Chapter Sixteen

Sometimes, you feel like people misunderstand you, so the only way you can get back at them is to make them angry with the words you say. That was how Tu Quyen was feeling on a morning of a breezy day. She woke up and took a little walk around the garden, hoping to find peace somewhere. She never wanted to create such a huge problem between her and Van Quynh; she tried her best to get acquainted with Minh Tuyet’s friends, but she doesn’t understand why they treat her the way they do. Tu Quyen made her way to the front building and she saw Luong Tung Quang there enjoying tea. Somehow, the sight of him made all of her confusion disappear.
“What are you doing here so early?” she asked, taking a seat right beside him.
“We’re looking at the past sales again,” he replied, looking at her.
“Sounds fun,” Tu Quyen said sarcastically.
“I’m actually learning a lot of stuff.”
Tu Quyen put her arm on the armrest and put back her head. She closed her eyes and breathed in and out for a couple of seconds. Luong Tung Quang didn’t notice, so he put his hand down on the armrest, not knowing that Tu Quyen’s hand was already there. When his hand touched hers, she suddenly jumped but their hands didn’t separate. For some reason, Tu Quyen felt her face moving closer and closer to his. Their noses were about to touch when Minh Tuyet came in.
“What’s up?”
Luong Tung Quang quickly pulled back his hands and Tu Quyen sat straight up, straightening her dress.
“Uh, nothing,” Luong Tung Quang said nervously.
“What’s going on? Your faces are red,” Minh Tuyet said, taking a seat across from Luong Tung Quang and Tu Quyen.
“Nothing, really, nothing,” Tu Quyen said, cupping her cheeks with her hands.
“Well, good news! My father and I are going into the countryside today!” Minh Tuyet yelled in excitement.
“What?” Luong Tung Quang and Tu Quyen yelled in unison.
“Yes, I know! I’m so excited!”
“B-b-b-b-b-but I thought your father and I are going to look at the past sales of the shop,” Luong Tung Quang said.
“He told me to tell you to stay; we’ll be back a little bit after noon.”
“Oh … okay.
“Keep him company, okay Quyen?”
“Um, sure.”
Minh Tuyet happily skipped out of the room, leaving Tu Quyen and Luong Tung Quang sitting with a bunch of things going through their minds.

“Hey,” Tu Quyen greeted as she sat down in the garden, across from Luong Tung Quang. The truth was, Luong Tung Quang had felt something he had never felt before this morning when he was with Tu Quyen. He had thought that it happened to him all the time with beautiful girls, but this wasn’t true. He never had this feeling when he was Minh Tuyet, only this morning.
“Quyen, I wanna tell you something.”
“Oh, what is it?” Tu Quyen said blushing.
“I…this…um…m-m-morning, I wanted…to … say …that I never felt…”
Tu Quyen knew where this was going. She was going to sit there listening to Luong Tung Quang’s apology about what happened this morning and that he never meant for it to happen. She then knew that she couldn’t take it anymore so she jumped in and interrupted him.
“Same here!”
“What?”
“I…um, I mean, I’m sorry, too. It’s just that I was still kind of drowsy and sleepy so I didn’t really know what was going on, I’m sorry. Don’t worry about anything,” she lied.
“Oh…yeah, I guess. Yeah…,” Luong Tung Quang said disappointedly.
“Yeah, I would never do anything to break you and Minh Tuyet up.”
“We’re not even together.”
“Don’t you worry; I’ll try my best to persuade her.”
“Oh…that’s…um…great, thanks.”
“Of course! Anything for you… and Minh Tuyet!”
Tu Quyen stood up and left the garden.

I can’t believe she left me all alone! Tu Quyen thought as she wished she had gone along with Minh Tuyet. She sat nervously in the front building thinking about what had happened earlier between her and Luong Tung Quang. I can’t have feelings for him, she thought. He’s my cousin’s destined husband! Or at least…based on an arrange marriage, he is. Her thoughts were interrupted when Luong Tung Quang walked into the room and took a seat, but this time, across from her. He was obviously still thinking about what happened this morning, too. Tu Quyen tried to talk, but she was afraid all her words would just come in one of his ear, and out the other… as he thought about his future with Minh Tuyet. Fortunately for her, he was the first to speak.
“Do you know when Minh Tuyet and her father would be home?” he asked softly.
Tu Quyen was happy to hear his voice, but once she saw that Luong Tung Quang only cared about Minh Tuyet, she felt as though her heart had just a release a tear.
“Oh, she said around noon.”
“I see…”
“When are you leaving?”
“Later tonight; my father left with my mother to the other side of the city to visit my grandparents, so it doesn’t really matter when I arrive home,” he said.
“Oh…”
An awkward silence had started to begin. Luong Tung Quang didn’t want this to happen, but he didn’t know what else to say. He looked over to Tu Quyen, who was observing her perfectly cut fingernails. She looks so adorable, he thought; he looked at her with a tilted head. He quickly turned his head away when Tu Quyen looked up. She smiled a beautiful smile that Luong Tung Quang could see at the corner of his eyes. Suddenly, Phi Nhung ran into the room as her dress flew gracefully. She walked over to Tu Quyen and whispered something. After hearing what Phi Nhung had to say, Luong Tung Quang saw that Tu Quyen was in shock. The two girls walked over to him and gave him a curtsy, and then they left the room.
“Did he say why he wanted to see me?” Tu Quyen asked as she stride through the outdoor hallways.
“No, ma’am. He just asked to see you,” Phi Nhung answered.
“Ugh, I can’t believe this!”
“I’m sorry for disrupting you and sir Quang, please forgive me. But he said this was urgent.”
“It’s quite alright, Nhung, it’s not your fault.”
Phi Nhung turned to her room as the walked past it, but Tu Quyen kept on walking until she arrived back in the garden. She saw Duong Trieu Vu and Bang Kieu standing by the lake, making small talk.
“What is this in reference to?” Tu Quyen asked coldly as she walked up behind them.
“Oh, hi Tu Quyen!” Duong Trieu Vu said giggly.
“That is madam Quyen to you.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“And why are you here?” Tu Quyen turned to Bang Kieu.
“I need to ask you something.”
Suddenly, Tu Quyen’s heart started to beat heavily. She was afraid that he would ask something about Minh Tuyet… or worse, ‘madam Tuyet’. The three of them took a seat down on stone chairs beside the lake.
“This is unbelievable,” Tu Quyen asked, shaking her head.
“What is?”
“Are you two aware of the fact that guards do not make requests, but the lords and mistresses do?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Yet, here I am sitting because of something that’s supposedly urgent.”
“Look, here…”
“Excuse me, but I believe that this is not the attitude you’re supposed to be talking to me with. Just because we’re acquainted outside of the mansion, it does not mean that we can talk as though we’re the closest of friends inside the mansion, because it’s obvious that we are not.”
“I’m sorry and everything. But I have a feeling that both you and Minh Tuyet are keeping something from me.”
“Listen. I don’t think that the relationship between us is at a point where I can ‘hide’ something from you.
“Well, why did you hide the fact that you were a mistress here?”
“I think it’s possible that it’s because I don’t want to be treated differently from a peasant. I enjoy my time outside of the mansion, but there are always people like you that ruin it. Besides, even if there was something wrong; don’t you think you’re better off asking Minh Tuyet?”
“I-I-I-I…”
“If there is nothing else that needs to be said, than I will be on my way. Besides, I have many other things to worry about.” Tu Quyen stood up and stormed out of the garden, so glad that she didn’t expose anything. She was walking so fast that she didn’t notice where she was going; suddenly, she bumped into Luong Tung Quang. He quickly grabbed her arm, preventing her from falling.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you,” Tu Quyen said.
“It’s alright, you weren’t that heavy. I have a new…” he replied.
“Huh?”
Luong Tung Quang just smiled as he finished his sentence in his mind.
…room in my heart.