzzledly raises his brows. Minh Dinh can read his son's expression. It's the expression when he wants to ask but doesn't dare. Minh Dinh once taught him that whatever you want to ask or say, other people want to hear as well. You are an Emperor, and although you're one of over ten thousand people, you must live for ten thousand people. Make certain that what you say is something that thousands of people want to hear.
"I just want to know how you're doing right now. Tu Cuc, she and I always exchange handwritten letters." Minh Dinh stands up, pats Hoang Chinh on the shoulder, and turns to leave with Vong Duc standing nearby.
Hoang Chinh realised at the time that Vong Duc was always standing so close to them. That man has been waiting for his father alone until now.
Minh Dinh and Tu Cuc have never considered themselves husband and wife.
Minh Dinh met Tu Cuc while on a pilgrimage with his father. Tu Cuc is a strong girl with a lot of personality who is also very gentle. They communicated as if they were soulmates who had known each other for a long time.
Minh Dinh, on the other hand, has never loved Tu Cuc, and Tu Cuc already has someone in her heart.
Minh Dinh frequently listened to Tu Cuc talk about how she wanted to be with the person she loves, how she would marry, how many children she would have in the future, and how she would live with that person until her hair turns white. Minh Dinh would pout, again and again, criticising the happiness she desired for being so ordinary.
Tu Cuc came to Minh Dinh with a teary face one day. She said she wanted to die.
She got pregnant after she had sex with that man. When her father found out, he criticized his poor family situation and failed to advise her to leave him, so he let people sneak into the house and murdered him. Tu Cuc was terrified and unsure of what to do while pregnant.
Minh Dinh gritted his teeth, unable to bear seeing his friend suffer in this way, he asked his father to bring a letter of marriage proposal and betrothal, stating that he wanted to marry Tu Cuc.
Tu Cuc's father was still concerned at the time because he had promised to marry Tu Cuc to another family. But when he knew that his daughter was pregnant with royal blood, he agreed to marry his child rather than defy the Emperor's and Prince's orders.
Tu Cuc and Minh Dinh married that year when the weather had just cleared up.
Tu Cuc was furious after that as she watched her belly grow larger and larger. Every time she saw it, she was reminded of the scene in which the man she loved was killed in the past.
Tu Cuc's stomach hurt every time she thought about it.
Minh Dinh was constantly considering how to make Tu Cuc happy so that she could give birth without difficulty. Anyway, he couldn't bear to let her remain depressed when they were husband and wife.
Minh Dinh was still perplexed when Tu Cuc gave birth.
Tu Cuc was exhausted and thought she was dead when the weak infant was born, and they tried extremely hard to save her from death. Not so for the other child, unfortunately.
Minh Dinh sobbed as he held the child's cold body in his arms.
Vong Duc then approached him, listened to his story, and comforted him greatly, as well as assisting him in burying the unfortunate child, causing him to unconsciously fall in love with this bodyguard. On the same day he stayed by the stream with Vong Duc, he found Thai Thuy crying in the dew-soaked grass.
The story is that Thai Thuy was not even Tu Cuc's son, only he and Vong Duc knew.
"What are you thinking?"
Minh Dinh is startled when he hears Vong Duc asks him, and it's only then that he returns the smile and looks at the other person, replying:
"Nothing. Just thinking around."
Vong Duc also stops asking questions. If Minh Dinh had intended to keep a secret for himself, Vong Duc wouldn't have known anything even if he had asked more questions.
Vong Duc, on the other hand, knows that no matter what he is thinking, he is worried about Hoang Chinh.
"Don't be too worried." Vong Duc says "Hoang Chinh is no longer an inanimate child, he hasn't matured, but he is not ignorant. Your Majesty just let Hoang Chinh handle his affairs, if he makes a mistake, you can intervene in secret, right?"
Minh Dinh considers it, decides it's right, and nods to Vong Duc:
"Alright. I understand."