Chapter Seventeen

Tu Quyen pulled Minh Tuyet inside her room and closed the door shut. Minh Tuyet had just arrived back from the countryside with her father, and was told that Tu Quyen wanted to see her.
“What is going on?” Minh Tuyet asked as she looked at herself in the full length mirror. They both sat down and Tu Quyen held Minh Tuyet by the hands.
“I’m so sorry,” Tu Quyen said with her eyes closed.
Minh Tuyet thought for a while about what could be so bad that had made Tu Quyen act this way. Suddenly, her eyes bulged out.
“You have to be kidding me!
“I’m sorry!”
“I can’t believe this!”
“I know, I know! I am so sorry!”
“I trusted you, Quyen!”
“What?” Tu Quyen said. She had a feeling that she and Minh Tuyet were not talking about the same thing. However, Minh Tuyet was still talking.
“Quyen! I can’t believe you! This is not how this is supposed to turn out! Why did you tell him?”
“Wait, wait, wait. What’re you talking about?”
“You didn’t tell Bang Kieu?”
“Tell him what?”
“….that I am a mistress!”
“Of course, not!” Tu Quyen cried.
Minh Tuyet touched her heart, which was racing very fast.
“Thank god!” she cried.
Tu Quyen just smiled. She thought she had let out her feelings to Minh Tuyet, but she didn’t. Now she had to start it over, which was more nerve-wrecking.
“Well, why are you sorry?” Minh Tuyet asked, still admiring herself in the mirror.
“I… You have to promise me that you will not tell anyone!”
“I promise!”
“I…think….well, I think… I kind of… like… well…I think…I like…um, l-l-like Quang.”
“Quang? As in the Luong Tung Quang that gets on my nerves?”
“Yeah, him.”
“Quyen! This is great! Now I don’t have to marry him!”
“Wait, huh?”
“Well, if we tell my dad…then he will arrange the marriage between you and Quang, not me and Quang!”
“No! You promised me you wouldn’t tell me anyone!”
“But…”
“Look, Tuyet. I’m not even sure about my feelings. Just don’t tell anyone!”
“What if when you’re sure about your feelings but you never tell my dad? Are you really going to sit there on our wedding day and see the person you love get marry to your cousin?”
“Tuyet! I never said I loved him!”
“I’m sure you will when you get your feelings sorted out!”
“I’m begging you not to tell anyone!”
“I really don’t understand why you’re doing this. Just tell my dad! Or better yet, tell Quang! You’re not gonna gain anything if you just stay silent about this. It may seem like something you’ll get over, but trust me, when you get your feelings sorted out, you’ll feel like he’s the only one that can put a smile on your face. Just thinking about him isn’t gonna make a difference! You have to do something about it! Once you’re sure that you love him, he’s the only one that can catch you if you ever fall. You’ll think about him day and night, and once you see his face, your whole day lights up just because of his smile.”
“Tuyet… Just because you feel that way…it doesn’t really mean that I’ll feel it, too.”
“Yes it will! I found my happiness, Quyen. But I know that if I speak the truth, it’ll just turn into a forbidden love. You found yours, too! However, your dream can happen!” Minh Tuyet explained as a tear ran down her eye.
“Are you talking about…”
“…yes! Me and Bang Kieu…. We can never be and you know it! But you and Quang… it’s perfect. And you’re throwing it all away just because you’re not sure if it’ll turn out how you planned it? Just live in the moment! Tell him!”
“I guess I will,” Tu Quyen said, wiping the tear off of Minh Tuyet’s face.

“I need to talk to you about something, Tuyet,” Luong Tung Quang said that evening when Tuan Ngoc and Tu Quyen were both in their rooms. Luong Tung Quang and Minh Tuyet were in the front building having tea.
“What about?” Minh Tuyet replied, not having the slightest interest in what he had to say.
“It’s…um…about Tu Quyen.”
“Really?” Minh Tuyet said, quickly turning her attention towards him.
“Yeah; I know that you’re not exactly the person I should be talking to when it comes to this, but I can’t think of anyone else. And you’ll probably understand, considering how you feel about me.”
“Oh, well go ahead. What is it?” Minh Tuyet said, resting her chin in the palm of her hands.
“I think…that…um…I like …her.”
“Who; Tu Quyen?”
“Yes. I don’t know why, but every time she comes into the room, I feel as though…”
“…she lights up your day,” Minh Tuyet said as she thought about Bang Kieu.
“Exactly! How do you know?”
“Oh…um…wild guess.”
“Well, what do I do? I know that your father forces us to marry…but I don’t know if I could do this.”
Before Minh Tuyet could speak, Duong Trieu Vu ran in and landed on his knees.
“Um…Madame Tuyet! I think you should go to bed now!”
Minh Tuyet eyed Duong Trieu Vu, and then finally figured out what he was trying to tell her. She turned over to Luong Tung Quang and said,
“I’m sorry, I gotta go!”
She ran to the door and stopped abruptly when a guard blocked her.
“I can’t believe this,” the guard said. Luong Tung Quang and Duong Trieu Vu looked at Minh Tuyet and the guard, who ran away.
“Bang Kieu!” Luong Tung Quang heard Minh Tuyet yelled as she ran after the guard.